By Sam Pizzigati* WASHINGTON, D.C. | 10 July 2024 (IDN) — Ever wonder why the divide between the world’s richest and everybody else keeps getting wider? Gabriel Zucman, one of the world’s finest young economists, has just produced a report that riffs on one key reason: Our super rich pay next to nothing in taxes. […]
Financing Africa: Where Is the Money? – A New Report
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 9 July 2024 (IDN) — “Don’t take Africa for granted.” Those are the words of Mohamed “Mo” Ibrahim, head of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that provides an African voice on current global challenges. Founded in 2006, with headquarters in London and Dakar, Senegal, the foundation works […]
Gen Z Takes Over the Streets in Kenya, Blocking Unpopular Finance Bill
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 1 July 2024 (IDN) — In a move that surprised observers, Kenya’s President William Ruto has agreed to scrap a highly controversial finance bill that sparked two days of police violence against mostly young protesters demonstrating against unaffordable tax increases. Ruto said he would seek new […]
Need for a Real Change of Corporate Culture at the World Bank Group
By Simone Galimberti KATHMANDU | 21 June 2024 (IDN) — Since taking over the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga has been trying hard to bring bold and profound changes. Such plans were at the centre of the discussions at the third meeting of 21st Replenishment process of the International Development Association, IDA, the grant and […]
UN Keen to Tackle Global Refugee Crisis and Statelessness
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 16 June 2024 (IDN) — While the European focus is on the Russo-Ukrainian war, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is concerned about those crossing terrain such as deserts and seas without adequate resources to escape war, poverty, or climate catastrophe—often at risk of losing their lives or […]
First Korea-Africa Summit Paves Way for A New Era of Cooperation
By Taro Ichikawa TOKYO | SEOUL | 6 June 2024 (IDN) — Three decades after Japan organised the First International Conference on African Development (TICAD)—in collaboration with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC), and the World Bank—its immediate neighbour and former colony (South) Korea convened its first […]
Wealth of Nations and the Poverty of Theory: Debt Restructuring as Rocket Science
By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake* COLOMBO | 26 May 2024 (IDN) — Calls for divestment from BlackRock and other International Sovereign Bonds (ISB), have echoed across Columbia, Yale and many non-Ivy League universities in the United States recently. BlackRock is heavily invested in weapons companies fueling a genocidal war in Palestine. However, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF), […]
The Automated Fortress Europe: No Place For Human Rights
By Fabio Chiusi* The writer is a Research Associate at the AlgorithmWatch NGO TURIN, Italy | 24 May 2024 (IDN) — 29,000 people have died in the Mediterranean over the past ten years while trying to reach the EU. You would think that the EU wanted this tragedy to stop and scientists across Europe were […]
Low-Income Countries Face Worst Debt Crisis Ever, says New Report
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 23 May 2024 (IDN) — A new report on global economic governance says low-income countries are faced with the worst debt crisis they have ever encountered. Currently, debt service eats up over 50 per cent of public revenue in Kenya; over 60 per cent in Morocco and over 70 […]
A Sustainable Future Must Respect Indigenous Peoples’ Worldviews
By Dario José Mejía Montalvo* The writer is Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues NEW YORK | 1 April 2024 (IDN) — The recent sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) have addressed crucial issues and persistent and emerging challenges for the realization of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. For […]