Little is known of the impact of trade and economic globalisation on women. This is partly due to a lack of disaggregated data, and partly because there is a lack of gender awareness in economic analysis and models.

Little is known of the impact of trade and economic globalisation on women. This is partly due to a lack of disaggregated data, and partly because there is a lack of gender awareness in economic analysis and models.

Brussels, 20 September 2006 - The latest round of negotiations over the proposed new Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) took place on Tuesday morning in Brussels.

Yesterday's meeting, which brought together representatives from the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission, was the latest stage in a lengthy quest to find agreement over the new regulation which will govern Community development co-operation for the duration of the next financial perspective (2007-2013). Reports from the meeting suggest that one of the major sticking points in these negotiations is the inclusion of specific targets for allocating Community aid in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Since 1990, more than 100,000 Buthanese refugees are living in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees support camps in Nepal and a significant number remains outside in Nepal and India. This comprises of approximately 20 percent of the country's population.

The Buthanese refugees were evicted from Buthan more than a decade ago when the Buthanese government introduced highly discriminatory citizenship policies targeting ethnic Nepalis, especially ones critical of the government's policies, and since then Buthan and Nepal have been locked in a dispute over the fate of the refugees. Nepal insists that Buthan should take back all the refugees while Buthan argues that only a few thousand are genuine Buthanese citizens.

On June 5th the chairman of the Buthanese Refugees Representative Repatriation Committee sent a letter to Kofi Annan, asking the UN and the international community for help to find a solution to the crisis.

Nepal, 2-3 July 2006: The Second General Assembly of the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) took place in Kathmandu, Nepal on the 2-3 July.

The General Assembly focused on participatory development processes in the region and brought togheter representatives of peasant organisations, women's groups, NGOs, trade unions, grassroot social movements, independent academics and human rights activists. On the second day a seminar on theme of "Grass Roots Democracy" was organised which highlighted the recent historical achievement of the Nepalese people.

The two day long meeting resulted in a declaration outlining a number of issues such as food sovereignty, child labour, democratisation, peace processes and the empowerment of women.

Click here to read the declaration from the SAAPE Second General Assembly.