Global Issues
News headlines
2020: A Yet More Devastating Year Closes With At Least Some Signs Of Hope
- Inter Press Service
ROME, Dec 23 (IPS) - Despite its grim record of multiple natural disasters and a deepening climate crisis, one could be forgiven for looking back on 2019 with a degree of nostalgia. There is no disguising the extent of the calamity wrought this year by COVID-19, yet as we approach the end of 2020 we may also draw strength from positive developments emerging.
'We Might Have a Covid-21 or Covid-22 Coming Our Way'
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Dec 23 (IPS) - Cristián Samper is working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, an organization that concerns itself with the health of wildlife all over the globe. And he warned --even before the Covid-19 pandemic – about the dangers of a viral pandemic.
Indigenous Leaders want Traditional Knowledge to be Centrepiece of New Global Biodiversity Framework
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 (IPS) - Once omitted from biodiversity treaty negotiations, indigenous people now have a say in a landmark global framework expected to be signed by 190 countries The picturesque Mahuat River in Dominica is one of 8 communities that make up the Kalinago Territory – a 3,700-acre area on the Caribbean island’s east coast that is home to the Kalinago people, the largest indigenous group in the Eastern Caribbean. It is where 19-year-old Whitney Melinard calls home. Melinard is among a rising group of Dominica’s Kalinago youth, using their voices and platforms to speak out on issues affecting their people.
The World in 2021
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (IPS) - The year 2020 is ending with the world caught up in an unprecedented human and economic crisis. The pandemic has contaminated 75 million people and killed 1.7 million. With the lockdowns, the global economy has suffered the worst recession in 75 years, causing the loss of income for millions of people. In such a bleak environment, what will the new year bring? Whilst uncertainty is the only certainty, eight points are likely to be key in the year ahead:
Why Transforming Our Food Systems Is a Feminist Issue
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Dec 22 (IPS) - In countries where women are most marginalized, discriminated under the law and where gendered norms prevent women from owning property and resources, people are also the hungriest. This is because gender equality and food systems are intertwined.
A Decade after the Arab Spring, Tunisia Fails to Keep up with the Process of Democratisation
- Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, India, Dec 22 (IPS) - Ten years ago a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself afire in the central Tunisian provincial town of Sidi Bouzid to protest against police harassment. Bouazizi’s sacrificial act served as a catalyst and inspired the Tunisian people to take over the streets that led to the Jasmine Revolution in the country. On January 4, 2011 Mohamed Bouazizi died, and ten days later the country's authoritarian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s rule ended when he fled to Saudi Arabia.
Empowering Women through Wisdom
- Inter Press Service
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Dec 22 (IPS) - During the COVID 19 lockdown in Sri Lanka, seven women from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds came together to deliver Wisdom and their message that women must be empowered and their voices for national unity must be heard through this movement.
Islamic Feminists Speak on Fight to Reclaim Rights
- Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, India, Dec 22 (IPS) - The court victory to allow women into the inner sanctum of a Sufi shrine in Mumbai was a significant victory for a secular rights-based movement led by Muslim women. However, there is a fear the political climate in India regarding Muslims, could put the women’s rights agenda on the back foot.
The Night Arafat, Facing Death Threats, Slept in the UN Chiefs Office
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (IPS) - The United Nations, which is commemorating its 75th anniversary, continues to remain bogged down in one of the world’s most politically and militarily volatile regions: the Middle East.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Child Marriage and Other Gender-Based Violence
- Inter Press Service
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 21 (IPS) - I recently visited rural areas of Bangladesh amid the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to Dhaka with a new understanding of the impact that COVID-19 is having on child marriage, a harmful practice that is a global challenge. The fundamental shift that I saw was that child marriage, which has typically been encouraged by struggling parents, is now being encouraged by struggling girls. This worrisome trend underscores a new burden of the pandemic on the poor.
Powered by
