By Adele Poskitt, gay rights activist and Senior Policy Officer for CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
May 17 marks the International Day against Homophobia, and naturally the call continues to reverberate amongst world leaders: “End the Discrimination” on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Yet, at the same time, there are a frightening [...]

By Mandeep S.Tiwana, policy manager, CIVICUS: World Alliance for
Citizen Participation
 
Recently, the South African Parliament hosted a seminar on the ‘Role
of Legislatures in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs).
One of the topics under discussion by lawmakers was the role of South
Africa in harnessing aid and global partnerships for development in
Africa.
 
A question that immediately comes to mind [...]

by Charles Abugre, Deputy Director for Africa United Nations Millennium Campaign
Most countries in Africa are not on course to meet most of the targets set out in the Millennium Development goals, but on the level of policy, the goals have forced African governments to more seriously address their roles in alleviating poverty on the continent [...]

By Michele Ruiters*
Recent correspondence about the Regional Poverty Reduction framework from the Southern African Development Community Secretariat, raised the following question: “Are these the issues the SADC region should be asking to eradicate poverty?”
The SADC RPRF aims to align national poverty reduction programmes to regional interventions and identifies a number of cross-cutting issues that exacerbate [...]

By Martin Fisher, social psychologist, FASfacts
In South Africa, alcohol has become a socio-economic issue, woven into the very fabric of our social thinking, economic transactions and planning for the future health of our developing society. When used with care and responsibility, its presence is benign and often pleasurable. When used without consciousness, it becomes a [...]

by Josee Koch, policy and knowledge adviser, and John Rook, policy coordinator, Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP) South Africa
Macro-economic analysis confirms that the key driver to Africa’s solid economic growth over the last decade has been trade. But the impact of the global financial crisis has threatened trade. This has been shown by the [...]

by Petronella Mugoni
The most well-intentioned efforts to manage the HIV pandemic and lower HIV transmission rates cannot be addressed unless the role played by harmful cultural practices and gender-based violence, particularly violence against women, is being addressed. This is a growing realisation among those implementing programmers and providing services in the humanitarian and developmental sectors.

Because [...]

by Liepollo Pheko, senior policy consultant
The prevailing trade paradigm presupposes the existence of equal power relations, of equal access to resources and equal voice in economic agenda setting. The ascendance of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 as the overarching body has given rise to continued discussions, detailing the historical and structural inequities that [...]

by Muna Lakhani, director, Institute for Zero Waste in Africa
Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) are a worthy list of what must be done in the world as a matter of urgency. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find anyone who does not support those goals. But are the indicators used to measure the MDGs real, [...]

By Pam Picken, director of TREE (Training & Resources in Early Education)
International research confirms that the first six years of life are a critical period of children’s growth and development. They form the foundation for achievement of individual potential. To achieve this, we must meet young children’s rights to survival, protection, development and participation. In [...]

by Sally-Jean Shackleton*
Across the globe, women’s rights defenders have been campaigning for an end to violence against women. South Africa is no exception. Workshops, launches, exhibitions, training events and celebrations take place across the country and the region, intensifying during national and global campaigns, such as the 16 Days of Activism to end Violence Against [...]

By Mona Frøystad, researcher, Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU)
Namibia’s subsidy programme, aimed at enhancing food security in the country, falls short of adequate and long-term planning. Agricultural interventions, such as these, are a challenging balancing act between protecting jobs in the sector and providing cheaper, imported food.
It costs more [...]

By Patrick Bond, director, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Two statements about the global economy released earlier this week — from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and United Nations (UN) — leave a strong impression that Millennium Development Goal (MDG) advocacy is just not working. On the back [...]

by Rebecca Hodes, head of policy, communication and research, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
Southern Africa is often referred to as the ‘epicentre’ of the global HIV epidemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that by the end of 2007, 33.2 million people were living with HIV, two thirds of whom were residing in [...]

By Françoise Le Goff
In 1972, as global markets collapsed and the world fell into recession, humanitarian budgets fell by 15 percent. In the early nineties, as the world teetered on the brink of economic breakdown, aid fell into a five-year decline that saw 25 percent of development and emergency spending slashed [...]