Women Empowerment Holds the Key for Global Development

Latin America's inclusion of women in its development model, with greater participation within the work force and improved wage conditions, was a decisive factor in the region's successful diminishment of extreme poverty. 

Indigenous Villages in Honduras Overcome Hunger at Schools

Barely 11 years old and in the sixth grade of primary school, this student dreams of becoming a farmer in order to produce food so that the children in his community never have to go hungry. Josué Orlando Torres of the indigenous Lenca people lives in a remote corner of the west of Honduras.

Teachers and Students: Tip of Iceberg of Mexico’s Human Rights Crisis

Mexico is experiencing a monumental human rights crisis. There is abundant evidence of widespread human rights violations in the country, including torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and violence against journalists and human rights defenders.

Civil Society Organizations Worried About Declining Involvement

Less than a year after the adoption of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), non-government organizations (NGOs) are concerned about declining possibilities for participation, both at the UN and in national politics.

Fighting Violence Against Children as a Global Problem

One billion children experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence in the last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), prompting the launch of a new global partnership to tackle the problem here Tuesday.

What Does it Really Mean to “Leave No One Behind”? 

Although “leave no one behind” has become a central rallying cry around the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, more needs to be done for it to be put into practice, civil society said during a review conference of progress made on the Post-2030 agenda here this week.

Latin American Development Depends On Investing In Teenage Girls

Latin America’s teenage girls are a crucial force for change and for promoting sustainable development, if the region invests in their rights and the correction of unequal opportunities, according to Luiza Carvalho, the regional head of UN Women.

Girls in Rural Bangladesh Take Back Their Futures

Four years ago, Farzana Aktar Ruma, now 18, was almost married off without her consent.

Talking Openly – The Way to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy

In plain and simple language, an Argentine video aimed at teenagers explains how to get sexual pleasure while being careful. Its freedom from taboos is very necessary in Latin American countries where one in five girls becomes a mother by the time she is 19 years old.

Crisis of the Left

Over the last few years, quite a few countries have witnessed the rise of social movements against inequality, xenophobia, and fiscal austerity. The most notable of these are the Occupy movement and Bernie Sanders’ campaign in the US, Syriza and Podemos in continental Europe, and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the Momentum campaign in Britain’s Labour party.

North and South Face Off Over “Right to the City”

The declaration that will be presented for approval at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October has again sparked conflict between the opposing positions taken by the industrial North and the developing South.

Post-War Truth and Justice Still Elusive in Bougainville

Almost every family in the islands of Bougainville, an autonomous region of about 300,000 people in the Pacific Island state of Papua New Guinea, has a story to tell of death and suffering during the decade long civil war (1989-1998), known as ‘the Crisis.’

Why I Started SMART ALEC – Lobbying for the Public Good

For many years, as a reporter, including for IPS, I wrote about the dominance of a giant, corporate-funded lobbying organization called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), on public policy in the United States.

Civil Society Under Serious Attack

Despite their contribution to social justice, civil society organisations came under “serious attack” in 109 countries in 2015, according to a new report published by CIVICUS Monday.

Women’s Cooperatives Ease Burden of HIV in Kenya

Seventy-three-year-old Dorcus Auma effortlessly weaves sisal fronds into a beautiful basket as she walks the tiny path that snakes up a hill. She wound up her farm work early because today, Thursday, she is required to attend her women's group gathering at the secretary’s homestead.

Can Better Technology Lure Asia’s Youth Back to Farming?

Farming and agriculture may not seem cool to young people, but if they can learn the thrill of nurturing plants to produce food, and are provided with their favorite apps and communications software on agriculture, food insecurity will not be an issue, food and agriculture experts said during the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Food Security Forum from June 22 to 24 at the ADB headquarters here.

Women’s Health Takes Center Stage at UN Population Awards   

Social Scientist, Carmen Barroso and Polish Organisation, Childbirth in Dignity received the United Nations Population Awards here Thursday for their outstanding work in population, improving individuals’ health and welfare, and specifically for their decades-long leadership in women's rights.

Ethiopia-Eritrea: The Cry of the Imburi

The 12 June 2016 exchange of artillery fire along the heavily militarized frontier between Ethiopia and Eritrea could be just one of the periodic skirmishes between the two States. However, it could be the first signs of a flare up of violence. There have been calls from the United Nations and African Union officials for “restraint” but as yet no steps for real conflict resolution.

Bringing Back Our Girls Is Not The End of The Story

"Wherever war reaches there is rape, and wherever rape is there is trauma, pain and terror” Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict said here last week.

Political Crisis Looms in Nicaragua in Run-Up to Elections

The seventh consecutive nomination of Daniel Ortega as the governing party’s candidate to the presidency in Nicaragua, and the withdrawal from the race of a large part of the opposition, alleging lack of guarantees for genuine elections, has brought about the country’s worst political crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990.

The Environment: Latin America’s Battleground for Human Rights

2015 was the deadliest year on record for the killings of environmental activists around the world, according to a new Global Witness report.