Today, around 21,000 children died around the world. This daily tragedy, from poverty and other preventable causes, rarely makes headline news.

Latest world news

World

  1. ‘What’s Next?’ Women-led Movements Fear for the Future

    - Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 (IPS) - Women rights advocates who gathered at UN Headquarters for the world’s biggest meeting (10 -21 March) on gender equality have been sharing their concerns about the growing backlash against feminism, and how major funding cuts from donor countries could threaten programmes aimed at improving the lives of women and girls.

  2. Guterres to reduce UN aid ‘footprint’ inside Gaza following ceasefire collapse

    - UN News

    The UN Secretary-General on Monday took the “difficult decision” to reduce the aid operation inside the Gaza Strip following the resumption of deadly Israeli airstrikes – but pledged that “the UN is not leaving” the enclave.

  3. South Sudan on the brink of civil war, top UN official warns

    - UN News

    South Sudan is teetering on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war as violence escalates and political tensions deepen, the head of the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS) warned on Monday.

  4. Local staff ‘particularly vulnerable’ to detention, as UN calls for their release

    - UN News

    Staff members of the United Nations around the world who are recruited locally are “particularly vulnerable” to detention and should be released and allowed to go home according to the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

  5. ‘Don’t cut the aid’: Insecurity worsens for stateless Rohingya, says UNHCR’s Grandi

    - UN News

    The plight of Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya is intensifying almost eight years since hundreds of thousands fled persecution and sought shelter in Bangladesh, the UN said on Monday, in an appeal for $934.5 million to help them.

  6. UN peace missions strained, with trust ‘in short supply’ and widening divisions

    - UN News

    United Nations peace operations are facing mounting challenges as conflicts become more protracted, geopolitical divisions widen and transnational threats multiply, Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday.

  7. ‘Racism requires ignorance’: How art and culture can help end racial discrimination

    - UN News

    Despite significant progress over the years, the fight against racism and racial discrimination remains as urgent as ever.

  8. UNAIDS chief warns of ‘real surge’ in deaths unless US restores funding

    - UN News

    Amid continuing uncertainty about the impact of deep US funding cuts to humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV-AIDS warned that an addition 6.3 million people will die in the next four years, unless support is reinstated.

  9. World Meteorological Day: Closing the Early Warning Gap to Save Lives

    - Inter Press Service

    DOMINICA, Mar 24 (IPS) - The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is urging nations to increase investments in their meteorological and hydrological services and build robust early warning systems (EWS) to safeguard communities from the mounting threats posed by climate-related disasters.

  10. Funding Crunch Puts Years of Progress at Risk in Fight Against Tuberculosis

    - Inter Press Service

    BRATISLAVA, Mar 24 (IPS) - Governments and donors must ensure funding is sustained to fight tuberculosis (TB), organizations working to stop the disease have said, as they warn the recent US pullback on foreign aid is already having a devastating effect on their operations.

  11. More stories…

Climate

  1. World Day for Glaciers: Glaciers Are in Threat, May Not Survive the 21st Century

    - Inter Press Service

    BLOOMINGTON, U.S.A, Mar 22 (IPS) - Many glaciers in the world will not survive the 21st century, according to reports published by the United Nations. Five of the past six years have experienced the most rapid glacier retreat on record; 2022-24 was the largest three-year loss of glacier mass.

  2. Food Security and Water, a Priority for Border Towns in Central America

    - Inter Press Service

    CANDELARIA DE LA FRONTERA, El Salvador, Mar 21 (IPS) - The hope of Salvadoran Cristian Castillo to harvest tomatoes in a municipality of the Central American Dry Corridor hung by a thread when his well, which he used to irrigate his crops, dried up. However, his enthusiasm returned when a regional project taught him how to harvest rainwater for when the rains begin in May.

  3. A Weapon in the Fight for Water Security: Preserving the Glaciers

    - Inter Press Service

    PRETORIA, South Africa, Mar 21 (IPS) - World Water Day, celebrated on March 22 every year, raises awareness about the importance of water and advocates for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme for 2025 focuses on glaciers — those grandiose ice masses that are a crucial part of the world's water resources.

  4. Glaciers Of The SADC Region – A Wake-Up Call For Climate Action

    - Inter Press Service

    BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, Mar 21 (IPS) - World Water Day calls us all to promote the essential element of life: water. But we must also look this year at the rapidly vanishing sources of freshwater that we depend on, especially glaciers. Although glaciers may be remote for many of us, they are an essential component of the water cycle, nourishing rivers and lakes that are important for millions of people around the world. As precious resources with sources under threat, glaciers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are an area of focus.

