New Era of Food Scarcity Echoes Collapsed Civilisations

The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food.

Q&A: FGM Is About Culture, Not Religion

The fight against female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) continues to gain traction around the world.

‘Tsunami’ of Diseases Waiting to Hit

A tsunami is looming on the horizon and the world is unprepared for it. This one won’t be a massive wall of water but a tidal wave of disease – and experts say the international community needs to act fast to keep it from crashing.

The Open and Rocky Road Post-2015

What values does a Yemeni journalist who fuelled the Arab Spring hold in common with a former principal of the U.S. National Security Council? And how in turn will they see eye to eye with a Jordanian queen, or the president of Indonesia?

Shell Case Shows Failure of Nigerian Judiciary

The decision by The Hague over Shell’s liability for polluting in the Niger Delta shows that justice is possible – but it is extremely hard to achieve if you are taking on a massive multinational, says Amnesty International’s Africa programme director Audrey Gaughran.

African Union Unable to Bring Peace to Warring Sudans

The African Union summit failed to provide a breakthrough in the ongoing negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan when it ended on Monday Jan. 28.

Living on the Streets No Longer Exceptional in Spain

"That's where I sleep," says Fernando, indicating a puddled area under a bridge. A 62-year-old Portuguese citizen, he has lived in Spain for 15 years, and he is part of the growing number of homeless people in this country wracked by a merciless economic and financial crisis.

Kyrgyzstan’s Labour Migrants Leave Behind “Social Orphans”

Like most residents of her children’s home in Osh, Nargiza is a part-time orphan. Her father disappeared when she was born and her mother works long spells in Russia. Nargiza has no siblings and doesn’t know her grandparents. But she does see her mother from time to time.

Turning on Taps a Risky Business in Zimbabwe

For three weeks Tavonga Kwidini and his wife Maria had no tap water in their home in Glen View, one of the many dry suburbs in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

No Woman Should Die Giving Life

Every single day, 452 women in sub-Saharan Africa die from pregnancy-related causes; that’s 18 women every hour.

Malawi’s President Faces a Crisis of Confidence

She has taken a personal pay cut, promised reforms, resumed aid flows from Western donors and put her predecessor’s private jet up for sale.

Senegal Seeks to Curb the Baby Boom

A 25-year-old mother of five hailing from Senegal’s eastern Tambacounda province believes that contraceptives damage the womb and cause health problems in the long term, such as a rise in blood pressure and chronic headaches.

Q&A: “There is Nothing Worse Than Holding a Dying Woman in Your Arms”

Despite staggering advances in medical science and technology over the years, women around the world continue to suffer gravely as a result of inadequate access to basic reproductive health services.

Young Cubans Take a Critical Look at Fatherhood

While more and more young men in Cuba today are rising above cultural prejudices that condition their role as fathers, many continue to conform to traditional styles of fatherhood, often reproducing negative patterns of neglect and abandonment, with serious repercussions for the whole family in light of the country’s economic and legal situation.

OP-ED: Organic Farming Movement Marginal but Growing Worldwide

Despite the growing worldwide demand for organic food, clothing and other products, the area of land certified as organic still makes up just 0.9 percent of global agricultural land, with 37 million hectares being farmed organically.

Digging for Water, But Striking Oil

The volatile politics of the Middle East have long been dominated by the fluctuating fortunes of a single commodity: oil.

Water Summit to Focus on Resolving Scarcities in Mideast

Amidst a growing water crisis in the predominantly arid Middle East and North Africa (MENA), some of the world's most influential water experts will meet Jan. 15-17 at the International Water Summit (IWS) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to look for sustainable solutions.

Slum Dwellers Say “No” to Blood Money

With less than two months before Kenyans head to the polls for what is shaping up to be the most competitive and polarised general election in the country’s history, many fear that this East African country of over 40 million has not seen the last of electoral violence.

Education Fights Militants and Military

Eight-year-old Muhammad Akram was forced to quit school when he was in the second grade, when the Taliban destroyed the small, government-run school that he and his brother had been attending.

Unemployed Youth Turn to Drugs

The air is heavy with the smell of marijuana as Gibrilla (23) expertly rolls a large joint at the Members of Blood (M.O.B) gang base in a poor neighbourhood of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

U.S. Immigration System’s Cost, Reach “Unprecedented”

The United States government is spending more on immigration enforcement each year than it is on all other federal law-enforcement agencies combined, according to the first comprehensive look at how the country’s sprawling immigration complex has grown over the past decade.