Colombia’s Peace Process Sans Chávez

Late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez played a key role in the current attempt to negotiate peace in Colombia. Along with Cuban President Raúl Castro, he confidentially urged the FARC guerrillas to agree to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’s secret proposal for peace talks.

Alliance of Civilizations: “Soft Power” to Serve Humanity

“I believe the Alliance can become a major soft power tool to diffuse tensions and conflicts, especially those which are ethnically or identity based,” said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the new High Representative for the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC).  

Trinidad Pressured to Drop Mandatory Hanging

Ruth Dreifuss, the former Swiss president and chancellor of the University for Peace, may never have heard of Dennis Ramjattan, and vice versa, although they occupy opposite sides of a longstanding debate in this twin-island state.

Native Women Bring Solar Energy to Chile’s Atacama Desert

Three indigenous communities from the Chilean highlands have just received solar panels, which will be set up and maintained by unlikely solar engineers: five native women who travelled halfway around the world to India and overcame language and other barriers to bring photovoltaic energy to their villages.

At Home, and Not at Home

The influx of hundreds of thousands of war-weary refugees from Syria to Lebanon is putting an almost unbearable strain on many of the communities that have taken them into their homes. A domestic economic crisis compounded by the arrival of such large numbers of refugees is weighing heavily on many impoverished areas.

Child Sexual Exploitation on the Rise in North Kivu

A street in Goma’s city centre, the capital of North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been nicknamed “the ward of death” because of the brutal crimes that frequently occur there.

Resentment as South Africa Speaks Business for Continent

There is growing resentment in Africa about the way in which South Africa professes to speak for the rest of the continent in its role as a member of key developing nation blocs, researchers and experts have warned.

Impact of the Arab Spring on Women’s Rights

Academics, diplomats, UN officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered at the 57^th Commission of the Status of Women to exchange views about whether Arab Spring is a chance or a risk for women’s rights.

A “Golden Age” for Native Cinema

Indigenous filmmakers and audiovisual artists worldwide are celebrating their growing visibility, as native voices and stories edge their way onto the big screen, gaining international recognition both artistically and commercially.

‘Every Day Is a Fukushima Memorial’

Japan prepares to mark the second anniversary of the Mar. 11 triple disaster – an earthquake, tsunami and a critical nuclear reactor accident – with much soul searching across the country.

Argentina to Legalise Surrogate Motherhood

Argentina is set to become the first country in Latin America to legalise surrogate motherhood as an option for heterosexual and homosexual couples or single people who cannot conceive but want to have a child who is biologically their own.

Haiti Moves to Tighten Laws on Sexual Violence

Haiti is poised to enact major reforms to its penal code to make it easier for victims of rape to prosecute their attackers.

Victims Want Voice and Vote in Colombia’s Peace Talks

Victims of crimes of the state want their recommendations to be taken into consideration by the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas that are seeking to end half a century of armed conflict.

Press Freedom on the Chopping Block

Saddled with a long list of woes brought on by an economic crisis, debt-stricken Greece now finds itself tackling a different kind of austerity than the one implemented by its European creditors: this time it is press freedom, not public budgets, on the chopping block.

Francophonie Takes Step to Fight Gender Violence

Francophone countries adopted their own action plan to better address gender violence at national levels, according to the High-Level Francophone Consultations on Violence against Women and Girls held at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

U.S. “Stalling” Could Force Acceptance of Onerous TPP

Civil society opposition here has strengthened against a U.S.-proposed free trade zone that would include some dozen countries around the Pacific Rim.

Immigrant Groups Say Spanish Hospitality in Danger

“We used to be seen as really useful, and now we’re a pain in the neck,” said Roberto Suárez, an Ecuadorian who was complaining about proposed fines or prison sentences that could target Spanish citizens who help undocumented immigrants.

Protests in Portugal Get Creative

Indignation in Portugal over rampant joblessness and cuts in wages, pensions and unemployment benefits, together with a growing tax burden, has given rise to innovative forms of protest capable of drawing large crowds.

Give a Voice to Children and Young People

“The protocol should help give voice to children,” said Octavio Errázuriz , permanent representative of Chile to the United Nations, referring to the Third Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Child. He was addressing a meeting Thursday sponsored by the International Coalition for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Women Struggle for a Place in the Pacific

Women face greater odds in achieving equal political representation in the Pacific Islands than in any other region of the world, holding just 3 percent of seats in national parliaments, compared to 20 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 18.5 percent in South East Asia.

Ahead of March Iran Talks, U.S. Urged to Back Possible Israeli Strike

In the same week that talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) concluded in Kazakhstan with rare positive Iranian feedback, a joint resolution declaring U.S. support for Israel in the event of an Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear programme was brought before Congress.