Friday, September 30, 2022
News and Views from the Global South
Population
Mobilizing Against Hunger in Brazil, Where It Affects 33.1 Million People
A campaign against hunger, a problem that affects 15.5 percent of the Brazilian population, seeks to mobilize society once again in search of urgent solutions, inspired by a mass movement that took off in the country in 1993.
Androids in Human Populations
It is time for countries, especially those with slow growing and ageing human populations, to welcome androids, i.e., humanoid robots with human-like appearance and behavior, including speech, sight, hearing, mobility, and artificial intelligence.
The Digital Divide, a Pending Issue in Chile’s Educational System
A Chilean government plan seeks to ensure connectivity in remote areas, in a first step to address a deep digital divide among the country's inhabitants that includes a lack of access to technology and digital education deficits, exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Aren’t More Women Angry?
Why aren’t more women angry about their subordination, discrimination, and unequal treatment in the 21st century? Of course, some of the world’s women are angry, but they are comparatively few.
Countering Hate Speech Through Media: A Young Caribbean Woman’s Perspective
Hate speech is a phenomenon that can be defined as threatening speech or writing expressing prejudice towards a specific group, primarily based on race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Small-Scale Fishers in Central America Demand Social Security Policies
At the pier, Salvadoran fisherman Nicolás Ayala checked the pocket of his pants to make sure he was carrying the hypertension pills he must take when he is at sea on a 24-hour shift. He smiled because he hadn’t forgotten them.
Elder Abuse: Human Rights Have an Expiration Date
1 in 6 people over 60 years of age –nearly 141 million people globally– suffers from abuse, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.
Meaningful Dialogue Amplifies Youth Issues, Leads to Change
Young people are often the first to rebuild their communities. However, youths' diverse challenges cannot be addressed without meaningful dialogue, says Klaus Beck, Regional Director of UNFPA APRO ai.
Poor Families Clash over Water with Real Estate Consortium in El Salvador
Alex Leiva woke up at 4:00 a.m. to perform a key task for his family’s survival in the Salvadoran village where he lives: filling several barrels with the water that falls from the tap only at that early hour every other day.
COVID and Discrimination Aggravated Maternal Mortality in Latin America
Brazil had the dubious distinction of champion of maternal mortality in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 77 percent increase in such deaths between 2019 and 2021.
Illegal Immigration Dilemma
Illegal immigration in the 21st century poses a serious dilemma for the world. Governments in virtually every region of the globe appear to be at a loss on how to address the two central dimensions of the dilemma.
Floods Drive Urban Solutions in Brazilian Metropolis
"We do everything through parties, we don't want power, we don't want to take over the role of the State, but we don't just protest and complain," said Itamar de Paula Santos, a member of the United Community Council for Ribeiro de Abreu (Comupra), in this southeastern Brazilian city.
Undocumented Migration Puts Pressure on New Chilean Government for Solutions
The pressure of the influx of migrants, especially Venezuelans, has reached a critical level in northern Chile, and is felt as far as the capital itself, forcing the government that took office in March to create a special interministerial group this month to propose solutions that respect their human rights.
No Climate Transition Without Securing Land Rights
The landmark land tenure decision by parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2019 offers a blueprint for upcoming climate negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
One Hundred Years On, Argentine State Acknowledges Indigenous Massacre in Trial
It’s a strange trial, with no defendants. The purpose is not to hand down a conviction, but to bring visibility to an atrocious event that occurred almost a hundred years ago in northern Argentina and was concealed by the State for decades with singular success: the massacre by security forces of hundreds of indigenous people who were protesting labor mistreatment and discrimination.
Most Maternal Deaths Are Preventable: How To Improve Outcomes in South Africa
The past 20 years have seen a significant decline in maternal mortality rates from 342 deaths to 211 per 100,000 globally . But every day, more than 800 women around the world die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, up to 42 days after delivery. Most of these deaths are preventable.
Food and People
People require food, with more people requiring more food and less people requiring less food. Despite that self-evident relationship, most governments appear reluctant to accept the intimate link between the supplies of food and the numbers of people and continue calling for the further growth of their populations.
Earth Day to Earth Disaster
Since the first Earth Day observed on 22 April 1970, world conditions have worsened greatly across three critically interrelated global dimensions that portend a disastrous future for life on planet Earth.
Unintended Pregnancy Rates Highest in Africa: a Look at the Complex Reasons
The United Nations Population Fund recently released the 2022 State of World Population report. It highlights that almost half of all pregnancies between 2015 and 2019 were unintended. That amounts to roughly 121 million unintended pregnancies each year.
Can Legal Action Alone Put an End to Child Marriage?
On December 22, 2021, the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, was sent to a parliamentary standing committee for further discussion.
UN Should Aspire to Turn Sports into a Tool for Social Change
The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which will be commemorated on April 6, is a day that celebrates the positive effects that sports can have on the society.« Previous Page — Next Page »
As the world population is expected to cross 9 billion before 2050, it is essential to keep track of population growth and distribution trends. We see how societies respond to population trends across certain regions, such as urbanization and internal and international migration.
As life expectancy improves, allowing people to live longer, some countries deal with the challenges of having an ageing population. Other countries have booming young populations. Some women have tenuous access to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), early and child marriage in some areas is common.
Internal and international migration is on the rise, and the migrant communities that form will represent other trends in a country’s understanding of their population and their ability to address the needs of the unique demographics.
Countries must have access to data on their population trends, for which they receive support from the UN Population Division. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) serves and advocates the humanitarian needs of migrant communities.
IPS, through its reportage, combines the human story with robust analysis to enable an international audience to make sense of the myriad of population issues.
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