  5. How Rare Rhino, Tiger Conservation Has Locked Out Indigenous Communities

    - Inter Press Service

    NEW DELHI, Mar 21 (IPS) - While a local community prides itself on caring for a sensitive biodiverse region, and despite centuries-long stewardship of the Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the authorities rebuff—sometimes aggressively—their attempts to remain involved.

  6. Award Winning Women Goat Herders in Chile Confront Climate Change

    - Inter Press Service

    OVALLE, Chile, Mar 21 (IPS) - Chile's goat tradition began in 1544. Now, despite a prolonged drought, the women herders are adapting it to climate change and producing award-winning cheese.Women goat herders in the municipality of Ovalle, in northern Chile, are confronting climate change by defending their heritage through improvements in the quality and variety of their products, which has led some to win international awards for their cheeses.

  7. WORLD WATER DAY LIVE: ‘A cold hard truth’

    - UN News

    Melting glaciers, climate crises and access to clean water are some of the messages emerging ahead of World Water Day and the first ever World Day for Glaciers. Join us for live coverage of events at UN Headquarters in New York, Paris and around the world on the 2025 theme of preserving glaciers. UN News app users can follow here.

  8. Civil Society: The Last Line of Defence in a World of Cascading Crises

    - Inter Press Service

    MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay / LONDON, Mar 20 (IPS) - In a world of overlapping crises, from brutal conflicts and democratic regression to climate breakdown and astronomic levels of economic inequality, one vital force stands as a shield and solution: civil society. This is the sobering but ultimately hopeful message of CIVICUS’s 14th annual State of Civil Society Report, which provides a wide-ranging civil society perspective on the state of the world as it stands in early 2025.

  9. International Day of Forests: ‘Now is the time for decisive, collaborative action’

    - Inter Press Service

    SRINAGAR, Mar 20 (IPS) - The Forest Declaration Assessment Partners have called for urgent reforms to the international financial system to halt deforestation and protect biodiversity. It has also pitched for redirecting the public subsidies to mitigate the direct and indirect environmental risks from both public and private finance.

  10. WHO give clean bill of health to cities taking action on preventable diseases

    - UN News

    Three cities that share a healthy vision for their residents won UN World Health Organization awards on Thursday for their smoke-free parks, clean air initiatives and obesity-busting school lunch initiatives.

  11. More stories…

Health

  1. UNAIDS chief warns of ‘real surge’ in deaths unless US restores funding

    - UN News

    Amid continuing uncertainty about the impact of deep US funding cuts to humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV-AIDS warned that an addition 6.3 million people will die in the next four years, unless support is reinstated.

  2. Funding Crunch Puts Years of Progress at Risk in Fight Against Tuberculosis

    - Inter Press Service

    BRATISLAVA, Mar 24 (IPS) - Governments and donors must ensure funding is sustained to fight tuberculosis (TB), organizations working to stop the disease have said, as they warn the recent US pullback on foreign aid is already having a devastating effect on their operations.

  3. Turning the Tide on Tuberculosis: Ensuring Access, Treatment, and Prevention for All Communities

    - Inter Press Service

    Williamsburg, VA, USA, Mar 21 (IPS) - Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the aerophilic intracellular obligate pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a globally endemic bacterial infection transmitted person-to-person through airborne droplets. Although fully preventable and curable, TB remains a persistent global health challenge and is projected to be a leading infectious disease by 2025.

  4. The Toll of Mental Health in Conflict Areas

    - Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Mar 21 (IPS) - Over the past two decades, conversations surrounding mental wellness have entered the cultural consciousness in the western world. Despite this, these topics receive far less media exposure in the Global South, particularly in areas that have been entrenched in warfare, where the onset of harmful mental health conditions are prevalent.

  5. How Aid Cuts Will Shatter Global Water and Sanitation Progress

    - Inter Press Service

    BRIGHTON, UK, Mar 21 (IPS) - The principle of leaving no one behind is central to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The progress toward achieving SDG 6, which aims to ensure universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030 is increasingly under threat with recent development funding cuts posing a significant barrier.

  6. UNICEF condemns looting of lifesaving supplies for children in Sudan

    - UN News

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday strongly condemned the looting of vital humanitarian supplies from Al Bashair Hospital in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, warning that the theft puts thousands of malnourished children and mothers at risk.

  7. Israel Ends Ceasefire in Gaza as Strikes Resume

    - Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Mar 20 (IPS) - On March 18, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively terminating the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. This comes after a pause in ceasefire operations when Israel continued its blockade on humanitarian aid in the enclave and demanded the release of additional hostages.

