Enrique Iglesias – IPS Award 2008

 

IPS Award 2008 Slideshow

 

EL SALVADOR: Military Service Plan for At-Risk Youth Raises Controversy

Activists and experts on education flatly reject a proposal by the leftwing government of Mauricio Funes to bring back compulsory military service, for young people at risk of being recruited by youth gangs and organised crime.

CARIBBEAN: Regional Bloc Struggles to Implement Agenda

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, including the new Haitian President Michel Martelly, will gather here Friday for their annual summit as impatience grows with an array of stalled regional integration initiatives.

POLAND: Hate This Speech

"What Hitler started, we will finish...go to the gas chamber, Jews, go to the oven." When Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski read this and similar comments in discussion forums, he decided to go to court.

Mauritania Could Lose Its Capital City to the Sea

For the past five years, water has been seeping out of the ground beneath parts of Nouakchott, undermining foundations and transforming some areas of the Mauritanian capital into uninhabitable marshes.

CARIBBEAN: Legal Threats Surpass Physical Risks for Journalists

Caribbean journalists meeting here last weekend celebrated the news that not a single colleague was killed during the first six months of this year.

MALAWI: Power Interconnection Project Costly but Needed

In Malawi’s administrative and commercial capitals, Lilongwe and Blantyre, two things are clear, especially at night: blackouts and the sound of generators in various workplaces.

MIDEAST: Turkey Sails Closer to Israel Ahead of Flotilla

Amidst last-minute preparations for a new Peace Flotilla that will try this week to break Israel's maritime blockade on Gaza, signs of a tentative thawing in relations between Israel and Turkey following a two-year crisis are becoming more and more apparent.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Climate Change Adaptation Projects in Indigenous Areas

Work will begin in July on four climate change adaptation projects in four primarily indigenous departments in Honduras.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Schools in Mendoza to Teach Safe Handling of Pesticides

An Argentine government agency is carrying out a program to teach students in rural primary schools in the western province of Mendoza about the safe handling of pesticides.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Mesoamerican Drylands Project Launched

Marginalized communities in four states in southern Mexico and the central Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz will be involved in a project to improve natural resource management in areas with scant rainfall.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Wind Power Potential Ignored by Government

Wind power is an abundant source of energy in Brazil, but it is not given priority in government plans, according to a study by the Institute of Electrotechnics and Energy at São Paulo University.

PAKISTAN: Schools Rise From the Rubble

Violence in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan has kept students away from school, in some areas for at least two years. Now, officials are trying to make up for lost time by holding classes even under tents or trees.

Real Estate Boom as Displaced Pakistanis Seek Housing

Real estate prices have shot up in areas adjacent to the tribal districts of northwest Pakistan where violence continues to displace local residents.

Days Ahead of Official Election, Lagarde ‘Crowned’ IMF Chief

In a small park situated between the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was crowned head of the world's most powerful monetary institution on Thursday.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Rwandan Woman Sentenced to Life for Genocide

Rwanda’s former minister of family and women affairs and the only woman to be indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and rape, among other crimes.

NIGERIA: Islamic Sect’s Siege on Nation Borne Out of Frustration

The sectarian crisis and recent violence by extremist groups, like the Jun. 16 bomb blast on the Nigerian Police Headquarters, are borne out of anger at prevailing economic conditions rather than religion, analysts say.

AFRICA: Bike-Share Systems Already Thrive

One winter morning in central Cape Town, despite the gale force wind and the threat of rain, Jacques Sibomana, who was going to be ‘up and down the city all day’, decided he’d rather cycle than brace against the wind on foot.

SUDAN: Feeling the Economic Impact Before Secession

Amira Amer* becomes very picky the minute she reaches the bus station. One by one she lets the new air-conditioned busses pass her by. She is waiting for a cheaper bus. They are limited in the expensive city of Khartoum and are constantly packed to the point of overflowing.

MALAWI: Tax on the Poor Is to Compensate for Tariff Revenue Loss

The decision by the Malawian government to introduce value-added tax (VAT) of up to 16.5 percent on products such as bread, meat, milk and dairy products is being blamed for losses incurred by small-scale businesses. The move comes in response to a loss of revenue due to regional trade commitments.