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Monday, September 21, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade Wars
DEVELOPMENT: Poor Nations Group Assesses Life at 30
As the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states celebrates its 30th anniversary this week, it is also urging the developed world not to forget the challenges its members face.HEALTH: No Money in Treating the Poor
There is little money in developing treatment for diseases peculiar to developing countries, leading researchers say.TRADE: WTO Talks a Threat to Environment – NGOs
Laws protecting the environment, social well-being and health are increasingly coming under attack at international trade discussions, according to new analysis from a leading environmental group.TRADE: U.S. Officials, Firms Rebuff Calls to Withdraw from WTO
U.S. officials and companies are rallying around the World Trade Organisation (WTO), against reviews critical of the 10-year-old body's record of helping developing nations reap the rewards of liberalised global commerce.TRADE: Lamy Set to Head WTO
Pascal Lamy, former European Union (EU) commissioner for trade was set to become the next head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Friday after Carlos Perez del Castillo of Uruguay, Lamy's only remaining rival, withdrew from the race to lead the world trade body.TRADE: India Backs Lamy as WTO Head, But Activists Furious
As France's Pascal Lamy appears well set to beat off a challenge from his Uruguayan rival for the top job at the World Trade Organisation, India's food security campaigners and left-wing parties are furious over New Delhi's support for the Frenchman's candidacy.TRADE-AFRICA: Debate Over WTO Leadership in the Final Stretch
As the final round of consultations to choose a new director-general for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) wrapped up Thursday, former European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy appeared to be leading in the race to head the body.TRADE: New U.S. Trade Czar Faces Tests at Home and Abroad
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, now in his second week on the job, faces numerous challenges as he seeks to build support at home and abroad for an ambitious U.S. trade agenda, observers say.TRADE: WTO Leadership Race Now a North-South Contest
The final stage in the process of appointing a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief kicked off Monday with two candidates virtually from opposite ends of the world, in terms of both geography and level of development: Uruguay's Carlos Pérez del Castillo and France's Pascal Lamy.ECONOMY-SWAZILAND: Small and Medium a Recipe for Big Hopes
For a country struggling with a stubborn unemployment rate of over 40 percent, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises seems a welcome solution to joblessness.TRADE: Doha Talks Hauled Back from Crisis
The European Union has welcomed a "significant breakthrough" in World Trade Organisation talks, after trade ministers breathed new life into the stalled Doha negotiations Wednesday by ending a technical dispute over tariff cuts on farm products.INT’L LABOUR DAY-KENYA: A Murky Future for Textile Workers
The silence in the room was deafening. Thousands of sewing machines lay unused in one of the production units at Upan Wasana, a textile factory located in Ruaraka, on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.DEVELOPMENT: Sugar Can Mean Life to Poor Countries
Sugar producers from some of the poorest countries who will see their livelihoods devastated by an overhaul of European Union's controversial sugar regime are demanding that the bloc considers an alternative which will have a "greater, more positive, development impact."TRADE: EU Steps Up Pressure on China over Textiles
The European Union has stepped up pressure on China to curb what it calls a "ruinous" surge in textile exports, urging it to take action or face possible sanctions to protect the bloc's clothing industry.TRADE: Lamy Pulls Ahead in WTO Leadership Race
As the competition to become the next head of the World Trade Organisation heats up, all indications are that Pascal Lamy, former European Union Commissioner, will prevail.DEVELOPMENT: For Whom the Trade Rules Toll
A 'funeral procession' descended on the European Union quarter of Brussels Thursday, but it was not to mark the death of a great European statesman. Instead, it was a stark message from development groups to the bloc that its trade policy is destroying the lives of poor people.TRADE-AMERICAS: FTAA Dead but not Quite Buried, Say Activists
Activists and academics are singing the requiem for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a U.S.-driven initiative that they say will soon be buried. However, the governments that have participated in the talks are not yet talking about failure.TRADE: EU Hems In Chinese Textile Exports
The European Union unveiled an "early warning system" Wednesday to monitor import of China's surging textiles and clothing, and to impose safeguards if it reaches "danger zones".TRADE-EU: New Banana Battle Looms
The European Union says that although it "regrets" the decision of Latin American banana producers to challenge its proposed new tariff, it will defend its proposals.DEVELOPMENT: EU Mulls Over Africa Report
While the European Union has largely welcomed the Commission for Africa report released last week, there is a debate over how the recommendations made in the paper will fit into the bloc's new development policy.TRADE: Poor Countries’ Man Makes a Strong Case
Jaya Krishna Cuttaree, the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries nominee to head the World Trade Organisation says he will fight for a "rule-based multilateral trading system" to protect the world's poorest countries if he assumes the role later this year.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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