The UN agreement on response to the financial crisis takes important steps toward a global consensus on response to the crisis, according to CIDSE, an international alliance of 16 Catholic development agencies working together for global justice.

The next fortnight will witness two summits of world leaders which will give radically different directions for recovery and reform of the global economy. While one –the G8– harks back to the days when a handful of rich countries could happily control the world economy without interference, the other –the UN summit on the economic crisis– has been fought for tooth and nail by developing countries desperate to have a say on the direction of a new global economic order.

Climate change and the current global economic crisis bring an unprecedented opportunity to transform global governance, which must start giving priority to human development and citizen engagement.

In its latest Global Employment Trends update of May, the ILO has revised upwards its unemployment projections to levels ranging from 210 million to 239 million unemployed worldwide in 2009. The report notes that the economic crisis is detrimental for both women and men, whether they are at work, looking for work or outside the labour force. Women are often in a disadvantaged position in comparison to men in labour markets around the world.

A broad coalition of civil society groups, as well as some U.S. lawmakers, is fighting what they call a "blank cheque" from the U.S. to expand funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The UNCAC Coalition believes that the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), with its worldwide membership and comprehensive anti-corruption framework, is key to dealing effectively with global corruption.

The International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank that makes grants and interest-free, long-term loans to poor countries around the world, lacks effective safeguards against corruption, according to a report by the Bank's own Independent Evaluation Group (IEG).

Member states of the UN are negotiating a draft declaration on the global economic crisis where there is a proposal to set up a new Global Economic Council to provide coordination and oversight of responses to address the global challenges.

A two-day symposium that drew broad commentary on the impact of the world economic crisis emphasized that the global downturn requires a response that takes all countries and peoples into account.

As the African Development Bank (AfDB) holds its 44th annual assembly, African civil society groups met at a forum in Dakar to express their deep dissatisfaction with the bank's policies.