Mauritians Unprepared for Effects of Climate Change

Mauritius may be one of the best-prepared countries in the world when it comes to cyclones, but recent heavy rains and flooding due to climate change have brought the country’s readiness for coping with increased rainfall into question.

Agriculture Still the Cinderella of Colombia

Wearing a dusty hat and a smile that lights up his face, the septuagenarian José Alicapa does not shrink from the overwhelming bustle of the Colombian capital, which he reached after a 13-hour bus drive from the western province in Caldas.

Kyrgyzstan Officials Taking Cultural Right Turn

(EurasiaNet) - Authorities at Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture want to ban a play that discusses domestic abuse and sexual violence because it “promotes scenes that destroy moral and ethical standards and national traditions of the peoples of Kyrgyzstan.”

Towards a Death Penalty-Free World?

Despite setbacks, the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty is continuing, the London-based human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said in its 2012 report on the death penalty.

In Haiti, April Showers Don’t Always Bring Flowers

In Haiti, a simple spring shower that would barely be noticed in most countries can cause devastating floods, due to the severe deforestation and erosion that impedes the absorption of rain.

Bringing Kenya’s Government to the People

Like many Kenyans, Eunice Kemboi arrived at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi on Tuesday Apr. 9 to witness the transition of power as Uhuru Kenyatta, an International Criminal Court suspect, was sworn in as the country’s new president.

Uruguay – Second Country in Latin America to Adopt Gay Marriage

Activists in Uruguay hope the passage of the “Equal Marriage Law” Wednesday will help bring about recognition that society is heterogeneous.

Climate Change Drives Spread of Invasive Plants in Cuba

Botanist Ramona Oviedo has spent decades combing the countryside in Cuba to study and curb the spread of invasive plant species, a serious problem that has been aggravated by climate change.

Ecuador Seeks to Reform Inter-American Rights Commission

Ecuador’s attempt to introduce institutional changes in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has been frustrated for now. Quito is seeking allies to create parallel regional mechanisms, but the risks of losing at this game are high, according to experts and users of the regional justice system.

Providing an Enabling Environment to Empower Civil Society

The annual CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report aims to offer an annual and comprehensive review of the state and health of civil society, from a civil society-led and owned perspective. This year’s report, expected to be published in April 2013, will focus on the question of the enabling environment for civil society.

Water Shortage Hits Pacific Women

The Solomon Islands, a developing island nation in the south-west Pacific Islands, has one of the highest urbanisation rates in the region, and the basic service infrastructure is struggling to cater for the influx of people from the provinces to the capital, Honiara. Thirty-five percent of the city’s population, who live in informal settlements, are facing the health consequences of a dire shortage of clean water and sanitation.

Turkey Fostering Social Responsibility Through Disaster Response

In October of 2011, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck the city of Van in eastern Turkey.  Hundreds of people died and many more were injured as relief workers and local authorities rushed to the scene.  Turkcell, a communications and technology company used its innovative mechanisms to manage and produce uninterrupted communication service between victims who had cell phones and were trapped during the earthquake and rescue workers.

Women Take the Stage Against Taliban

The Taliban may have placed a ban on theatre, but women in Pakistan’s northern provinces won’t allow the threat of the militants’ reprisals to keep them off the stage.

Troops May Join Mexico’s Fight Against Hunger

The Mexican government is considering using the armed forces, which face serious human rights accusations from their involvement in the war on drugs, to collect socioeconomic data from the low-income households that will benefit from the National Crusade Against Hunger.

Social Forum Spawns a New Form of Solidarity

The conference drew both supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; conflicting opinions about the Polisario Front and the politics of Western Sahara; Palestinian activists and the Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. In short, the 13^th edition of the World Social Forum, held in Tunis on Mar. 26-30, was a melting pot of struggles and a search for common ground.

Libya Fights Increased Drug Trafficking

In Libya, a dose of LSD or the painkiller tramadol costs 78 cents, and a joint of cannabis is 7.80 dollars. Here, drugs are affordable to the poor for a simple reason. “Slashing prices is a way to create demand and open up a market,” a Western diplomat tells IPS in Tripoli, the capital.

Dozens Die in Attack on Court in Afghanistan

(Al Jazeera) - Suicide bombers disguised as soldiers have stormed a court in western Afghanistan, killing at least 44 people in an attempt to free Taliban fighters standing trial, officials say.

Building a Better Somali Region

For over two decades Somali Region, in eastern Ethiopia, has been devastated by a grueling insurgency. Trapped in a time warp, it has been forgotten and underdeveloped. But in the last few years, thanks to the increased security here, a five-star hotel, eco-tourism ventures and even a large abattoir are being built by the former diaspora community.

Europe’s Invisible Children

Twenty-two-year-old Dario (not his real name) came to Belgium from Brazil in 2005. Just a teenager at the time, he told IPS he “came to escape the economic, social and political conditions in Brazil and to learn another language”.

Promoting Global Awareness of Autism

A growing number of countries are heralding a new call for involvement in addressing autism and other developmental disorders that affect approximately one per cent of the world’s population of over seven billion people. World Autism Awareness Day aims to increase people's awareness about people, especially children, with autism.

Border Control by Another Name

Crossing the Belgian-German border in the heart of Europe should be a smooth experience, with no border controls, since the Schengen free movement area came into existence. Yet identity checks at this border and others inside Schengen are not uncommon, despite the contorted logic applied to prove their legality.