Population

West Africa Moves Ahead with Renewable Energy Despite Unpredictable Challenges 

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
The West African nation of Guinea may be a signatory of the Paris Agreement, a global undertaking by countries around the world to reduce climate change, but as it tries to provide electricity to some three quarters of its 12 million people who are without, the commitment is proving a struggle.

The Long and Short of The Digital Revolution

By Martin Mühleisen
Digital platforms are recasting the relationships between customers, workers, and employers as the silicon chip’s reach permeates almost everything we do—from buying groceries online to finding a partner on a dating website.

Unprecedented Human Migration Cries Out for a Global Response

By Gustavo Capdevila
The world is "basically at odds with itself," International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Director General William Swing said Monday, June 25, describing the critical state of human migration between countries and continents.

Global Campaign Against Mercury Moves to an End Zone

By Thalif Deen
A global campaign to end a longstanding health and environmental hazard-- the use of mercury in dentistry—is steadily moving to a successful conclusion.Providing an update, Charlie Brown, head of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, one of the key campaigners, told IPS that “nation by nation, the world is on the threshold of ending amalgam for children in 2018.”

Senegalese Immigrants Face Police Brutality in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
Senegalese immigrants began to arrive in Argentina in the 1990s and most of them joined the group of street vendors in Buenos Aires and other cities. But in recent months, they have suffered police brutality, denounced as a campaign of racial persecution.

Countries are Using Domestic Laws to Criminalize Health Care

By Dr. Dainius Pūras
Ambulance drivers attacked, nurses detained, doctors tortured, pharmacists arrested, dentists facing more than a decade in prison—all for delivering healthcare to people considered enemies of the state.

Looking to the Sky for Solutions to Mexico’s Water Scarcity

By Emilio Godoy
Twenty-five years ago, Mexican engineer Gustavo Rodriguez decided to collect rainwater to solve the scarcity of water in his home and contribute to the care of natural resources.

Project Population: Addressing Asia’s Ageing Societies

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
While populations have seen and undergone changes since the beginning of time, one trend in particular is unfolding across the world: less children, older people. In an effort to tackle the complex issue in Asia, government officials are convening to help create a sustainable society where no one is left behind.

Fertility Struggles More Open – and Shared on Social Media

By Michelle Catenacci, M.D
Fertility health is an incredibly personal – and often vulnerable – topic. Fertility, infertility, and fertility preservation have gained increased public interest over the past few years. Infertility is formally defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after one year of unprotected intercourse.

Ethiopia to Return Land in Bid for Peace with Eritrea

By James Jeffrey
The utterly inconsequential-looking Ethiopian border town of Badme is where war broke out in 1998 between Ethiopia and Eritrea, lasting two years and devastating both countries. 

Farmers from Central America and Brazil Join Forces to Live with Drought

By Edgardo Ayala
Having a seven-litre container with a filter on the dining room table that purifies the collected rainwater, and opening a small valve to fill a cup and quench thirst, is almost revolutionry for Salvadoran peasant farmer Víctor de León.

Nepali Mothers and an Irish Daughter

By Tej Thapa
I am the daughter of a formidable campaigner for women’s reproductive rights in Nepal. Decades ago, when such issues were not part of the playbook for development activists, my mother, a medical doctor, started setting up family planning programs after seeing women die in childbirth, shifting from hospital work into public health.

We Have Told G7 Leaders to Make Gender Inequality & Patriarchy History

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Michael Kaufman
For most people, the annual G7 meeting may just seem like an expensive photo-op that doesn’t connect with any concrete change in people’s lives. But for us, appointed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit on his G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, it was a unique opportunity to push for strong commitments for girls’ and women’s rights.

Experts Urge Lawmakers to Focus on Food-Migration Nexus

By Daan Bauwens
Lawmakers at the highest levels urgently need a “revolution in thinking” to tackle the twin problem of sustainable food production and migration. Starting with an inaugural event in Brussels, then travelling on to New York and Milan, an international team of experts led by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) is urging far-reaching reforms in agricultural and migration policy on an international scale.

Afghan Electorate: Basic Needs Must be met Before Political Progress can be Ensured

By Will Carter
After four decades of perpetual conflict, Afghanistan rolls into two consecutive election years – parliamentary this year, presidential the next. But the country and its people are going through even tougher times than usual with continued displacement and a looming hunger crisis.

The Spotlight Initiative: Eliminating Violence & Harmful Practices Against Women & Girls

By Natalia Kanem, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka & Achim Steiner
The numbers are shocking: at least one in three women on the planet has suffered physical or sexual violence, usually at the hands of a family member or intimate partner. More than 700 million women alive today were married as children. Up to 250 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation.

Nepal: Where Abortion is Treated as Homicide

By Sabin Shrestha
Less than thirty years ago the likelihood of a mother dying due to pregnancy or childbirth in Nepal was one of the highest in the world. In 1990 UNICEF estimated that the rate was 901 women or girls out of 100,000 - significantly higher than any of its neighbours.

‘Don’t Try to Be a Superwoman’: An Interview With Michelle Bachelet

By Dulcie Leimbach
Michelle Bachelet ended her second term as president of Chile on March 11, 2018. Her first term, from 2006 to 2010, was marked by an ambitious social and economic agenda advancing women’s rights and better health care. Her cabinet of ministers, for example, was composed of an equal number of men and women, as she vowed to do during her campaign.

Peru’s Poor and Disabled Struggle in the Shadows

By Andrea Vale
Eighty percent of the world’s disabled live in developing nations, according to a report by the United Nations. Their identities, lives and stories are of course varied – but what isn’t is the stigma and lack of resources they face.

Putting Tortillas on Mexico’s Tables Again

By Emilio Godoy
Agronomist Irene Salvador decided to learn the process of making corn tortillas in order to preserve and promote this traditional staple food in the Mexican diet, which has lost its presence and nutritional quality.

Digital Revolution Holds Bright Promises for Africa

By Eleni Mourdoukoutas
Internet penetration is creeping up in Africa, bringing the prospect of digital dividends to a continent long marked by digital divides.
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