Development & Aid

School Meals Coalition Hopes to Provide a Meal to Every Child

By Naureen Hossain
Meals at schools not only give each child a nutritious meal but increase enrolments, among other benefits.

Growing Amazon Deforestation a Grave Threat to Global Climate

By Mario Osava
For three weeks, the Brazilian government concealed the fact that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest increased by nearly 22 percent last year, accentuating a trend that threatens to derail efforts to curb global warming.

Gender, Education and Drop Outs

By Jan Lundius
While COVID 19 is keeping the world and news media in its constant grip and national politics often come to the forefront, it might be easy to forget urgent and nevertheless related matters. One is how global education has suffered and how children and youngsters have been forced to cope with a different reality. This aspect like so many other of human existence is gendered and while addressing education it is relevant to talk about changing gender roles as well.

New Pan-African Payments System Provides Big Relief for African Traders

By Kingsley Ighobor
When Fidelis Adele, the CEO of Freetown-based Solid Graphics, a printing and communications company, needed to order some printing equipment from Nigeria in September, he paid an extra $165 on top of a $10,000 bank transfer to the seller. Yet it took three days for the money transferred in Sierra Leone to be credited to the beneficiary’s account in Nigeria.

How to Tackle Africa’s Employment Crisis

By Johann Ivanov
The Covid-19 pandemic aggravated Africa's already severe employment crisis. The solution lies in a long-term political and economic transformation.

Ethiopia’s Civil War Fueled by Weapons from UN’s Big Powers

By Thalif Deen
In Hollywood movies, the legendary Wild West was routinely portrayed with gunslingers, lawmen and villains—resulting in the ultimate showdown between the “good guys and the bad guys”. Linda Thomson-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council early this month that the warring parties in the devastating 12-month-long civil war in Ethiopia involve the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Eritrean Defense Forces, the Amhara Special Forces, and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front.

Ongoing Pandemic Push Africa’s Children Out of School

By Joyce Chimbi
Kenya’s secondary schools’ administration has been in the eye of a storm since schools reopened in October 2021. Since then, students have set on fire 35 schools and counting, forcing the government to announce an unscheduled break from school – ahead of the planned December 23 closing.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: What Went Wrong During India’s COVID-19 Response

From its devastating economic impact and the migrant crisis to the startling death toll, the COVID-19 pandemic in India unfurled one crisis after the other. The glaring gaps in our system, which had always been there, became even more prominent during the pandemic. There is one question at the back of everyone’s mind that still remains unanswered: What went wrong?

From Fruit Waste to Gourmet Grub

By Busani Bafana
When Bonolo Monthe’s neighbours discarded bucketsful of fallen ripe morula fruit from their backyard, she saw food and fortune going to waste.

Climate Change with 8 Billion Humans

By Joseph Chamie
With world population approaching 8 billion humans, the demographic growth of nations is unfortunately largely ignored by governments whenever climate change is considered.

Protecting Environmental Water from Antimicrobial Resistance

By Lina Taing and Rachel Kaiser
The overuse and misuse of antimicrobial medicines and chemicals has become the main driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and drug-resistant infections that threaten human health and the global economy.

Climate Injustice at Glasgow Cop-Out

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The planet is already 1.1°C warmer than in pre-industrial times. July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded in 142 years. Despite the pandemic slowdown, 2020 was the hottest year so far, ending the warmest decade (2011-2020) ever. Betrayal in Glasgow Summing up widespread views of the recently concluded Glasgow climate summit, former Irish President Mary Robinson observed, “People will see this as a historically shameful dereliction of duty,… nowhere near enough to avoid climate disaster”.

Corporate Fear Drives Caribbean Vaccine COVID-19 Mandates

By Zadie Neufville
When face-to-face Cabinet meetings resumed in Jamaica following more than a year of virtual meetings due to COVID-19, Ministers lined up to have their immunisation cards inspected.

It’s Time to Find Solutions to the Gendered Consequences of the Pandemic

By Megan O'Donnell, Shelby Bourgault and Lotus McDougal
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects across the globe, but the data and evidence show that women have borne the brunt of the crisis. While inequalities in health, economic power, and other areas existed long before the pandemic began, the pandemic has widened these gaps.

‘The Brutal Death of a Child’s Dream’

By Baher Kamal
Kailash Satyarthi,  an Indian social reformer and co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Malala Yousafzai, spoke in a recent international forum about the devastating impacts of child labour.

Time Honoured Food Traditions, Pleasing for Palate and Planet

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Balance is the absolute key, says Alia Chughtai, a journalist who started a catering service with filmmaker Akhlaque Mahesar, by the name of Aur Chaawal (And Rice), two years ago.

Glossing Over in Glasgow – Some Thoughts on COP26

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
A week has gone by since COP 26 with 197 Parties ended in the Scottish city of Glasgow on extended time last Saturday. Climate change which covers wide array of issues affecting all living beings engaged the people around the world for COP 26 in a way never experienced since COP1 was held in Berlin in 1995.

Mental Health: Getting to Healthy, Happy

By Fairuz Ahmed
"I was told to wait and cry it out. How could I explain to them that I have been crying for years? That was not the solution," asks Azra Zeng, a divorced mother of four in an interview with IPS. "I wanted to speak to someone. I wanted to seek help where I could feel whole again. It felt that I was dying from inside, but no one could see."

Hunger, Desperation in Lebanon as Food Prices Rocket

By Mona Alami
On the streets of Beirut, Hadi Hassoun begs for a few pounds to feed his five children. He has little hope of a job, especially now that the economic crisis in Lebanon has destroyed wealth.

Why Seed Companies Fear México

By Ernesto Hernández-López 
Last month México’s Supreme Court provided hope for biodiversity, especially in the Global South, while flaming fear for seed companies. In a historic step, it ruled for corn advocates and against genetically modified (GMO) corn. The decision was a momentous act in country where maíz (corn) carries daily and sacred significance.  

1 in 2 Humans Cannot Celebrate World Toilet Day – This Is Why

By Baher Kamal
Did you know that half of the world's population do not have toilets? And that, globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces? And that every day, over 700 children under five years old die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene?
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