Global Issues
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Religion & Development: An Enhanced Approach or a Transaction?
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 12 (IPS) - Dr. Azza Karam is a Senior Advisor at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Coordinator of UN Interagency Task Force on Religion, and Professor on Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
Since 2008, a number of articles/opinions have been written, on the nexus between religion and development.
In chronological order, the articles first made the case for why ‘religion matters' to the attainment of developmental objectives, noting how religious leaders are critical to changing social norms which can be in contradiction to human rights, and noting the extent to which faith-based organisations (FBOs) have anyway served as the original social service providers known to human kind.
Shining a Spotlight on the Strengths & Challenges of Civil Society in the Balkans
- Inter Press Service
BELGRADE, Apr 11 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which is the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to conclude in Belgrade, April 12.
Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS, in her opening address to the International Civil Society Week (ICSW)
It is an incredible privilege to welcome you all to the ‘International Civil Society Week'. I am going to remind us of the reasons that make it so important for us to be here in Belgrade this week.
No Story Worth Dying For
- Inter Press Service
BELGRADE, Apr 11 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.
"Stay safe. There's no story worth dying for."
That's the message to journalists from Nada Josimovic, programme coordinator of Amsterdam-based media rights organisation Free Press Unlimited.
Revealed - A Roadmap to Defeat Tobacco Tax & Keep Indonesians Addicted
- Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, Thailand, Apr 11 (IPS) - Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo is Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)*
The image of a smoking toddler from Indonesia horrified the world but did little to motivate local policy makers to enact measures to protect children and youth from the harms of tobacco use. Indonesia has one of the world's highest smoking rates where two out of three men and about 40 percent of adolescent boys smoke.
People Do Not “Deserve to Die”: Injustice of Death Penalty Persists
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 (IPS) - While figures have dropped, the "inhuman" use of the death penalty still remains too common worldwide, a human rights group said.
Attacks on Media in the Balkans Sound Alarm Bells for Democracy
- Inter Press Service
GENEVA, Apr 11 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which is the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to conclude in Belgrade, April 12.
Susan Wilding is the head of the Geneva office at CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations. Anti-government protesters invading Serbia's state-owned television station, demanding that their voices be heard. Journalism bodies writing to the Albanian prime minister over plans to censor online media outlets. A Belgrade corruption-busting reporter forced to flee his house that had been torched; a Montenegrin investigative journalist shot in the leg outside her home.
Fridays for Future – following Greta Thunberg!
- Inter Press Service
BERLIN, Apr 10 (IPS) - What happens worldwide on Fridays, a regular working day and consequently, a school day? We are all witnessing that students do not attend their classes: During the week of March 15, 2019, according to www.fridaysforfuture.org, there were at least 1.6 million striking students in more than 125 countries on all continents.
Students ask their governments and parents: "Why should I be studying for a future that soon may exist no more, if no one does anything to save that future?" And they pledge: "Dear adults, use your power!" The youngsters gather in front of their town halls, exposing signs and pictures #Fridaysforfuture or #Climatestrike.
Smears, Laws, Lack of Cooperation: Tools Against Activists
- Inter Press Service
BELGRADE, Apr 10 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.
The murder of Brazilian politician and human rights activist Marielle Franco just over a year ago and attacks on other rights activists around the world have galvanised civil society organisations, with the United Nations heightening its own strategy to protect rights defenders.
Staying Cool is Creating a Vicious Cycle on our Warming Planet
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 10 (IPS) - Joyce Msuya is Acting Executive Director, UN Environment.
Our planet is heating up. 2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record, with peak temperatures engulfing the planet – from 43°C in Baku, Azerbaijan, to the low 30s across Scandinavia. The last four years have been the hottest since records began in 1880.
Civil Society, Once the “World’s New Superpower,” is Battling Against Heavy Odds
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 10 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which is the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and currently taking place in Belgrade, concluding April 12.
A former UN Secretary-General, the late Kofi Annan, once described civil society organizations (CSOs), as "the world's new superpower" – perhaps ranking behind the US and the former Soviet Union.
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