Population

UNITED NATIONS

OP-ED: The Nexus Between Women and Development

Every three years since 2007, a global advocacy organisation called Women Deliver has convened an international conference to talk about issues relating to the health and well-being of girls and women.

Gazans Dying to Enter Israel

By Mel Frykberg

Israel's crippling blockade of the coastal territory of Gaza is pushing desperate young Palestinians to ever more extreme measures in the search for livelihoods, despite an agreement granting Gazans greater access to their agricultural land.

OP-ED: A Global Goal on Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Women’s Empowerment

By Lakshmi Puri

Hardly a day goes by without a news story on some violation of women’s rights. In recent months, appalling incidents of violence against women and girls, from Delhi to Johannesburg to Cleveland, have sparked public outrage and demands to tackle these horrific abuses.

Remittances Buoy Up Myanmar’s Economy

By Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau

Nangnyi Foung reaches into the dryer, pulls out another pair of pants and places it on the ironing board. "I still have several more loads to go," she says as the clock strikes nine p.m., marking the start of her 14^th hour on the shift.

Insects, from Delicacy to Tool against Hunger

By Emilio Godoy

The Food and Agriculture Organisation's recommendation to consider using edible insects as a food source to combat hunger may have particular repercussions in Colombia and Mexico, two Latin American countries that have a tradition of eating insects and a high degree of biodiversity.

New Effort Targets the Leading Killers of Children

By Lucy Westcott

PATH, a Seattle-based global health development organisation, is aiming to save two million lives by 2015 by jointly tackling diarrhea and pneumonia, the leading killers of children globally.

Organic Cooperative Proves that Agriculture Can Prosper in Cuba

By Ivet González

“The people are the only thing that matters,” says agronomist Miguel Ángel Salcines, who then goes on to list a series of other “secondary” factors that have turned Vivero Alamar, an urban farm on the outskirts of the Cuban capital, into a rare success story in the country’s depressed agricultural sector.

Indigenous Brazilians Learn to Fight for the Right to Food

By Clarinha Glock

Indigenous communities in remote areas of Brazil have begun to recognise that they have the right to not be hungry, and are learning that food security means much more than simply having food on the table.

Tackling Crime Takes on Import As Urban Populations Rise

By Silvia Giannelli

As people around the world continue to migrate into cities, swelling urban populations, they have sparked growth in another area: crime and security issues.

UNFPA Focuses on Contraception for 222 Million in Developing World

By Thalif Deen

When thousands of participants from around the world gather in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur next week, the primary focus will be on health and empowerment of girls and women.

Brazil Lagging in Fight against Human Trafficking

By Fabiola Ortiz

In contravention of international law, in Brazil trafficking in human beings remains invisible and unpunished, which encourages the practice of trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labour, illegal adoption and the trade in human organs, according to experts.

No Sweet Consolation for Women Diabetics

By K. S. Harikrishnan

The disease itself may not discriminate on the basis of gender, but when it comes to healthcare for patients with diabetes, women in India find themselves at a disadvantage compared to men.

Official Bullying Lurks Behind Prep for Olympics in Brazil

By Fabiola Ortiz

As Brazil prepares to host several sporting mega-events, human rights abuses and authoritarian interventions by the authorities are going on behind the scenes, favouring major urbanisation projects and stadium remodelling, a study says.

South Asia in Search of Coordinated Climate Policy

By Amantha Perera

With a combined population of over 1.7 billion, which includes some of the world’s poorest but also a sizeable middle class with a growing spending capacity, South Asia is a policymaker’s nightmare.

Mexican Communities Sue Pemex for Environmental Justice

By Emilio Godoy

Fed up with oil spills from facilities belonging to Mexico’s state oil company Pemex, residents of two communities in the southeastern state of Tabasco are taking the country’s largest company to court in a bid for compensation for damage to the environment and agriculture.

As the world's population grows at a pace of some 76 million people per year, so do the challenges associated with it. Increased longevity in some regions, juxtaposed with the HIV/AIDS pandemic in others, refugee movements and economic migration all contribute to a changing world demographic in ways that require unique social and policy responses. In the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the population is expected to triple by 2050, while the ever-increasing demand on the earth's finite natural resources makes it difficult for many to live even at subsistence levels. In this context, family planning and the promotion of sexual and reproductive health have never been more important to empowering women to lead the healthy and productive lives they desire and rendering local and regional population strategies effective.