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by Nina Somera*

The past few months have seen a series of announcement of national recession and debates on bail-out packages in salvaging big corporations and industries. Indeed hard times are ahead with the increasing number of vacant houses, lay-offs, and filing of bankruptcy.

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By Nina Somera

Recent years have seen the reawakening of the sleeping dragon that is China. The fireworks which brightened Beijing’s skyline in the last Olympic games seemed to further herald the rebirth of a powerhouse.

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by Nina Somera

Achievements of DOHA
It is widely known that there was a big frustration among women's movements and gender equality advocates from the gender blind text of the Monterrey consensus. The Doha Review Conference text totally turned this around. If there is a small gain that social movements obtained, it is certainly in the area of gender. But the victory on the gender front is actually a bitter sweet victory. Because many of the fundamental changes on the macroeconomic systemic changes and financial issues were not addressed. Overall, the text was a big disappointment even while within it, there were many substantive references to gender as well as to some counter cyclical policies. Governments could have been more decisive towards alternative economic governance systems where finance capitalism can be disciplined but they elected not to do so.

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Yogyakarta, Indonesia - “The burden of poverty is the heaviest on women. Poverty and loss of freedom are not separate. Until poor remain powerless, poverty cannot be removed. The poor themselves need to be the planners, users, managers and owners of the poverty alleviation meant for them.”

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Statement by the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe and International Fellowship of Reconciliation

Zimbabwe is going through an unprecedented political and humanitarian crisis which is deepening and accelerating by the day. The three leaders of political parties signed a deal to form an eighteen months transitional government on the 15th of September 2008. This agreement gives Zimbabwe its first chance in ten years to stop violence and restore socio-economic and political wellbeing.

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Korea has been known as one of East Asia’s newly industrialised countries (NICs). It leaves its national imprint on its steel industry, ship-building, automobiles and other consumer durables. The robust economic activity in the country reflects Korea’s demand for human resources, following the patterns of labour-receiving countries such as Japan and Taiwan.