Finance : Major crisis, minor reforms (PRIV)
(Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Kuala Lumpur)
The 2008-2009 financial breakdown, precipitated by the US housing mortgage crisis, has triggered an extended stagnation in the developed economies, initially postponed in much of the developing world by high primary commodity prices until 2014.

United Nations : New mandate for LGBTI rights at the UN (PRIV)
(IPS, Geneva)
The first-ever independent UN expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Thai lawyer Vitit Muntarbhorn, has already begun the process of open and transparent consultations with individuals, social organizations and States, although some of them still object to the mandate.

United Nations : Radio - the original social media (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
With less than half the world's population online, radio continues to be the world's most widely accessible source of news and information.

Latin America : A leading influence in the global fight against hunger (PRIV)
(IPS, Santiago/Rio de Janeiro)
A model for fighting against hunger and malnutrition with a global reach which has been successful within and outside the region has spread worldwide, first from Brazil and then from Latin America, notes a distinction given to the current Director-General of FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation), Jose Graziano da Silva.

Development : Every year 700 million people fall ill from contaminated food (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
It may sound like an endless tale of seven modern plagues: mad cows, avian flu, lead-poisoned fish, swine fever, desert locusts being the most dangerous of migratory pests, let alone new, aggressive rust threatening entire wheat crops in three continents, just to mention a few.

Latin America : Agroecology booming in Argentina (PRIV)
(IPS, Buenos Aires)
Organic agriculture is rapidly expanding in Argentina, the leading agroecological producer in Latin America and second in the world after Australia, as part of a backlash against a model that has disappointed producers and is starting to worry consumers.