By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Jun 5 2019 (IPS) – Climate-related displacement and food insecurity is not a future possibility, but it is already happening and it’s only projected to worsen without urgent action in coming years. Yesterday, ahead of World…
Category: Environment
Ecuador in frontline to address climate change
By Matilde Mordt QUITO, Ecuador, Jun 5 2019 (IPS) – As the UN commemorates World Environment Day, UNDP would like to take this opportunity to commend Ecuador’s efforts to address climate change and its commitment to raising its climate ambition.…
Standing up for the clean air we deserve!
By Mahamadou Tounkara Jun 5 2019 – (GGGI) – Air pollution has become the number one environmental problem affecting people’s health, impacting 300 million children worldwide and contributing to the premature death of 600 thousand children every year. Indoor air…
Dhaka asks for climate justice, compensation
Dhaka, June 5 – State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has asked for climate justice that needs to be established and demanded compensation and adequate financial and other assistance for adaptation measures. He called for more concrete global…
Consumer Rights Protection official’s transfer halted
Dhaka, June 4 – A day after transferring him to the Road Transport and Highways Division, the government on Tuesday revoked the transfer of Deputy Director of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) Manzur Mohammad Shahriar, who led…
75pc Rohingya babies born in unsafe, unsanitary shelters
Dhaka, June 3 (UNB) – An estimated 75 percent of Rohingya babies are born in the unsafe and unsanitary bamboo shelters in which Rohingyas live, according to an assessment made by Save the Children. Home births in such conditions put…
Plant biosecurity knowledge gap increases biological threats
By Caley Pigliucci UN, Jun 3 2019 (IPS) – The plant-life on the Pacific Islands is currently under threat as protections against diseases and pests are left in the hands of under-trained personnel with limited facilities. Talei Fidow-Moors, the Principal…
Water supply, sanitation facilities for school girls a must
• Malva Baskovich • Berenice Flores Arias Uijtewaal WSS Facilities & Menstrual Hygiene Management in Rural Schools of Latin America How memorable is your “first-period story”? Were you at school? Did you dare to tell a friend or teacher? Did…
A premature death every five seconds for air pollution: UN
Dhaka, June 3 (UNB) – Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David Boyd on Monday urged governments to take bold action to beat air pollution, improve health, address climate change and fulfill their human rights obligations. “Air pollution…
Bangladesh Biman flight makes emergency landing in Dhaka
Dhaka, June 3 (UNB)-A domestic flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines made an emergency landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here on Monday morning. General Manager (PR) of Biman Shakil Meraj told UNB that the domestic flight of Biman BG-1433 made…
OIC to launch case at ICJ over HR violation of Rohingyas
Dhaka, June 3 (UNB) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called upon the ad hoc ministerial committee led by the Gambia to take immediate measures to launch the case of Myanmar’s human rights violations against Rohingyas at the…
Bangladesh, Malaysia must transparently regulate recruitment
The Malaysia-based migrant and human rights network organizations –CARAM Asia, TENAGANITA and North South Initiatives have called upon Bangladesh and Malaysia governments to strictly regulate and reform recruitment process with transparency and integrity. In a message, those NGOs said that…
Lack of future prompts Rohingya to flee Bangladesh
Md. Kamruzzaman Dhaka, Bangladesh – Nineteen-year-old Mohammad Amin is one of the 54 Rohingya refugees who each paid 45,000 Bangladeshi taka ($532) to local traffickers to go to Malaysia earlier this month. For three days and two nights they believed…
Dhaka’s wayside shops attract fixed-income people
Dhaka, June 2 – A large number of vendors have set up makeshift shops on the capital’s footpaths and lanes along major streets and markets to claim their stakes in the frenzied Eid shopping. These shops, offering goods at cheaper…
Pakistani and Afghan refugees seek safe haven in Sri Lanka
By Caroline Gluck Negombo, Sri Lanka, May 31 2019 (IPS) – Thirteen-year-old Bariea, a Pakistani asylum seeker in Sri Lanka, is taking shelter at a mosque in the city of Negombo, where an uneasy mix of high anxiety and extreme…
