DEVELOPMENT: Harmonious Cities – a Social and Environmental Solution

Sao Paulo emits only a tenth of the greenhouse gases that San Diego produces, even though this Brazilian metropolis is four times larger than that city in California, according to a report released today by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

CHILE: Achievements in AIDS Fight Marred by Irregularities

Irregularities like delays in notifying 25 people that they were HIV-positive, which led to the deaths of at least two of them, have cast a shadow on Chile's exemplary image in the field of AIDS prevention and treatment.

DEVELOPMENT: Now Sit Up and Listen

For every one in 50 people around the world to make a point of standing up somewhere on the planet to say the same kind of thing adds up to a lot of people. More than any mass mobilisation on any issue ever before.

ENVIRONMENT: Worst Forms of Pollution Killing Millions

Gold mining and recycling car batteries are two of the world's Top 10 most dangerous pollution problems, and the least known, according a new report.

HEALTH: Swaziland About To Eliminate Malaria

Hot on the heels of Mauritius, health experts predict Swaziland will be the second country in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to eliminate malaria.

ARGENTINA: Govt Announces End of Private Pension Funds

Against the backdrop of the current global financial turmoil, Argentine President Cristina Fernández on Tuesday proposed the elimination of the privately administered retirement accounts created 14 years ago.

ECONOMY: Rich-Poor Divide Worst Among Rich Countries

The "American Dream" of upward social mobility appears to have emigrated from its birthplace in the United States to northern Europe, according to a major new report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the growth of economic equality over the past 20 years.

DEVELOPMENT: Reviving the Family Farm

The world is in a phase of transition, in which family farming is emerging as an "anti-cyclical" alternative for guaranteeing economic growth and food security, said Brazilian expert Laudemir André Müller.

Q&A: Fistula Turns Women Into Outcasts

Women suffering from obstetric fistula in Malawi received free medical care to reverse their condition during the country’s Fistula Week.

ECONOMY: Usual Suspects Eyeing Zimbabwe for Massive Deregulation

As the global financial crisis unfolds and more questions are asked about excessive deregulation, the World Bank and others are preparing economic policy prescriptions that will throw open Zimbabwe’s economy to the whims of the world markets.

DEVELOPMENT: Cell Phone Service, But No Toilets

It is a fact of the 21st century that some of the poorest regions of the world have good mobile phone coverage but no toilets or safe drinking water.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: New HIV Vaccine Trials Raise Hopes

After two HIV vaccine trials were halted for safety reasons last year, a new trial is set to commence within the next few months in South Africa and the United States. Scientists will test a new vaccine formula produced in South Africa. It will be the first time a HIV vaccine manufactured in a developing country will be trialed in the developed world.

TRADE: Cotton Subsidies Remain Big Hurdle in WTO Doha Round

The Doha Round was launched in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, to provide a developmental dimension to global trade by enabling developing and least developed countries to secure enhanced access for their products in rich country markets. However, there is a pronounced shift in the negotiations in the last seven years - from developmental issues to the purely market-driven concerns of the dominant players.

TRADE: African States Won’t Compromise on Development in Doha

Faced with the global financial crisis and high food prices, African countries want to conclude the much-delayed modalities agreement in the Doha Round of talks on agriculture and market-opening for industrial goods by the end of this year.

POVERTY-AFRICA: Leaders Cannot Close Their Ears

Eight years ago, the leaders of 189 countries pledged to work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, eliminating extreme poverty by 2015. The Stand Up, Take Action Campaign mobilises millions of people around the world to press for action to make this a reality.

SPAIN: Only Banks Get Aid, Anti-Poverty Protesters Complain

"We think it’s disgraceful that billions of dollars are available to bail out banks, and there is no money to eradicate poverty in the world," said Marina Navarro, the spokeswoman for some 1,000 social organisations in Spain taking part in demonstrations against poverty between Friday and Sunday.

DEVELOPMENT: South America Fights Poverty Its Own Way

This year, only a few South American nations have responded to the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and its campaign slogan, "Stand Up and Take Action". The social organisations grouped in the global network point to a variety of reasons to explain the apparent apathy.

Q&A: Marathon Struggle To End Poverty

Since 2005, the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) has mobilised millions of unionists, activists, and ordinary people to demand an end to poverty and inequality.

BRAZIL: Hunger Beats a Steady Retreat

Brazil is winning its battle against hunger thanks to a comprehensive package of food security legislation, institutions and new concepts, in addition to programmes geared towards stimulating more balanced economic growth.

ZIMBABWE: Time To Do The Right Thing

At least 5,000 people are expected to gather in Chitungwiza today to demand improved access to water, sanitation and health services as part of the Stand Up, Take Action Against Poverty campaign.

KENYA: Failing Grade For Free Primary Education?

When in 2003 Kenya followed its neighbours Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi in introducing free and compulsory primary education for all, the response from the public as well as international donors was overwhelming.