Around the world, 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, 800 million go to bed hungry every night and 50,000 die every single day. Please help Alternatives and its partners fight hunger by improving food security!
The markets are full of food, but people's plates are empty!
Together, we need to be aware of the socio-economic, geo-political and human challenges in the global fight against hunger.
By supporting Alternatives, you become part of a growing (...) - Fundraising / Le monde entier, Rights and democracy, Access to essential services, campagne

Another American humiliation. The Shia gunmen who drove past my apartment in west Beirut yesterday afternoon were hooting their horns, making V-signs, leaning out of the windows of SUVs with their rifles in the air, proving to the Muslims of the capital that the elected government of Lebanon has lost.
And it has. The national army still patrols the streets, but solely to prevent sectarian killings or massacres. Far from dismantling the pro-Iranian Hizbollah's secret telecommunications (...) - Our Publications / Middle-East, Lebanon, News and analysis

People's Weekly World Newspaper
Iraqi Parliament members from several political blocs went to Baghdad's Sadr City last week hoping to stop the violence that has trapped civilians in the crossfire. The delegation was accompanied by representatives of Moqtada al-Sadr, in what some called a lobbying effort to get the Iraqi government to stop its campaign against Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. However, virtually the entire Iraqi political spectrum has called for elimination of all (...) - Our Publications / Iraq, News and analysis

The issues raised by the May 1968 upheavals in France and elsewhere about the iniquities of capitalism and the need for a just alternative have not gone away.
?Down with the consumer society!?; ?The more you consume, the less you live!?; ?Commodities are the opium of the people!?; ?To live is not just to survive!?; ?Don't beg for the right to live ? take it!?; ?In a society that has abolished every kind of (...) - Our Publications / Le monde entier, News and analysis

Response to the tropical cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar on 3 May 2008 has been hijacked by vested interests on all sides, leaving millions of Asia's poorest people without any effective aid.
The greatest responsibility rests with Myanmar's military government, which failed to warn the population of the cyclone, and has still not mounted an effective disaster response programme. The country's huge army and police forces were completely absent from the streets of Yangoon (formerly Rangoon) (...) - Our Publications / Asia, Burma, News and analysis

The post-election political turmoil in Kenya reaffirms the need for democracies to work in an accommodative political framework that can address diverse and at times conflicting demands. This article analyses the repercussions of the post-electoral violence from a humanitarian and economic perspective in the regional as well as global context.
Kenya underwent political turmoil immediately after the presidential elections on December 27, 2007. Since the announcement of the election (...) - Our Publications / Africa, Kenya, News and analysis

China as an ?emerging superpower? makes for a compelling story line in the media. It is reinforced by the propaganda image that the current Chinese leadership would like us to accept. But the reality is quite different. Although recent events in Tibet and western China ? and the central government's response ? appear to be generating pro-government patriotic feelings, they dramatically display the practical limits of the government's power. Other sources (...) - Our Publications / Asia, China, News and analysis

60 years of Israël, 60 years of Palestinian suffering & homelessness.
In May of 1948 the state of Israel was declared on the ruins of a nation, the Palestinian nation. Today, 60 years later, the rights of the Palestinians (the wold's largest refugee population) are not forgotten. Their right to their land, properties and country will always be a just demand no matter how many years go by.
Let us demonstrate that we still care and demand justice!
When? Saturday May 10, 2008, 1 pm
Where? (...) - Calendar

Alternatives invite you to a public conference on « How do we address the Democratization and Human Rights challenges in the Middle East today? »
The human rights situation in the Arab world is very grave. Positive developments in some countries, such as Morocco and Mauritania, are overshadowed by a continuing pattern of human rights abuses, political violence and a faltering Arab-Israeli peace process. A wave of Democratization has not swept through the Middle East because of the (...) - Calendar

While the Maoists have earned applause around the world for their stunning victory in Nepal's Constituent Assembly elections, spare a thought for the two defeated establishment parties ? the Nepali Congress and the Unified Marxist-Leninists (UML) ? whose wisdom, statesmanship and political courage helped a powerful rebel group come down from the mountains and enter power through the ballot box.
Things need not have been this way. When King Gyanendra began asserting his (...) - Our Publications / Nepal, Elections, News and analysis

