Stories written by Haider Rizvi
Haider Rizvi, who spent nearly 20 years as a reporter for IPS covering the United Nations, died October 29 in a hospital in Pakistan, his home country. He was in his mid 50's. Haider began with IPS South Asia back in 1993 and eventually landed in the United States, reporting both from the IPS UN Bureau and later from Washington DC. In between, he grabbed a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, New York. As a journalist, he was always true to his ideals of justice and equality, and a passionate advocate of the underdog. Haider’s writings faithfully reflected the causes he fought for. He advocated the rights of minorities and native Americans in the US and indigenous people in Latin America; highlighted the student protests in the US; advocated the Palestinian’s right to statehood; battled for the eradication of hunger and poverty in the developing world; joined the global campaign for nuclear disarmament and covered the “Occupy Wall Street” protests (which for him, also meant “Un-Occupy Palestine”). He was, in many ways, a prophet -- someone who saw past the veil to the terrible realities in the world. May God give him peace and bless his soul.

POLITICS-U.S.: Bush Pushes Plan to Permit Internet Surveillance

By Haider Rizvi
The Bush administration is pushing to ratify an international convention that civil libertarians say would pose serious threats to privacy rights at home and abroad.

RIGHTS-U.S.: Death Penalty Debate Absent From Election Talk

By Haider Rizvi
When George Ryan, the Republican governor of Illinois state, told 156 inmates last January that they would no longer face execution, those demanding the abolition of the death penalty in the United States hoped it might encourage the Democratic Party to take a firm stand on the issue in the next presidential race.

RIGHTS-US: Death Penalty Debate Absent From Election Talk

By Haider Rizvi
When George Ryan, the Republican governor of Illinois state, told 156 inmates last January that they would no longer face execution, those demanding the abolition of the death penalty in the United States hoped it might encourage the Democratic Party to take a firm stand on the issue in the next presidential race.

RIGHTS: Refugee Activists Await U.S. Decision on Domestic Abuse

By Haider Rizvi
After years of beatings at the hands of her husband in Bangladesh, Yasmin could not take it any more. One day, without telling him, she bought a plane ticket and flew to New York.

POLITICS: U.N. Reform When?

By Haider Rizvi
When the World Trade Organisation met in Mexico earlier this month, a group of developing countries refused to be taken for granted by the rich industrialised nations that control the body, sending a message to the elite that they must change their way of doing business.
     The same message was heard this week in the United Nations General Assembly.

POLITICS: U.N. Reform When?

By Haider Rizvi
When the World Trade Organisation (WTO) met in Mexico recently, a group of developing countries refused to be taken for granted by the rich industrialised nations that control the body, sending a message to the elite that they must change their way of doing business.

POLITICS: Make Room for the South on U.N. Security Council – NGOs

By Haider Rizvi
Eminent intellectuals and leading civil society advocates who closely work with the United Nations are demanding that any move to reform the Security Council must include the emerging powers from the global South.

U.S.: Muslim, Arab Families Await Papers, Deportation

By Haider Rizvi
"Look at him. I don't understand why they are punishing this innocent one," says Rukhsana Saeed, pointing to her infant son who cries in her lap, his small hands holding a plastic bottle filled with milk.

POPULATION-US: Crackdown Leaves Many Muslim Immigrants in Limbo

By Haider Rizvi
When he left his native Pakistan for the United States three years ago, Chaudhary just wanted to experience the U.S. way of life for a while. Now, he says, "I am done with this. I need to go home, but I can't. I am stuck."

LABOUR-UN: Workers Condemn Sudden Suspension of Staff Union

By Haider Rizvi
The United Nations, which champions the cause of labour rights around the world, has shut down its own staff union, causing deep feelings of anger and resentment among hundreds of employees.

DEVELOPMENT: The Revolution Will Be Wireless, Experts Say

By Haider Rizvi
While rich nations of the world continue to reap hefty profits from the use of wireless internet, most poor countries remain shut out from this phenomenal technology, say U.N. officials, policy makers and information technology experts.

DEVELOPMENT: The Revolution Will Be Wireless, Experts Say

By Haider Rizvi
While rich nations of the world continue to reap hefty profits from the use of wireless internet, most poor countries remain shut out from this phenomenal technology, say U.N. officials, policy makers and information technology experts.

AFRICA: Pregnancy Illness Devastates 100,000 Women Yearly

By Haider Rizvi
Alarmed by a new study that found millions of African women continue to suffer and even die from the pregnancy-related condition fistula, U.N. officials and public health activists are asking rich nations for help in setting up treatment facilities on the continent.

POLITICS: U.S. Wins Vote but Loses Stature on ICC

By Haider Rizvi
Do you want the International Criminal Court or our help in renovating your airport?

RIGHTS: ‘Pay for Destruction’, Indigenous People Tell Corporations

By Haider Rizvi
Indigenous leaders gathered at the United Nations to discuss ways to protect their culture and environmen are demanding that multinational corporations accept legal responsibility for their policies that destroy indigenous lands and lifestyles.

   ''Rather than bringing development they have brought more poverty and misery to indigenous people,'' says Victoria Tauli of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus on Sustainable Development.

/Int’l Day of Indigenous People/RIGHTS: ‘Pay for Destruction’, Indigenous People Tell Corporations

By Haider Rizvi
Leaders of the world's 350 million aboriginal people, gathered here to discuss ways to protect their culture and environment, are demanding that multinational corporations accept legal responsibility for policies that destroy indigenous lands and lifestyles.

IRAQ: Bargaining in the Air as Security Council Talks Sanctions

By Haider Rizvi
The Bush administration's insistence that the United Nations should immediately remove sanctions against Iraq has led to a new round of diplomatic manoeuvring in the Security Council

UNITED STATES: Hunger in a Wealthy Nation

By Haider Rizvi
While the U.S. government spends billions of dollars to wage war against Iraq, some 30 million people in the United States go hungry, 12 million of whom are children, says Anuradha Mittal, co-director of the California-based Institute for Food and Development Policy (IFDP).

Hunger in a Wealthy Nation

By Haider Rizvi and - -
"This is not just a war on Iraq. This is a war on the poor people in America," says a food security and sustainable development specialist, pointing to the 30 million people who go hungry in the world's richest country.

DEVELOPMENT: New York Obsessed with Height

By Haider Rizvi
Obsessed with the notion that skyscrapers can reflect a nation's economic might and glory, the New York City administration last week approved an architectural plan that promises to build the tallest tower in the world on the site of the World Trade Centre, destroyed by the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

IRAQ: U.S. Soldiers and Families Oppose War Aims, Preparations

By Haider Rizvi
While military preparations continue, signs of doubt and mistrust about the legitimacy of a looming war against Iraq are becoming increasingly visible among U.S. soldiers, their families and some lawmakers in Congress.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*