UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: UNEP)

With the Rio2012 Summit approaching, a preparatory meeting in New York last week discussed how to strengthen or create various institutions to deal with the three dimensions of sustainable development, wrote Martin Khor, executive director of South Centre, in his most recent column for The Star, one of the leading Malaysian newspapers, and the South North Development Monitor (SUNS).

Arrest of Nabeel Rajab and other activists on February. (Photo: BCHR)

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) stated this week its grave concern about the arrest of its deputy secretary general, Nabeel Rajab, and the continuing targeting of activists in Bahrain. On May 5th, Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), was arrested after arriving at Manama airport from Lebanon and is currently detained in Al Hawra police station.

Meeting of the Afghanistan Youth Leaders Initiative in Kabul. (Photo: Asia Society)

The NATO Summit to be held later this month in Chicago “is unusual compared to previous summits as it will not reaffirm the allocation of more resources to its mission in Afghanistan, but the alliance will seek how to withdraw from a leading combat role in an increasingly unpopular decade­long war,” remarked the Afghanistan Young Leaders Initiative in a position paper issued last week.

Photo: Social Watch India

Social Watch India organized two half-day workshops, the first on the Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) and the Gender Equity Index (GEI), and the second on National Minorities Commission.

Waiting for gas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Photo: Georges Gobet/Newscom/IMF website)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a loan of one billion dollars to Bangladesh after two years of negotiation. The Equity and Justice Working Group (EquityBD), an alliance of right-based civil society organizations, has continuously and consistently protested it. This is the first loan that the Asian country has taken in seven years.