After a Historic Success, Urgent Challenges Face the WTO

In 2015 the international community took some huge strides forward on a number of vital issues. There was the agreement on the United Nations new Sustainable Development Goals.

One Fish Two Fish, No Fish: Rebuilding of Fish Stocks Urgently Needed

A major new study has revealed that the global seafood catch is much larger and declining much faster than previously known.

Tanzania: Girls Struggle to Avoid Forced Marriage, Yearn to Learn

Maria was barely 16 when her father removed her from school to marry her off to a man 20 years older than she was just so that the family could receive eleven cows as her dowry.

Caribbean Biodiversity Overheated by Climate Change

The nearly 7,000 islands and the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea are home to thousands of endemic species and are on the migration route of many kinds of birds. Preserving this abundant fauna requires multilateral actions in today’s era of global warming.

UN Seeks $ 750 Million to Educate Syrian Refugee Children

The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for $750 million in funds to provide education to about one million Syrian refugee children in Jordan Lebanon and Turkey.

Africa, Only If It Bleeds It Leads?

Africa is clearly one of the most negatively impacted regions in the world, not helped by the increasing trend of the mainstream media to focus on tragic news, following a self-imposed rule: “if it bleeds it leads”.

COP21: A Bridge Between Past and Future Contradictions

“We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.” This is the most significant concept of what USA president, Barack Obama, said during the opening day of 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21). This conference, for the first time of over 20 years of UN negotiations, aims to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate.

Fire a Hot Topic in Youth Employment in South Africa

Nolukhanyo Babalaza finished her final year of high school and received her diploma in 2000, but this was not an immediate passport to a good life. She was frustrated to see some people making it while she struggled to afford basic things like everyday food.

New Year, New Fight Against Inequality

With New Year’s resolutions already fading fast for most people, attention turns to what 2016 will really hold. And so it is for those wanting to tackle the world’s biggest problems.

Science: Not Just a Western Sector, It Can Help Africa Too

Small-scale farmer Augustine Sibanda has grown resilient traditional sorghum varieties passed down through generations but has increased his yields after he adopted improved seed varieties developed through research.

North Korea Momentarily Escapes Sanctions After Fourth Nuclear Test

When the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea -- immediately following its first nuclear test back in 2006 -- Pyongyang described the punitive measure as “an act of war.”

Global Economic Slowdown Threatens Social Stability

If current policies continue, the global economy will weaken and pose significant social challenges, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned, in a new report released here.

Can Russia handle the flood of Ukrainian immigrants?

According to official data released by the Russian Government, since April 2014 more than one million Ukrainian refugees have sought refuge in Russia. Despite these figures the Government has not acknowledged that there is a migrant crisis. Some Russian politicians have gone so far as to say that the international community should follow the Russian model in dealing with large numbers of refugees.

Q&A: Ensuring Food Security for All

Coming from a developing country where, in our generation, we have experienced the devastating effects of food insecurity and the complexity of its root causes, I take to heart the objective of ensuring that during my mandate, CFS will make a ‘real’ difference to people’s lives. Achieving results is something that we owe each and every undernourished person who today, in 2016 goes to bed hungry. There is still an unacceptable 793 million people in this condition worldwide! Ensuring food security for all is also something that we owe our children.

A Commercial Village Brings Business to Poor Kenyan Farmers

High incidents of poverty coupled with decreasing land acreage amid a changing climate pouring havoc on weather patterns has compelled farmers in the Tangakona area of Busia County in western Kenya to embrace an innovative initiative to improve livelihoods.

Seven Top Challenges Facing African Women

Economic exclusion; financial systems that perpetuate their discrimination; limited participation in political and public life; lack of access to education and poor retention of girls in schools; gender-based violence; harmful cultural practices, and exclusion of women from peace tables, are the major standing barriers to achieving gender equality in Africa.

Jamaica’s Climate Change Fight Fuels Investments in Renewables

By year’s end, Jamaica will add 115 mega watts (MW) of renewable capacity to the power grid, in its quest to reduce energy costs and diversify the energy mix in electricity generation to 30 per cent by 2030.

Declining Oil Prices May Undermine Development and Humanitarian Aid

The sharp decline in oil prices in the world market -– the lowest in nearly 13 years –- is expected to have a devastating impact on both developed and developing nations.

Maternal and Child Health Key to Kenya’s Economic Growth

On Friday, 06 November 2015, we had the honor of meeting the First Lady of Kenya Ms Margaret Kenyatta, a tireless advocate for “every woman and every child”, during the launch of the Beyond Zero campaign in Mandera County, North-Eastern Kenya, a place which has often been described as ‘the worst place on earth to give birth’.

Thousands Face Hunger and Pray for Enough Rain in Malawi

It is 9 am in the morning but the scorching sun makes it feel like mid-afternoon. This type of weather is what experts are calling El Nino; a heat wave that is affecting countries in southern and eastern Africa.

Innovative Project to Provide Renewable Energy 24/7 to Chilean Village

A novel energy project in Chile will combine a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant operating on seawater and a solar plant, to provide a steady supply of clean energy to a fishing village in the Atacama Desert, the world’s driest.