CHICOASÉN, Mexico, Mar 08 (IPS) - In 1976, the construction of a hydroelectric dam destroyed farmland in the rural municipality of Chicoasén in southern Mexico. Forty years later, part of the local population is fighting a second dam, which would deprive them of more land.

NEW YORK, Mar 08 (IPS) - International Women's Day is a chance to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world – often against great odds and all too often remaining invisible. But women and girls worldwide are change makers and leaders for a better world. Role models are many.

MADRID, Mar 08 (IPS) - In a yet another violation of international laws and their own human values, 28 European countries have just agreed with Turkey to open a new "bazaar" of refugees, this time using the old barter system. i.e. Iraqis and Afghans in exchange of Syrians.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (IPS) - As the world celebrates International Women's Day March 8, the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) revealed a disappointing low for women's participation in parliament.

Syracuse, NY, USA, Mar 08 (IPS) - It is time to "celebrate" International Women's Day (IWY) again. Celebrating women sounds like a positive, upbeat action. We can note women's increasing roles in government, in business, and as leaders of civil society. We can also describe how women are the backbone of every community and virtually every family.

MAMNA, India, Mar 08 (IPS) - Prema Bai, 58, bends her head and pushes hard her wheelchair on the village road. In the early afternoon, the village of Mamna appears almost deserted although it is home to 742 families and is located in Uttar Pradesh - India's largest and most populated state. Thanks to a severe drought, every man and woman under 50 has fled Mamna in recent weeks, leaving behind the elderly and women with very young children. "They thought we were like cattle, a burden in this hard time because we only eat but yield no returns," says Bai whose two sons and their wives also migrated to Agra -- a city 255 km away -- to work in a brick kiln.

ROME, Mar 07 (IPS) - On International Women's Day newspapers and radio shows are filled with women's voices. Yet too often the media's attention is fleeting.

VIENNA, Austria, Mar 07 (IPS) - In 1911, more than one million men and women attended rallies to commemorate the first International Women's Day. Demonstrators advocated for an end to gender discrimination and for the promotion of women's rights to work, vote, receive an education, and hold public office.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 07 (IPS) - The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), based in Vienna, will soon install two new monitoring stations in Ecuador.

CTBTOs Executive Secretary Dr Lassina Zerbo told IPS the two stations in Ecuador, RN 24 and IS 20, "will brings us an important step closer to the completion of the International Monitoring System – the network that monitors the globe 24/7 for signs of nuclear explosive testing."

Kampala / New York, Mar 07 (IPS) - Anna Gamusi, has been growing ‘matooke' - plantains - for over 20 years. She originally learnt how to grow them in her home village of Busolwe in Eastern Uganda, but says that they are no longer grown there.