Population

African Nations Caught in Conflict Re-commit to Inclusive Education

By Stella Paul
Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh knows that his country is in need of an education system that is, “innovative, based on universal principles and values and adaptive of the local realities”.

Global Inequality Continues to Grow: UNDESA Report

By Samira Sadeque
More than 70 percent of the global population is currently living in parts of the world where income inequality has grown, according to a World Social Report 2020 launched by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). 

From Digital Diplomacy to Data Diplomacy

By Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook
The digital revolution arrived late at the heart of ministries of foreign affairs across the Western world. Ministries latched on to social media around the time of Tahrir Square and Iran’s 2009 Green Revolution, beguiled by a vision of the technology engendering a networked evolution toward more liberal societies.

Pro-Growth Demographic Dogma

By Joseph Chamie
Whenever the issue of population comes up, pro-growth demographic dogma invariably dominates. Governments, political parties, businesses, the media and many others typically praise population growth and lament population slowdown, stabilization or decline. The demographic dogma basically advocates maintaining robust population growth and a larger and youthful population. 

Empowering Women in Poor Communities & Building Resilience Against Climate Pressure

By Bijal Brahmbhatt
As global temperatures continue to rise, vulnerable populations around the world are facing increasingly complex climate risks – with ongoing droughts in Zimbabwe and floods devastating Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

Climate Change: A Tale of Weather Extremes with Mixed Fortunes for Zambia

By Friday Phiri
It is early Saturday morning and Planeta Hatuleke, a small scale farmer of Pemba District in Southern Zambia, awakens to the comforting sound of rainfall. As the locals say, the “heavens have opened” and it is raining heavily after a prolonged dry spell. 

In the Elusive Grip of an Abusive Partner: A Migrant’s Story

By Fairuz Ahmed
To live in a home with family, to have a safe environment, food and basic human necessities, are some of the essentials that most people expect to have without giving it all much thought. When a child is born, parents or caregivers are likely to provide these things. These expectations get renewed whenever someone gets married and moves to a new home, a different neighborhood, or a city. We can hardly find someone who will say that they were not expecting happiness and safety when stepping into a new relationship, or starting a new chapter of life. But these expectations of a better life turn disastrous for millions of people when they step into another country as a dependent.

India’s Citizenship Law Triggered by Rising Right-Wing Ideology

By Nadia Kanji
“Fire bullets at the traitors of the country,” chanted mobs of Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, supporters wrapped in Indian flags in Delhi last week.

UN Chief Warns of Rising Misogyny, Xenophobia, Discrimination, Racism & Hate Speech

By Antonio Guterres
As we prepare to bid farewell to 2019, we must take a clearsighted look at the global situation and the new challenges we face. Our world is undergoing a shift. It is no longer bipolar or unipolar. But it is not yet truly multipolar. Balances of power are changing, creating new and dangerous risks.

Q&A: Initiative Starts Mental Health Sessions for Bangladeshi Garment Workers

By Samira Sadeque
Nearly seven years ago, garment workers in Bangladesh were victims of one of the gravest man-made disasters in history -- a factory collapse that left more than 1,100 workers dead, and rendered thousands with injuries -- in many cases lifelong ones.  For many of the workers from Rana Plaza, the trauma remains real even to this day.

Arab Region’s Largest Youth Gathering Focuses on New Tech

By Stella Paul
On late Monday morning, a motley group of more than a thousand youth gathered in a hall in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to listen to Sophia — a humanoid robot capable of displaying humanlike expressions and interacting with people. Yahya Elghobashy, a computer science engineering student from Cairo, sat excitedly in the audience. A few meters away from him, also in the audience, was Abdel Fattah el-Sisi — the President of Egypt.

Lithium and Clean Energy in Argentina: Development or Mirage?

By Daniel Gutman
The intense white brightness of the salt flats interrupts the arid monotony of the Puna in northwest Argentina, resembling postcards from the moon. Beneath its surface are concealed the world's largest reserves of lithium, the key mineral in the transition to clean energy, the mining of which has triggered controversy.

Madrid Talks End Without Agreement on How to Finance Recovery from Climate-Related Atrocities

By Isaiah Esipisu
Millions of people, particularly in Africa, who lose their property, homes, and even die due to climate-related disasters will have to wait at least another year for the international community to agree on a means of supporting them.

How to Recognise Nigeria’s Trafficked Kids

By Tobore Ovuorie
What is human trafficking and child trafficking? IPS correspondent Tobore Ovuorie takes to the streets of Lagos to find out what Nigerians know about this crime. The answer was, surprisingly, very little. Ovuorie also speaks to experts about how to identify kids who have been trafficked and what ordinary citizens can do about it.

Haiti’s Cry for Help as Climate Change is Compared to an Act of Violence against the Island Nation

By Desmond Brown
Haiti’s Environment Minister Joseph Jouthe has compared the climate emergency to a violent act and appealed to the international community for help to fight climate change.

Commonwealth: Commit to Limit Global Warming or Face Irreversible Impacts

By Desmond Brown
Commonwealth countries, including those in the Caribbean, continue to push for more ambition, following reports that a few very influential parties have stymied efforts to respond to the climate emergency.

Climate Financing Being Undermined by Rich Nations, NGOs Charge

By Thalif Deen
The successful battle against climate change – which has triggered a rash of natural disasters, including floods, droughts and rising sea levels— will be predicated largely on the availability of financing.

South-South Cooperation Offers Solutions to Urgent Climate Challenges

By Jorge Chediek
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, and developing countries are recognized as hotspots for climatic risks. Through solidarity, peer-to-peer learning and collective self-reliance, developing countries are collaborating among themselves to address the threat.

The World had an ‘Unprecedented’ Number of People in Humanitarian Need this Year

By Samira Sadeque
The world had an unexpected number of people in crisis this year, which exceeded projected numbers the United Nations had expected, with climate change being one of the key crises that led to “needs to unprecedented levels” according to a new report. 

The Changing Distribution of World Population

By Joseph Chamie
In addition to its unprecedented rapid rate of demographic growth during the past 75 years, world population’s distribution across the planet has changed significantly over the past seven decades. The momentous global changes in humanity’s geographic distribution pose serious social, economic, political and environmental challenges and disquieting implications for the future. 

African Politicians Asked to Develop Legal Instruments to Fight Climate Change

By Isaiah Esipisu
African legislators have been challenged to come up with legal frameworks for climate change to enable countries avoid catastrophes and reactionary emergencies that eat up their budgets.
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