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Peace Loving or Peace Destroying?

July 13, 2011 by Anton Leave a Comment

For the past few weeks now, humanitarian ships are trying to travel to Gaza, but this year it is not only one, but several. Twelve countries in Europe and one ship from the US will be traveling to Gaza in order to alleviate the blockade that Israel is imposing. The European ships carry members of parliaments and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will continue to impose the blockade on Gaza and that these ships will be returned back to where they originated from. This rhetoric is quite similar … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: aid, democracy, EU, Europe, Government, Greece, humanitarian aid, IMF, Israel, law, Middle East, Palestine, Peace, religion, sanctions, security, Turkey, war, water

My Big Fat European Debt Crisis

June 24, 2011 by Rachel Merker 3 Comments

All you need to do is turn on the news to know that Greece is in financial crisis. But with European leaders locked in negotiations over how to rescue the nation's flailing economy and keep the debt emergency from spreading across the Euro zone, the future is anything but clear. And for those of us here in the US, the confusion is just made worse by the economic jargon dominating its media coverage. Read on for a 101 on Greece’s financial woes and what they might mean for the rest of the world. The Anatomy of a Debt Crisis Ten years ago, Greece … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: economy, EU, Europe, financial crisis, IMF, international financial architecture, United States

International Monetary Fund Remodeling

February 7, 2011 by Krystle Corpuz

The International Monetary Fund took unprecedented historical measures to expand the power of emerging market economies by overhauling its own governance structure and increasing the voting power of its developing member nations. The vote was set for November 11 and 12, 2010 and is expected to increase the power of China, Brazil, Russia, and India by allowing them to having voting power and greater access to shareholder rights in the IMF. For once, since IMF’s inception, 65 years go, this change in power will be in favor of developing countries. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: IMF, international financial architecture

Changing the rules of the game: the future of the international financial architecture

October 5, 2010 by Kyle Barron

By Kyle Barron Kyle is one of AIDemocracy’s 2010-2011 Issue Analysts. Find out more about Kyle below or take a look at the Student Issue Analysts. The recent debt crisis in Greece kindled protests against spending cuts and tax increases imposed by the government. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union prescribed these austerity measures as conditions to the aid packages aimed at solving the financial tumult. To the Greek people in the streets the international financial architecture is not just an ambiguous collection of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Hunger Tagged With: global development, IMF, youth

Africans Face Competing Visions of Agricultural Development at a Critical Juncture

July 23, 2010 by Sarah Frazer

A follow up post to the one below, also from the Food First blog. A little long, but well worth it. Africans Face Competing Visions of Agricultural Development at Critical Juncture Posted May 20th, 2010 by rjonasse By Richard Jonasse, Food First A contest of competing visions over the future of Agriculture is playing out across Sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers' organizations are lining up against an aid regime that threatens to swamp smallholders with purported "solutions" to which these farmers have not assented and do not desire. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Hunger Tagged With: agriculture, aid, food sovereignty, IMF, MDGs, transnational corporations, USAID, World Bank, WTO

G20 & the IMF: peddling cosmetic changes while hounded by illegitimacy

October 3, 2009 by Sarah Frazer

If you are at all interested in finance for development, check this out. Post courtesy Choike.org Statement of the WOMEN’S WORKING GROUP ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT * for the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, September 2009 The current G20 meeting in Pittsburgh takes place a year after the outbreak of the worst financial crisis in recent history. That moment left us astonished as we watched powerful governments and the International Financial Institutions scramble to plug a hemorrhaging financial bubble burst in the system of the global market but the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Hunger Tagged With: financial crisis, G20, G8, Gender, IMF, trade, United Nations, WTO

Priva Ha’angandu of Jubilee Zambia Critiques G20 Policies, IMF Lending

September 25, 2009 by Sarah Frazer

One of the speakers present at yesterday's Global/Local Exchange, Priva Ha'angandu, traveled from Zambia to represent the impact of G20 policies on poor countries. While Priva advocated debt forgiveness to those he spoke with, he also warned that countries like Zambia, which are benefiting from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, are forced to adhere to certain conditionalities, such as privatization of public works and financial deregulation, which disadvantage have radically disrupted the country's ability to pay for important human … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Hunger Tagged With: education, G20, healthcare, IMF, privatization, youth leaders

BRIC Countries Gain Stature

May 4, 2009 by Chris Scullin

Hello Everyone! It's good to be back in the game. I have been largely severed from the internet world from several weeks as I traveled across Europe and Northern Africa. I have returned to London, but am still in limbo as I prepare to return to the states. Still, I wanted to make sure this week's edition of the BRIC Roundup got to press! Of course, much has occurred in the past weeks in these nations. The overarching story of the BRIC nations in the past weeks has been one of steadily increasing importance in international affairs as the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Brazil, China, G20, IMF, India, Russia, World Bank

Changes at the IMF: Window dressing or the change we need?

March 31, 2009 by Sarah Frazer

Guest post from Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant at International Labor Rights Forum: As finance ministers from the G-20 nations prepare to meet in London, reports are emerging that Western nations are ready to accept some proposals for an increase in power for developing countries in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Washington Post stated this morning that "the big winner will be the developing world, with the United States, Europe and Japan offering China, India, Brazil and other emerging nations unprecedented new influence in global … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Brazil, China, Cote d'Ivoire, G20, IMF, India

Call for Alternatives to G20 Summit and Stale, Failed Economic Policies

November 20, 2008 by Sarah Frazer

While the expansion of the typical G8 to a G20 was an important first step towards more equal representation in international economic forums, the meeting convened Saturday in D.C. to address the global financial crisis remained fundamentally flawed. First, it excluded the countries most vulnerable and whose citizens will suffer most from its effects. Second, it failed to question the abuses and miscalculations of the institutions that got us here in the first place. In fact, proposed bailout packages redirect power and legitimacy to the same private … [Read more...]