Oil Giants Punish Venezuela through Dutch treaty

Venezuela doesn't want investment treaties anymore if they give investors the right to drag the country before a commercial court. "The system has been set up to break down the nation-state."

‘Good, But Not Perfect’, Pacific Islands Women on Climate Deal

Women leaders in the Pacific Islands have acclaimed the agreement on reducing global warming achieved at the United Nations (COP21) Climate Change conference in Paris as an unprecedented moment of world solidarity on an issue which has been marked to date by division between the developing and industrialized world. But for Pacific small island developing states, which name climate change as the single greatest threat to their survival, it will only be a success if inspirational words are followed by real action.

Initiatives Revive Palestinian Heritage Boosting Economy and ‘Homeland’

Deep into the subtly monochrome landscape of the southern West Bank, Abu Ismaeel’s tent stands out amongst bare rolling hills that stretch into the horizon. A lonely gate, with no fence around it, signals the official entrance to two large tents in the Rashayda Desert.

French firm attacks Ugandan tax using ISDS

The heavily criticized legal mechanism, known as ISDS, is an important tool for European companies to pressurize developing countries. This year Uganda joins the rank of developing nations asking themselves: "Why have we ever signed this?"

Malnutrition a Silent Emergency in Papua New Guinea

High up in the mountainous interior of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the most populous Pacific Island state of 7.3 million people, rural lives are marked by strenuous work toiling land in rugged terrain with low access to basic services.

COP21 Solved a Dilemma Which Delayed a Global Agreement

One of the most significant aspects of the international conference on climate change, concluded in Paris on December 12, is that food security and ending hunger feature in the global agenda of the climate change debate.

Solar Kiosks Help Light up Rural Kenya

This market centre in the arid Lake Magadi region, Kajiado of Southern Kenya is with no grid electricity. The area is inhabited by the pastoralist Maasai community. With climate change affecting their pastoral way of life, the community is increasingly adopting a more sedentary life but without amenities.

Climate Change May Increase World’s Poor by 100 Million, Warns World Bank

The UN’s heavily-hyped Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were approved by more than 160 world leaders at a summit meeting in September, are an integral part of the world body’s post-2015 development agenda, including the eradication of hunger and poverty by 2030.

Poverty and Slavery Often Go Hand-in-Hand for Africa’s Children

“Poverty has become part of me,” says 13-year-old Aminata Kabangele from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “I have learned to live with the reality that nobody cares for me.”

Designed to Fail: Gaza’s Reconstruction Plan

The rubble of twisted concrete and metal bakes in the hot Mediterranean sun of a regional heat wave.

Opinion: The Sad Historical Consequences of the Greek Bailout

In recommendations to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of July, the German Council of Economic Experts outlined how a weak member country could leave the Eurozone and called for strengthening the European monetary union.

Opinion: A BRICS Bank to Challenge the Bretton Woods System?

The formal opening of the BRICS Bank in Shanghai on Jul. 21 following the seventh summit of the world’s five leading emerging economies held recently in the Russian city of Ufa, demonstrates the speed with which an alternative global financial architecture is emerging.

Caribbean Seeks Funding for Renewable Energy Mix

A leading geothermal expert warns that the small island states in the Caribbean face “a ticking time bomb” due to the effects of global warming and suggests a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is the only way to defuse it.

Social Safety Net Not Wide Enough to Protect World’s Poor

Fifty-five percent of the world’s poor still have limited protection from hunger and economic, social or political crises despite expansion of social safety programmes in developing countries in recent years.

Will the New BRICS Bank Break with Traditional Development Models, or Replicate Them?

Just days ahead of a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in which the five countries are expected to formally launch their New Development Bank (NDB), 40 NGOs and civil society groups have penned an open letter to their respective governments urging transparency and accountability in the proposed banking process.

Opinion: Religion and the SDGs – The ‘New Normal’ and Calls for Action

In 2007, an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune argued that you “gotta have faith in the U.N”.

Opinion: BRICS for Building a New World Order?

As the leaders of the BRICS five meet in the Russian city of Ufa for their annual summit Jul. 8–10, their agenda is likely to be dominated by economic and security concerns, triggered by the continuing economic crisis in the European Union and the security situation in the Middle East.

German Development Cooperation Piggybacks Onto Africa’s E-Boom

In a major paradigm shift, the German government is now placing its bets on digitalisation for its development cooperation policy with Africa, under what it calls a Strategic Partnership for a ’Digital Africa’.

Critics of World Bank-Funded Projects in the Line of Fire

For an entire month beginning in February 2015, a group of between 40 and 50 residents of the Durgapur Village in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand would gather at the site of a hydroelectric power project being carried out by the state-owned Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC).

Donor Conference to Tackle Nepal Reconstruction

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal in April, and the numerous aftershocks that followed, left the country with losses amounting to a third of its economy.

Infrastructure Investments in Emerging Economies Hit Record Levels – but at What Cost?

According to new data released by the World Bank Tuesday, investments in infrastructure in 139 emerging economies shot up to 107.5 billion dollars in 2014, with just five countries – Brazil, Colombia, India, Peru and Turkey – accounting for 73 percent of the total.