Mostafa Kamal Majumder It was a partially cloudy afternoon at the Nepali resort of Nagarkot where I along with more than a dozen men associated with the Panos institute South Asia stayed for several nights doing a workshop. Sponsors were…
Category: Op-Ed
Feminists press for ‘bodily Autonomy’ as 19 nations dissent
By Thalif Deen UN, Jan 17 2020 (IPS) – The United States and 18 other UN member states have come under fire for denying a woman’s legitimate right to “bodily autonomy”—the right to self-governance over one’s own body without coercion…
Corporal punishment has no virtues
The greatest birthday present ‘teachers’ and Imams in Bangladesh can give Bangabandhu on his 100th birthday anniversary this March 17, would be to amend their ways, abolish corporal punishment in its many forms, and stop damaging his children – the…
24 breweries, distilleries, and wineries for sustainability
Danielle Nierenberg It may be Dry January for some, but there’s no shortage of unique ideas in the alcohol world to become more sustainable. Breweries, wineries, and distilleries around the globe are finding ways to make sure their beverages can…
US’ Latest Bombing Shows US Lost Iraq War
January 4, 2020 MISES By Ryan McMaken The US government tells us that Iraq is harbouring anti-US Iranian forces and must be bombed. Yesterday, the US bombed Baghdad International Airport, killing seven people, including an Iranian general and two Iraqi…
Where Imams say thru radio, child marriage is against Islam
Selibabi, Mauritania, Jan 2 2020 (IPS) – “I refused to marry off my daughter for a simple, good reason: I want my daughter to be empowered,” said Lemeima mint El Hadrami, 49. “I don’t want her to go through the…
Reflections for a New Year
By Roberto Savio Rome, Jan 3 2020 (IPS) – In a world shaken by so many problems, it is difficult to look at 2020 and not make some kind of holistic analysis. While enormous progress has been made on many…
How our rivers fared in 2019
Nazrul Islam The year 2019 saw both good and bad developments for our rivers. On the good side, the first thing to be mentioned is the High Court’s judgement of February 3, declaring rivers as a “legal entity,” having rights…
Natural-born climate commitments
By Sally Jewell Washington, DC – As world leaders gathered at the 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid from December 2-13, the discussed concrete steps for meeting and increasing national emissions-reduction targets. But equally important, COP25 offered…
The evolution of Chinese corporate social responsibility
By Asit K. Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada Glasgow/Singapore – Over the last decade, Chinese businesses have made significant strides in incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into their decision-making. But they still have a long way to go, and…
A new hope for US climate action
By Jules Kortenhorst and Andrew Steer Boulder, Colorado – The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) took place in Madrid was supposed to prepare the ground for more ambitious national climate commitments. Nowhere was this more important than in the…
Address malnutrition, not just food security
By Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Wan Manan Muda and Tan Zhai Gen KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec 17 2019 (IPS) – Malnutrition remains a formidable challenge in most societies, with less than a tenth of countries in the world not experiencing at…
2019: A Year in Review
By IPS World Desk Dec 16 2019 (IPS) – 2019 will be remembered as the year the climate crisis shook us all. Hopefully, it will also be remembered for the fightback manifested in the spread of mass protests and civic…
Pulling sense out of the wasteful
Sudhirendar Sharma Travel offer the thrills of impromptu encounters and the pleasures of unpredictability, provided one is ready for it.
Sasakawa vows to continue support for fighting leprosy in Bangladesh
By Rafiqul Islam DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 14 2019 (IPS) – Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, has assured Bangladesh of continuing support for the Zero Leprosy Initiative announced by the country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, aimed at eliminating leprosy…
Limit global warming or face irreversible impacts: C’wealth
By Desmond Brown MADRID, Dec 12 2019 (IPS) – Commonwealth countries, including those in the Caribbean, continue to push for more ambition, following reports that a few very influential parties have stymied efforts to respond to the climate emergency.
The Ignoble Fall of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner
By Thalif Deen UN, Dec 12 2019 (IPS) – Appearing before 17 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto civilian leader of Myanmar, became a public apologist for the…
15 Children’s Books Celebrating the Power of Food and Agriculture
Danielle Nierenberg If you browse the food shelves at a bookstore or local library, you’ll probably find an important selection of cookbooks, memoirs, and journalistic investigations into our food system. Maybe you’ll recognize the names of the authors. One thing…
Taking Bangladesh to zero-leprosy, one new case at a time
By Stella Paul Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec 11 2019 (IPS) – Sandhya Mandal has never felt so vindicated. For the past four years, the 36-year-old community health worker from Meherpur – a rural district bordering India – has been traveling 50…
The quest to outwit superbugs
Sudhirendar Sharma Antibiotic resistance is currently the cause for an estimated 700,000 deaths globally, and a business-as-usual scenario may force this figure to swell to 10 million deaths per year by 2050.
Forced to flee. displaced with a dream. time for action
By Yasmine Sherif UNITED NATIONS, Dec 6 2019 (IPS) – Genesis smiles and holds her hand up proudly to answer questions in class. She claps her hands in support of her classmates when they answer the teachers’ questions correctly. “I…
Right to food denied by poor policies and inaction
By Busani Bafana MILAN, Italy, Dec 4 2019 (IPS) – Global food systems are ripe for transformation if people are to be nourished and the planet sustainable, says Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur of the Right to Food of the United…
A $650 mn pledge aimed at eradicating extreme hunger by 2030
By Thalif Deen UN, Nov 22 2019 (IPS) – When a coalition of international donors pledged more than $650 million to provide assistance to over 300 million smallholder farmers in developing countries, the primary aim was to help increase agricultural…
Green Steel
By Charlotte KingReprint Beijing, China, Nov 21 2019 (IPS) – How Indonesian craftsmanship is undergoing a revival at the world’s first ‘bamboo university’.
Care in Europe: What makes for generosity?
by Ivan Privalko, Bertrand Mâitre, Dorothy Watson and Raffaele Grotti on 21st November 2019 How well children, dependent adults and the elderly are cared for isn’t about national stereotypes—but it does reflect welfare regimes.
With UNSC in paralysis, are hopes left for Rohingya Muslims?
By Thalif Deen UN, Nov 19 2019 (IPS) – The 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) stands virtually paralyzed in the face of genocide charges against the government of Myanmar where over 730,000 to one million Rohingya Muslims have been forced…
The aspirations and ambiguities of de-colonial politics
By SherAli Tareen The Background Noise Imran Khan’s ascension as Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2018 preceded and instigated an avalanche of alarming prognoses issued by a range of motley characters. Their convergence made for an interesting union of…
ICPD25: Clear path ahead to transform world for women, girls
Nairobi, Nov 16 – “Child marriages must end and I am here at the Nairobi Summit to tell the world that it is wrong and must be stopped”
Empower young people to sustain planet for peace-prosperity
By Crystal Orderson We need to empower young people to sustain our planet, and let peace and prosperity thrive says UN’s Resident Co-ordinator in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee speaks to IPS on reflections on the ICPD25 Summit. Nairobi, Kenya, Nov 15…
Time to ensure climate policy serves the public, not lobbyists
by Colin Roche on 14th November 2019 @ColinRoche The fossil-fuel industry has been revealed to have invested vast resources in lobbying EU institutions. Greta Thunberg and her fellow school-strikers’ message is resonating across the world—a world that is ready to…