NEW YORK, Feb 12 2019 (IPS) – One chilly afternoon in November 2005, Hilarino came by Pedro’s house in Oaxaca, Mexico, driving a shiny red car. “Pedro!” he shouted, “We are leaving in March. There is a route North to the…
Category: Op-Ed
Bhupen Hazarika’s family turns down Bharat Ratna award
Dhaka, Feb 12 (UNB) – Late singer Bhupen Hazarika’s only son, Tej Hazarika, who lives in USA, has said that they won’t accept Bharat Ratna award conferred on his father in the backdrop of the situation arisen out of Citizenship…
Farmers secure land and food thanks to ‘eyes in the skies’
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 11 2019 (IPS) – Six years ago while wondering how best to use her engineering skills, Tanzanian ICT entrepreneur Rose Funja decided to enter an innovation competition. Years later she has turned a digital idea into a viable…
Transforming economies – building evidence of achieving SDGs
HELSINKI, Finland, Feb 8 2019 (IPS) – Following on from Finn Tarp, my predecessor, is a daunting prospect, but I look forward to working with my colleagues at UNU-WIDER and with our many partners to build on the achievements of…
Desertification: The right to life, liberty, and land
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 2019 (IPS) – Sustainable land management is becoming more important than ever as rates of emissions, deforestation, and water scarcity continue to increase. But what if you don’t have rights to the land?While the impact of agriculture…
Singapore’s ASEAN tenure marked by crises and disputes
By Nile Bowie When Singapore took the reins last year of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) rotating leadership, the regional grouping’s credibility and relevance was at stake. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, maritime disputes in the South China Sea…
‘What hell feels like’ – Acid violence in Cambodia
Sitting on a thin mattress on the floor of their home in a Phnom Penh slum, 3-year-old Molita delicately touches the scars that cover her mother’s back. In November 2014, when Molita was an infant, the owners of a neighbouring…
Civil society for resuming South Asian Regional Cooperation
Colombo, 30 January 2019 We, members of civil society networks of South Asia gathered in Colombo to deliberate on a South Asian Regional Agenda for Collective Advocacy on Human Rights, Peace and Democracy, have resolved to re-energise collaborations across South…
Truly global efforts must to abolish female genital mutation
NEW DELHI, Feb 6 2019 (IPS) – According to official data on the global prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) released by UNICEF there are 200 million women and girls in the world who have been cut. Shocking though this statistic is, it…
Crusade against sex edu undermines progress in Latin America
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 30 2019 (IPS) – The crusade against comprehensive sex education by conservative and religious sectors undermines progress in Latin America and could further drive up rates of teen pregnancy, communicable diseases and abuse against girls and adolescents. In…
Bangabandhu’s tallest sculpture to be built in Chuadanga
Chuadanga, Feb 4 (UNB) –The tallest sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of the country’s independence, will be built in the district. Renowned sculptor Mrinal Haque will erect the 100-foot sculpture on a land…
Making communities drought resilient
GEORGETOWN, Feb 1 2019 (IPS) – The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD’s) Drought Initiative is in full swing with dozens of countries signing up to plan their drought programme. The Drought Initiative involves taking action on national drought…
Bringing greener pastures back home
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 22 2019 (IPS) – One month on since the Global Compact for Migration was approved, civil society has highlighted the need to turn words into action, supporting those who have been displaced or forced to migrate as…
21 organizations transforming Australia’s food system
From Danielle Nierenberg Greetings from Melbourne, where I’m speaking at festival21—a celebration of the potential for change in Australia’s future food system, joining food experts like Fabrice DeClerck, Science Director at EAT; David Nabarro, Strategic Director of 4SD and recipient…
Are anti-immigrant parties in Europe anti-democratic?
In May this year we will have elections for the European Parliament. We can agree that the parliament is the most democratic body in the European Union. We also can agree that the election process for the parliament is democratic…
The world order that’s now emerging
By Eric Zuesse The Post-World-War-II world order was dominated by the one WW II major combatant that had only 0.32% of its population (the lowest percentage) killed by the war: the United States. The Soviet Union’s comparable number killed by…
The Marrakech Compact on Migration: Myths & realities
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan 29 2019 (IPS) – When 164 UN member states adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (the Marrakech Compact on Migration) on 10 December last year, I read on social media that they had…
Ethics for artificial intelligence
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan 29 2019 (IPS) – Owing to our varied circumstances and experiences, there are contradictory tendencies to either exaggerate or underestimate the power and importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in contemporary society. Nor should we uncritically legitimize…
Ecuador’s soft coup and political persecution
By Rafael Correa The destruction of the rule of law Can you imagine a “democracy” in which the president handpicks a council that proceeds to dismiss the Constitutional Court, the Judicial Council which oversees the judiciary, the National Electoral Council,…
In Venezuela, two presidents vie for power
CARACAS, Jan 25 2019 (IPS) – Venezuela entered a new and astonishing arena of political confrontation, with two presidents, Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó, leading the forces vying for power, while Venezuelans once again are taking to the streets to…
A human-centred agenda for the future of work
When the International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded 100 years ago in the aftermath of the first world war, governments, employers and workers came together convinced that lasting peace and stability depended on social justice. This is still true and, given the…
Education crisis: Being in school is not same as learning
The world is facing a learning crisisTeachers are the single most important driver of how much students learn. They have the responsibility to ensure that all children—each with their own challenges and potential—can learn effectively and have an enriching experience…
Brexit, Trump and ‘yellow vests’
Sixty years ago, the sociologist WG Runciman published an influential study of attitudes to ’relative deprivation’ in 20th century England. Runciman sought to explain why at crucial periods in the past century, notably after the first world war and in…
Never been a worse time to be a journalist
“I’ve never known a time when it was as bad as it is now,” says Beata Balogova, the Vice-Chair of the International Press Institute (IPI) and Editor in Chief of the Slovak Spectator Sme. “In terms of what’s going on…
Hospital public private partnerships undermine healthcare
However, any government considering healthcare PPPs should be aware of the Australian experience, especially after what has happened with the Northern Beaches Hospital, a PPP between the New South Wales government and Healthscope. The A$600m facility was officially opened with…
European Parliament elections: prospects for the left?
The European left is going through a crisis. In an insightful article, ‘What happened to Europe’s left?’, Jan Rovny explains that the various political defeats of social-democratic parties—in France, Germany, Italy, Holland, the Czech Republic and Greece—stem from shifting their…
Poll Shows Strong Opposition to ‘Killer Robots’: HRW
More than three in every five people responding to a new poll in 26 countries oppose the development of weapons systems that would select and attack targets without human intervention, Human Rights Watch said today.
UN sexual abuse report shifts focus
A survey of sexual harassment at the United Nations has uncomfortably shifted the focus to some of the senior UN officials who have either escaped censure – or punishment– despite a rash of charges against them, including abuse and misconduct.
Davos, inequality & the climate emergency
Four of the top five most impactful threats in this year’s World Economic Forum´s Global Risks report are related to climate change. The report warns that we are “sleepwalking to disaster” . But that is not true.
A teacher can be a child’s best friend or worst enemy
While mothers are known to suffer both in the coming of their children into this world and their going from it, nothing prepares them for the suicide of their offspring. That’s hell within hell. Parents have the misfortune of holding…