Martin Khor is Executive Director of the South Centre, a think tank for developing countries, based in Geneva.
Panoramic view of a neighbourhood in southern Mexico City, with buildings semi-hidden by air pollution. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS
PENANG, Nov 14 2016 (IPS) – As evidence mounts on the threats posed by air pollution to both human health and the environment, action must be urgently taken to address this problem.
At the global level, the Paris Agreement that came into force on 10 November aims to get countries to signifi…
There is still need for better educational opportunities, housing, medical care, and everything that is extended to other citizens in the Caribbean. Credit: Bigstock
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Mar 23 2017 (IPS) – Visually impaired Kerryn Gunness is excited about the possibilities offered by a new free app that would serve as his eyes and enable people like him to enjoy greater independence.
The Personal Universal Communicator (PUC) app is part of a new generation of cheaper assistive technolo…
Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim, is Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue
GENEVA, Jun 4 2017 (IPS) – On 20 February 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/77 to promote the rights of children. This Resolution was considered a milestone in promoting and advancing the right of children in conflict and wars.
Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim
The resolution was also seen as a further acknowledgement of the growing number of States that had signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child that entered into force on 2 September 1990. To this day only one State has …
A view of the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, where nearly 80,000 Syrian refugees are living. Credit: UN Photo/Sahem Rababah
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 1 2017 (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.
The camp was opened by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the United Nations (UN) to cope with the humanitarian crisis in Syria—which has recorded the world’s refugee movement since WWII—with a clear goal to house refugees temporarily.
Between then and today, more than 80,000 Syrian refugees have settled in the camp, making it the world’s largest Syrian refugee…
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13 2017 (IPS) – A vibrant global campaign to ban the use of mercury in dentistry is shifting direction: moving from Europe to the developing world.
Charlie Brown, Attorney President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, an organization which is spearheading the campaign, told African and Asian delegates at a meeting in Geneva late September: When you return to your home countries, please do as the European Union has done: phase out amalgam for children now, for one simple reason: The children of your nation are equally important as the children of Europe.
President of World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Charlie Brown (2nd right), Do…
Children from rural areas and disempowered homes are ideal targets for trafficking in India and elsewhere. Credit: Neeta Lal / IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 2018 (IPS) – A new initiative aims to use data to shed light on a pervasive multi-billion dollar criminal industry: human trafficking.
Created by the International Organization for Migration and Polaris, the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) is the world’s first human trafficking data portal.
It collects data from various counter-trafficking organizations around the world in order to help stakeholders identify and respond to trends.
“We are really just starting to see the b…
Africa has been transformed from a net food exporter into a net food importer, while realizing only a small fraction of its vast agricultural potential. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS
KUALA LUMPUR AND SYDNEY, May 21 2018 (IPS) – Agriculture is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the Food and Agriculture Organization () notes, ‘From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change and sustaining our natural re…
Fruit and vegetable prices in South Africa have increased to the point that poorer people have had to remove them from their grocery lists. Credit: Nalisha Adams/IPS
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 10 2018 (IPS) – Every Sunday afternoon, Thembi Majola* cooks a meal of chicken and rice for her mother and herself in their home in Alexandra, an informal settlement adjacent to South Africa’s wealthy economic hub, Sandton.
“Vegetables is only on Sunday,” Majola tells IPS, adding that these constitute potatoes, sweet potato and pum…
The New Agriculture Cooperative was founded in 1977 by a group of young unemployed, labourers and farmers with two main objectives: create employment in agriculture and prevent the construction of a vast area of high environmental value. In 1990 the conversion to organic farming began, followed in 1996 by the conversion of livestocks. In 2010 the Cooperative moved to biodynamic agriculture. Credit: Maged Srour/IPS
ROME, Dec 23 2018 (IPS) – While Italian agriculture is in a leading position in terms of organic farming, sustainable agriculture and being at the forefront of biodiversity conservation; water scarcity, illegal workers and the role of women and combined ageing of…
Dr Ken Jetton (left) and Dr Arturo Cunanan (centre) with a patient who has been cured of leprosy in the Majuro leprosy clinic in the capital of the Marshall Islands. The patient is now seeking further help due to post-treatment complexities. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
MAJURO, Apr 4 2019 (IPS) – It’s a Friday morning and Dr. Ken Jetton, the only doctor who treats leprosy in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, is seeing a patient recently cured of the disease.
David, 32, has received multidrug therapy (MDT) treatment for a year already. But he is back in the doctor’s office because of a reversal reaction that has occurred.
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David, w…