News headlines in August 2017, page 8

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Aug 03 (IPS) - Gender inequality is the greatest moral and social issue of our time -- and the world's most critical economic challenge. If half of the global population cannot fulfill their human potential, the world's economic growth will falter.

BARTICA, Guyana, Aug 03 (IPS) - At the head of Guyana's Essequibo River, 50 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, you will find the town of Bartica. Considered the gateway to Guyana's interior, the town has a population of about 15,000 and is the launching point for people who work in the forests mining gold and diamonds.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 03 (IPS) - The United Nations recently released the 70th anniversary issue of its flagship publication, the World Economic and Social Survey (WESS). First published in January 1948 as the World Economic Report, it is the oldest continuous publication analyzing international economic and social challenges. The 2017 issue reviews 70 years of WESS policy recommendations, many of which remain relevant today to address global challenges and to achieve the 2030 Agenda or Sustainable Development Goals.

ROME, Aug 02 (IPS) - Over the centuries, Indigenous peoples who have in-depth and locally rooted knowledge of the natural world , have been increasingly dispossessed of their lands, territories and resources and have lost control over their own way of life.

DHAKA, Aug 01 (IPS) - Experts and policymakers here say regional cooperation is a must to resolve long-standing water problems in South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and to harness the full value of water.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 01 (IPS) - Jordan's Zaatari camp, which opened in 2012 as a makeshift camp to house Syrian refugees fleeing the war, marked its fifth year on June 28.

MATAGALPA, Nicaragua, Aug 01 (IPS) - If the impact of drought and poverty in the municipalities of the so-called Dry Corridor in Nicaragua continues pushing the agricultural frontier towards the Caribbean coast, by the year 2050 this area will have lost all its forests and nature reserves, experts predict.