Topic: Poverty and hunger
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – myth 3: slums are places of crime, violence and social degradation
Report / 8th December 2010A corollary of the myth that the poor are to blame for their poverty is the widespread prejudice against slums as places of social degradation and despair, and against slum residents as perpetrators of violence and crime...
The seven myths of ‘slums’ – myth 4: slums are an inevitable stage of development
Report / 8th December 2010There is an underlying assumption to much of the debate surrounding slums and urban poverty: that the urban poor will get to our standard of living eventually, and countries of the South will rise to the same level of material affluence as the industrialised North, just so long as...
Rethinking the global economy: the case for sharing
Article / 25th November 2010The basic assumptions about human nature that inform economic and political decision-making are long outdated and fundamentally flawed. By acknowledging our interdependence and common ethical values, we can build a more sustainable, cooperative and inclusive global economy.
Sharing the world’s resources – an introduction
Report / 26th October 2010A sustainable global economy fit for the 21st Century must be based on a new ethical framework that reflects and supports humanity’s interdependence. The process of economic sharing can ensure that the world’s essential resources, goods and services are made accessible to all, according to a new brief by Share The World’s Resources.
Rebuilding local economies: a shift in priorities
Article / 20th October 2010The grassroots movement for economic localisation represents a positive and practical response to the challenges of food insecurity, climate change, peak oil and financial instability. Governments should support this alternative vision for sustainable, human-scale development, writes Anna White.
‘Health for all’: the second dawn
Article / 22nd July 2010It may seem that the goal of universal primary health care - in which state capacities are strengthened to ensure the rapid expansion of free publicly-provided health services - is further away than ever before. But there are many signs that the ideal of 'health for all' is making a second resurgence, writes Adam Parsons.
International call for food reserves sign-on letter
News / 17th May 2010Food reserves are a valuable tool in addressing the structural causes of hunger. In a joint letter with concerned civil society groups worldwide, STWR calls on governments and institutions to put the issue of reserves at the centre of their policy considerations.
Overcoming free market apathy
Article / 13th May 2010Despite the oft-repeated claim that ‘there is no alternative', today’s market society is neither natural nor inevitable. Acknowledging and exploring other forms of economic organisation may be the most powerful form of resistance to the status quo, argues Alexia Eastwood.
Development and its discontents
Article / 26th April 2010After decades of failing to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, the aid industry is bigger than ever. Is it time for some serious soul-searching on the value of ‘development’? A review of Rasna Warah's 'Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits', by Anna White.
Do we care about urban poverty?
Article / 1st April 2010While the United Nations recently claimed victory for the Millennium Development Goal on slums, the global population of slum-dwellers continues to grow. It is time for governments and civil society to give the problem of urban poverty the attention it deserves.