Trade : Ugly dance of global hegemon, source of concern and confusion (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The ugly dance of the global hegemon remains a source of concern as well as confusion. It wants to regenerate industrialization by bringing back all those manufacturing industries that left its shores.

Africa : Another Somalian famine (PRIV)
(Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Kuala Lumpur)
Last month, the United Nations declared another famine threat in Somalia due to yet another drought in the Horn of Africa.

Development : Gender disparity at UN - three out of 71, zero out of nine (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The United Nations has frequently been accused of vociferously preaching gender empowerment and women's rights to the outside world - but failing miserably to practice what it preaches in its own political backyard.

United Nations : Women's progress uneven, facing backlash - UN Rights Chief (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome/Geneva)
"The women's movement has brought about tremendous change but we must also recognise that progress has been slow and extremely uneven and that it also brought its own challenges," warned the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

Africa : At 60, Ghana looks to a future beyond aid (PRIV)
(IPS, Accra)
Ghana turned 60 years old this week. The West African country gained independence from Britain on Mar. 6, 1957, and remains a study in contradictions.