Stories written by Nastasya Tay
Nastasya Tay is a news and features journalist, producer and photographer, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She covers the region—and beyond—in print, photo, radio and television for a host of publications and broadcasters, from the Associated Press to EyeWitness News. Nastasya's background in development has led to a focus on in-depth feature reporting, covering diverse issues including health, education and the environment, alongside breaking news.

“God Wants Us to Live in a Garden, Not a Desert”

The European Union plan to save the Kyoto Protocol may meet its greatest obstacle in the developing world.

Africa

AFRICA: Anxious Eyes on Green Climate Fund

The African Development Bank says it is concerned about administrative delays holding up progress on the Green Climate Fund - one of the most significant achievements from the Cancún climate talks.

African women continue to be at the receiving end of persistent development challenges. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS

AFRICA: World Bank Identifies Five Poor States as “Growth Poles”

Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity to transform itself, says the World Bank. Its new strategy for the continent aims to leverage growing South-South investment to ensure more inclusive development, while identifying five poor states as "Growth Poles".

Grain at Malanga market, Maputo. Riots over food and transport have rocked Mozambique over the past couple of years. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: Hunger Stalks 55 Percent of Adults

Baptista Macule is sitting on a sack of groundnuts in a dusty side-alley near the sprawling, makeshift Malanga market on the outskirts of Maputo. He squints into the sun as he tries to explain the extent of poverty in his country.

The company says it needs six months to upgrade fume treatment centres, during which time emissions will be released directly into the air. Credit:  Joel Chiziane/IPS

/UPDATE*/: Bypass Under Way At Mozambique Smelter

Aluminium giant BHP Billiton’s Mozal smelter has begun bypassing its fume treatment centres, emitting potentially dangerous fumes into the air without treating them first - despite a pending court case on the matter.

Informal traders at Malanga market on the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique. Most of the products on offer are purchased in Zimbabwe or South Africa. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS

AFRICA: Women Traders Confronting Sexual Harassment at Borders

Harassment and sexual exploitation by border officials seeking bribes constitute the biggest obstacles for female informal cross-border traders in Africa, according to a United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) research study.

The company says it needs six months to upgrade fume treatment centres, during which time emissions will be released directly into the air. Credit:  Joel Chiziane/IPS

MOZAMBIQUE: BHP Billiton Plans Six Month Bypass of Smelter Smokestack Scrubbers

Civil society groups are challenging a six-month authorisation granted aluminium giant BHP Billiton to emit potentially dangerous fumes from its Mozal smelter into the air without treating them first.

SACU's smaller members states depend on import revenue transfers for their survival. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS

ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Threat of States Collapsing Looms Large

The mooted restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement of the world’s oldest customs union could lead to at least two of its Southern African members collapsing into "failed states" status as well as macroeconomic crises in two of their neighbours in the sub-region.

Price Hikes Trigger Mozambique Protests

September in Mozambique’s capital has begun with violent protests. Thousands have been striking over an increase in the prices of basic goods, including bread. Police responded with force - firing on crowds gathered on the streets in several suburbs and townships in and around Maputo.

Supporters at the African Corner Bar, Johannesburg. Credit:  Nastasya Tay/IPS

WORLD CUP: United For Africa – Making it Last

Perhaps Africa's World Cup began in earnest on Jun. 16, when a despondent green and gold-clad crowd began leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium even before the end of South Africa's heavy defeat to Uruguay. Migrant African fans felt the first touch of cold post-tournament reality.

A long line of patients at a sexual health clinic in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Much of this clinic's work is funded by international donors. Credit: Nastasya Tay

AFRICA: Less Funds Will Cause Unnecessary AIDS Deaths

Backtracking by international donors in funding the fight against HIV/AIDS risks widening the treatment gap in Africa, undermining years of positive achievements in the field, warns a new Medecins Sans Frontières report. And many more unnecessary HIV-related deaths will be caused by these shifts in international donor funding

A supporter at the World Aids Day celebration held in Pretoria. Credit: Nastasya Tay

HEALTH: Raising the Recommended CD4 Count for ART

Newborn babies in South Africa will now be treated for HIV, regardless of their CD4 count. President Jacob Zuma announced several new measures which focus on expanding the country’s anti-retroviral (ARV) programme, especially in terms of mother-to-child-transmission, and for those with both TB and HIV.

Bunmi Makinwa: Women must be included at all levels in responding to climate change. Credit:  Nastasya Tay/IPS

CLIMATE CHANGE: Women Central to Adaptation, Mitigation

Poor women will bear the greatest ‘climate burden’, says the United Nations Population Fund in its 2009 State of the World Population report, released today.



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