Israel, Hamas Escape U.N.’s List of Shame on Attacks on Children

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reportedly under heavy pressure from the United States and Israel, has decided not to blacklist the Jewish state in an annex to a new U.N. report on children victimised in armed conflicts.

India’s Four Million Sex Workers Demand Equal Labour Rights

Although forced prostitution and trafficking of women remains a huge challenge in India, health experts, policy-makers and legal advocates say that most of the country’s estimated four million commercial sex workers join the trade of their own free will.

Call for Disability Rights to Be Mainstreamed in Post-2015 Development Agenda

“We should remove the ‘dis’ and focus on ‘abilities,’” Daniela Bas, director of the Division for Social Policy and Development at the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said at a media event on the rights of persons with disabilities on Friday.

Ni Una Menos – The Cry Against ‘Femicides’ Finally Heard in Argentina

In the wake of the massive response to their call to protest violence against women in Argentina, the organisers of this week’s demonstrations are starting to plan the steps to be taken to get results for their demand “Ni Una Menos” (not one less), taking advantage of the strength in numbers shown to obtain political support for public policies aimed at protecting women.

Governments Must Do More to Support Volunteers, Says U.N.

Volunteers are increasingly essential to ensuring government accountability and effectiveness - but their vast potential is untapped and undervalued, a new United Nations report has found.

Journalists, Gov’ts Square Off in Game of Drones

For some, the word "drone" immediately conjures up ominous phrases like "targeted assassination" and "precision strike."

8.2 Million Iraqis In Need of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance

As fighting drags on between Iraqi armed forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), millions of refugees caught between the warring groups are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Opinion: For a New Generation of Climate Activists, It’s Too Late to Wait

I remember pretending not to be so excited. There was this nervous energy that kicked up my heels as I prowled through the U.N. negotiations that afternoon. You could feel it all around. Circling our meeting point like sharks quietly rounding our prey. If you knew what to look for, you would know exactly what was about to happen.

‘Legal Friends’ Fight Gender Violence in Rural India

Mamta Bai, 36, distinctly remembers the first time the police came to her village: it was December 2014 and her neighbour, Purva Bai, had just been beaten unconscious by her alcoholic husband, prompting Mamta to make a distress call to the nearest station.

As Jamaica’s Prime Forests Decline, Row Erupts Over Protection

For Jamaica, planting more trees as a way to build resilience is one of the highest priorities of the government's climate change action plan. So when Cockpit Country residents woke up to bulldozers in the protected area, they rallied to get answers from the authorities.

Pacific Civil Society Swings Out Against Free Trade Agreement

Fourteen Pacific Island Forum countries are currently locked in negotiations with their two largest economic neighbours, Australia and New Zealand, to forge a new regional free trade agreement called ‘PACER Plus’, which supporters believe will boost economic growth in the region.

U.N. Sets Up Independent Panel to Probe Sexual Abuses in CAR

The United Nations, which came under heavy fire for its failure to act swiftly on charges of sexual abuse by French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) last year, has decided to set up an External Independent Review (EIR) to probe these allegations.

Climate Fund Rolls Out Amid Hopes It Stays “Green”

After a difficult infancy, the Green Climate Fund is finally getting some legs. The big question now is what direction it will toddle off in.

Zimbabwean Women Weave Their Own, Beautiful Future

Seventy-seven-year-old Grace Ngwenya has an eye for detail. You will never catch her squinting as she effortlessly weaves ilala palm fronds into beautiful baskets.

Native Communities in Mexico Demand to be Consulted on Wind Farms

“It hurts us that our land is affected, and the environmental impacts are not even measured. Wind farm projects affect streams and hurt the flora,” said Zapotec Indian Isabel Jiménez, who is taking part in the struggle against the installation of a wind park in southern Mexico.

The Neglected Street Vendors of India

For the past nine years, 27-year-old Jignesh has been hawking bed sheets on the bustling pavements of Janpath, a major throughway in India’s capital, New Delhi, as kamikaze traffic swirls around him.

Growing Mobilisation Against Introduction of Fracking in Spain

Thousands of people in Spain have organised to protest the introduction of “fracking” – a controversial technique that involves pumping water, chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale rock to release gas and oil.

Thousands Rally to Demand Freedom for Puerto Rican Activist

Children in strollers held placards. Those unable to make it into the streets leaned out of high-rise apartment building windows, shouting support to the river of protestors below. For hours, several city blocks became a mass of red and blue, as scores of people waved the national flag of Puerto Rico. One name was on everyone’s lips, but the cause was broader than a single man.

Garment Sweatshops in Argentina an Open Secret

The death of two Bolivian boys in a fire and the mistreatment and sexual abuse of a young Bolivian woman put the problem of slave-like labour conditions in clandestine sweatshops back in the headlines in Argentina.

Latin America’s Relative Success in Fighting Hunger

The Latin American and Caribbean region is the first in the world to reach the two global targets for reducing hunger. Nevertheless, more than 34 million people still go hungry.

Scores of Sri Lankan Tamils Still Living Under the ‘Long Shadow of War’

In many ways, Jayakumari Balendran epitomizes the plight of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces, both during and after the island nation’s 26-year-long civil conflict.