If, for the creditors, the Third World debt can seem like a real gold mine, for the people living in the Third World, it feels more like a straight jacket. However the debt is a story, stories, very complicated, that can be entangled, unclear, and often very questionable... What has happened to the money of this loan ? Under what conditions was this loan contracted ? What share has been misappropriated ? What crimes have been committed with this money ? Etc.

A debt audit allows us to answer theses questions and others. We can begin to clarify the past, to untangle the web of debt, thread by thread. It allows us to reconstruct the sequence of events which have led to the present deadlock. And it enables us to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

This manual is the result of a joint initiative of CETIM and CADTM, with the support of the American Association of Jurists (AAJ) and the South Centre. It was written on the basis of two seminars that brought together Third World debt experts and activists. EURODAD, Emmaus International, Jubilee South, COTMEC, Attac Uruguay and Auditoria Cidadã da Dívida (Brazil) joined this initiative. The organisations mentioned above hope that the debt audits can begin as soon as possible in various countries so that the truth about the debt can finally be brought to light!

• To read the manual (pdf)

Suicide bombings, collateral damage, kidnappings and air strikes pepper the lexicon of twenty-first century politics. Global Civil Society 2006/7 explores the complex relationship between violence, civil society and legitimacy in a unique dialogue that crosses political, cultural and religious boundaries. Is the use of violence by non-state actors ever justified ? How is violence transmitted from the private to the public sphere ? Why is terror and « the war on terror » catalysing rather than suppressing violence ? Do Western and Islamic traditions of thought offer any solutions ? This edition of the Yearbook also includes new research on economic and social rights, the politics of water and football.

« Even though current public interest and engagement in issues of global violence are the results of terribly tragic and disturbing events, it is good that these matters are receiving widespread attention. I argue for a wider use of our voice in the working of global civil society - to be distinguished from military initiatives and strategic activities of governments. The Global Civil Society Yearbook can make a substantial contribution to the expression of public voice without border » Amartya Sen

• To read the fourth edition online (2004/5)

• To get further informations, you can visit the website of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance : www.lse.ac.uk

• To order a copy of the current edition

This publication outlines the nature and constituents of the Movement, as also its engagement with the State, with various institutions and its bid to influence and rewrite agendas. It captures the various strands that make up the women’s movement and proceeds to look at where we are now before finally setting out some of the challenges facing us.

This yearbook is not just a compilation of articles - however important and excellent they may be. It is also a call to arms. Many of its chapters prove that privatisation is not inevitable, that we can and must react to protect, preserve and reclaim our public service inheritance. It is clear that without extensive, universally distributed public services, there is no way the world can realise the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.

• View the chapters and read online the Public Services Yearbook

Rapid population growth, climate change and pollution have combined to make it the resource over which wars may be fought in years to come. But does water have a price? Is it a right or a need? Increasingly, water is viewed as a commodity whose function is to generate profits. In this book, Larbi Bouguerra argues that instead we should view it as a common good of humanity. Water has an exceptional cross-cultural symbolic value and its use raises enormous questions about our lifestyle, our ethics and our relationship with nature. Bouguerra makes a powerful case for a society that is more economical with water and manages it openly and democratically, as a global resource.