UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13 (IPS) - Jayantha Dhanapala, a former U.N. under-secretary-general for disarmament affairs (1998-2003) and a relentless advocate for a world free of nuclear weapons, will be the recipient of the 2014 International Achievement Award for Nuclear Disarmament sponsored by Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (IPS) - The simultaneity presented by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus on one hand and militant barbarism ostensibly in the name of Islam on the other present the international development community - particularly the United Nations and international NGOs – with challenges, as well as opportunities.

ROME/GENEVA, Nov 13 (IPS) - The scourge of malnutrition affects the most vulnerable in society, and it hurts most in the earliest stages of life. Today, more than 800 million people are chronically hungry, about 11 percent of the global population.

PICHAVARAM, India, Nov 13 (IPS) - When the Asian tsunami washed over several Indian Ocean Rim countries on Boxing Day 2004, it left a trail of destruction in its wake, including a death toll that touched 230,000.

TACUBA, El Salvador, Nov 13 (IPS) - Rural communities and social organisations in El Salvador agree that the lack of specific laws is one of the main hurdles to resolving disputes over water in the country.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12 (IPS) - Corporations marketing unhealthy foods to poorer consumers are being challenged for their role in the growing global burden of diseases like diabetes.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12 (IPS) - In the world's largest refugee complex – the sprawling Dadaab settlement in Kenya's North Eastern Province – women listen attentively during a business management workshop held at a hospital in one of its newest camps, Ifo 2.

NEW YORK, Nov 12 (IPS) - Less than 15 percent of U.S. citizens approve of the job that Congress is doing, a 40-year low, and few expect last week's congressional elections to herald a new era of political cooperation.

LILONGWE, Nov 12 (IPS) - "We are underpaid, have no guns and in most instances are outnumbered by the poachers," says Stain Phiri, a ranger at Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve — a 986 km reserve said to have the most abundant and a variety of wildlife in Malawi —  which also happens to be one of the country's biggest game parks under siege by poachers.

GENEVA, Nov 12 (IPS) - As the international community wades into the political discussions regarding the alternatives to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after 2015 and the design of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as mandated by the Rio+20 conference, it is timely to consider the question of whether development is a matter mostly of individual effort on the part of nation-states or whether there are elements in the international economic system that could serve as significant obstacles to national development efforts.