As at previous meetings, the Toronto summit of the exclusive G20 club to which the world’s richest countries invited the heads of state of the major emerging countries once again raised great expectations only to conclude with an empty bubble. As in previous meetings since 2008 discussions focused on a way out of the crisis that favours creditors and great powers.

The 27-member Global Governance Group (3G) is challenging the politically and economically powerful G20 not to marginalise the interests of small and medium-sized countries or undermine the United Nations in key decision-making.

In producing often 'negative resource transfers' (from developing to developed countries), development aid and official development assistance (ODA) essentially remain an exercise in taking money from poor countries for the purpose of enriching wealthier ones, writes Charles Abugre.

Global Unions have attacked the outcome of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Busan, Korea, on 5 June saying their decisions risk undermining recovery, whilst they have failed to move forward the agenda for re-regulating financial markets.

They go by different names: IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China). These formations all amount to more or less the same thing: the new “emerging economies” seeking to redefine relations between themselves and the rest of the world.

Bush and Clinton preached capitalism as the solution to Haiti's problems, pressing President René Préval to lift restrictions on the use of land by foreign NGOs and corporations.

A large group of organizations reject the militarization of Haiti, calling on governments and international organizations to immediately and unconditionally cancel the country’s external debt.

NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC as well as those that were granted ad hoc accreditation to the International Conference on Financing for Development (ICFfD), its follow-up process and the Doha Review Conference are eligible to apply for this event, which takes place on 16-17 March 2010 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Civil society groups are organising events from 2nd October until the 7th October. Some of these events will take place at the Civil Society Policy Forum organised at the premises of the official Bank and Fund meetings. Others will take place at the Bilgi University and other venues outside the Istanbul Congress Centre.

A student journalist threw a shoe at IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Thursday and ran toward the stage shouting "IMF get out!" as the finance official answered questions at a university in Istanbul.