Washington, DC – Far too many US laws violate basic principles of justice by requiring disproportionately severe punishment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 36-page report, “Nation Behind Bars: A Human Rights Solution,” notes that laws…
Category: Think green
Sustainable SME development
Dr. Atiur Rahman SMEs have been globally considered as engines of economic growth as well as key instruments for promoting equitable development. The major advantage of the sector is its employment potential at low capital cost. The labour intensity of…
Sustainability linked to responsible governance
Worldwatch Institute State of the World 2014 calls for bottom-up pressure and greater government accountability Washington DC – Citizens who expect their governments to lead on sustainability have been badly disappointed in recent years. From largely ineffectual international climate conferences to the…
Secrecy among firms may be impeding innovation
Geneva – Firms in Kenya are using secrecy instead of patents to protect their valuable ideas and innovations, according to preliminary results from a World Bank study, and this is hampering collaboration and creativity in the country. The results were…
Q&A: The plight of the UK’s migrant domestic workers
Izza Leghtas Wealthy families who come to the UK may bring with them domestic workers who work for them in their home country – often women who raise their children, clean their homes and cook their meals. In a move…
Do traffic-related deaths get the attention they deserve?
Deaths from road injuries and diseases related to transport air pollution have grown globally in the last two decades — up by 46 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. But developing countries are bearing the brunt of this crisis.…
Ending hunger, undernutrition by 2025 must be top dev priority
By Shenggen Fan IFPRI’s 2013 Global Food Policy Report (http://www.ifpri.org/gfpr/2013) reviews major food policy developments and trends from the past year, documents emerging issues, examines key challenges and opportunities, describes the rising political commitment to food and nutrition security, and…
Bringing justice to health: Legal empowerment impacts public health
LEGAL EMPOWERMENT: The transfer of power from the usual gatekeepers of the law – lawyers, judges, police, and state officials – to ordinary people who make the law meaningful on a local level and enhance the agency of disadvantaged populations.”
Women’s representation in government still low
New Worldwatch Institute study examines the number of women active in national legislatures Washington DC—In late 2013, women accounted for slightly more than 21 percent of the representatives in the lower or popular chambers of national legislatures worldwide, according to…
Agri tech could increase global crop yields 67 percent, halve food prices
Washington D.C. – Increased demand for food due to population and income growth and the impacts of climate change on agriculture will ratchet up the pressure for increased and more sustainable agricultural production to feed the planet. A new report…
IOC acts on Sochi abuses – Human Rights Watch
Moscow) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken important steps to persuade the Russiangovernment to investigate persistent claims of nonpayment of wages to workers who helped build Olympicvenues and infrastructure. The IOC efforts resulted in government pledges that the…
Abuse of Sub-Saharan migrants – Human Rights Watch
Moroccan security forces commonly beat, otherwise abuse, and sometimes steal from sub-Saharan migrants in the northeastern part of the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These abuses persist despite some improvements in the treatment of migrants…
Hefty subsidies prop up unsustainable energy system
Washington, DC—Efforts by a variety of organizations to quantify global support for fossil fuels have generated estimates that range from $523 billion to over $1.9 trillion, depending on the calculation and what measures are included. What is clear is that…
Gender and assets: Closing the gap
by Sara Gustafson Use, control, and ownership of productive assets – land, money, livestock, and education, to name just a few – are essential stepping stones on the path out of poverty. But this pathway can look very different depending…
Activate Bangladeshis for next elections
Dr. M. S. Haq It is not at present very clear, among other things, as to what extent, under what circumstance, when and how current activities of 18 party alliance under BNP and outcomes thereof could inter alia be instrumental…
Elections 2014 in Bangladesh
Dr. M. S. Haq At present, a few of the concerns about Bangladesh are: one, sizes and ramifications of additional losses, as well as damage – in terms of, as appropriate, life, property and other things including economy – that…
Protection for victims of political crises
Dr. M. S. Haq Direct victims of present day political crises in Bangladesh are country Bangladesh and people of Bangladesh. Indirect victims of above crises are world countries and world peoples including those of Bangladesh – against the backdrop of…
Do not invite terrorism to Bangladesh
Dr. M. S. Haq A continuous inflexibility – for quite some time now – on the part of concerned political parties of Bangladesh in matters of upcoming elections has apparently been causes, effects and causalities of harmful hartals after harmful…
Shirin Huq’s tribute to Mandela
As the world mourns the passing of Madiba, I thought I would share with you this beautiful tribute to him. It is a creative work of art consisting of 50 steel rods symbolic of the years in prison.
Climate change meeting in Warsaw: Too little, too late
By Jack A. Smith The sharply increasing scientific indicators of impending disastrous global climate change have failed to motivate the principal developed countries, led by the U.S., to accelerate the lackluster pace of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Is not justice taking proper care of itself in Bangladesh?
Dr. M. S. Haq Causes, effects and causalities of justice should take its own course through family, society and other locations, as well as destinations at local global and other levels – in pursuits of its goals, objectives and outcomes,…
Record high for global greenhouse gas emissions
New Worldwatch Institute report Washington, D.C.—-The disappointing climate conference in Warsaw, Poland-which was intended to lay the groundwork for a global climate agreement in 2015-stands in sharp contrast to the continued growth in emissions of greenhouse gases. Negotiators and activists…
Stop deaths, destructions: Amend the Constitution
Dr. M. S. Haq The cost and the accumulated cost of creation of initial conditions for ‘free, fair, credible and all inclusive elections’ in Bangladesh have been on the rise against the backdrop of things such as hartals. Developments –…
Britain’s Solar Schools cutting energy bills, carbon
Against a backdrop of rising energy prices, schools the length and breadth of Britain are taking control of their energy and generating their own, thanks to 10:10’s successful Solar Schools campaign.
Tackling aflatoxins: An overview of challenges and solutions
Laurian Unnevehr and Delia Grace Policy and economic challenges: In addition to the challenge of creating market incentives for reducing aflatoxins, there is also an economic challenge in reducing the costs of control. A wide range of control methods exist,…
Dying in pain – Abdoulaye’s story
By Angela Chung When Abdoulaye’s mother left his hospital bedside to pick up medicine from the pharmacy, I helped fan him. Temperatures in Senegal reach the 90s in November, and the air in the ward for children with advanced cancer…
Senegal: Thousands urgently need pain relief
Dakar – Tens of thousands of patients in Senegal suffer from excruciating pain every year without relief, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Unnecessarily restrictive government regulations and poor training for healthcare workers impede their effective medical…
Cultivating resilience in the face of ecological change
Greenwatch Dhaka Desk Washington, D.C.-In the past decade, approximately 200-300 million people have been seriously affected by natural disasters or technological accidents each year-a staggering figure that is bound to only increase in the coming decades. It is becoming clear…
Begum Zia sets an example of political reconciliations
Dr. M. S. Haq The time is apparently overdue for present day political parties of Bangladesh – in particular, the major political parties – to undergo inter alia balancing, modernization and rehabilitation (BMR) exercises for their individual and collective survival,…
Four ways for facilitating universal access to clean water
Chicago – ‘The planet’s entire supply of freshwater that can be used by humans and ecosystems amounts to approximately 200,000 cubed kilometers (http://www.unwater.org/statistics_res.html), or less than one percent of all freshwater resources. And, unfortunately, humans are using these limited resources…