In The News

Poorest of the Poor May be Halved in a Decade, UN Predicts

Terri Judd July 9, 2003
According to the recently released United Nations Development Program Report, reducing worldwide poverty can only be achieved by a global effort that addresses the un-abating HIV/AIDS epidemic, persistent civil war, accelerating rates of environmental degradation, limited integration in the global capitalist economy and deficiencies in human and social sector development. The report identifies...

A Helping Hand from Bush to Africans?

Abdallah Abu-Younis July 8, 2003
US President Bush’s agenda for his upcoming trip to Africa is packed with high stakes issues. AIDS, poverty, corruption, and state failure run rampant across the continent, threatening US interests by providing the shroud of chaos for terrorist groups. However, as this editorial in The Arab News points out, Bush must be careful not to generalize about Africa’s problems and solutions. African...

Is 'Wi-Fi' Good for Developing Nations?

July 1, 2003
Prioritizing internet access may prove more wasteful than helpful to developing countries, says technology analyst Bill Thompson. With computer companies touting the immense benefits of wireless technology for the world's poor – citing the importance of internet access for participation in the global economy and the utility of information on weather and crop prices to poor farmers and...

President Bush's Visit to Africa Isn't All about Oil

Peter Fabricius June 30, 2003
US interests in Africa go well beyond oil, says this editorial in South Africa's Cape Times. Though oil is likely a factor prompting US President Bush’s upcoming trip to the continent, American national security interests are the definitive motivation for the visit – and for expanded US interest in general. Since September 11, the United States has been forced to realize the immense impact...

The Great Rainforest Tragedy

Michael McCarthy June 28, 2003
Brazil’s 1.6 million acres of rainforest is the most species-rich habitat on earth. But it has long been threatened by development, logging, and farming undertaken by a burgeoning population mired in poverty. Deforestation has jumped by 40% in the last year, shocking environmentalists and government officials, who have promised to take action against the problem. But the cause of deforestation...

Controlling the Flow

Gamal Nkrumah June 27, 2003
In the same week that European Union (EU) leaders met in Thessaloniki, Greece to discuss migration issues, a vessel carrying African migrants trying to enter Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia, killing some 70 people. This was one of the many vessels operated by illegal immigrant-trafficking gangs in Northern Africa who carry Africans to Mediterranean coastlines. Ironically, top on the agenda...

EU Agrees Radical Farming Reforms

Tobias Buck June 26, 2003
The European Union (EU) has ended year-long negotiations on its common agricultural policy but the world has yet to see its implications. Although the original proposal, drafted by the pro-reform EU farm commissioner Franz Fischler was heavily diluted, he did achieve part of its goal to overhaul Europe's stronghold on billions of Euros in subsidies. France, the biggest beneficiary of the...