Five years after President George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off San Diego, Iraq is in chaos, U.S. troops are mired in a sectarian war, and the entrenched conflict is dragging the nation into a recession.
Indeed, the only people for whom "the mission" has been accomplished are the many companies with lucrative military contracts. They have raked in over $100 billion so far from the Iraq War, enabling them to earn record (...) - Our Publications / Middle-East, Iraq, Occupation, News and analysis

The US health system, which the British government seems determined to emulate, is both more expensive and less efficient; those who can't afford to pay are either excluded or treated like battery pigs
Everything is getting bigger and further away. Hospitals, post offices, schools and prisons are being "rationalised" and "consolidated". The government says that this process improves efficiency. Instead, it outsources inefficiency: we must travel further to use public services. This is bad (...) - Our Publications / Europe, Ethics / Value Systems

DESPITE all protestations to the contrary, sports have never been apolitical. And among sports, the Olympic Games have probably been the most political of all, from their origins in ancient Greece when different city states used them as another means of war to the more recent episodes when either the host country or other nations have used the events as a means of making geopolitical statements or settling political scores.
So it is no surprise that several months before they are actually (...) - Analysis and Articles / Asia, China

One battle rarely wins or loses a war, at least in the moment. Gettysburg crippled Lee's army in 1863, but the Confederates fought on until 1865. Stalingrad broke the back of the German 6th Army, but it would be two-and-a-half years before the Russians took Berlin. War ? particularly the modern variety ? is a complex mixture of tactics, technology, and politics. Then there are the intangibles, like morale.
But while a single battle may not end a conflict, it can illuminate (...) - Our Publications / Middle-East, Iraq, Peace-building, Other articles

On April 10, 2008, the people of Nepal surprised the world in a number of ways.
First, a much awaited, but often postponed, election for the Constituent Assembly actually happened. Second, it happened with a level of violence and disturbances so far below the expected international norm for countries like Nepal that the whole world came to extol Nepal. Big political parties patted themselves on the back for how freely and fairly they had conducted the election, and praised the people for (...) - Our Publications / Asia, Nepal, Elections

Nepalese left stuns the world yet again. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), US designated terrorist outfit, won a landslide victory in April 9 general elections. In a complex electoral process for 601 seats, Maoists have bagged 112 out of 240 first-past-the-post seats at the time of filing this report. With 30 percent of votes, they are likely to get big chunk of 335 seats to be decided on proportional representation basis. Another 26 seats are reserved for minorities.
Last time, it was (...) - Our Publications / Asia, News and analysis

Never mind the economic crisis. Focus for a moment on a more urgent threat: the great food recession which is sweeping the world faster than the credit crunch. If you care about hunger, eat less meat.
You have probably seen the figures by now: the price of rice has risen by three-quarters in the past year, that of wheat by 130% (1). There are food crises in 37 countries. One hundred million people, according to the World Bank, could be pushed into deeper poverty by the high prices (2). But (...) - Analysis and Articles / Le monde entier, News and analysis

The peaceful mass participation in the elections for a Constituent Assembly ("CA") in Nepal on April 10, 2008 was not only an historic achievement of the Nepalese people, but a reminder that the revolutionary process in Nepal deserves the close attention and eager assistance of every sincere Marxist.
This election was not an exercise due to some number of years having passed since the last, nor the result of some legislators bribed to cross the floor or stay away. The demand for elections (...) - Our Publications / Asia, Nepal

StreetNet's aim is to promote the exchange of information and ideas on critical issues facing street vendors, market vendors and hawkers (i.e. mobile vendors) and on practical organizing and advocacy strategies.
Membership-based organizations (unions, co-operatives or associations) directly organizing street vendors, market vendors and/or hawkers among their members, are entitled to affiliate to StreetNet International.
Through StreetNet, member organizations should gain an (...) - Our Partners / Africa, South Africa, Our Partners

"Hey! Take your hands off me! Not you! You!!!"?the voice of a young woman in the darkened cinema, an old joke.
"Hey! Take your hands off Tibet!" the international chorus is crying out, "But not from Chechnya! Not from the Basque homeland! And certainly not from Palestine!" And that is not a joke.
LIKE EVERYBODY else, I support the right of the Tibetan people to independence, or at least autonomy. Like everybody else, I condemn the actions of the Chinese government there. But unlike (...) - Our Publications / China

