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Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Journalism and Communication for Global Change
Development & Aid
Deforestation in the Andes Triggers Amazon “Tsunami”
Deforestation, especially in the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru, was the main driver of this year’s disastrous flooding in the Madeira river watershed in Bolivia’s Amazon rainforest and the drainage basin across the border, in Brazil.
Q&A: Agriculture Needs a ‘New Revolution’
The Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015 is fast approaching, but according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), poverty still afflicts one in seven people — and one in eight still goes to bed hungry.
Russian Law Corners Drug Users
As local authorities prepare to put an end to opioid substitution treatment (OST) programmes in the newly annexed Crimean peninsula, drug users there say they are being forced to choose between a return to addiction and becoming refugees.
CEOs at Big U.S. Companies Paid 331 Times Average Worker
In new data certain to fuel the growing public debate over economic inequality, a survey released Tuesday by the biggest U.S. trade-union federation found that the CEOs of top U.S. corporations were paid 331 times more money than the average U.S. worker in 2013.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Tech Solutions to Local Problems
When Ivorian Thierry N’Doufou saw local school kids suffering under the weight of their backpacks full of textbooks, it sparked an idea of how to close the digital gap where it is the largest — in local schoolrooms.
Uzbekistan’s Dying Aral Sea Resurrected as Tourist Attraction
"I’m going for a swim," says Pelle Bendz, a 52-year-old Swede, as he rummages in the jeep for his bathing trunks. The other tourists look at him, bewildered. What’s left of the Aral Sea is reputed to be a toxic stew, contaminated by pesticides and other chemicals.
Is Puerto Rico Going the Way of Greece and Detroit?
Puerto Rican society has been shaken to its foundations by the announcement in February by Standard & Poor's and Moody's credit rating agencies that they had downgraded the island's creditworthiness to junk status.
Conflict Fuels Child Labour in India
Early in the morning, 14-year-old Sumari Varda puts on her blue school uniform but heads for the village pond to fetch water. “I miss school. I wish I could go back,” she whispers, scared of being heard by her employer.
Valparaíso Blaze Highlights the City’s Poverty
The blaze that tore through the Chilean port city of Valparaíso revealed the dark side of one of the most important tourist destinations in this South American country, which hides in its hills high levels of poverty and inequality.
IPCC Climate Report Calls for “Major Institutional Change”
Greenhouse gas emissions rose more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than anytime during the previous three decades, the world’s top climate scientists say, despite a simultaneous strengthening of national legislation around the world aimed at reducing these emissions.
Yakama Nation Tells DOE to Clean Up Nuclear Waste
The Department of Energy (DOE), politicians and CEOs were discussing how to warn generations 125,000 years in the future about the radioactive waste at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, considered the most polluted site in the U.S., when Native American anti-nuclear activist Russell Jim interrupted their musings: “We’ll tell them.”
Turtles Change Migration Routes Due to Climate Change
The critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle has few sanctuaries left in the world, and this is one of them. But in 2012 only 53 nests were counted on the beaches of this national park in Costa Rica. And there is an enemy that conservation efforts can’t fight: the beaches themselves are shrinking.
Emerging Nations Opt for Arms Spending Over Development
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has relentlessly advocated drastic cuts in global military spending in favour of sustainable development, will be sorely disappointed by the latest findings in a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Q&A: Malawi’s President Banda Confident ‘I Will Win this Election’
Malawi's President Joyce Banda is campaigning ahead of next month's elections to extend her term of office. But many believe that the massive public service corruption scandal here has weakened her chances of winning.
Taliban Screens a New Silence
Mushfiq Wali, a 22-year-old shoemaker in northern Pakistan, loves watching films in the local Pashto language. But he says the Taliban are a killjoy: their bomb attacks have led to the closure of movie theatres, again. “They don’t spare anything that brings happiness.”Next Page »
Large parts of the world's population suffer from poverty; inequality remains high. Current development orthodoxy is focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), committing the international community to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat diseases such as HIV/Aids, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. IPS brings you exciting stories of communities and peoples dealing with development challenges around the world.
