STWR - Share The World's Resources

Upward trends in inequality and hunger call into question conventional approaches to poverty reduction. Rather than depending on deregulated markets to encourage growth, governments should take a central role in promoting sustainable economic development, argues a report by UNDESA.

Executive excess lies at the heart of the recklessness that brought the United States - and the world - to the brink of economic collapse. Yet compensation packages for top executives remain at levels completely disconnected from any underlying value that they offer to society, says the Institute for Policy Studies.

Despite strong economic growth that produced millions of new jobs since the early 1990s, income inequality grew dramatically in most regions of the world and is expected to increase due to the current global financial crisis, according to a new study by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

After the failure of mainstream strategies to combat the unprecedented financial crisis, rising food prices, climate change and growing inequities, the abandoned principles of social justice and a rights-based approach to development are an essential component of any solution, says a new report by Social Watch.

Recent reports by the United Nations and the OECD highlight increasing levels of global inequality and the socio-economic impact on poor communities. Both reports draw attention to the failure of trickle down economic theory. 

The World Bank's recent estimates on global poverty, particularly in relation to China, are being challenged by an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) which monitors poverty eradication and gender equality: the 2008 Basic Capabilities Index. By Thalif Deen.

Some 220 million people are "on the edge of emergency" in 2008, almost twice as many as in 2006, says a report by CARE released ahead of next week's UN summit to measure progress toward the Millennium Development Goals. By Alison Raphael.