The meeting was about gender equality, but for once there were more men than women. It marked a watershed in the struggle in Argentina to make the commitment to equality more than just “a women’s thing.” The Buenos Aires meeting was organised by the Men for Equality (HxI) network, which emerged ... MORE > >

More than 3.3 billion people live in rural areas around the world. Rural development is therefore of vital significance if the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” – is to become reality. A day after world leaders unanimously adopted 17 ... MORE > >

The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the whopping 169 targets were adopted in the largest ever United Nations Summit, attended by Prime Ministers, Presidents and the Pope, among other luminaries, in New York. These goals encompass world peace, the environment, gender equality, ... MORE > >

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights during a High-Level Core Group event on Sep. 29, noting his experiences in working with governments to eliminate LGBTI-discriminatory policies. “Sometimes I am successful ... MORE > >

The Pope has left the U.N. and the traffic in Manhattan is back to normal. The hoard of government delegations, NGOs and civil society representatives are packing up and the press is moving on. The party’s over for the Sustainable Development Goals. Adriano CampolinaLast week member states of ... MORE > >

As the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their targeted date by the end of December, one of the lingering questions has long remained unanswered – at least, until now. Why did most African nations make progress in some, but failed to reach their targets in most others? A new ... MORE > >

From now on, elections in Brazil will be more democratic, without corporate interference, which had become decisive and corruptive. A Sep. 17 Supreme Court ruling declared unconstitutional articles of the elections act that allow corporate donations to election campaigns. The 8-3 verdict came in ... MORE > >

Over three quarters of the extreme poor in the world live in the countryside. Reducing rural poverty will therefore require significantly higher rural incomes. Since most rural incomes are related to agriculture, raising agricultural productivity can help raise rural incomes all round. In the ... MORE > >

Speaking at the opening session of the high-level debate of the U.N. General Assembly Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a politically troubled world is suffering from a lack of empathy. “One hundred million people require immediate humanitarian assistance,” he told delegates, pointing ... MORE > >

Women account for less than half of India’s population but their participation in the workforce is way below that of men. They account for 27 per cent of the workforce. If – and it is a big if – their number were to increase to the same level as men in the workforce, the country’s output of good ... MORE > >

The U.N.’s much-ballyhooed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), unanimously adopted by over 150 world leaders at a three-day summit meeting, which concluded Sep. 27, has been touted as the biggest single contribution to humanity since the invention of sliced bread. Speaking at the opening ... MORE > >

Pope Francis’ outspoken views on some of the politically-charged hot button issues – including refugees, migration, human rights, climate change, Iran’s nuclear deal, U.S.-Cuban relations and the global arms trade – have touched a raw nerve in the United States. And most of these crucial and ... MORE > >

World leaders and Pope Francis met in New York Friday to announce 'a plan to transform our world', the Sustainable Development Goals. Sam Cossar-GilbertYet as the United Nations announce goals to be achieved by 2030, a crucial but secret trade meeting is taking place to advance the Trans ... MORE > >

The soup kitchen of the San Gerardo parish in the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero has become a memorial to horror. Long rows of photos have been hung on the walls of the large hall – the faces of dozens of people who were “disappeared”, abducted, extracted from their lives without a ... MORE > >

The significance of the issues covered in the post-2015 development agenda, to be adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25-27 September, cannot be over-emphasized. For the 79 countries that make up the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group), the ... MORE > >

Heads of states from around the world will meet at the United Nations this week to commit to 17 goals, which will set out the entire international development agenda for the next 15 years. A central aim will be to end poverty and fight injustice and inequality. One of these goals relates ... MORE > >

Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, has succeeded in lifting 36 million people out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years. But it has still a long way to go towards promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Financial crisis and fiscal austerity goals resulting in a cut to the 2015 ... MORE > >

For Honduran farmer Salomón Lorenzo Vázquez, Tuesday has become the most important day of the week. As he tends his lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli on the farm he has maintained for 20 years, he waits for his weekly visit from the USAID-ACCESO field officer, the man who has helped double his ... MORE > >

More than 150 world leaders will meet in New York this weekend to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global targets intended to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and curb climate change. The SDGs will help set the global development agenda for the next 15 ... MORE > >