By abandoning the UN Desertification Convention, as well as other important international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is sending the wrong message to the world community. We're saying that exporting resources like oil and timber matter more to us than contributing to dialogue and partnership on global issues.

I saw two young men wearing red t-shirts with the letters "CCCP" emblazoned in yellow across their chests. They thought it was cool. The scope of the Soviet regime's atrocities should be widely known among both young and old. The fact that it is not widely known is a sad indictment of our educational systems.

If you stroll by Parliament Hill today, or turn on the news, you're likely to see a large group of people protesting the tar sands. Some of these peop...

Journalists predicted that the rains would come in October, implying that this would end the crisis. But by then, the planting season will have passed. The rains, if they come, will likely bring flooding and disease. The famine may peak in early December, as we are preparing to celebrate our winter holidays.

Beyond the urgency of filling empty stomachs is the legacy of torture and trauma that so many of these refugees have endured. The soul can become just as empty.

The head of an international medical charity has called on aid agencies to stop presenting a misleading picture of the famine in Somalia and admit tha...

Most Westerners see the crisis in the Horn of Africa as a combination of a large population, chronic poverty, and corruption, and they believe that none of this will ever change, so giving money to this self perpetuating crisis is throwing it away. But I offer another narrative that I believe is closer to the truth.

David Arap Kilel nearly stumbles up the hill of his slanted farm in pinstripe pants tucked into knee-high gum boots, wet despite the neighbouring dry fields. "I'm the first home in my community with irrigation!" he shouts breathlessly, waving calloused hands.

Since appeals first went out for donations to the east African famine, relief agencies have reported that approximately $16 million has come in from Canada. The figure for Britain, however, stands at £45 million in public donations. Why? It is our lack of organizational ability to combine our efforts that fails.

A well-publicized list of western celebrities has attracted enormous attention for their engagement in African development as well as peace and confli...

Western intervention and generosity are necessary and life-saving, but unless new practices that promote new methods of conservation can be ushered in, we'll be hearing of regional famines for years to come.

Those in the Horn of Africa who are in the midst of a famine are facing hunger and malnutrition on a scale few of us can comprehend. Even so, I've been dismayed by web-chatter to the effect of, "How long can we be expected to keep feeding these Africans who don't seem to be able to fend for themselves?"

The celebrities' call to action on the famine in Somalia is welcome, but the bottom line is that these countries need sustained economic growth. Such strategies are not without risks, however. Businesses must not be permitted to abuse human rights. Foreign investment must not undermine sovereignty.

Once again the pictures of little children starving in Somalia break your heart. But this time there are other pictures that come to mind too: warlords, pirates, radical Islamists... Many will remember when the world was there to help and just how badly it turned out.

ROME - A U.N. food agency says there will be a donors pledging conference Wednesday in Nairobi to raise as much as $1.6 billion to help fight famine i...

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- NAIROBI, Kenya - Tens of thousands of Somalis are feared dead in the world's worst famine in a generation, the U.N. said Wednesd...

OTTAWA - A coalition of aid groups is urging Canadians and the government to help stop an escalating humanitarian crisis that threatens the lives of 1...