STWR - Share The World's Resources

Jeffrey Sachs' influential proposals for ending poverty lack an acknowledgement of the ongoing plunder of Africa’s resources by corporations and governments. To tackle impoverishment, development assistance must focus on justice rather than aid, argues Jason Hickel.

Expert panellists and film director Philippe Diaz discuss the structural causes of poverty and suggest possible solutions at the UK premiere of ‘The End of Poverty?’ on 12th December 2009. The event was coordinated by STWR and the British Film Institute (BFI).

Fighting against the imbalance in the world, in his book the ‘Hatred of the West' Jean Ziegler calls for a new social contract based on global solidarity and dialogue between the South and the West. Interview conducted by Cathy Ceiba.

The economic freedom promised through the liberalisation of market forces has, in reality, resulted in a freedom for the very few and a contradiction of the promise that increased wealth will be shared - demanding a reframing of the concepts of 'democracy' and 'human rights', says Adam W. Parsons.

The World Bank's latest poverty figures underline the fact that globalisation has been largely ineffective at either reducing the burgeoning ranks of the world's poor, or including this vast swathe of the global population into the mainstream economy, writes Adam W. Parsons.

As if to demonstrate that poverty is now a residual issue in the world, the poor are being slowly eliminated from the imagery of the busy global media.

In its most recent World Economic Outlook even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dealt with the issue of "globalisation and inequality". In the last two decades, according to the IMF, income inequality has increased in most regions and in most countries worldwide.