Economy

Despite a number of attempts from different sectors, poverty in Nepal is still a rampant phenomenon and the country remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

By Harris Zargar

Despite various efforts, child labour in India is still a common practice. Poverty forces children to seek jobs in undisclosed service sector and many are forced into prostitution, while many other become victims of human trafficking.

By Winston Mwale Leaders from 26 East and Southern African countries are meeting in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe to make final touches to an agreement that may see the formation of what could prove to be Africa's largest free trade area.The proposed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is touted to improve the economic and social welfare of the citizens of the COMESA-EAC-SADC region.

“That’s not to say that microfinance won’t help the very poor, rather that there needs to be a recognition that microfinance isn’t the only thing that can work", argues Oxford Microfinance Initiative’s President Vicente Solera Deuchar.

Sanja Ivandić After suffering some of the most degrading and cruel aspects of the war, twenty years ago, women of all nationalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have managed to stay equally interested in the country's development, to invest in their education, to develop the most creative ways of self-employment through rural agriculture, crafts, arts, as well as to become change-makers through civil society initiatives.

By Deanna Morris Microlending programs have been around for 25+ years and as new players have entered the market creating even more competition, interest rates still remain high, which begs the question: is increased competition spurring greed and encouraging investment in microfinance for the wrong reasons?

By Rajendra Senchurey Nepal’s counterparts in Asia have progressed dramatically in these decades. But since the advent of multiparty democracy, Nepal has not achieved anything significant. Quite surprisingly, in terms of economic progress, Nepal exhibits the characters of a Sub-Saharan economy. Then what is the cause of Nepal’s stagnation?

Janakpur Handicraft Centre supports economically backward women in Nepal by giving them training, employment and other opportunities to get empowered.

By Lykke Andersen A lousy little loan, which seemed like a good idea at the time, doomed Micky to a life in extreme poverty and heavy indebtedness, while Savvy, who couldn’t get a loan, did very well. So, if you thought micro credit will help solve the problem of poverty, you might want to do a bit of math to understand the astonishing power of compound interest.

The goal of the buddy system is not the artificial redistribution of wealth from the wealthier to the poorer countries. The goal is to facilitate interaction and exchange between the buddy countries on different levels, from administration to citizen initiatives.