POLITICS-SOUTH SUDAN: Women Ready To Take Their Place

When the women of South Sudan welcomed the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, they were cognizant of the fact that true democracy will be realised only when their human rights are realised.

DEVELOPMENT: China Lends Support to U.N. Finance Summit

China has lent its support to a U.N. finance summit where developing countries are pressing to air their grievances over how the global economic crisis has affected the world’s poorest. Yet, for the largest developing country the crisis remains a debacle with a silver lining - a matchless opportunity to accomplish its dream of regaining the regional and global clout it once held, and fast forward its ambitions.

ARGENTINA: Huge Loan to Flow into ‘Open Sewer’ River

Local residents and environmentalists are eyeing with cautious optimism a major loan from the World Bank to the Argentine government to clean up the Matanza-Riachuelo river that runs through Buenos Aires - the country's most polluted waterway.

Q&A: U.N.’s Enormous Potential Being Marginalised

An international conference on the global financial crisis - hosted by the United Nations - is being marginalised by Western countries which have refused to send any of their political leaders to the meeting.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Holiday Blues in Times of Crisis

Anxieties about making ends meet in Cuba are heightened at the start of the summer holiday season, when there is increased demand for food, transport and electricity, all of which are affected by restrictions intended to ease the country's economic problems, intensified by the global recession.

EAST TIMOR: UN Helps to Mitigate Disaster Risk

Disasters happen regularly in East Timor, but until now, the institutions called on to deal with them have struggled to effectively react to seasonal events that impact thousands of Timorese lives every year.

POLITICS: Will Women Be an Afterthought at U.N. Crisis Meet?

A groundbreaking U.N. General Assembly conference on the global economic crisis and its impact on development, set to begin Wednesday, may sideline women's numerous concerns, civil society groups say.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: 'Cut, Cut Again and Now Tie Tightly'

Anna Shikongo* wanted many more children, but five-month old Johannes, perched on her lap, will forever be her lastborn. She was sterilised by doctors at a government hospital. Now she is ready to take the government to court.

Q&A: Financial Crisis Unprecedented Since 1930s*

Since the Great Depression of the 1930s, there have been more than 100 crises worldwide, says the secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi.

HEALTH-BRAZIL: Birth Centres vs. Hospitals

The recent closure of a birth centre, which offered a more "human" touch with its focus on natural childbirth, in this Brazilian city revived the controversy over such practices, which have the backing of the Health Ministry but are opposed by the medical associations.

NICARAGUA: Women Bear the Brunt of the Crisis

"Don’t worry, your job will be here when you come back," Lorena Castillo’s supervisor reassured her when she asked to take a day off for a gynaecologist appointment. She had been working at the textile factory for the past six months and it was the first time she asked for a day off. It turned out to be her last.

URUGUAY: Rural Schools Threatened by Emptying Countryside

Cono Perdigón rides a bus that bounces its way down a dusty, pitted road to reach the rural schoolhouse where he teaches.

AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Seeking Diversity, Resilience and Farmer Control

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) claims that its "stress breeding", high-yield seed program and its emphasis on grassroots farmer input will boost agricultural production among poor, small scale farmers. But NGOs and environmentalists say AGRA’s Programme for Africa’s Seed System (PASS) is essentially a top-down, corporate driven approach that further threatens food security on the continent.

ENVIRONMENT-LATIN AMERICA: Green Parties Going It Alone

Fed up of waiting for existing parties to take up the cause of sustainable development and establish appropriate government policies to that end, environmental campaigners in Latin America have begun an increasingly high-profile battle for power in order to carry out their proposals themselves.

BRAZIL: ‘Historic’ National Commitment to Wind Energy

A commitment signed by federal and state authorities in Brazil Thursday was described by the energy minister as a "historic step" towards promoting wind power.

POLITICS: Women’s Groups Seek Gender Equity at U.N. Summit

An international coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), mostly comprised of women’s groups, is calling for a "gender equitable" response to the global financial crisis, which is to be debated at a U.N. summit of world leaders next week.

POLITICS-GABON: Will Bongo’s Death Signal a New Chapter?

As Omar Bongo Ondimba, the Gabonese president who died at age 73 in Barcelona on Jun. 8, is buried in Franceville in the south-west of Gabon on Thursday, his 41-year-reign as absolute ruler of this oil-producing country of 1.5 million has received mixed reviews.

POLITICS: Is West Undermining Summit on Financial Crisis?

When a Western diplomat was asked whether his country would be represented by a head of state at next week's U.N. summit meeting on the global financial crisis, his response was tinged with sarcasm and contempt.

POLITICS-LATIN AMERICA: Gender Equality Requires Quotas

Laws stipulating a minimum number of women in public posts are essential for achieving gender equality, according to a meeting of women legislators from Latin America and the Caribbean, held this week in Madrid.

AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Questioning Old Traditions

Inefficient production, bad infrastructure, poor access to markets, a lack of capital investment: the challenges facing smallholder farmers across Africa are many. A 'green revolution' which appears to be gaining ground in Africa seeks to change all this.

ZIMBABWE: 'Let Us Farm, It's Our Job'

A regional tribunal in Namibia has referred a controversial Zimbabwean land case to the next Southern African Development Community Summit of Heads of State, rejecting a last-minute application for postponement by Zimbabwe on Jun. 5.