“We need more defiant optimism in the face of adversity,” declared Jagmeet Singh, Leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, in giving the Bell Lecture at Carleton University in Ottawa on April 30, 2024. “I learned from my mother that the phrase for that is Chardi Kala.” Mr. Singh also recounted the ways in which his…(Read more)
Category: News
ILO Defines and Promotes A Living Wage
Following an expert consultation in early 2024, the International Labour Organization recently published its definition of a living wage. “A living wage is a level of pay that gives workers and their families a decent standard of living. This includes being able to afford basic needs such as food, housing, healthcare, education, transport and clothing”…(Read more)
Ghana’s Supreme Court to Consider Anti-LGBTQ+ Law
Following the recent passing by both main political parties in Parliament of a bill that cruelly criminalizes Ghanaians who identify as LGBTQ+ persons and anyone promoting gender diverse lifestyles, the country’s President has asked Ghana’s Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the bill. The Minister of Finance has warned that the country could…(Read more)
Combatting Gender-Based Violence through Investment
“Corporate leaders and investors have been slow to treat violence against women as a major risk and mitigate accordingly,” argues Singapore-based SWEEF Capital in the latest webinar in its Gender ROI Insight series. GBV in the workplace can range from aggressive language and financial coercion to physical injury and sexual assault. Focusing on survivor-centred approaches,…(Read more)
Florida farmworkers set heat-safety standards in the US
Farmworkers in the Fair Food Program, the award-winning initiative of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers based in southwest Florida, have negotiated heat-safety rules on FFP farms that are judged to be the best in American agriculture. Under this scheme, “every worker takes a 10-minute break every two hours during the hottest part of the year.…(Read more)
CAIDP Conference 2024 A Success
The 2024 conference of the Canadian Association of International Development Professionals in partnership with the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University was held from February 20 to 22 in Ottawa and online. The theme of the conference was Development Cooperation in a Time of Geopolitical Instability. The event featured excellent keynote addresses…(Read more)
Financial Solutions to the Marine Plastics Crisis in East Asia and the Pacific
A recent post by the International Finance Corporation highlighted an investment by Circulate Capital, a Singapore-based climate fund, in Union J Plus in Thailand, “a women-owned and led company that collects and recycles large volumes of domestic plastic waste in Thailand and converts it primarily into premium, food-grade polyolefin plastic”. The injection of capital “will…(Read more)
International Women’s Day 2024
UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day 2024, on March 8, 2024, is Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress. Key areas of action, the agency says, include investing in gender equality as “the greatest human right challenge”; ending poverty; implementing gender-responsive financing; shifting to a green economy and care society; and supporting feminist changemakers. For more…(Read more)
Disrupting Trust Fund Madness
In this opinion piece, Ted Jackson argues that multilateral development banks incentivize their staff for continuous and relentless fundraising to fill the coffers of their ever-increasing number of trust funds. Instead, MDB staff should be rewarded for reducing poverty and making communities fairer, cleaner, and safer on the ground in the Global South. Access the…(Read more)
US Department of Agriculture Prioritizes Worker-Driven Social Responsibility
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced its new Farm Labor Stabilization and Protections (FLSP) Pilot Program to address human rights violations against migrant farmworkers and to maintain a stable agricultural workforce. Under this pilot, employers that improve conditions in their supply chain through the protections of a worker-driven social responsibility program—like the Fair Food…(Read more)