Q&A: Brazil’s School Meals Teach Good Eating Habits

Providing school meals for 45 million children is a remarkable achievement for Brazil. But the programme faces specific difficulties, as well as the generic problems plaguing any national plan in this vast country of more than 192 million people.

Q&A: Master Reforestation Plan to Save Haiti

Droughts and floods, devastating hurricanes and soil erosion with a drastic impact on food security make Haiti extremely vulnerable to climate change and in need of enormous adaptation efforts.

Latin American Integration, Post-Chávez

What is Hugo Chávez's legacy to Latin America? The best way to evaluate a head of state is to examine what is left behind after his or her death. In the case of Chávez, his image is obscured by a series of ideological and cultural prejudices that hide a clear perception of who he was.

Q&A “What Matters Isn’t Bergoglio and His Past, but Francis and His Future”

Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, a leading exponent of liberation theology, the progressive current in the Latin American Catholic Church, does not believe reports that depict the new Pope Francis as collaborating with Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship.

World’s Poor Pharma

I recently spent a day in Mumbai with the man who arguably has done more than anyone else in the world to save millions of lives of people with AIDS and other diseases.

OP-ED: Stability Will Mark Post-Chávez Venezuela

Although there is plenty of speculation about what will happen now President Hugo Chávez is gone, the likelihood of change in Venezuelan politics and society is low.

Q&A: Rise of South “Unprecedented in Speed and Scale”

The world's 132 developing nations, largely part of the global South, are ascending at a pace “unprecedented in its speed and scale", according to the latest Human Development Report (HDR) released Thursday by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).

Q&A: Water Disputes Get Resolved While Other Conflicts Rage

What has education, science and culture to do with one of the world's most scarce and finite resources? Plenty, says the United Nations, which has designated the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the lead agency to promote the 2013International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).

OP-ED: Chávez’s Legacy

The world has been shaken by the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, one of the most influential Latin American leaders in recent decades, as well as one of the most controversial and maligned figures on the planet.

Necessary Extinction

When the environment changes, smart creatures adapt. And, in the face of a changing climate and changing economics, smart people are backing green energy. In 2011 almost a third of new electricity came from renewable sources. But, just as the first mammals had to contend with a world of dinosaurs, the pioneers of green energy have to contend with a world based on an obsolete carbon-based energy system that refuses to upgrade.

Switzerland Sets Example for Income Equality

For those who think that Occupy Wall Street, the Indignados in Spain, the World Social Forum and the numerous manifestations of protest worldwide are expressions without concrete outcomes, the result of the Swiss referendum on Mar. 3 on capping the salaries and bonuses of banks executives should make them think twice.

Hugo Chávez Made History

That his life and his deeds had black dots is part of the story but should not prevent us from seeing the greatness of a maker of history. First, in his own country, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez lifted those at the bottom up from misery, into economic wellness, political participation, cultural pride (in their often African, or Indian, blood), social dignity – going far beyond Gini coefficients to measure increasing equality.

OP-ED: Violence Against Women Must End

Today is International Women’s Day, and the issue of gender-based violence is topic A. Sadly, it has been a newsworthy topic in the global media, as well.

Guardians of Life and of the Earth

Around the world, but especially in the planet’s poorest regions, women represent a life force that renews itself daily, sometimes against all odds.

OP-ED: Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: It’s Time to Act

As President Barack Obama travels to Israel and Palestine in the spring, Washington’s unconditional backing of Israel could soon begin to harm U.S. interests and security in Arab Muslim countries.

The World Needs More Trade to Contain the Slowdown

The global economy is facing strong headwinds that have set back world trade and output growth. Despite the measures implemented in many countries to contain the slowdown, production and employment trends continue to be negative. In the light of these developments, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently revised its forecast for world trade growth in 2012 to 2.5 percent, down from the previous 3.7 percent forecast. We foresee a volume of trade growth of 4.5 percent in 2013, below the long-term annual average of five to six percent that we have enjoyed for the last 20 years.

Q&A: No “Us” and “Them” in Fight for Women’s Rights

As the earthquake in Haiti has proven, even more important than a recognised name or robust physical presence is the quality of services delivered by humanitarian relief organisations.

Q&A: Climate Change Front and Centre in Cuban Development Model

Each of Cuba’s 168 municipalities faces the challenge of designing its own strategic development which, as well as economic and social progress, minimises the impact of extreme weather and other problems caused by global warming.

Cuba, an Island of Questions

The Cuban National Assembly, the parliament, has just passed a historic milestone: the visible turning point when one momentous and complex phase in the life of the country begins to come to a close, and a door opens on a future that, however hard to predict, will in many ways be different.

Q&A: South Korean Brands Invade Global Markets

When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former foreign minister of South Korea, met with Psy last October, he jokingly told the wildly popular rapper that he was "a bit jealous" of him.

From Exploitation to Education

Next Monday, after more than two months of public anger against the rape of a young Indian student, the Indian Parliament will consider new legislation to toughen up judicial and police provisions addressing violence against women.