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Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Active Citizens
Rural Women in Peru Cope “Where Life Is Very Sad”
When the crops in her rural highlands community in southern Peru were covered with a thick layer of ice one night, Felícitas Quispe, 43, organised her neighbours to make an effort to keep people from starving to death.
Girls Determined to Fight Guns With Books
Shazia Begum, one of three girls injured in the attack on the Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai says the Taliban had sought to silence a very influential schoolgirl.
Where Drugs Abound – and Syringes to Fight AIDS Are Scarce
In northern Mexico, one of the areas in the country hit hardest by drug trafficking, there are not enough syringes to protect intravenous drug users from HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Groups Rewarded in Their Fight for Fair Food
The Korean Women's Peasant Association won the 2012 Food Sovereignty Prize for its efforts on behalf of the survival of small-scale and ecologically sustainable farming in South Korea.Death Penalty Campaigners Worry About the Steps Back
Ten years of campaigning by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty have brought fruit: the number of countries that have abolished capital punishment in law or practice has gone up to 140. But some countries have resumed executions this year.
Co-operatives Hold Their Own in Free Market Jungle
Cooperatives may face an immense challenge in garnering broader public recognition among consumers, but when it comes to chasing growth, they haven’t held back.
Sendai Shares Big Lessons from the Great Quake
The debris of the devastated Arahama elementary school yielded two enduring lessons for its principal, Takao Kawamura, in the months after the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s north-east coastland on Mar. 11, 2011.
Garifuna Women, Custodians of Culture and the Environment in Honduras
Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras 14 years ago, prompted a group of Garifuna women to start organising, to help the people in greatest need of assistance.
Greek State on Life Support
Like a person on life support whose vital functions are failing, the Greek economy is slowly but surely shutting down as radiation from the so-called ‘austerity plan’ erodes public institutions.
Pangolin Trade Betrays Apathy for Biodiversity
Conservationists see the decimation of pangolins (scaly anteaters) in Pakistan as a sign of the callousness with which this country’s rich biodiversity is being traded away for commercial gain.Guatemala under Pressure to Investigate Shooting of Native Protesters
The deaths of eight indigenous demonstrators taking part in a protest against the Guatemalan government in the southwestern province of Totonicapán have provoked outrage within the country and abroad. The protesters accuse the army of shooting into the crowd.
Q&A: Global Economy, Meet One Billion Co-op Members
The international rally to take the global cooperative movement to the next level is in full swing at the International Summit of Cooperatives here, which kicked off on Monday.
Bicycles Defend Their Place in Mexico City’s Concrete Jungle
Juan Longueira, 56, uses the bicycles of the Ecobici system three times a day, to commute to and from work and to exercise along the Paseo de la Reforma, a central Mexico City avenue.Funds Crunch Skews Aichi Targets on Biodiversity
The United Nations 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (COP 11 CBD), underway in this southern Indian city, is lost on where to garner the billions of dollars needed to implement the ‘Aichi targets,’ due to be met by 2020.Guatemalans Turn to Mutual Aid to Overcome Poverty
"Our economic situation improved a great deal because we obtained more income for our families" as a result of setting up a social enterprise, Matilde García, who makes fashion jewellery in the municipality of Pastores, 60 km west of the capital of Guatemala, told IPS.
Helsinki Boycotts Tax Havens
The City of Helsinki added its voice to a growing global call against corporate tax evasion with the passage of a new responsibility strategy that leaves no room for unethical business practices.
Q&A: In Pakistan, Youth Participation Key to Progress
The burgeoning youth population in Pakistan plays a vital role in addressing the country's major challenges and in shaping its future, both for young people today and for generations to come.
World Bank Refuses Call to Halt Land Deals
The World Bank has rejected a call to suspend its involvement in large scale agricultural land acquisition following the release of a major report by the international aid agency Oxfam on the negative impact of international land speculation in developing countries.
Cooperatives Champion Balance Between People and Profit
The banner year for the global cooperative movement is winding down into its last months, but its leaders have echoed a resounding message: cooperatives, a values-based business model, can usher a transition to a more socially responsible economy.
Abused Children Face Long Wait for Justice
In 2011, 1,463 cases of sexual exploitation of children were reported to the Sri Lankan Police, who found every single complaint to be genuine and opened investigations.As Conflict Spreads, Syrian Opposition Prepares for the Future
As the uprising in Syria becomes violently entangled with its neighbours, the expatriate opposition leadership is already formulating plans for a political transition following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Global Citizen Festival in New York. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Active citizens are committed to social change because they know that it is achievable. However, major political challenges face active citizens across the world. For example, in authoritarian regimes in Latin America where the hegemonic party has been in power for decades on end, protestors and human rights activists face enormous repression and struggle to materialize their advocacy into concrete results. The same can be said for Africans, where a shift towards elected government in recent decades has yet to translate into an effective voice in decision-making. Now, the Strengthening Citizen Demand for Good Governance, which uses evidence-based approaches – funded by DFID's Governance and Transparency Fund – seeks to raise their voices.
In 2025, the CIVICUS Monitor’s People Power Under Attack report revealed that civic freedoms are severely limited in 122 of 198 countries and territories, and only 7.2% of the global population now lives in countries where civic space is open. Through partnership with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and CIVICUS, IPS reporters across the continent will seek to define the extent and limits of state capability, government accountability and the responsiveness of leaders to the needs of citizens.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
