Active Citizens

Monoculture Crops Threaten Community Water Projects in El Salvador

By Edgardo Ayala
For nearly three decades, several communities in southeastern El Salvador have collectively and efficiently managed the water they consume, but monoculture production and climate change put their water at risk.

9 of the 10 Worst Global Risks are Linked to Water

By Jens Berggren
Every year, the World Economic Forum asks some 1,000 decision-makers from the public sector, business, academia and civil society across the globe to assess the risks facing the world over the decade to come.

Guinea’s Returnee Migrants Harness the Strength of Unity

By IPS Correspondent
Elhadj Mohamed Diallo was a prisoner in Libya between October and November 2017, but he was not helpless. Far from his home in Guinea he understood the power of an organised union.

US Survey Finds Lack of Awareness on Global Warming

By Yash Bhandari
The U.N.’s World Water day is fast approaching as the state of the world’s consumable water supply remains dismal. Billions of people face at least the very real risk of scarcity, if they’re not facing scarcity already; and about a third of the world’s groundwater systems are in danger of becoming depleted.

Europe under Siege: Collusions, Dugin and Bannon

By Jan Lundius
EU Parliament elections take place every fifth year and votes have steadily been decreasing. In the last 2014 election, the overall turnout was 42.54 percent of those entitled to vote, in some nations it was just around fifteen percent. Nevertheless, results will not only be eagerly awaited by pro- and anti-EU activists, but also by ideologist from non-member countries. Particularily vociferous among such people are Steve Bannon, who wants to “Make America Great Again” and Aleksandr Dugin who wants to “Make Russia Great Again”.

Climate Strike: Hundreds of Thousands Unite for the Planet’s Future

By Maged Srour
Friday, Mar. 15 saw hundreds of thousands of young people across the world take to the streets to join the climate strike. “We are demonstrating today for our planet and for our future. This is the place where we and those who come after us will live,” Jennifer, a 16-year-old girl from Rome, the Italian capital, who opted to join the protests, told IPS.

Women Take the Lead Tackling Climate Change in Bangladesh

By Jonathan Farr and Samia Mallik, WaterAid
The stakes are high for women when faced with a warming world – their livelihoods jeopardised by labour markets that tend to put men first, their family responsibilities increasing rapidly in the face of droughts and flooding, and politicians who refuse to acknowledge the challenges they face. The story of those living on the frontline of a harsher climate is simply not being heard.

Three Takeaways from Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico

By Mark Baker
Those of us working in disaster relief know what to expect when a hurricane or earthquake strikes with devastating fury. We know that safe water, food, and shelter will be the most immediate needs for survivors. And we have a good idea of the kind of wreckage we’ll see, although we never cease to be humbled and sobered by the tragic sights.

VIDEO: “People Affected by Leprosy Suffer Severe Discrimination”

By Fabiana Frayssinet
“More than 50 countries in the world have discriminatory laws against people affected by Hansen's disease. There is also a lot of discrimination in the public administration…and in society," Alice Cruz, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, said in this interview with IPS (in Spanish, with English subtitles).

People Affected by Leprosy in Latin America Unite for Their Rights and Their Voice

By Mario Osava
With the decision to found a regional coalition to promote rights and greater participation in national and international forums and decisions, the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen's disease, popularly known - and stigmatised - as leprosy, came to an end.

Eight Years on, Fukushima Still Poses Health Risks for Children

By Akio Matsumura
On March 11, we commemorate the 8th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. To an outside observer, this anniversary passes as a technical progress report, a look at new robot, or a short story on how lives there are slowly returning to normal.

International Women’s Day in Cameroon: A Day for All Women?

By Sarah Rayzl Lansky
On March 8, women all over Cameroon will don custom-made dresses sewn of pagne, specially printed for International Women’s Day. They will parade through cities and towns, joining women around the world in celebration of the day.

Decent Work Still a Distant Dream for Many Latin American Women

By Mariela Jara
Women in Latin America earn one-fifth less than men for every hour worked, on average - one of the statistics that reflect the continuing inequality in the world of work that makes it unlikely for the region to meet the goal of equal pay by 2030.

Latin American Women Programme Their World against the Digital Divide

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Designed mostly by men, many digital applications are not suitable for women, but some initiatives are beginning to include them as programmers and beneficiaries in Latin America, where the gender gap is also technological.

A Disease as Old as Time – Eliminated but Not Eradicated

By Stella Paul
As the Executive Director of Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation (SMHF), Takahiro Nanri has been working on the issue of leprosy since 2014. Over the past few years, he has traveled across the world visiting the large number of leprosy projects that SMHF has been supporting and meeting dozens of organisations led by leprosy-affected people.

New Regional Secretariat to Advance Leprosy Advocacy in Asia

By Ben Kritz
Organisations of people affected by leprosy in Asia have agreed to form a regional-level secretariat to support national advocacies and represent their collective agenda at a world conference to be held later this year.

Q&A: Leprosy-affected People Live Not at the Bottom, but Outside the Social Pyramid

By Stella Paul
Takahiro Nanri is the Executive Director of Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation which has been supporting the global fight against leprosy for almost five decades. Since 2014, Nanri has been leading the foundation’s leprosy projects across the world and has deep insights into the challenges faced by the people affected by leprosy as well as the organisations that work with them.

Healthy Oceans, Healthy Societies

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Over recent years, there have been shocking reports of marine endangerment and plastic pollution. The threats are clear, and now urgent action is needed more than ever.

Hope Springs Once Again for Nigeria’s Returnee Migrants

By Sam Olukoya
Nigeria accounts for some of the largest number of irregular migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.

Living with Leprosy on the Climate-Vulnerable Kiribati Island Atolls

By Stella Paul
Kurarenga Kaitire lives in Kiribati—one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. Already vulnerable to nature, the 29-year-old mother of five has faced a series of vulnerabilities over the past decade, including facing social stigma and domestic abuse.

Q& A: We Need a Holistic Approach to Eradicate Leprosy

By Stella Paul
Dr. Maria Francia Laxamana is the Assistant Secretary in the Philippines ministry of health. With nearly two decades of  work both as a senior government official and also as an expert in several non-government organisations, Laxamana has deep insight into the issue of leprosy in this Southeast Asian nation and the challenges faced by those who are affected by the disease.
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