News stories by Isolda Agazzi

GENEVA, Jun 01 (IPS) - Erwin Sperisen was chief of Guatemala's National Civil Police from 2004 to 2007, when he left the country for Switzerland. In August 2010, the Guatemalan authorities issued an international arrest warrant, accusing him, among others, of extrajudicial executions in the prisons of Pavon and Infiernito.

GENEVA, Mar 20 (IPS) - As many as 700 people were sentenced to death in Iran last year, according to UN estimates. Most were charged with drug-related crimes and belonged to ethnic minorities, new studies show.

GENEVA, Mar 18 (IPS) - The current growth model is not sustainable. Neither the green economy nor alternative sources of energy can prevent global warming. Solutions will come from concerted actions at the local and national levels, from the adoption of instruments and practices borrowed from other disciplines like peacebuilding, and from the move to a "no-waste economy", according to experts here.

GENEVA, Mar 15 (IPS) - Scientists gathered in Geneva for the first High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP) in over 30 years have identified data collection and sharing as some of the main challenges to effective prevention of drought. Clear goals and strong political will are vital to building policies at the national level, they say.

GENEVA, Mar 13 (IPS) - Drought has dramatically increased as a consequence of climate change. Most countries react to it only after it has occurred, but don't have national policies to prevent it. The high-level meeting on national drought policies in Geneva this week is trying to match scientific knowledge with political awareness.

GENEVA, Feb 05 (IPS) - A tsunami is looming on the horizon and the world is unprepared for it. This one won't be a massive wall of water but a tidal wave of disease – and experts say the international community needs to act fast to keep it from crashing.

GENEVA, Dic 11 (IPS) - While world leaders were wrapping up the United Nations conference on climate change (COP 18) in Doha, Qatar this past weekend with the annual vague promise to tackle the enourmous crises brought on by extreme weather and global warming, a delegation of youth gathered far from the high-level conference halls to say "no" to advocacy without action.

GENEVA, Nov 18 (IPS) - Organisers of this year's World Toilet Day, which falls on Nov. 19, are using the slogan ‘I give a shit – do you?' to break the silence around the crucial issue of sanitation and remind the international community that 2.5 billion people around the world don't have access to clean and private toilets.

GENEVA, Oct 11 (IPS) - Ten years of campaigning by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty have brought fruit: the number of countries that have abolished capital punishment in law or practice has gone up to 140. But some countries have resumed executions this year.