By International Organization for Migration Dec 14 (IOM) – Why are Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood so successful? Because they’ve mastered the art of capturing audiences’ hearts and minds through storytelling.
Category: Op-Ed
Arming poor countries enriches rich nations
By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram Sydney/Kuala Lumpur, Dec 14 (IPS) – Although the Cold War came to an end over a quarter century ago, international arms sales only declined temporarily at the end of the last century. Instead,…
Rapidly-growing corporate control of food chain
Agrifood Atlas is a report which shows the dramatic impacts of the global food system being rapidly monopolised by ever-fewer, ever-larger corporations at every stage of the food chain. Between 2015 and 2016, five of the largest 12 mergers between…
South Asian Thinkers’ Workshop report launched
To discuss and deliberate the emerging issues and concerns in South Asia in the context of fallouts of neo-liberal economic policies adopted by all South Asian countries, SAAPE in collaboration with Social Scientists’ Association (SSA, Colombo) and Centre for Labour…
India’s deafening silence over Trump Jerusalem shift
India’s two-sentence response to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last week elicited mixed reactions after New Delhi for decades strongly backed the Palestinian cause. The static statement to a dynamic situation was described by some as muted,…
Bangladesh Citizen ’s Declaration 2017 on SDGs
Adopted at Citizen’s Conference on SDGs in Bangladesh 2017 held in Dhaka on 6 December 2017. We, the citizens of Bangladesh, inspired by the spirit of our great War of Liberation, and in response to the call by the Citizen’s…
Action needed now on antibiotic resistance
During this year’s World Antibiotics Awareness Week, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) released a press statement calling on the Malaysian government to give urgent attention to the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is responsible for some 700,000…
OIC’s Istanbul summit: US Trade with the Muslim World
Tuesday, December 12 – The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will hold an extraordinary summit in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, to discuss the repercussions of the announcement of US President Donald Trump last week recognizing Jerusalem as…
100,000 medical consultations in 100 days
By International Organization for Migration Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Dec 11 (IOM) – If Morisha’s family had waited a matter of minutes before bringing her to the UN Migration Agency(IOM)’s health post in the Balukhali makeshift settlement, she would be dead. Full-term,…
Security Council reform – Should foxes rule chicken coop
By James A. Paul New York, Dec 8 (IPS) – Since the end of the Cold War, the UN Security Council has dramatically increased its activity and authority. Though the Council has exercised unprecedented global power, it has remained a…
Reflections on Human Rights and Sri Lanka’s collective future
by Dr.-Nelum-Deepika-Udagama Today (Dec 10) is Human Rights Day “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” The above quotation is from Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration was adopted by…
Nag – The Indian river that lends life and a name to Nagpur
Guest Blog by Nivedita Khandekar This story from Nag River in Nagpur is second in the series of online stories of urban rivers from across India. Please share your feedback and provide us with suggestions (read more in the appendix).…
Rohingya refugees: Woes of women (Part 2)
By Sohara Mehroze Shachi Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Dec 8 (IPS) – Under pouring rain, hundreds of young and expectant mothers stand in line. With her bare feet and the bottom of her dress covered in mud, Rashida is one of…
HRC condemns gross violations against Rohingya
Geneva (Kanaga Raja) – The UN Human Rights Council, at a special session on Tuesday (5 December), strongly condemned the alleged systematic and gross violations of human rights and abuses committed in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State, notably against…
The Climate-Change fight returns to Paris
Laurence Tubiana In 2015, the so-called “high ambition coalition” of developed and developing countries pushed the Paris climate agreement past the finish line. But when global leaders reconvene in Paris for new talks on climate change at the upcoming One…
Inequality more than matters
by Javier López Inequality is the biggest challenge of our time. It undermines social confidence and reduces support for democratic institutions. It lurks behind the new toxic relationship that western societies have established with their future and explains much of…
From global poverty to exclusion and despair
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky “The Sociology of Justice”, which is the timely theme of The Philippine Sociological Society’s 2017 National conference at UP Cebu must be understood in relation to an unfolding New World Order which destroys sovereign countries through…
Myanmar forces may be guilty of genocide: U.N. says
Stephanie Nebehay Geneva (Reuters) – Myanmar’s security forces may be guilty of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority and more of them are fleeing despite a deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to send them home, the top U.N. human rights…
Violence against women: Why the UN Scy-Gen got it wrong
Robert J. Burrowes In his remarks on the recent International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – see ‘Violence Against Women is Fundamentally About Power’ http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/11/violence-women-fundamentally-power/ – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres inadvertently demonstrated why well-meaning efforts being…
Toxic pollution puts babies’ brain at risk
As New Delhi and other major cities hit new toxic smog peaks, the United Nations sounded the alarm Wednesday over the damage that pollution is doing to babies’ developing brains. The UN’s children’s agency, UNICEF, said Asia accounts for more…
Is left finally walking to eurozone realities
The fact that the mainstream European left continues to believe, with some notable exceptions, that the European Monetary Union (and European Union) can be reformed in a progressive direction and transformed into a fully-fledged supranational democracy remains one of the…
Honoring soil scientists on World Soil Day
13 soil scientists to watch Danielle Nierenberg Soil performs a variety of vital functions, including supporting plant and animal life and filtering contaminants from water and the air. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) asserts that “soils need to…
Rohingya refugees face fresh ordeal in crowded camps
By Naimul Haq In this special series of reports, IPS journalists travel to the border region between Bangladesh and Myanmar to speak with Rohingya refugees, humanitarian workers and officials about the still-unfolding human rights and health crises facing this long-marginalized…
Indigenous people guardians of Brazil’s threatened forests
By Mario Osava Rio De Janeiro, Dec 4 (IPS) – Indigenous peoples, recognised as the best guardians of the world’s forests, are losing some battles in Brazil in the face of intensified pressure from the expansion of agriculture, mining and…
When medicines don’t work anymore
By Martin Khor The crisis of antibiotic resistance has gotten worse, and a global action plan must be launched urgently, most appropriately at the World Health Assembly in May. PENANG, Malaysia, Dec 4 (IPS) – The growing crisis of antibiotic…
Beyond Bonn: Eco-social policies and environmental sustainability
COP23 in Bonn sought to maintain the global momentum for ‘green growth’ – to decouple output from greenhouse gas emissions. But the crucial topics of consumption, inequality and unrestrained growth were entirely absent. My recent book seeks to place these…
Viewing water policies through a gendered lens
Tanusree Paul Despite the international recognition accorded to the key role played by women in issues around water, the extent to which India’s national water policies accommodate gender concerns remains to be examined. Based on an in-depth content analysis of…
Supermoon 7pc larger 15pc brighter
Stargazers are in for a treat on Sunday when they look up at the so-called “supermoon,” when the Moon appears bigger and brighter in the sky as it moves closer to Earth
“What price do we put on our oceans?”
By Manipadma Jena Nairobi/New Delhi, Dec 1 (IPS) – “Political resolve is the key for succeeding in our fight against oceans pollution,” Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, who is leading hands-on the organisation’s global campaign to clean up seas…
Obama blasts Trump over climate change issue
Former US president Barack Obama launched a veiled barb at his successor Donald Trump on Friday, saying there is “a pause in American leadership” on climate change. Since leaving office in January, Obama has been relatively restrained in his comments…