  8. WHO give clean bill of health to cities taking action on preventable diseases

    - UN News

    Three cities that share a healthy vision for their residents won UN World Health Organization awards on Thursday for their smoke-free parks, clean air initiatives and obesity-busting school lunch initiatives.

  9. New Survey: US Funding Freeze Triggers Global Crisis in Human Rights and Democracy

    - Inter Press Service

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Mar 19 (IPS) - A new survey carried out by the EU System for an Enabling Environment (EU SEE) network exposes the impact of the US funding freeze on civil society organisations (CSOs) in over 50 countries. With 67% of surveyed organisations directly impacted and 40% of them losing between 25-50% of their budgets, the abrupt halt in funding is disrupting critical human rights, democracy, gender equality and health programs, leaving vulnerable communities without essential support.

  10. Epilepsy Patients in Africa Fight Stigma and Neglect

    - Inter Press Service

    BENIN, Nigeria, Mar 19 (IPS) - When Angela Asemota’s son began having seizures at six years old in 1996, people gossiped that he was possessed by evil spirits, leading her to seek healing from native healers and religious clerics. He underwent several traditional rituals and drank various concoctions, but the seizures persisted. It was not until his fourth year in secondary school in 2004 that she took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with epilepsy and began taking medication.

  11. More stories…

Economy

  1. Food Security and Water, a Priority for Border Towns in Central America

    - Inter Press Service

    CANDELARIA DE LA FRONTERA, El Salvador, Mar 21 (IPS) - The hope of Salvadoran Cristian Castillo to harvest tomatoes in a municipality of the Central American Dry Corridor hung by a thread when his well, which he used to irrigate his crops, dried up. However, his enthusiasm returned when a regional project taught him how to harvest rainwater for when the rains begin in May.

  2. Award Winning Women Goat Herders in Chile Confront Climate Change

    - Inter Press Service

    OVALLE, Chile, Mar 21 (IPS) - Chile's goat tradition began in 1544. Now, despite a prolonged drought, the women herders are adapting it to climate change and producing award-winning cheese.Women goat herders in the municipality of Ovalle, in northern Chile, are confronting climate change by defending their heritage through improvements in the quality and variety of their products, which has led some to win international awards for their cheeses.

  3. Civil Society: The Last Line of Defence in a World of Cascading Crises

    - Inter Press Service

    MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay / LONDON, Mar 20 (IPS) - In a world of overlapping crises, from brutal conflicts and democratic regression to climate breakdown and astronomic levels of economic inequality, one vital force stands as a shield and solution: civil society. This is the sobering but ultimately hopeful message of CIVICUS’s 14th annual State of Civil Society Report, which provides a wide-ranging civil society perspective on the state of the world as it stands in early 2025.

  4. International Day of Forests: ‘Now is the time for decisive, collaborative action’

    - Inter Press Service

    SRINAGAR, Mar 20 (IPS) - The Forest Declaration Assessment Partners have called for urgent reforms to the international financial system to halt deforestation and protect biodiversity. It has also pitched for redirecting the public subsidies to mitigate the direct and indirect environmental risks from both public and private finance.

  5. Free societies are good for business says UN rights chief, wrapping up visit to Kyrgyzstan

    - UN News

    Respect for human rights is not only a moral obligation but a necessity for economic stability, the UN’s top human rights official said on Thursday, during a visit to the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.

  6. Argentina is Experiencing an Oil Boom, with Bright Spots and Shadows

    - Inter Press Service

    BUENOS AIRES, Mar 19 (IPS) - For about three years now, Argentines have been hearing almost every month that oil production is breaking new records. Looking ahead, the country is projected to become a major global supplier of what remains the most sought-after energy source. 

  7. Pioneering Sustainable Energy Solutions in Africa

    - Inter Press Service

    LONDON, Mar 18 (IPS) - The 12th Sankalp Africa Summit, held on Feb 26-27 in Nairobi, brought together a pivotal cohort of start-up innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers to accelerate the innovation needed to enhance Africa’s energy transition.

  8. Funding Disruptions Are a Systemic Failure – Philanthropy Must Do What’s Right and Support Local Leadership

    - Inter Press Service

    SORIA, Spain, Mar 17 (IPS) - The slashing of US aid funding by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and cuts or planned cuts in international support by several European states, threaten to cut off the oxygen supply to a civil society already in a critical condition. At CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, activists and grassroots groups have shared with us time and again that shifting and volatile donor priorities are one of the top funding challenges they face, alongside limited resources for strategy and restricted funding.

