Labour

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY 2023


 

 
This is David. He is becoming an exceptional chess player. This is Mai. She loves beaches and the ocean. This is Kwame. He is a passionate architect. The only thing these people have in common… …is that they all identify as Autistic. Autistic people have a wide range of talents and challenges that are often not recognized by the world they are born into. They continue to face discrimination and other challenges. Levels of awareness and acceptance vary dramatically from country to country. In recent years, however, major progress has been made in increasing awareness and acceptance. Thankfully, we are moving away from the narrative of curing or converting autistic people. We now focus much more on education, support and inclusivity. This is a major transformation for all autistic people, their allies, and neurodiversity. It enables autistic people to claim their dignity and self-esteem. And to become fully integrated as valued members of societies. Without stigma. This year, we celebrate World Autism Awareness Day with a pivotal theme: Transforming the narrative: Contributions at home, at work, in the arts and in policymaking Together, we must transform the narrative around neurodiversity to overcome barriers and improve the lives of autistic people. IPS UN Bureau
 
  

Quo Vadis Republic of Mauritius?

By Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
On 12th March 2023, The Republic of Mauritius celebrates 55 years of post-independence history. It would be an understatement to just say that there has been a lot of water under the bridge on our journey to self-determination!.. Indeed, we have made massive progress since we lowered the Union Jack and unfurled our own flag. It was and remains a moment of great pride whenever I see our flag in any international event, I participate in.

Opposition in Mexico to Mega-Industrial Model

By Emilio Godoy
In March 2021, the community assembly of the municipality of San Blas Atempa, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, approved the sale of 360 hectares for the creation of an industrial park. But part of the community opposed the initiative due to irregularities, such as the falsification of signatures of supposed attendees, including those of people who had already died.

Yes, Lower The Retirement Ages!

By Joseph Chamie
Yes, lower the retirement ages! That is the key message that workers worldwide are conveying to their governments.

Parliamentarians Tackle Youth Employment, SRHR in Post-COVID Asia and Pacific

By Cecilia Russell
With more than 600 million youth aged between 18 and 24 in the Asia and Pacific region, putting their issues front and center is crucial. Speakers at a recent forum, Youth Empowerment: Education, Employment and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, held in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, agreed that policy development and implementation should be youth-centered.

International Women’s Day, 2023


 

From the earliest days of computing to the present age of virtual reality and artificial intelligence… …women have made untold contributions to the digital world in which we increasingly live.

Management Areas Protect Sustainable Artisanal Fishing of Molluscs and Kelp in Chile

By Orlando Milesi
Management areas in Chile for benthic organisims, which live on the bottom of the sea, are successfully combating the overexploitation of this food source thanks to the efforts of organized shellfish and seaweed harvesters and divers.

Welcome To the Vegetable Garden of Europe – ‘The Greenhouses of Death’

By Floris Cup and Arnaud De Decker
Chances are that the fruits and vegetables sold in European supermarkets have been picked and packed by a migrant worker in southern Spain. By the tens of thousands, they work there, in sweltering hot plastic greenhouses - often underpaid and without residence permit - in the vegetable garden of Europe. "Cheap vegetables, yes. But at what price?"

In Zimbabwe, Economic Crisis Pushes Underaged Girls to Sex Work

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
After other adolescent girls her age have gone to bed at around 10 pm, Kudzai commutes to a shopping centre near her home in Penhalonga, a mining area 25 kilometres outside the third largest Zimbabwean city of Mutare, to look for men to solicit sex.

Fear of Population Ageing

By Joseph Chamie
Fear of population ageing is all over the news media and in government offices of country capitals worldwide. Planet Earth is becoming “planet ageing”.

In Latin America’s Aging Population, 17 Percent Will Be Over 65 by 2050

By Mariela Jara
Latin America and the Caribbean is no longer a young region and it will be one of the regions with the largest aging populations by 2050, which poses great challenges due to the social inequalities the countries face, but also opportunities to overcome them.

It’s Time to Move Away from Public-Private Partnerships & Build a Future That is Public

By Océane Blavot, Rodolfo Bejarano and Mae Buenaventura
Last month, we joined more than 1000 representatives from all sectors of civil society who came together in Santiago de Chile to debate the future of – and threats to - public services the world over.

US Policies Slowing World Economy

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Few policymakers ever claim credit for causing stagnation and recessions. Yet, they do so all the time, justifying their actions by some supposedly higher purpose.

We Want to Be Legal; We’re Not ‘Zama Zama’ Criminals Say South African Artisanal Miners

By Fawzia Moodley
Mining towns across South Africa have become hostage to a booming but bloody illegal mining economy.

The Year of Inflation Exposes Dogma and Class Bias

By Anis Chowdhury
Inflation worries topped Ipsos’s What Worries the World survey in 2022 overtaking COVID concerns. The return of inflation caught major central banks, e.g., the US Federal Reserve (Fed), Bank of England, European Central Bank “off guard”. The persistence of inflation also surprised the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The return of inflation and its persistence exposed the poverty of the economics profession, unable to agree on its causes and required policy responses. It also exposed the profession’s anti-working class biases.

Demography Doesn’t Care

By Joseph Chamie
Demography doesn’t care about such things as national strikes over pension retirement ages, public protests about contraception and abortion rights, sexual orientation, habits and preferences, political ideology and party affiliation, dress codes and head coverings, and religious identity, beliefs and practices.

More Austerity in 2023 Will Fuel Protests

By Isabel Ortiz and Sara Burke
This week world leaders meet in Davos to discuss cooperation to address multiple crises, from COVID-19 and escalating inflation to slowing economic growth, debt distress and climate shocks.

Deportees Start Businesses to Overcome Unemployment in El Salvador

By Edgardo Ayala
While grilling several portions of chicken and pork, Salvadoran cook Oscar Sosa said he was proud that through his own efforts he had managed to set up a small food business after he was deported back to El Salvador from the United States.

Raising Retirement Age Coming Soon

By Joseph Chamie
Despite the objections, resistance and protests taking place in many countries around the world, raising the official retirement age to receive government provided pension benefits is coming soon.

India’s Extensive Railways Often Conduit for Child Trafficking

By Umar Manzoor Shah
Deeepti Rani (13) lives with her mother in a dilapidated dwelling near a railway track in India’s southern state of Karnataka. The mother-daughter duo sells paperbacks on trains for a living.

AGRA Gets Make-Up, Not Make-Over

By Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Despite its dismal record, the Gates Foundation-sponsored Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced a new five-year strategy in September after rebranding itself by dropping ‘Green Revolution’ from its name.
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