Active Citizens

Pacific Civil Society Swings Out Against Free Trade Agreement

By Catherine Wilson
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

By Thalif Deen
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”

By Kitty Stapp
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

By Busani Bafana
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

By Emilio Godoy
“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

By Neeta Lal
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

By Inés Benítez
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

By Kanya D'Almeida
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

By Fabiana Frayssinet
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

By Marianela Jarroud
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’

By Kanya D'Almeida
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.

U.N. Security Council Takes “Historic” Stand on Killings of Journalists

By Kitty Stapp
When war breaks out, most non-combatants run the other way. But a handful of courageous reporters see it as their duty to tell the world what's happening on the ground. And many pay a high price.

Opinion: Internet Should be Common Heritage of Humankind – Part II

By Branislav Gosovic *
The Internet – and the applications that it has spawned – is the single most important technological innovation that has brought together and interlinked humankind in a real, tangible and interactive way.

Laissez Faire Water Laws Threaten Family Farming in Chile

By Marianela Jarroud
Family farmers in Chile are pushing for the reinstatement of water as a public good, to at least partially solve the shortages caused by the privatisation of water rights by the military dictatorship in 1981.

Pineapple Industry Leaves Costa Rican Communities High and Dry

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Twelve years after finding the first traces of pesticides used by the pineapple industry, in the rural water supply, around 7,000 people from four communities in Costa Rica’s Caribbean region are still unable to consume their tap water.

Q&A: Papua New Guinea Reckons With Unmet Development Goals

By Neena Bhandari
As Papua New Guinea celebrates 40 years of independence, 2015 marks a defining year for the largest Pacific Island nation, set to record 15 percent GDP growth this year.

Failure of Review Conference Brings World Close to Nuclear Cataclysm, Warn Activists

By Thalif Deen
After nearly four weeks of negotiations, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference ended in a predictable outcome: a text overwhelmingly reflecting the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies.

School Gardens Combat Hunger in Argentina

By Fabiana Frayssinet
In Argentina, where millions of families have unmet dietary needs despite the country’s vast expanse of fertile land, the Huerta Niño project promotes organic gardens in rural primary schools, to teach children healthy eating habits and show them that they can grow their own food to fight hunger.

Bougainville: Former War-Torn Territory Still Wary of Mining

By Catherine Wilson
From Arawa, once the capital city of Bougainville, an autonomous region in eastern Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific Ocean, a long, winding road leads high up into the Crown Prince Ranges in the centre of the island through impenetrable rainforest.

Opinion: Voice of Civil Society Muffled in Post-2015 Negotiations for Better Future

By Esmee Russell
In September, the United Nations will agree on new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will set development priorities for the next 15 years. The draft goals that have been developed are ambitious – they seek to end poverty and ensure no one is left behind.

Opinion: New World Information Order, Internet and the Global South – Part I

By Branislav Gosovic *
More than four decades ago, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) launched the concept of a New International Information Order (NIIO).
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