Development & Aid

The Cambodian Port City on China’s 21st Century Silk Road That’s Becoming the New Macau

By Kris Janssens
The new Macau. That's what the Cambodian coastal city Sihanoukville is called nowadays. Chinese investors are building casinos there on a massive scale.The southern port city lies on the new Silk Road (the so called 'One Belt, One Road') and is therefore interesting for China.The Cambodian government is happy to accept the money. And Beijing never asks difficult questions.

An Urgent Need to Turn Down Rhetoric Against Migrants & Refugees

By Carl Söderbergh
Migration has become a focus of debate in recent years. From United States President Donald Trump’s vehemently anti-migrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric to Denmark’s new ‘ghetto laws’, the language has become increasingly heated.

In the Race to Achieve Zero Hunger and Mitigate Climate Change, We Must Look Down — to the Soil

By Esther Ngumbi
Recently, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva urged countries, scientists, policymakers and stakeholders invested in building an equitable, sustainable, and thriving planet to pay attention to the soil. He further noted that the future of the planet depends on how healthy the soils of today are.

Another global financial crisis for developing countries?

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
George Soros, Bill Gates and other pundits have been predicting another financial crisis. In their recent book, Revolution Required: The Ticking Bombs of the G7 Model, Peter Dittus and Herve Hamoun, former senior officials of the Bank of International Settlements, warned of ‘ticking time bombs’ in the global financial system waiting to explode, mainly due to the policies of major developed countries.

Crisis Drives Nicaragua to an Economic and Social Precipice

By José Adán Silva
Five months after the outbreak of mass protests in Nicaragua, in addition to the more than 300 deaths, the crisis has had visible consequences in terms of increased poverty and migration, as well as the international isolation of the government and a wave of repression that continues unabated.

Africa Needs Strong Political Will to Transform Agriculture and Spur Economic Growth

By Busani Bafana
Africa needs strong political commitment to accelerate the transformation of its agricultural sector.According to the 2018 Africa Agriculture Status Report (AASR), Catalyzing State Capacity to Drive Agriculture Transformation, released this September by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), African states need political will to boost production and income on the millions of small, family farms that grow most of Africa’s food.

Between Drought and Floods, Cuba Seeks to Improve Water Management

By Patricia Grogg
If you enjoy a good daily shower and water comes out every time you turn on the taps in your home, you should feel privileged. There are places in the world where this vital resource for life is becoming scarcer by the day and the forecasts for the future are grim.

The Causes Behind Africa’s Digital Gender Divide

By IPS World Desk
Systemic inequalities based on gender, race, income and geography are mirrored in the digital realm and leave many women, especially the poor and the rural, trailing behind Africa’s tech transformation.

Worldwide Effects of Asbestos Use

By Emily Walsh
Earlier this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States (EPA) issued a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) on asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral that is also a known carcinogen. Asbestos is the only definitive cause of mesothelioma, a cancer which affects the linings of internal organs.

25 years Since the Oslo Accords: Israeli Security Depends on Palestinian Rights

By Jan Egeland
Twenty-five years ago, on 13 September 1993, I sat on the White House lawn to witness the landmark signing of the Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Diplomats around me gasped as Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with former foe, Chairman Yasser Arafat. But for some of us present, the handshake came as no surprise.

‘Women Not Speaking at the Same Table as Men’ Means a Widening Digital Gender Gap in Africa

By Mercedes Sayagues
'Think Bigger', urge the colourful posters on the walls of Ideario, an innovation hub in Chamanculo, a modest neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital. The message is right on target for the new female trainees, eager eyes glued to laptop screens as they learn internet and computer skills.

Kofi Annan, the Last UN Secretary-General Who Paid for His Independence

By Roberto Savio
This testimony to Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, comes a month after his death. Much has already been written, and it is now superfluous to recall his efforts for peace and international cooperation. It is better to place his figure in a crucial context: how the great powers progressively reduced the figure of the UN Secretary-General and charged a high price from those who tried to keep the system’s independence.

Global Warming Threatens Europe’s Public Health

By Ed Holt
Climate change and health experts are warning of the growing threat to public health in Europe from global warming as rising temperatures help potentially lethal diseases spread easily across the continent.

South-South Cooperation in a Transformative Era

By Jorge Chediek
On 12 September, the international community commemorated the UN Day for South-South Cooperation. This is an important acknowledgement of the contributions of Southern partnerships in addressing the many development challenges that confront the international community, such as poverty, climate change, inequality, contagious diseases and humanitarian crises.

Q&A: Achieving Sustainable Goals: “In the End it is All About People. If People Want, it Will Happen.”

By Manipadma Jena
Today just over two billion people live without readily available, safe water supplies at home. And more than half the world’s population, roughly 4.3 billion people, live in areas where demand for water resources outstrips sustainable supplies for at least part of the year.

Q&A: As Water Scarcity Becomes the New Normal How Do We Manage This Scarce Resource?

By Manipadma Jena
Growing economies are thirsty economies. And water scarcity has become “the new normal” in many parts of the world, according to Torgny Holmgren executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

Great Recession, greater illusions

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
In 2009, the world economy contracted by -2.2%. Growth in all developing countries declined from around 8% in 2007 to 2.6% in 2009 as the developed world contracted by -3.8% in 2009. The collapse of the Lehmann Brothers investment bank in September 2008 symbolized the US financial crisis that triggered the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

International Law Experts Warn Europe’s ‘Pull Back’ of Migrants is Illegal – Part 2

By Maged Srour
“The Italian and other European authorities are engaging – on the migration issue – in a policy which has the foreseeable results of numerous deaths.” It is a grim warning from expert on international law, refugees and migration issues, and member of the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Itamar Mann.

Salmon Farming, Questioned in Chile, Arrives to Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
Questioned for its environmental and health impacts in Chile, where it is one of the country's main economic activities, salmon farming is preparing to expand in Argentina from Norway, the world's largest farmed salmon producer. The news has triggered a strong reaction from civil society organisations.

‘All the Roads Leading to Agadez and Italy are Dangerous’

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
El Adama Diallo left his home in Senegal on Oct. 28, 2016, with dreams of reaching Europe in his heart and a steely determination that made him take an alternative, dangerous route to get there despite the absence of regular migration papers in his pocket.

Four-Year Drought Forces Cuba to Find Ways to Build Resilience

By Ivet González
Eastern Cuba has suffered drought since time immemorial. But the western and central regions of the island used to be almost free of the phenomenon, until the latest drought that plagued this country between 2014 and 2017.
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