In Sub-Saharan Africa and Elsewhere, We Need to Look Harder for Tuberculosis

Before COVID-19 came along, tuberculosis (TB) was a primary focus of health authorities in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, approximately 1.4 million people were diagnosed with TB in the region, but epidemiologists estimated that 1 million more had TB but were neither diagnosed nor treated.

Despite Climate Crisis, Politicians Will Double the Production of Energy from Fossil Fuels

In a time when the world's scientific community sounds louder, and stronger than ever, the alarm about the fast growing climate crisis and its destructive impacts, governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030.

Bringing Quality Education to Syria’s Most Vulnerable, Crisis-Impacted Children – Their Education Cannot Wait

In war-torn Syria, the support of Education Cannot Wait (ECW) – the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises – is bringing positive, life-changing educational opportunities tailored to children like 11-year-old Ali.

COP26: Building Climate Resilience Will Require a Focus on Those Furthest Behind

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, approaches (31 October -12 November in Glasgow, Scotland), climate action is more urgent than ever. Yes, we need climate change mitigation.

Climate Change: How 1.3 Billion Africans Cause Least But Suffer Most

While Africa reportedly causes just 4 percent of global emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) —an acidic colourless gas with a density about 53% higher than that of dry air, causing climate change—, this vast continent, home to over 1.3 billion inhabitants in 52 countries, bears the heaviest brunt of 80 percent of the climate crisis destructive impacts.

Fair Tax Plan Could Prejudice Global South

An agreement between 136 countries aimed at forcing the world’s biggest companies to pay a fair share of tax has been condemned by critics who say it will benefit richer states at the expense of the global South.

Forests & Climate: We Need to do Much, Much More

Governments agree that saving the climate means saving forests – but ambition and action fall short of what’s required. First the good news: one of the forest goals agreed by governments, businesses and civil society organizations has been met.

Turning Carriers of Water into Managers of Water

Each morning, Langelihle Tshuma checks her taps to confirm the water supply before preparing for the day ahead. Despite living in the city, the married housewife and mother of four has become accustomed to what in most cities would be considered an essential service.

Guess Who’s Behind Paralysis on COVID19 in the UN Committee on World Food Security

‘COVID 19 has multiplied hunger and malnutrition challenges. We need transformative action!’ The first speaker at the UN Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) 49th Plenary Session, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, turned the spotlight on the disastrous impacts of the pandemic that have afflicted communities around the world for close to two years.

Inflation Bogey Blocking Recovery

The bogey of inflation has been revived. Dubious pre-pandemic economic progress, fiscal constraints and vaccine apartheid were bad enough. Now, ostensibly anti-inflationary measures also threaten recovery and sustainable development.

We Will Never Give Up the Slavery Reparations Fight, say Caribbean Rastafarians

The Rastafarian organizations in the Caribbean are determined that the issue of slavery reparations will emerge from the eclipse of COVID-19. As the world deals with the impacts of efforts to contain the virus’ spread and regional governments tackle vaccine hesitancy and a wave of misinformation, issues not directly related to COVID-19 have had to be temporarily shelved.

What Fate for Three Billion of Humans Who Are Born Equals?

While more than a third of all purchased food is wasted in rich, mostly Western States, and a similar percentage is lost in poor countries due to the lack of appropriate harvesting, storage and transportation facilities, over three billion people --or some 40 percent of world population-- cannot afford a healthy diet. Add to these figures --which were released by UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16 October this year, marking the World Food Day-- another dramatic fact.

A School & Cultural Institution Aims to Level the Playing Field for Women & Girls in Rural Uganda

As we honored women and girls last week, on the annual International Day of Rural Women on October 15, we want to highlight how a community is coming together to change the lives and livelihoods of rural women and girls in Uganda.

Table Banking Helping Women in Kenya to Put Food on the Table

Pascaline Chemutai’s five acres of land located in the country’s breadbasket region of Rift Valley recently produced 115 bags of maize, each weighing 90 kilograms. She tells IPS that of these, 110 bags will be transported to traders in Nairobi and neighbouring Kiambu County at a negotiated price of $23 per bag.

Inclusive Education to Break the Cycles of Poverty

In September 2021, children in the northern hemisphere returned to school after the summer break. For some, the end of the holidays signaled a return to normalcy and to the joys of learning after facing months of school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the majority of children in the Global South, however, the return to reality looked grimmer.

Argentina’s Small Farming Communities Reach Consumers Online

"The biggest problem for family farmers has always been to market and sell what they produce, at a fair price," says Natalia Manini, a member of the Union of Landless Rural Workers (UST), a small farmers organisation in Argentina that has been taking steps to forge direct ties with consumers.

World Food Day 2021

Our lives depend on the world’s agri-food system. Every time we eat, we participate in the system. A sustainable agri-food system is one in which sufficient, nutritious and safe foods are available to everyone.

How Land Management Can Restore Hope to Women in Rural Kenya

Jenifer Kamba, 33, has always loved farming – a love passed on to her by her late husband after they married 14 years ago. The young farmer duo grew maise, pepper and vegetables on their two-acre farm in Kivandini of Kenya’s Machakos county. Even after her husband died five years ago, Kamba didn’t stop farming.  However, of late, the soil looks dry, and her production has declined considerably.

Winning the Human Race, Together

“Now is the time for a stronger, more networked and inclusive multilateral system anchored in the United Nations,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his latest report “Our Common Agenda.” Indeed, there is a fork in the road: we can either choose to breakdown or to breakthrough.

Will the World Bank Walk Away with $100 Billion IDA20 Replenishment Without “Walking the Talk” on Disability?

Will the World Bank walk away with $100 Billion IDA20 replenishment without “Walking the Talk” on disability? The World Bank Group’s (WBG) International Development Association (IDA), the Bank’s low-income lending arm, aspires to raise $100 billion for its early 20th replenishment (IDA20). IDA20’s focus includes “reducing barriers preventing …persons with disabilities…from achieving their full potential”.

Cuba’s Power Crisis Drives Home Need to Accelerate Energy Transition

With aging infrastructure and problems with fuel supplies, Cuba is facing a crisis in its electric power generation system, which could accelerate plans to increase the share of renewable sources in the energy mix.