Population

E-Commerce Giants Under Fire for Retailing Hazardous Mercury-Based Cosmetics

By Thalif Deen
A coalition of over 50 civil society organizations (CSOs), from more than 20 countries, have urged two of the world’s largest multi-billion dollar E-commerce retailers – Amazon and eBay – to stop marketing “dangerous and illegal mercury-based skin lightening creams.”

Earth’s Biodiversity: A Pivotal Meeting at a Pivotal Time

By Cristiana Pașca Palmer and Anne Larigauderie
The quality of the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink depend directly on the state of our biodiversity, which is now in severe jeopardy. We need a transformational change in our relationship with nature to ensure the sustainable future we want for ourselves and our children.

Women Make the Voice of Indigenous People Heard in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
The seed was planted more than 20 years ago by a group of indigenous women who began to gather to try to recover memories from their people. Today, women are also the main protagonists of La Voz Indígena (The Indigenous Voice), a unique radio station in northern Argentina that broadcasts every day in seven languages.

Q&A: All Sustainable Development Goals Relate in Some Way to the Oceans

By Carmen Arroyo
When Peter Thomson, the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, heard in 2010 there was going to be a 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, he knew he had to include the ocean question.

Creating Beauty and Worth from Bamboo Enhances the Livelihoods of Ghana’s Artisans

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
Yaw Owiredu Mintah from Ghana has been working as an all-round processor of bamboo and rattan trees since the 1980s. And while he says that he can do most things with bamboo like weaving, framing and finishing, he admits, “I need to improve my skills and designs because all of us are, most of the time, doing the same things.”

Northeast Nigeria: Urgent Need to Combat Deadly Cholera Outbreaks

By Janet Cherono
The number of people who have been affected by cholera in northeast Nigeria has increased to 10,000. The disease is spreading quickly in congested displacement camps with limited access to proper sanitation facilities.

Considerations for Pakistan’s New Minister for National Food Security and Research

By Ahmed Raza and Daud Khan
Despite the fact that Pakistan’s industrial and services sector continue to grow in importance, what happens in the agriculture sector remains critical to the performance of Pakistan’s economy and the wellbeing of its people.

Only Acting Together Can We Stop the Rise in Malnutrition

By Julio Berdergué, Carissa F. Etienne, Marita Perceval, and Miguel Barreto
The number of undernourished people increased for the third consecutive year in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has exceeded 39 million people. In addition, almost one in four adults is obese, while overweight affects 250 million; more than the entire population of Brazil.

Making Agriculture Cool

By Busani Bafana
At every conference she has attended on the youth, Nawsheen Hosenally has been frustrated to hear that agriculture is not ‘cool’. The 29-year-old graduate in agricultural extension and information systems knew she wanted to do something to redeem the image of agriculture among young people.

Alert! Hunger and Obesity on the Rise in Latin America for Third Year in a Row

By Orlando Milesi
"For the third consecutive year there is bad news" for Latin America and the Caribbean, where the numbers of hungry people have increased to "39.3 million people," or 6.1 percent of the population, Julio Berdegué, FAO's regional representative, said Wednesday.

Rainwater Harvesting Eases Daily Struggle in Argentina’s Chaco Region

By Daniel Gutman
"I've been used to hauling water since I was eight years old. Today, at 63, I still do it," says Antolín Soraire, a tall peasant farmer with a face ravaged by the sun who lives in Los Blancos, a town of a few dozen houses and wide dirt roads in the province of Salta, in northern Argentina.

The Caribbean Island of Mayreau Could be Split in Two Thanks to Erosion

By Kenton X. Chance
As a child growing up in Mayreau four decades ago, Filius “Philman” Ollivierre remembers a 70-foot-wide span of land, with the sea on either side that made the rest of the 1.5-square mile island one with Mount Carbuit. 

Ambitious Agenda, Ambitious Financing? UNGA Shows a Long Way Still to Go for SDGs

By John Garrett and Kathryn Tobin
There was a much-needed focus on financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the September 2018 opening of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Cholera Threatens a Comeback Worldwide

By Anna Kucirkova
Cholera outbreaks across history regularly killed a hundred thousand or more. It isn’t well known today because it was essentially eliminated in the Western world.

Gay & Lesbian Rights Prove Divisive at Parliamentarians’ Conference

By Thalif Deen
When the International Parliamentarians’ Conference (ICPI) on population and development concluded its two-day forum in the Canadian capital last week, more than 150 legislators from around the world approved a seven page Declaration reaffirming their opposition to some of the culturally sensitive issues, including female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriages.

South Korea Looks at How to Accelerate its Transition to Renewable Energy

By Ahn Mi Young
While major countries have pledged to be powered entirely by renewable energies in order to stop greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there are a number of states that are investigating ways to implement this transition quickly in order to achieve their goals ahead of this deadline.

“Governments are Starting to See that Organic Food Policy Works”

By Maged Srour
Many countries and farmers around the world are not readily making the switch to organic farming. But the small Himalayan mountain state of Sikkim, which borders Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, is the first 100 percent organic farming state in the world. 

Why It is Vital for Everyone to Eat Organic

By Maged Srour
"Organic is the only living solution to climate change," says Vandana Shiva, food and agriculture expert and member of the World Future Council (WFC). Nowadays, favouring the scale up of agroecology – which includes producing organic products – is unfortunately not that simple.

Women’s Climate Leadership More Vital Than Ever In Light Of Climate Change Report

By Osprey Orielle Lake and Emily Arasim
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which arrived thunderously in October, concludes that we have only 12 years remaining to transform our energy systems and ways of living to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Canada Takes a Lead Role Funding Reproductive Health, Women’s Rights & Sustainable Development

By Thalif Deen
Canada, which has been described as one of the world’s most progressive countries, has legitimized gay rights, vociferously advocated gender empowerment, offered strong support for abortion rights – and recently became the world’s first major economy to legalize recreational marijuana.

Sustainable Coastal Fisheries in the Pacific Depends on Improving Sanitation

By Catherine Wilson
At the mouth of the Mataniko River, which winds its way through the vibrant coastal port town of Honiara to the sea, is the sprawling informal community of Lord Howe Settlement, which hugs the banks of the estuary and seafront. A walk from the nearby main road to the beach involves a meandering route through narrow alleys between crowded dwellings, homes to about 630 people, which are clustered among the trees and overhang the water.
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