  9. Papua New Guinea: Years of Environmental Clean Up Ahead Following New Report on Abandoned Bougainville Mine

    - Inter Press Service

    LONDON, Mar 17 (IPS) - Local communities are finally witnessing progress in their mission for justice, 36 years after the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guinea's Autonomous Region of Bougainville became the centre of landowner grievances about environmental damage.

  10. WTO: Standing Tall as the Winds Howl

    - Inter Press Service

    BRUSSELS/ GENEVA, Mar 17 (IPS) - Winds are also changing in trade policy. As they get rougher and more unpredictable, the much-criticised multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has so far proved surprisingly resilient. Paradoxically, Donald Trump’s tariff policy could actually strengthen the WTO.

  11. More stories…

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Issues in depth

Latest

Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction

Many are afraid that tackling climate change is going to be too costly. But increasingly, studies are showing action will not just be cheaper than inaction, but could actually result in economic, environmental and even health benefits, while improving sustainability.

Read “Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction” to learn more.

Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction

The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing.

Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.

This section looks at what causes climate change, what the impacts are and where scientific consensus currently is.

Read “Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction” to learn more.

COP20—Lima Climate Conference

An overview of the Climate Change Conference (also known as COP 20), held in Lima, Peru in December 2014.

While it seemed like it was a successful meeting, because developing nations were committed to drawing up their own plans for emissions reductions for the first time, a number of important issues were left undecided such as how financing would work.

This page is an overview of the Lima Climate conference.

Read “COP20—Lima Climate Conference” to learn more.

Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

An overview of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa that has been described by the World Health Organization as the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease.

The epidemic began at the end of 2013, in Guinea. From there it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. Many of the affected countries face enormous challenges in stopping its spread and providing care for all patients.

Thousands of people have died and many are at risk as the fatality rate from this virus is very high. As the crisis worsens, as well as the enormous health challenges involved, the social and economic consequences may set these countries back, reversing some gains a number of these countries have made in recent years.

Read “Ebola Outbreak in West Africa” to learn more.

Foreign Aid for Development Assistance

In 1970, the world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their gross national income as official international development aid, annually.

Since that time, billions have certainly been given each year, but rarely have the rich nations actually met their promised target.

For example, the US is often the largest donor in dollar terms, but ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated 0.7% target.

Net ODA in dollars and percent of GNI

Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations. Common criticisms, for many years, of foreign aid, have included the following:

  • Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countries
  • Most aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most
  • Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products
  • Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away.

This article explores who has benefited most from this aid, the recipients or the donors.

Read “Foreign Aid for Development Assistance” to learn more.

Nature and Animal Conservation

Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves.

Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other challenges are making conservation a struggle.

Read “Nature and Animal Conservation” to learn more.

More updates

Most Popular

Poverty Facts and Stats

Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.

80% of the world population lived on less than $10 a day in 2005

The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.

By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy, compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering.

Some facts and figures on poverty presented in this page are eye-openers, to say the least.

Read “Poverty Facts and Stats” to learn more.

Global Financial Crisis

Following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble — global in scope — burst, even causing some of the world’s largest financial institutions have collapsed. With the resulting recession, many governments of the wealthiest nations in the world have resorted to extensive bail-out and rescue packages for the remaining large banks and financial institutions while imposing harsh austerity measures on themselves.

Some of the bail-outs have also led to charges of hypocrisy due to the apparent socializing of the costs while privatizing the profits. Furthermore, the institutions being rescued are typically the ones got the world into this trouble in the first place. For smaller businesses and poorer people, such options for bail out and rescue are rarely available when they find themselves in crisis.

Plummeting stock markets at one point wiped out 33% of the value of companies, $14.5 trillion. Taxpayers bailed out their banks and financial institutions with large amounts of money. US taxpayers alone have spent some $9.7 trillion in bailout packages and plans. The UK and other European countries have also spent some $2 trillion on rescues and bailout packages. More is expected. Much more.

Such numbers, made quickly available, are enough to wipe many individual’s mortgages, or clear out third world debt many times over. Even the high military spending figures are dwarfed by the bailout plans to date.

Taxpayers are paying for some of the largests costs in history

This problem could have been averted (in theory) as people had been pointing to these issues for decades. However, during boom, very few want to hear such pessimism. Does this crisis spell an end to the careless forms of banking and finance and will it herald a better economic age, or are we just doomed to keep forgetting history and repeat these mistakes in the future? Signs are not encouraging as rich nations are resisting meaningful reform…

Read “Global Financial Crisis” to learn more.

Causes of Poverty

Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.

Read “Causes of Poverty” to learn more.

Climate Change and Global Warming

The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.

This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.

Read “Climate Change and Global Warming” to learn more.