The war against Iraq, now five years old, is unquestionably one of the most unpardonable crimes against humanity.
As the world marked the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq, the number of American soldiers killed in the country crossed the 4,000 mark. Another 60,000 soldiers have been wounded. The war, which many American commentators have described as the greatest self-inflicted blunder in the history of the country's foreign policy, continues with no end in sight. (...) - Our Publications / Iraq, Other articles, News and analysis

Beginning March 31, the United Nations Ad Hoc Working Groups on climate change are meeting in Bangkok in the critical first round of negotiations to follow up on the resolutions of the climate talks in Bali in December.
There is now a solid consensus in the scientific community that if the change in global mean temperature in the 21st century exceeds 2.4 degrees Celsius, changes in the planet's climate will be large-scale, irreversible, and disastrous. Moreover, the window of opportunity (...) - Analysis and Articles / Other articles, News and analysis

The Yeoville Stakeholders Forum is the successor to the Yeoville Community Development Forum and has been launched in November 2005. The Forum has 23 member organizations who meets twice a month. Yeoville's community faces challenges such as an ineffective access to government, poor service delivery, an historical impact of apartheid on people's sense of self and their willingness to challenge or demand and a large immigrant community, which, for reasons of self-preservation, is (...) - Our Partners / Africa, South Africa, Our Partners

VOICE is an activist, rights based research and advocacy organization working on issues related to corporate globalization. It critically works/campaigns on neo-liberal economic hegemony, role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), WTO and TNCs, aid conditions, food sovereignty, media, communication rights and information and communication technologies, governance and human rights, policy research and advocacy etc, both at local and national levels. It strategically works through (...) - Our Partners / Asia, Bangladesh, Our Partners

Alternatives' members and friends are invited to participate in the strategic planning process, which aims to establish the organization's main courses of action for the upcoming years. Six panels will be taking place from now until 7 June 2008. The presentations will be delivered in French but feel free to participate in English.
? Immigration between Neo-liberalism and Social Alternatives Monday 31 March 2008- 18:00 Alternatives, 3720 Parc Avenue, (Place-des-Arts Metro), (...) - Strategic Process 2008-2013 / Americas, Canada, Access to and conservation of natural resources, Rights and democracy, Media and transparency, Support for social organizations and movements, Peace-building

Achin Vanaik sets out the complex socio-historical backdrop to the Nepalese Second Democratic Revolution of 2006 that overthrew the monarchy, the ensuing struggle for a new republic, and the tactical challenges facing the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
A world-historic event occurred in a small South Asian country on 23 December 2007, when the toppling of the centuries-old Nepali monarchy and its replacement by a democratic federal republic was codified by the country's interim (...) - Our Publications / Asia, Nepal, Elections, Other articles, News and analysis

Citizens in Action, a non-profit, non-partisan, progressive, alter-globalization movement, is holding its monthly conference on the topic of the public health care system.
What? Conference on the public health care system
When? April 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Where? At Concordia Hall Bldg. 1455 de Maisonneuve, (corner Bishop) room 760.
Noted speakers are Dr. Fracois Beland, professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, & Dr. Marie-Claude Premont, law professor, Ecole Nationale (...) - Calendar

The urban Ecology Center invites you to participate in the first Montreal conference on sustainable development of neighbourhoods. We would like to underline the work done at the neighbourhood level in Montreal, in urban neighbourhoods elsewhere in Quebec, and even worldwide in order to inspire the Montreal community and strengthen the will to make of Montreal a sustainable city. Furthermore, we want to emphasize the links between social, economic, environmental and democratic issues on a (...) - Calendar

Protège QV is a Cameroonian rights assocation whose mission it is to promote individual and collective initiative that target environmental protection and contributes to an increased quality fo life for Cameroonian families.
It's main objectives are as follows:
to solicit the active participation of development actors and increase their quality of life
rural development
promotion of technological research solutions to local problems and natural resource management
promotion and (...) - Our Partners / Africa, Camaroon, Our Partners

GIWUSA is a general independent union organizing in different industries. Its membership is concentrated in the following industries : Engineering (Contract and Labour Brokers), Plastic, Furniture, Glass, Pharmaceutical, Chemicals, Wood, Paper, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Transport etc.
The Union is involved in a range of issues :
negotiating wages and conditions of employment
defending workers against unfair dismissals and unfair labour practices
representing workers in matters of (...) - Our Partners / Africa, South Africa, Our Partners