Indian Girls Break Taboos on Menstrual Hygiene

Fifteen-year-old Nasreen Jehan, a student in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, proudly flaunts a yellow and red beaded bracelet encircling her wrist. This humble accessory, she tells IPS, is her most treasured possession.

Schools Reflect Segregation in Chile’s Educational System

The decentralisation of Chile’s public schools, which were handed over to the municipalities to run in 1981, gave rise to a de facto segregation that has cast a shadow over several generations of Chileans.

OP-ED: Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture It!

Nearly 20 years ago, the world came together in Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women. There, 189 governments adopted a visionary roadmap for gender equality: the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

No Silver Lining for Somalia’s Child Labourers

Twelve-year-old Halima Mohamed Ali wakes up every morning at five am, but unlike her peers she does not go to school. Instead, she begins her duties as a nanny for five children, the oldest of whom is just two years younger than she is.

Popular Rwandan Rights Group Helps Youth Create Jobs with Popcorn Venture

Twenty-year-old Fabrice Shyaka sells popcorn in brown paper bags five nights a week from his stand in a small alleyway, situated next to a DVD shop blaring loud music, and a supermarket. Here in Kanombe, a suburb in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, he is the only person selling popcorn in the area.

Ethiopian Scribes Try to Preserve Dying 4th Century Art

Misganew Andeurgay changes his bamboo-made pen for another, dips it in a tiny pot of viscous liquid and, on a parchment page filled with black script, begins to trace in scarlet-red ink the Amharic word for god. 

Divisions over Gender Complicate Development Agenda

As the U.N. focuses on refining its Post-2015 Development Agenda, divisions surrounding issues of population and development continue to plague consensus on a universal way forward.

Undocumented Students in U.S. Stuck in Limbo

He did everything right. Worked hard. Excelled in school. Captain of his soccer team. He’s been scouted by a half-dozen colleges and universities.

No Choice But To Work Without Pay

The southern Indian city Hyderabad is witnessing a construction boom as it prepares to become the joint capital of two states - Andhra Pradesh and the soon to be formed Telangana. Buildings are coming up in almost every neighbourhood.

Finding the Needle in the Post-2015 Haystack

How will the U.N. prioritise the goals of its Post-2015 Development Agenda? Which goals deserve more funding? And which goals will help the most people? These are the questions that the Copenhagen Consensus Centre (CCC) seeks to answer.

Azerbaijan Backing Turkey’s Crackdown on Gülen Movement

Azerbaijan appears to be joining in Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s campaign against a religious movement led by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen.

In U.S., Black Preschool Students “Punished More Severely”

In the United States, African American children continue to face more barriers to success than any other race, new research suggests.

When Not To Go To School

In large parts of rural India, the absence of separate toilets for growing girls is taking a toll on their education. Many are unable to attend school during their menstrual cycle.

Côte d’Ivoire’s Tech Solutions to Local Problems

When Ivorian Thierry N’Doufou saw local school kids suffering under the weight of their backpacks full of textbooks, it sparked an idea of how to close the digital gap where it is the largest — in local schoolrooms.

Conflict Fuels Child Labour in India

Early in the morning, 14-year-old Sumari Varda puts on her blue school uniform but heads for the village pond to fetch water. “I miss school. I wish I could go back,” she whispers, scared of being heard by her employer.

Taliban Provokes New Hunger for Education

Following scattered defiance of the Taliban earlier, a new wave of students is now heading for education in schools and colleges across the troubled north of Pakistan.

Youth Around the World See Meagre Opportunities

Although half the world’s population is under 25 years old, young people in more than two dozen countries feel that their opportunities for educational, economic and societal advancement are limited, according to new research released here Thursday.

OP-ED: Europe’s Commitment to Africa’s Children is Still Needed

As African and European leaders meet in Brussels this week under the theme of “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace", it is clear Africa’s greatest natural resource, its children, must be centre stage. 

Fighting Now Brings Disease

For just that moment, the refugees in Yarmouk camp in Damascus made news. After months of facing starvation and death in the shadows of the Syrian civil war came packets of food and aid in January - with cameras in tow.

Anger Rises Over Racism in India

L. Khino, 27, vividly remembers Christmas Eve at the Indian capital’s famed Connaught Place shopping hub four years ago: the blinking lights, the buzzing crowd, the winter chill - and the salty taste of her tears.

OP-ED: While Women Progress, Men Fall Behind

-- International Women’s Day and the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) are overlooking a critical trend: while girls and women are making notable gains, boys and men are falling behind.