From Herders to Cultivators

When the food-strapped Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) appealed to the Mongolian government for food last month, it signaled a major turning point in the public image of this Central Asian country, which has long struggled to feed its own population of three million.

LGBTQ Homeless Youth Find Shelter and Camaraderie

In New York City, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) youth represent 40 percent of the homeless youth living on the city's streets. The Ali Forney Center is a non-profit organisation that offers them services such as emergency shelter, transitional shelter, help to reach out to family, and more specific services depending on what is needed.

Urban Youth Go Back to the Land

Down the main road in Munda, a coastal town on the North Georgia Island of the Solomon Islands, past the wharf, the market and a small collection of shops, Patrick Arathe’s farm is reached by walking first across the runway of the local airport and finally along a dirt track that winds between residential buildings until it opens into a large clearing.

Beitbridge Still Counting the Cost of Floods

The Beitbridge area in southern Zimbabwe was hit by serious flooding earlier this year. Those affected are still trying to get back on their feet.

UN Staff Celebrates Holi, Hindu Festival of Colours

March 27 officially declared the arrival of spring to the Hindu community, celebrated with the Holi festival. Known as the festival of colours, Holi has a broad appeal in and outside India, particularly among youth. Hindus send their greetings and welcome good luck by throwing coloured powder to others and smearing people's clothes with paint. The celebration of Holi will usually last for several weeks and will also take place in different areas across America. At the UN, the United Nations Staff Recreations Council initiates the celebration to embody the festival's spirit of bridging social barriers of language and status. United Nations Staff Celebrates Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors from IPS Inter Press Service on Vimeo. This year also marks the fifth annual Holi Festival in New York City, which, with the theme "Green Holi", stressed the use of new herbal and non-toxic colours.

Opening of Kariba Dam Floodgates Not Welcomed by All

Almost every rainy season the floodgates of Kariba Dam have to be opened to relieve pressure on the dam wall. But despite warnings not to live or farm on the river banks of the Zambezi River downstream of the dam, some people do so anyway and end up losing their crops.

SLIDESHOW: Cameroonian Farmers Find Justice in Fair Fruit

The fruit farmers in Njombe, a small town in the coastal Littoral Region of Cameroon, learned a life lesson about “making lemonade out of lemons” - or rather “dried fruit out of fruit” when their land was taken from them by the government and leased to an international farming company.

African Smallholder Farmers Need to Become Virus Detectors

Plant viruses are threatening the livelihoods of farmers and food security by attacking vital food crops in East and Central African countries. Cassava is the staple in most of these countries and it is one of the hardest hit crops.

VIDEO: African Communities Strengthen Women’s Access to Justice

On the sidelines of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Huairou Commission (HC), on March 4th, organised a panel discussion on women's access to justice. 

SLIDESHOW: Violence Against Women Takes Centre Stage in New York

On Sunday,  Mar. 3, nongovernmental organisations working on women’s rights gathered in New York City for the annual meeting of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women.

Tribal Farmers Fall Back on Ancient Wisdom

While tens of thousands of Indian farmers succumb to the pressures of debt, hunger and poverty by taking their own lives, members of the Bhumia tribe are simply falling back on a 3,000-year-old agricultural system to ensure a steady supply of healthy food.

Are the Masdarians the new Jetsons?

Back in 2006, when the government of Abu Dhabi — a Middle Eastern emirate that controls eight percent of the world's oil reserves — announced that it would build "the world's first zero-carbon city," skeptics took it with a pinch of salt. Few believed it would be possible.

EU Trade Deal Offers Pakistan Some Respite

Karachi, a sprawling city of 18 million, is the country’s economic hub. It accounts for 95 percent of Pakistan’s foreign trade and contributes 30 percent of national industrial production.

“The Hands That Supply EU Imports”

The European Union (EU) is Pakistan's largest trading partner, with overall trade between the two countries topping eight million euros in 2011.

Can Cambodia Trade its Way out of LDC Status?

As one of the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs), Cambodia is afforded the most beneficial trade ranking to the European Union (EU) under the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) known as the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.