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Monday, November 2, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
POLITICS: Sudan Genocide Charges Split Global Community
A move to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes in Darfur - the first against a sitting head of state - is threatening to split the international community.POPULATION: UN Predicts 12 Billion if Family Planning Falters
The United Nations commemorated World Population Day Friday in the shadow of a staggering array of grim statistics: an estimated 200 million women worldwide want to delay or avoid pregnancy but are not using safe and effective family planning.DEVELOPMENT: Decades of Bad Policies Brewed a "Perfect Storm"
When the Cold War ended following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent dismantling of the Soviet Union, there was widespread political euphoria about de-militarisation, global peace, a decline in military spending and economic prosperity.DEVELOPMENT: Vision Exists, Reality Doesn’t
The implementation of internationally agreed development goals (IADGs) - including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 - is being increasingly hampered by lack of coordination and coherence both among rich and poor nations, and also within the United Nations.RIGHTS: U.N. Lacks Muscle to Fight Sex Abuse in Peacekeeping
When the United Nations Security Council adopted a key resolution last month critical of violence against women, the condemnation was also directed at the increasing number of peacekeepers, mostly soldiers, expelled from U.N. missions on charges of rape or sexual abuse.
RIGHTS: U.N. Investigator Blasts U.S. Justice System
After a two-week fact-finding tour of U.S. prison and detention facilities, a U.N. human rights investigator has blasted the administration of President George W. Bush for a rash of shortcomings in the country's flawed justice system and continued violations of the rule of law.DISARMAMENT: 2020 Vision Aimed at Dismantling Nukes
Jun 26 (IPS) - When leaders of the world's eight most industrialised nations - the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia, known as the G8 - hold their annual summit meeting in Hokkaido next month, they are likely to reject a seemingly backhanded invitation: a visit to the Peace Memorial Museum in the city of Hiroshima.DEVELOPMENT: Mobile Phones Soar in Internet-Starved Africa
The beleaguered African continent continues to lag far behind the rest of the world in battling poverty, hunger and HIV/AIDS, but it is making dramatic progress in the field of information and communications technologies (ICTs).DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Mortgages Children's Future
The devastating impact of rising food prices is expected to hit most of the world's 2.2 billion children the hardest - particularly in developing nations.POLITICS: UN Body Tightens Leash on Rights Investigators
The Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva is seeking the right to implicitly retaliate against human rights investigators - officially known as special rapporteurs - who are critical of abuses by member states.HEALTH: Cultural Double Standards Undercut HIV/AIDS Fight
The United Nations says religion and culture continue to have a significant impact - both good and bad - on the spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS worldwide.HEALTH: U.N. Warns of 650 Million Deaths by Smoking
Of the more than 1.3 billion smokers alive today, about 650 million will eventually be killed by tobacco, warns a new U.N. report released here.
POLITICS: Was Obama's Rhetoric on Israel for Real?
When Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate for the November U.S. presidential elections, addressed one of the most influential pro-Israeli lobbying groups last week, he offered himself as a more trusted ally of Israel than his rival, Republican candidate John McCain.DEVELOPMENT: More Food Summits, But Less to Eat
After two major U.N. food summits, one in 1996 and the other in 2002, the international community pledged to alleviate hunger and reduce malnutrition.DEVELOPMENT: Faith-based Groups Fight for a Better World
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that nearly 30 to 70 percent of the sprawling health infrastructure in the African continent is owned or run by faith-based organisations.RIGHTS: Despite Landmark Treaty, Children Still Under Siege
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which came into force in September 1990, has been described as a landmark treaty ensuring the human rights of the world's 2.2 billion children.DEVELOPMENT: Poverty Thrives Amid Unprecedented Prosperity
Global poverty is thriving - rather ironically - amidst one of the most prosperous times in human history.DEVELOPMENT: Food Security Requires New Approach to Water
The ongoing food crisis, characterised by growing shortages and rising prices of staple commodities, has far reaching implications for the world's scarce water resources, says a new study released here.DEVELOPMENT: UN Sees Major Successes in Child Survival
The developing world is making significant progress in child survival despite the fact that nearly 2.2 billion children worldwide continue to battle poverty, sexual abuse, forced military conscription, labour exploitation and HIV/AIDS.POLITICS: Burma Fears Politicisation of Humanitarian Crisis
The United Nations, which has accelerated its pace of humanitarian assistance to cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar), is making little or no progress in dealing with the country's military leaders - both at a political and personal level.POLITICS: Human Rights Council Back in the Spotlight
When the United States was ousted from the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission (HRC) back in May 2001, a right-wing Republican politician was livid that "one of the world's greatest human rights defenders" couldn't find a seat in a body dominated by countries such as Libya, Cuba, Sudan and China.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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