Producing Clean Energy from Pigsties in Brazil

Pigs, already the main source of income in this small municipality in southwestern Brazil, now have even more value as a source of electricity.

Tanzania Switches Track, Charges Kabendera with Economic Crimes

Prosecutors in Tanzania today charged freelance journalist Erick Kabendera with money laundering, tax evasion, and assisting an organized crime racket, according to a copy of the charge sheet. When he was detained on July 29, the Dar es Salaam police chief said at a press conference that police were investigating Kabendera’s citizenship status.

UNRWA Faces Donor Backlash Amidst Charges of Sexual Misconduct & Nepotism

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been undermined by a sharp cut in US contributions, has been embroiled in a scandal that threatens to jeopardize its very future.

One Month Since Libya’s Migrant Tragedy, Detentions Continue

It is almost one month since an airstrike on a detention centre in Libya killed and injured scores of migrants and refugees locked up inside, many of whom were detained for doing nothing worse than fleeing instability or seeking better lives in Europe.

Tackling Inequality: A Focus on Cities can Improve Upward Economic Mobility

Tackling inequality in the 21st century requires us to understand and address barriers to upward mobility that segments of people face within countries. In a world with high and increasing levels of urbanization, the conversation on challenges to mobility must start with cities.

Tanzania Detains Freelancer Kabendera over ‘Citizenship’

The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Tanzanian authorities to immediately release freelance journalist Erick Kabendera, whom police said is being investigated over his citizenship status.

**UPDATE**Investigative Journalist Erick Kabendera Arrested

Freelancer Erick Kabendera was reportedly arrested from his home in Mbweni, Dar es Salaam, Tanziana yesterday afternoon by unknown men.

Businesses Crucial to the Success of SDGs

We all know that the UN Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious and will take huge collaborative and international effort to achieve. Government action alone is not enough. So how can the private sector actively contribute – and what can be done to ramp up the participation of businesses around the world?

Unidentified Men Take Erick Kabendera from Tanzanian Home

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned for the safety of investigative reporter Erick Kabendera who was forcefully removed from his home today, and called on Tanzanian police to disclose whether they have him in custody.

Power is a Privilege & a Responsibility: Q&A with Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

It’s on all of us to make gender equality a reality – which means harnessing our collective power to build a gender equal world. By empowering girls and women, realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights, tackling gender-based violence, and confronting the combinations of sexism, misogyny, racism, and colonialism, we can take steps towards true gender equality.

Using Renewable Energy and the Circular Economy to Fight Poverty in Argentina

On the outer edges of Buenos Aires proper, where the paved streets end and the narrow alleyways of one of Argentina’s largest shantytowns begin, visitors can find the En Haccore soup kitchen.

Money Grows on Trees–Don’t Uproot Them

Jennifer Handondo, a small scale farmer of Choma district in southern Zambia, plants food crops such as maize mostly for her family’s needs. Because of uncharacteristically high temperatures and low rainfall during the rainy season in March, the divorced mother who single-handedly supports her three children, has not been able to harvest as much as she usually does. So she has diversified into selling seedlings of neem, Moringa and other medicinal trees.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Sex Trafficking in Canada

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation has been steadily increasing in Canada. The most recent statistics indicate that 2016 had the highest recorded rate of human trafficking, with one police-reported incident for every 100,000 people in Canada. Despite these staggering numbers, reported cases make up just a small part of a larger, secretive industry where most incidents of sex trafficking fall under the radar.

How Best to Tackle Inequality in the 21st Century? Start with Climate Change

Do you prefer to hear good news or bad news first? I will begin by giving you the (unsurprisingly) bad news. Today’s world is an unequal place. Standards of living vary massively both between and within countries.

How China’s Africa Alliance is Shifting World Order

When the United Nations General Assembly met in 2007 to vote on North Korea’s human rights record, only 10 of the 56 African countries voted with the U.S.-led western coalition.

Parts of Kenya are Already Above 1.5˚C

Kenya’s getting hotter. Much hotter than the 1.5˚C increase that has been deemed acceptable by global leaders, and it is too hot for livestock, wildlife and plants to survive. Thousands of households, dependent on farming and livestock, are at risk too.

UN Report Shows Mixed Results in Meeting SDGs

The United Nations launched its 2019 report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), showing inadequate progress in the fourth year into the sustainable development agenda and highlighting the need for imminent global action.

Growing African Agriculture One Byte at a Time

Ella Mazani is a mobile phone farmer. “My mobile phone is part of my farming. It supports my farming and my family’s welfare through the services I get via the phone,” the smallholder maize farmer from Shurugwi in central Zimbabwe quips. 

US Defunds UNFPA for Third Consecutive Year– on Misconceived Assumptions

The Trump administration, in its continued hostility towards the United Nations-- and as part of its policy aimed at undermining multilateral institutions and international commitments-- has withheld its annual contributions to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) – for the third consecutive year.

Africa on Track Towards Information Black Hole

It is an image of resistance that went viral across the world. Alaa Salah, a young Sudanese student, dressed in a traditional white thobe standing atop a car with an enthralled crowd surrounding her as she and they boldly chanted Al-Thawra—Arabic for revolution.

Spirit of Olympics & UN’s Development Agenda

As I reflect on the varied views and perspectives that emerged during the Human Rights Council’s Social Forum 2018--- where the theme of Olympic ideal and inclusive sports and their contribution to the promotion of the human rights, peace and development through sports were extensively deliberated on-- I observed an immediate connect with the preparations that are currently underway for the hosting of the Olympics 2024 in France.