Extinctions can’t be halted unless water is protected
By Claudia Sadoff Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 31 2019 (IPS) – Global biodiversity loss has reached critical levels. One million species of plants and animals are now estimated to be at risk of extinction. The window for action is closing,…
Agroecology and organic farming can drive sustainability in agriculture
Most quarters agree that agriculture and food systems urgently need to change to make progress on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while staying within planetary boundaries. However, two narratives dominate the discussion: incremental steps to improve efficiency in conventional agriculture…
58 Rohingyas rescued while being trafficked to Malaysia
Chattogram, May 31 (UNB)— Bangladesh Coast Guard on Thursday rescued 58 Rohingyas, mostly women and children, from the deep sea while they were being trafficked to Malaysia. Two suspected traffickers were also detained from the South of St Martin’s Island.…
Dhaka waits to see Teesta issue resolved: Hamid tells Modi
New Delhi, May 31 (UNB)— The people of Bangladesh have been waiting for years to see the Teesta River water sharing issue settled, President Abdul Hamid told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. “I believe an agreement will be…
Welcome to GAFA land of tech giants where winner takes all
by Susanne Wixforth Amazon symbolises the four platform giants, also known as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). The company is Europe’s largest platform retailer and its turnover is twice as high as that of its 20 largest competitors. While…
The new face of activism: Youth
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, May 30 2019 (IPS) – Rather than waiting for adults to act, more young girls and boys are standing up and speaking out on the world’s pressing issues. In recent years, the international community has seen…
These dangerous aliens are here to stay
By Baher Kamal Madrid, May 29 2019 (IPS) – No, no, no. Nothing to do with what the US and Europe’s far-right fanatics now use to vociferate, saying once and again that “migrants come here to destroy our democracy, our…
Palestinians vow to battle illegal Israeli confiscations
Palestinians pledge to continue the dream of passing land to their children and grandchildren amid accelerating seizures By Shatha Hammad Tayseer Ataya stands, leaning on his cane and gazing at his plot of land on Risan hill, west of Ramallah.…
The Myth of Climate Wars?
by Alaa Murabit, Luca Bücken New York – In the years leading up to Syria’s civil war, the country endured three consecutive record-breaking droughts. By forcing internal displacement, the droughts arguably contributed to the social tensions that erupted in popular…
Unleash all creative potentials to achieve SDGs
Mostafa Kamal Majumder Recent official information and statistics affirm, Bangladesh is on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With four years of the 15-year time span to achieve 17 goals already spent, a government report says, ‘Bangladesh is…
Antibiotics in Bangladesh river exceed ‘safe’ levels: Study
Dhaka, May 28 (UNB) – Antibiotics exceeded ‘safe’ levels by the “greatest degree” in Bangladesh, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan and Nigerian rivers, while a site in Austria was ranked the highest of the European sites monitored, says a new global study.…
Refugees in Europe’s crosshairs
by Valerio Alfonso Bruno and Waqar Rizvi A Europe of permanent electoral campaigning is one conducive to a permanent moral panic about refugees. Recently numerous reports have emerged of the mistreatment and abuse suffered by asylum-seekers and refugees, mostly from…
What drives anti-migrant attitudes?
by Vera Messing and Bence Ságvári One might think anti-migrant sentiment would be strongest in those countries in Europe with most migrants and among those Europeans with the most contact with them. And one would be wrong. We are experiencing…
China sharing Brahmaputra data with India for Monsoon
China has begun sharing hydrological data with India on the Bramhaputra river for this year’s monsoon season, a senior Indian water resources ministry official said May 20. It is also expected to start sharing data on the Sutlej river from…
Can a book tell the history of the Ganga?
May 26, 2019 SANDRP Book Review: “Ganga: The Many Pasts of a River” by Sudipta Sen. Penguin Viking. 2019. PP 445 + (xvi) “Panditaraja Jagannath, Mughal court poet extraordinaire, a scholar of Linguistics, poetics, and philosophy, hounded by the Brahmin…