Environmental Issues

Environmental issues are also a major global issue. Humans depend on a sustainable and healthy environment, and yet we have damaged the environment in numerous ways. This section introduces other issues including biodiversity, climate change, animal and nature conservation, population, genetically modified food, sustainable development, and more.

Read “Environmental Issues” to learn more.

Racism

Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. Racism and discrimination have been used as powerful weapons encouraging fear or hatred of others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns. This article explores racism from around the world.

Read “Racism” to learn more.

More articles

Topical

Global Financial Crisis

Following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble — global in scope — burst, even causing some of the world’s largest financial institutions have collapsed. With the resulting recession, many governments of the wealthiest nations in the world have resorted to extensive bail-out and rescue packages for the remaining large banks and financial institutions while imposing harsh austerity measures on themselves.

Some of the bail-outs have also led to charges of hypocrisy due to the apparent socializing of the costs while privatizing the profits. Furthermore, the institutions being rescued are typically the ones got the world into this trouble in the first place. For smaller businesses and poorer people, such options for bail out and rescue are rarely available when they find themselves in crisis.

Plummeting stock markets at one point wiped out 33% of the value of companies, $14.5 trillion. Taxpayers bailed out their banks and financial institutions with large amounts of money. US taxpayers alone have spent some $9.7 trillion in bailout packages and plans. The UK and other European countries have also spent some $2 trillion on rescues and bailout packages. More is expected. Much more.

Such numbers, made quickly available, are enough to wipe many individual’s mortgages, or clear out third world debt many times over. Even the high military spending figures are dwarfed by the bailout plans to date.

Taxpayers are paying for some of the largests costs in history

This problem could have been averted (in theory) as people had been pointing to these issues for decades. However, during boom, very few want to hear such pessimism. Does this crisis spell an end to the careless forms of banking and finance and will it herald a better economic age, or are we just doomed to keep forgetting history and repeat these mistakes in the future? Signs are not encouraging as rich nations are resisting meaningful reform…

Read “Global Financial Crisis” to learn more.

Climate Change and Global Warming

The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.

This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.

Read “Climate Change and Global Warming” to learn more.

Food and Agriculture Issues

Food and agriculture goes to the heart of our civilizations. Religions, cultures and even modern civilization have food and agriculture at their core. For an issue that goes to the heart of humanity it also has its ugly side.

This issue explores topics ranging from the global food crisis of 2008, to issues of food aid, world hunger, food dumping and wasteful agriculture such as growing tobacco, sugar, beef, and more.

Read “Food and Agriculture Issues” to learn more.

Foreign Aid for Development Assistance

In 1970, the world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their gross national income as official international development aid, annually.

Since that time, billions have certainly been given each year, but rarely have the rich nations actually met their promised target.

For example, the US is often the largest donor in dollar terms, but ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated 0.7% target.

Net ODA in dollars and percent of GNI

Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations. Common criticisms, for many years, of foreign aid, have included the following:

  • Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countries
  • Most aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most
  • Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products
  • Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away.

This article explores who has benefited most from this aid, the recipients or the donors.

Read “Foreign Aid for Development Assistance” to learn more.

Tax Avoidance and Tax Havens; Undermining Democracy

Through tax havens, transfer pricing and many other policies — both legal and illegal — billions of dollars of tax are avoided. The much-needed money would helped developing (and developed) countries provide important social services for their populations.

Some tax avoidance, regardless of how morally objectionable it may be to some people, is perfectly legal, and the global super elite are able to hide away trillions of dollars, resulting in massive losses of tax revenues for cash-strapped governments who then burden ordinary citizens further with austerity measures during economic crisis, for example. Yet these super elite are often very influential in politics and business. In effect, they are able to undermine democracy and capitalism at the same time.

As the global financial crisis has affected many countries, tackling tax avoidance would help target those more likely to have contributed to the problem while avoid many unnecessary austerity measures that hit the poorest so hard. But despite rhetoric stating otherwise, it does not seem to high on the agenda of many governments as you might think.

Read “Tax Avoidance and Tax Havens; Undermining Democracy” to learn more.

World Military Spending

World military spending had reduced since the Cold War ended, but a few nations such as the US retain high level spending.

In recent years, global military expenditure has increased again and is now comparable to Cold War levels. Recent data shows global spending at over $1.7 trillion. 2012 saw the first dip in spending — only slightly —since 1998, in an otherwise rising trend.

After a decline following the end of the Cold War, recent years have seen military spending increase

The highest military spender is the US accounting for almost two-fifths of the world’s spending, more than the rest of the G7 (most economically advanced countries) combined, and more than all its potential enemies, combined.

Read “World Military Spending” to learn more.

More issues

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.” — Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom