By Vince Caruana

In recent years a number of NGOs in Malta have held meetings with local policy-makers to urge their support in the fight against global poverty. Although one risks running into over-generalisation and simplification, it is sound to assume that ordinary citizens are willing to work to end global poverty.

It is very common to learn about young people and others who are volunteering their time and participating in development cooperation activities in their own free time and using their own resources. They are often silent witnesses of the power of collective efforts to improve the lives of fellow humans around the world. While every country can only work in relation to its size, NGOs are asking policy-makers to work together with them and support them on issues such as providing access to basic education for all children, everywhere, and access to primary health.

By Vince Caruana

The definition of micro-credit was adopted following the Micro-credit Summit held in February 1997. Micro-credit refers to programmes that extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families.

Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank - a pioneering micro-credit initiative - is quoted as having said: "One dollar, two dollars can make such a difference in a life. Before starting Grameen, we made a list of 42 people who needed a total of only $27, less than one dollar apiece. That was my biggest shock. How can people suffer for want of such small sums of money?"

by Vince Caruana

Have we ever wondered where our banks invest in? Or will not invest in? Do we know if they have a list of criteria which deals with issues such as human rights, the arms trade, the environment, fair trade and animal testing?

In 1995 the magazine Maxim carried a story about how its reporters tried to open high-street bank accounts for four unsavoury (and fictitious) organisations. Only one bank turned away all the applicants, which included a white supremacist party, a magazine for drug dealers and a company dealing in chemical weapons.

by Vince Caruana

Whatever one's view of whether globalization is an overall good thing or an overall bad thing, almost everyone admits that there have been both winners and losers.

According to Carol Wills of the International Federation of Alternative Trade, among the losers are the "millions of traditional artisans, small farmers, and fisherfolk that have lost their livelihoods as a result of their markets being flooded with cheap factory made substitutes for what has traditionally been made by hand in the villages, or because they cannot afford the fertilisers required by the new high-yield strains of rice or because the price of coffee on the world market has sunk to a thirty year low which does not meet the cost of production, or because the fishing fleets of rich countries are going further and further from home and closer and closer to the shore in their pursuit of a catch".

by Vince Caruana

Fair trade takes an appreciative approach. It rejects the portrayal of cultures and communities in largely negative terms. For example Africa, due to its huge economic problems and regional conflicts, is often portrayed in highly negative terms by the media. Instead, fair trade portrays cultures and communities as having within them the capacity to enrich and enhance the quality of life. In taking an appreciative approach, fair trade also brings about a greater insight into the ideas and moral values that say, African artists express in their art.

By Vince Caruana

The basic principles of social justice advocate that the millions of people in developing countries who are marginalised, excluded and alienated need be brought back into the mainstream of active citizens.

Every single person is entitled to the basics of food, shelter and other necessities and more. However it is not enough just for people to survive, but rather to flourish and feel and that they are flourishing. Where unjust inequalities exist, they should be reduced and thereafter eliminated. One tool to do so is improved market access for poor people. However rich countries often take a view that goes against the basic principles of social justice.

By Vince Caruana

A woman holds a candle as she participates in a celebration of the collapse of talks at the Cancun World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting on Sunday.

European non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) working closely with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the south know that the conventional wisdom that liberalisation will lead to growth, which will in turn lead to poverty reduction, does not go unchallenged by poor nations. In fact these NGDOs often report that for consumers in developing countries, price stability is as important as the cost of goods, and consumers expect their governments to set up storage systems so that prices remain more stable throughout the year.

By Vince Caruana, Fair Trade Cooperative

While the USA puts enormous pressure on weak countries to open their markets to American goods, threatening to reduce aid and support if they don't, it pumps in equally enormous subsidies to American industries. This policy is in part responsible for keeping many millions of Africans below the poverty line.

Cotton is a case in point - farmers in the USA now receive 70 cents per pound of cotton as direct subsidies. This amounts to a lot more than the amount paid by the US government as overseas aid to the whole of Africa.

Fair Trade

by Vince Caruana

About half the population in Central America lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for its livelihood.

Free trade does not always live up to its promises of economic development for all, as the 15 million small farmers in Mexico who have lost significant income under a free trade agreement between Mexico, the US and Canada can testify.

By Vince Caruana

Guiding principles for the improvement of working conditions can be found in conventions issued by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and international principles regarding fundamental rights in the workplace.

These principles include freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, no discrimination of any kind, no forced or slave labour, a minimum employment age of 15, safety and health measures, a working week of 48 hours maximum and voluntary overtime of 12 hours maximum, a right to a decent wage and establishment of the employment relationship.