DEVELOPMENT: ‘Poverty an Issue in Europe Too’

Civil society groups in Central and Eastern Europe want to remind their governments Oct. 17 that poverty exists in their own countries, and not just in those usually considered developing countries.

HEALTH: Picture a Hunger-Free World

The scene within and outside the United Nations last week was strikingly dissimilar: while more than 140 world leaders were arriving in New York to wine, dine and address the General Assembly, a group of activists was demonstrating outside the U.N. compound for a hunger-free world.

HEALTH: The Quiet Scandal of 10 Million Deaths

A global coalition of governments and organisations has launched a new campaign to drastically improve pre- and post-natal healthcare in places like India, which alone accounts for a staggering 25 percent of the world's child deaths and 20 percent of maternal deaths.

SPAIN: Rock Stars Collect 600,000 Signatures for Fair Trade with Africa

Several popular Spanish rock groups helped collect 600,000 signatures and delivered them to the government Tuesday in support of an international campaign calling for the Spanish government to modify its trade policy towards Africa and eliminate restrictions on imports from that region.

TRADE: Only a Handful Are Lords of the Food Harvest

The food and beverage industry is experiencing a high degree of concentration, with 10 distributing companies controlling 24 percent of the world market, according to a report being studied this week by workers’, employers’ and government representatives gathered by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

TRADE-EAST AFRICA: &#39&#39A Foreigner Cannot Develop Us&#39&#39

While east Africans still hold reservations about the benefits of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) currently being negotiated with the European Union (EU), both government and civil society representatives seem to be accepting that it is the best option available.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: Using Alternative Methods to Adapt to Drought

"It is painful to think that global warming will further aggravate the lack of rainfall" in Brazil’s semiarid northeast, said Luiz Tomacheski, who was stunned to see firsthand the dry landscape of twisted thorny shrubs and patches of brown grass in this region.

TRADE-EU: This Is the Way Some Agreements Should End

Elaborate funeral rituals were performed in central Brussels over the past week to show how a planned free trade accord between the European Union and the Korean government should, in the view of anti-poverty campaigners, be buried.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Remittances for Development

Civil society organisations suggest that a plan be designed so that the money sent home by Dominicans abroad, known as remittances, will be used to foment development instead of simply going towards daily expenses.

ENVIRONMENT: Can Networking Teenagers Save the World?

Global trends indicate a looming environmental catastrophe, and engaging high school students around the world may be the only hope.

ENVIRONMENT: NGOs Unite on Earth&#39s Greatest Crisis

A three-day meeting of over 2,500 delegates from more than 500 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and representing 80 countries affirmed that climate change "is potentially the most serious threat humanity and our environment have ever faced."

POVERTY: 40-Day Global Fast for Debt Cancellation

A group of celebrities from several countries have joined a rolling 40-day fast beginning this Thursday to call for cancellation of the foreign debt of the world’s poorest countries.

AUSTRALIA: NGOs Have Long Wish List For APEC Summit

As 21 world leaders representing three billion people living in the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) nations meet here, civil society groups are calling for an instant end to poverty, the war in Iraq, and immediate action on climate change.

HEALTH-INDIA: Activists Will Continue to Push Boycott of Novartis

Activist groups campaigning for affordable drugs will continue their boycott campaign against Swiss pharma major Novartis AG, whose controversial petition arguing that Indian patent laws violated World Trade Organisation (WTO) provisions was rejected by the Madras High Court in southern Chennai city.

DEVELOPMENT: Global Campaign Calls for Tackling the Roots of Poverty

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) made a commitment in Uruguay Saturday to extend their campaign until 2015, and to emphasise the structural causes that determine that over one billion people in the world are living in extreme poverty.

DEVELOPMENT: Fight Against Poverty – a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Combating poverty is more like a long distance race than a sprint, and in the past two years progress has been made that would have been unthinkable decades ago. But much remains to be done, say activists from all over the world who have gathered together in the Uruguayan capital.

DEVELOPMENT: Stand Up, to Wake Up

As protests go, this must be among the most comfortable: people will simply stand up at many places around the world to show their commitment to fighting poverty.

LATIN AMERICA: Standing Up Against Poverty in Streets and Stadiums

Fans in football stadiums, parks and city squares in Latin American countries will stand up this weekend in support of a global campaign against poverty.

DEVELOPMENT: A Global Call to Stand Against Poverty

This weekend, thousands of people around the world will literally "Stand Up Against Poverty" as part of campaign organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) to lobby for government action on fair trade and the set of pledges known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

DEVELOPMENT: IPS Honours Anti-Poverty Alliance

The Inter Press Service news agency presented its 2005 International Achievement Award to the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) at the United Nations Wednesday.

DEVELOPMENT: March Toward MDGs Leaving Millions Behind

An African diplomat recounts a quote attributed to a former head of state who once remarked: "We fought a war against poverty - and poverty won."