Active Citizens

Anti-Retrovirals but No Food

By Andrew Mambondiyani
Silindiwe Moyana, an HIV positive mother of five from Chipinge east of Zimbabwe, cannot hide her anxiety. She was worried she might not survive this year as drought-induced starvation stalks her and her family. The country is in the throes of a devastating drought which has compromised the nutrition of people living with HIV.

Faith Leaders Join the Fight against Child Marriage

By Stella Paul
Anger is an inner demon that one must have a strong grip on, believes Virayya Shastri - head priest of Maddi Madugu Anjaneya Swamy temple in southern India’s Mahbubnagar district. But mention ‘child marriage’ and the priest finds himself struggling to stay calm. ““Early marriage ruins a girl’s body and scars her mind. There is no way you can call yourself a believer when you support such a thing,” says the priest turned anti-child marriage advocate.

Zika Epidemic Offers Sanitation a Chance in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Three decades of dengue fever epidemic did not manage to awaken a sense of urgency in Brazil regarding the need for improving and expanding basic sanitation. But the recent surge in cases of microcephaly in newborns, associated with the Zika virus, apparently has.

Pilgrimage for Peace on 50th Anniversary of Camilo Torres’ Death

By Constanza Vieira
The police cut down trees at six different points to block the road to the spot in northeast Colombia where priest-turned-guerrilla Camilo Torres was killed 50 years ago, and local residents protested the attempt to pay homage to him.

Children of Alcoholics – Hidden Human Rights Crisis & Crucial SDGs Issue

By Deisi N.W. Kusztra and Kristina Sperkova
Children of alcoholics are the forgotten victims of someone else’s alcohol use. All too often they do remain invisible and alone, neglected by their parents, overlooked by teachers, down prioritized and ignored by governments and authorities.

El Salvador Pension Reform Could Take Women into Account

By Edgardo Ayala
El Salvador is debating reforms of the country’s privatised pension system, which could introduce changes so that it will no longer discriminate against women.

The tragedy of Darfuri asylum-seekers in Uganda

By Amy Fallon
After escaping the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region during which his father and two brothers were killed and his mother and sister displaced, Adam (named changed), began a new chapter. But it was a life “in limbo”. Over a decade later, he remains trapped in a strange country where he struggles to prove his identity; cannot find work or receive financial support.

Latin America’s Indigenous Peoples Find an Ally in the Pope

By Emilio Godoy
“We want Pope Francis’ message to come true…We want the rights of indigenous people to be supported, respected and strengthened,” Yuam Pravia, a representative of the Misquito native people, said in this city in southern Mexico.

Radio rage in India

By Neeta Lal
It is 8 am in Anugondanahalli village about 70 kms from India's IT hub of Bengaluru, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. A group of farmers are huddled around a radio set sipping hot tea and tuned in to Sarathi Jhalak, a local community radio station (CRS) broadcasting on FM 90.4. On air is a programme about climate change that has everybody hooked. Experts are sharing simple tips on how farmers can pro-actively minimise the impact of erratic weather on their crops.

Rise of Middle Class Undermined in East Europe & Central Asia

By Thalif Deen
The UN’s post-2015 development agenda, which was adopted by world leaders at a summit meeting last September, includes a highly ambitious goal: the eradication of extreme poverty by the year 2030. The decline in poverty, as reflected in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended last December, had one positive fallout: the rise of a new middle class graduating largely from the ranks of the poor.

Microcephaly Revives Battle for Legal Abortion in Brazil

By Mario Osava
The Zika virus epidemic and a rise in the number of cases of microcephaly in newborns have revived the debate on legalising abortion in Brazil. However, the timing is difficult as conservative and religious groups are growing in strength, especially in parliament.

Women of Haitian Descent Bear the Brunt of Dominican Migration Policy

By Ivet González
A middle-aged woman arranges bouquets of yellow roses in a street market in Little Haiti, a slum neighbourhood in the capital of the Dominican Republic. “I don’t want to talk, don’t take photos,” she tells IPS, standing next to a little girl who appears to be her daughter.

Cameron at large: Want Not to Become a Terrorist? Speak Fluent English!

By Baher Kamal
“Do you speak English fluently? No? Then you risk to become a terrorist!.” IPS posed this dilemma to some young Muslim women living in Cairo, while explaining that this appears to be UK prime minister David Cameron's formula to judge the level of Muslim women's risk to fall, passively, into the horrific trap of extremism.

Women’s Rights First — African Summit

By Baher Kamal
Despite the enormous challenges facing Africa now, the leaders of its 1.2 billion plus inhabitants have decided to spotlight the issue of Human Rights With a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women in their 26th summit held in Addis Ababa on 21-31 January this year. Why?

Hydropower at Front and Centre of Energy Debate in Chile, Once Again

By Marianela Jarroud
The Chilean government’s approval of a hydroelectric dam in the Patagonia wilderness has rekindled the debate on the sustainability and efficiency of large-scale hydropower plants and whether they contribute to building a cleaner energy mix.

Mexico Creates First and Second-class Migrants

By Emilio Godoy
The Mexican government’s decision to grant humanitarian visas to Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica contrasts sharply with the poor treatment received by the tens of thousands of Central American migrants who face myriad risks as they make their way through this country on their long journey to the United States, social organisations and activists complain.

India Needs to “Save its Daughters” Through Education and Gender Equality

By Neeta Lal
Women constitute nearly half of the country's 1.25 billion people and gender equality -- whether in politics, economics, education or health -- is still a distant dream for most. This fact was driven home again sharply by the recently released United National Development Programme’s Human Development Report (HDR) 2015 which ranks India at a lowly 130 out of 155 countries in the Gender Inequality Index (GII). India trails behind most Asian countries, including lesser developed Bangladesh and Pakistan which rank 111 and 121 respectively, and fares not much ahead of war-ravaged Afghanistan at 152.

Cuba Needs a Law Against Gender Violence

By Patricia Grogg
Activists and researchers dedicated to the study of gender violence in Cuba insist on the need for a comprehensive law to protect the victims and prevent the problem, which was publicly ignored until only a few years ago in this socialist Caribbean island nation.

Mexican Government Ignores Social Impact of Energy Projects

By Emilio Godoy
Mexico’s hydrocarbons law stipulates that oil contracts must include a social impact assessment. But this has not been done in the case of the oilfields granted to the country’s former oil monopoly, Pemex, or to private companies since the industry was opened up to private investment.

Indigenous Villagers Fight “Evil Spirit” of Hydropower Dam in Brazil

By Fabiana Frayssinet
At dusk on the Tapajós River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River in northern Brazil, the Mundurukú indigenous people gather to bathe and wash clothes in these waters rich in fish, the staple of their diet. But the “evil spirit”, as they refer in their language to the Sao Luiz Tapajós dam, threatens to leave most of their territory – and their way of life – under water.

Haina, a Dominican City Famous Only for Its Pollution

By Ivet González
Rubbish covers the beaches and clutters the rivers, the garbage dump is not properly managed, and more than 100 factories spew toxic fumes into the air in the city of Bajos de Haina, a major industrial hub and port city in the Dominican Republic.
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