Population

Gateway Portals and the Quest for Sustainable Urbanization

By Joan Erakit
On a busy Friday afternoon, the number 1 subway train heading north through Manhattan’s Westside comes out of a dark tunnel --and if one takes a minute to release oneself from communication devices—one can catch sight of the approaching 125th street in the distance, the crosswalk buzzing with yellow cabs.

Survivors of the El Mozote Massacre Have New Hopes for Justice in El Salvador

By Edgardo Ayala
Except for a house with its walls riddled with holes made by bursts of machine gun fire, nobody would say that the quiet Salvadoran village of El Mozote was the scene of one of the worst massacres in Latin America, just 35 years ago.

Reflections on 2017 World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

By Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim
More than 7 billion people live on this planet spread among 7 continents, 194 states of the United Nations (UN) and numerous other non-self-governing territories. The world is made up of a mosaic of people belonging to different cultural and religious backgrounds. Our planet has been a cultural melting pot since time immemorial.

Young People: You Didn’t Vote, And Now You Protest?

By Roberto Savio
Immediately after the vote on Brexit, thousands of young people marched in the streets of England to show their disagreement over the choice to leave Europe. But polls indicated that had they voted en masse (only 37 percent voted), the result of the referendum would have been the opposite.

Poor Rural Communities in Mexico Receive a Boost to Support Themselves

By Emilio Godoy
Jilder Morales, a small farmer in Mexico, looks proudly at the young avocado trees that are already over one metre high on her ejido - or communal - land, which already have small green fruit.

Social Forum Calls for Fight Against Corruption, to Defend the Amazon

By Milagros Salazar
Corruption has penetrated the Amazon rainforest like an illness that infects everything, said Ruben Siqueira, coordinator of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), during the VIII Panamazonic Social Forum (FOSPA), which brought together in the Peruvian Amazon jungle representatives of civil society from eight Amazon basin countries.

Informal Labour, Another Wall Faced by Migrants in Latin America

By Fabiana Frayssinet
A large proportion of the 4.3 million migrant workers in Latin America and the Caribbean survive by working in the informal economy or in irregular conditions. An invisible wall that is necessary to bring down, together with discrimination and xenophobia.

No Trace of the Nicaraguan Interoceanic Canal

By José Adán Silva
Less than three years from the projected completion in Nicaragua of a canal running from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, there is no trace of progress on the mega-project.

Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Coast Improves Readiness for Climate Change

By José Adán Silva
The effects of climate change have hit Nicaragua’s Caribbean coastal regions hard in the last decade and have forced the authorities and local residents to take protection and adaptation measures to address the phenomenon that has gradually undermined their safety and changed their way of life.

Financing Key to Reaching Everyone, Everywhere with Water & Sanitation

By John Garrett
Eighteen months ago, UN member-states pledged a new set of goals on eradicating extreme poverty and creating a fairer, more sustainable planet by 2030. This week, we have alarming evidence that at least one of those goals – Sustainable Development Goal 6, to reach everyone everywhere with access to water and sanitation – is already in peril.

Humanity and Social Justice, a Must for the Future of Work – Ryder

By Baher Kamal
“The future of work must be inspired by considerations of humanity, of social justice and peace. If it is not, we are going to a dark place, we are going to a dangerous place,” said the head of the leading world body specialised on labour issues.

Work, What Future? Seven Big Questions Needing Urgent Response

By Baher Kamal
Around the world, profound changes in the nature of work are underway, that’s clear. So it is a fact that the on-going transformations in the world of labour are disrupting the connection between work, personal development and community participation.

“Devastating Consequences” for Women, Girls as U.S. Defunds UN Agency

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The U.S. has withdrawn all of its funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that works on family planning and reproductive health in over 150 countries.

Brazilian Dam Causes Too Much or Too Little Water in Amazon Villages

By Mario Osava
The Juruna indigenous village of Miratu mourned the death of Jarliel twice: once on October 26, when he drowned in the Xingu River, and the second time when the sacred burial ground was flooded by an unexpected rise in the river that crosses Brazil’s Amazon region.

Costa Rican Town Fears That the Sea Will Steal Its Shiny New Face

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Two years have gone by since the new government initiative which subsidises community works changed the face with which the coastal town of Cienaguita, on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, looks out to the sea.

Slaves

By Baher Kamal
For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. Slavery is, nevertheless, far from being just a chapter of the past—it still there, with estimated 21 million victims of forced labour and extreme exploitation around the world--nearly the equivalent to of the combined population of Scandinavian countries.

New Recipe for School Meals Programmes in Latin America

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Sunita Daniel remembers what the school lunch programmes were like in her Caribbean island nation, Saint Lucía, until a couple of years ago: meals made of processed foods and imported products, and little integration with the surrounding communities.

1 in 4 Children Worldwide Facing Extremely Scarce Water by 2040

By IPS World Desk
Warning that as many as 600 million children – one in four worldwide – will be living in areas with extremely scarce water by 2040, the United Nations children's agency has called on governments to take immediate measures to curb the impact on the lives of children.

Menstrual Hygiene Project Keeps Girls in School

By Mahfuzur Rahman
Breaking taboos surrounding menstruation, a project to distribute sanitary napkins to girls in one district of Bangladesh has had a positive impact on school dropout rates – and should be replicated in other parts of the country, experts say.

Local Solutions to Rebuild Oldest Cuban City in Hurricane Matthew’s Wake

By Ivet González
Clearings with fallen trees in the surrounding forests, houses still covered with tarpaulins and workers repairing the damage on the steep La Farola highway are lingering evidence of the impact of Hurricane Matthew four months ago, in the first city built by the Spanish conquistadors in Cuba.

Climate Breaks All Records: Hottest Year, Lowest Ice, Highest Sea Level

By IPS World Desk
Climate has, once more, broken all records, with the year 2016 making history-highest-ever global temperature, exceptionally low sea ice, unabated sea level rise and ocean heat. And what is even worse-- extreme and unusual trends continue in 2017.
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