The arms trade accounts for 50 per cent of all corrupt international transactions, stated a report launched by Transparency International (TI) in April.

Irish nun and social worker Sister Stanislaus Kennedy believes that spiritual discipline and practical caring can enhance each other, writes Kenneth Noble.

At the age of 23 Diana Patricia Pabón-Ramirez has already devoted more than a decade to tackling the social problems of her Colombian community, Paul Williams reports.

Educating women is the key to eradicating poverty and hunger, said Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the UN's World Food Programme and Under-Secretary General of the UN. It would break the vicious circle of malnourished and mal-educated women giving birth to malnourished children.

According to the IMF, crime and corruption cost $1,500 billion a year, he said.

Rubens Ricupero, the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), called on governments to dialogue with anti-globalization demonstrators. 'Otherwise we are heading for an increasingly violent confrontation. These movements express an understandable fear and anguish.' He discerned 'a pervasive desire for something that goes beyond the economic'.

Dr Cornelio Sommaruga was President of the International Committee of the Red Cross from 1987 to 1999. He is now President of the Swiss Foundation for Moral Re-Armament. This article is extracted from a talk he gave during a visit to Britain last January.

Norway's former Minister of International Development and Human Rights, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, tells Jens Jonathan Wilhelmsen about her country's response to the international debt crisis.

Indian historian Rajmohan Gandhi spoke on 'Money, Globalization and Equality' during the Caux conference for Business and Industry. We print extracts:

Martin Dent is the co-founder of Jubilee 2000. He writes in his personal capacity.