U.N. Agencies Respond to Humanitarian Crisis in Philippines

The United Nations and its agencies, including the UN children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP)  have marshalled their resources to help victims of the deadly typhoon in the Philippines that has killed more than  1,200.

Uganda Needs to Exploit its Own Mineral Riches

This year, as Uganda gears up to start producing the nearly two billion barrels in oil reserves that were discovered near its western border, critics say that little is being done to exploit the rich mineral resources located in some of the country’s poorest areas.

Early Childhood Development Handbook Launched

The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, in coordination with the University of Northampton (UK), Thursday launched a ground-breaking new work, the Handbook Of Early Childhood Development Research And Its Impact On Global Policy.

Insuring Cows and Goats Improves Kenyan Lives

“That is the sound I love the most in the whole world,” Hussein Ahmed says as the bells tied to his cattle begin clinking as they return home. Ahmed, a pastoralist in Marsabit district in arid and semi-arid northern Kenya, lost all his animals in 2011 during one of the worst droughts in the region for over 60 years.

Less Food for More Hungry

Deep cuts in food aid for poor people in the United States are poised to bring higher demands on charities and food pantries across the country that provide food to families in need – and which are already overstretched.

Abyei Pressures Two Sudans for Resolution

The non-binding referendum in Abyei – where people voted overwhelmingly to join South Sudan – and the ensuing celebration, has brought little immediate resolution to the long-festering Abyei problem.

A ‘Green Intifadah’ Takes Root

“O green Battir, mother of the air,” Mariam Ma’mmar sings in praise of her village. As the hot season draws to a close, the land – her people’s strength – dries up. Not here in her Battir, where a peaceful form of resistance against the Israeli occupation is taking root.

Sri Lanka Assumes Leadership of Colombo Process

The chairmanship of the Colombo Process, a regional consultative exercise focusing on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour in Asia, was transferred from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka during a meeting held at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva last week.

Ivoirians Face an Incomplete Justice

“We are sad. We want our president back,” Yao Amandine told IPS from a street corner in the Ivorian economic metropolis, Abidjan, after the International Criminal Court ruled against granting former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo a conditional release on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Workers Short of Compensation

Six months after the worst man-made disaster in Bangladesh’s history, safety conditions in garment factories have a chance to improve. But not the lives of survivors or the victims’ next of kin.

Eye Disease Sweeps Pacific Islands

For generations, eye diseases have taken their toll on Pacific Island peoples. Now the first nationwide survey in the Solomon Islands of Trachoma, which can lead to irreversible blindness by early adulthood, is revealing the silent penetration of this disease in widely dispersed Melanesian rural island communities.

ICE Raids Leave Broken Homes in Their Wake

Saul Merlos is an undocumented migrant from El Salvador. About two years ago, he was living and working in the southern U.S. city of New Orleans. “One day, our employers told us we were going to get paid, but instead they sent immigration,” he told IPS. “I was a witness to the raid, where they got 55 of us.”

Ecuador-Colombia Settlement Won’t End Spraying

The secrecy surrounding a friendly settlement in a case that Ecuador brought against Colombia in the International Court of Justice for damage caused by anti-drug spraying along the border has further angered those affected by the fumigation.

Zimbabwe’s Battered Old Cars Worsening Air Pollution

It is a common sight in Zimbabwe’s rural areas – dilapidated old cars making their way from one district to the next overloaded with chickens, maize, luggage and people.

Major New Andes Tunnel Turns Back on Volcano

A new system of tunnels at the Alto de La Línea mountain pass in Colombia’s central Cordillera mountain range will open up a key logistics route for this country and neighbouring Venezuela. But it could be overcome by disaster if the Machín volcano erupts.

Global Migration Needs Better Governance, Says U.N. Expert

In a new report on migration released here, a U.N. expert says there is an urgent need for better global migration governance and a strengthened institutional framework.

Mongolia’s Wild Asses Cornered From All Sides

Decades of international and local collaboration have brought the Tahki or Asian Wild Horse back from the brink of extinction and reintroduced herds to Mongolia’s Gobi desert and grasslands. However, the country’s other wild equine – the Mongolian Wild Ass or Khulan – is fast disappearing.

“One Day in There Is Like 100 Years”

“It’s just like a prison. One day in there is like 100 years,” says Jennifer, a 35-year-old Nigerian woman, describing what her aunt went through in the Immigrant Detention Centre (CIE) in this city in southern Spain before she was deported.

India Illegal Mining Enquiry Cut Short

A nationwide enquiry into illegal mining in India was aborted before it completed its investigation into the failings of the country’s mining industry. The study had prompted the government to ban mining in two states and arrest high-ranking politicians.

Democratic Participation Should be Key Element in Post-2015 Agenda

The United Nations and the international community have been urged to make democratic participation a key element  in the U.N.’s post-2015 economic agenda.

U.S. Drone Strikes May Amount to War Crimes

The U.S. government has been engaged in unlawful drone strikes in Pakistan that are in violation of international law, and may amount to war crimes, according to a new report released here by Amnesty International on Tuesday.