Rural Poverty, Employment and Disability

About 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, of whom 2-4% experience significant difficulties in functioning. Disability is part of the human condition, and almost everyone will be temporarily or permanently impaired at some point in life, and those who survive into old age will experience increasing difficulties in functioning. Here the focus is on empirical validation of whether disabilities are associated with economic hardships through loss of employment and consequently impoverishment in rural India. The motivation stems from continuing neglect of health in the budgetary allocations –including the allocations for 2020-21.

CORRECTED VERSION: Stock Market Bubble Threat

The US is currently still in a stock market bubble which, if history is any guide, is likely to end, as argued by Thomas Palley. While President Trump would, of course, like to sustain it to strengthen his November re-election prospects, the Covid19 black swan is already showing signs of pricking the bubble

Is Our Academic System Ready for a New Coronavirus Normal?

Institutions of higher education have a responsibility to lead by example and to provide current, high-quality information to the people and communities that support them. This responsibility is no clearer than during a public health and information crisis like the one presented by this novel coronavirus.

Air Pollution in South Asia: Biomass Burning Emissions & its Impact

A young adult man requires 15 m3 or 15 kg of air, 1.5 liters or 1.5 kg of water and 0.75 kg of solid food every day. This indicates around 87% of our everyday basic requirement is air.

An Ambitious Year for Climate Action Is a Big Year for Women’s Empowerment

This year, the Paris Agreement’s effectiveness as a global response to the climate crisis is being tested as governments are preparing to submit more ambitious national targets for mitigation and adaptation.

News Agencies Must Paint a Complete Picture of Coronavirus

Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “We have an epidemic caused by Coronavirus, but we have a pandemic caused by fear “.

TikTok: Expressive Mechanism for many dealing with today’s world

“What do you get from the TikTok videos? Do you prefer the platform for entertainment, passing time or for connecting with your friends? I have seen comical videos, venting sessions and some that do not make any sense what so ever and some are just rude, making fun of others.” I asked the 14-year-old k-popper teenager flipping through the pages of a manga book while he chose to respond in English coming from a Spanish speaking family and studying Mandarin as a third language.

The Arc of Justice: The World’s Religions Launch Strategic Priorities for Peace

As a growing public health crisis becomes increasingly urgent, prominent global actors and institutions, including the United Nations, are confronted by the realisation that all hands on deck are required to address the cross-cutting challenges faced by our world today.

Feminists Rewrite Their Realities Across the Global Map

In November 2019, thousands of Chileans took to the streets to perform an anti-rape, anti-femicide choreography organized by a small feminist collective called Las Tesis. The group created the choreographed chant in response to an upswing in violence against women and human rights violations in Chile, where 42 cases of sexual abuse are reportedto the police each day, with only around 25% resulting in judicial rulings.

Sticky Floors, Glass Ceilings & Biased Barriers: the Architecture of Gender Inequality

Architectural metaphors are a popular way to think about inequality between men and women. When it comes to the fundamentals, we often talk about whether there is a “sticky floor” that is holding women and girls back. And the good news is that, for billions around the world, the floor is a lot less sticky than it used to be.

On 8th March – and All the Other Days: Each for Equal

Development efforts over the past two decades have seen millions of people freed from poverty and hunger, and inequalities reduced worldwide. This is an undoubted achievement, but is no reason for complacency. The fact is that inequality between men and women, between boys and girls, remains not only a social justice concern, but one of the impediments on development in countries across Africa and beyond. Addressing such inequalities is a duty for all of us, and one which is at the heart of the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day on 8th March: Each for Equal.

Want to Go for Inclusive Climate Action? Then Start with Integrating Gender Equality into Climate Finance

Gender equality and women’s rights have progressed immensely since the adoption of the most visionary agenda on women’s empowerment, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 25 years ago.

Target Men to Reach Our HIV Goals

Women are the face of HIV in Africa, yet four of every 10 persons living with HIV in East and Southern Africa are men. Despite higher rates of HIV infection among women, more men living with HIV are dying.

There Can Be No Green Peace Without Gender Equality

Gender inequality - like the climate emergency - is not inevitable, but is kept in place by the poor choices too many cis men make on a daily basis. And it is not just womxn who are hurt and trapped by this patriarchal problem, but girls and non-binary people too, as well as many boys and men.

Coronavirus Exposes Global Economic Vulnerability

As the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 threatens a global pandemic, major stock markets around the world have suffered their worst performance since the 2008 financial crush.

To Attack a Female Journalist’s Credibility, Go After Her Body

Brazilian journalist Patrícia Campos Mello made her career reporting from conflict zones around the world -- but lately, the greatest threats to her security are coming from closer to home.

Personal Conviction Versus Fandom: The Case of Mitt Romney

The great American impeachment show has ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. The dirt was washed away from President Trump, the perfect Teflon Guy. Maybe his invulnerability comes from the fact that he appears to be more of a brand than a real person, adapted to a frame of mind that increasingly dominates social media – cheap entertainment, shallowness, vulgarity, invectives, and catchy phrases without support in well-founded facts. Trump is all and nothing, a shape shifting trickster pretending to be the role model for voiceless masses.

Sexist Economies Where World’s 22 Richest Men Have More Wealth than All the Women in Africa

This International Women’s Day, 25 years after we first heard it declared that “women’s rights are human rights” at the historic Beijing 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, we need to take the space and time to reflect on just how far we’ve come – and just how much more work there is to do.

It is Time for Action! Uniting for Africa’s Transformation

Twenty-five years ago, thousands of representatives adopted the Beijing Declaration, one of the most progressive universal agreement to advance women’s rights.

Helping Advance Women’s Political Rights in Ecuador

Inclusion of women in political processes is one of the key ingredients of sustainable peace. Although the number of women in political office has increased worldwide over the past 25 years, progress has been slow.

Senegal Farmer Succeeds with Regenerative Agriculture & Begins Teaching Others

Souylemane Samb sits under a crowded tent on a hot Senegalese day. He wears a canvas vest with Trees for the Future printed across the back.