IRIN: Rethinking urban poverty

Drawing on 20 years of research, a new book, Urban Poverty in the Global South: Scale and Nature, “documents how the scale and depth of urban poverty in Africa, and much of Asia and Latin America, is greatly underestimated due to ‘inappropriate’ definitions and measurements,” according to the United Nations’ news agency, IRIN.  “Almost all official measurements of urban poverty are also made with no dialogue with those who live in poverty and who struggle to live with inadequate incomes,” according to the book’s summary.  “It is always experts’ judgment that identifies those who are ‘poor’ who may then ‘targeted’ by some program; at best, they become ‘objects’ of government policy, which may bring some improvement in conditions, but they are rarely seen as citizens with rights and legitimate demands who also have resources and capabilities that can contribute much to more effective poverty reduction programs.”

pulitzercenter:

How many mining conflicts are there in Latin America? And what about? An interactive map.

univisionnews:

Where do all the drugs end up? In the most important consumer market, the United States.

By MANUEL RUEDA

Did you know that the Tijuana Cartel distributes drugs in LA, while the Gulf Cartel takes care of business in Dallas?

Read More

fotojournalismus:

Librada Martinez, a member of the Ava Guarani ethnic group, scuffled with police officers who worked to clear a square in Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. People have been occupying the square, demanding government aid.

[Credit : Jorge Saenz/Associated Press]

wfp:

More Than 9 million In Sahel Face Food Crisis —Reuters

More than 9 million people in five countries in Africa’s Sahel region face food crisis next year, following low rainfall, poor harvests, high food prices, and a drop in remittances from migrants. WFP estimates between 5-7 million people…

The Chiquita Papers

The National Security Archives reveals:

Confidential internal memos from Chiquita Brands International that show “the banana giant benefited from its payments to Colombian paramilitary and guerrilla groups, contradicting the company’s 2007 plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors, which claimed that the company had never received ‘any actual security services or actual security equipment in exchange for the payments.’”

The files reveal:

Evidence of Quid Pro Quo with Guerrilla, Paramilitary Groups Contradicts 2007 Plea Deal

Colombian Military Officials Encouraged, Facilitated Company’s Payments to Death Squads

To read more than 5,500 Pages of Chiquita Records published online by National Security Archive, click here