Tap Community to Stop Human Trafficking, says Survivor

A single line at the end of the United States State Department 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report made headlines in Jamaica and had many perturbed. “Some police allegedly facilitated or participated in sex trafficking,” it read.

Attacking Iran is a Recipe for a Catastrophe

Regardless of a success or failure to reach a new agreement with Iran, Israel must not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and must work closely with the US to develop a joint strategy to curb Iran’s ambition to acquire nuclear weapons and potentially end the conflict with Iran on a more permanent basis

Sasakawa’s Epoch-Making Quest to End Discrimination of Leprosy Affected People

For the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, ensuring affected peoples’ human rights is fundamental to the campaign to eradicate the disease.

Boys Sold by Trusted Villager Turned Human Trafficker

Friends Ajay and Durgesh were lured from the same village in the remote and poverty-stricken countryside of eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP) in January 2021.

When Will Countries Ever Learn how Well to do Fuel Subsidy Reforms?

Consider the situation. Faced with growing fiscal stress, the government of an energy exporting country decides to cut generous subsidies, doubling the fuel price overnight.

A Special Adviser to Probe Racism and Discrimination at UN

“Racism and discrimination have no place in our world -- least of all at the United Nations”, warns UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will soon appoint a Special Adviser to investigate the growing discrimination based on racial, national or ethnic origins in the world body.

Road to COP27: Why Africa cannot be Complacent on Energy, Climate Change

A year ago, we welcomed 2021 with a sense of cautious optimism when the newly developed vaccines promised a shift in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus turned towards building back better and doing things differently as many countries started to rethink and rebuild their shattered economies.

Future of Coral Reefs in the Time of Climate Change

Coral reefs are one of the world’s most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems. They provide abundant ecological goods and services and are central to the socio-economic and cultural welfare of coastal and island communities – throughout tropical and subtropical ocean countries – by contributing billions of dollars to the local and global economies, when combined with tourism and recreation.

Battle for Palestine: & the Day When David Felled Goliath with a Stone

When Israeli Ambassador Gilat Erdan made an unusual presentation before the Security Council last week displaying a large rock, which he claimed, was hurled at Israeli vehicles in the Occupied Territories, a reporter at a UN press conference asked whether Palestinians will be given the right of reply--- by displaying in the Security Council chamber an Uzi sub- machine gun or a bulldozer deployed by Israeli armed forces against civilian demonstrations.

Youth Have the Spirit to Change Trajectory of Leprosy, says Yohei Sasakawa

Yohei Sasakawa said the youth have the power to change the world, and their participation in removing the stigma and myths about leprosy is crucial to the campaign to end the disease.

The Rise of Religious Extremism & Anti-Muslim Politics in Sri Lanka

On 28 October, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the militant Buddhist monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara to head a presidential task force on legal reforms, shocking many in Sri Lanka and beyond. Gnanasara is the public face of the country’s leading anti-Muslim campaign group, Bodu Bala Sena (Army of Buddhist Power, or BBS). He is widely accused of inciting inter-communal violence, including two deadly anti-Muslim pogroms in June 2014 and March 2018.

Community Organization and Solidarity in Peru Tackle Hunger in Pandemic

It's nine o'clock in the morning and Mauricia Rodríguez is already peeling garlic to season the day's lunch at the Network of Organized Women of Villa Torreblanca, one of more than 2,400 solidarity-based soup kitchens that have emerged in the Peruvian capital in response to the worsening poverty caused by the partial or total halt of economic activities in the country due to COVID-19.

Investing in a Child’s Education is Investing in all of Humanity, Says ECW’s Yasmine Sherif Welcoming Germany’s €200 million Donation

Education lifts millions out of poverty, but because the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out gains made in recent decades, a holistic approach to providing education in crises is crucial, says German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze.

Up to 70% of Children in Developing Countries to Be Left Unable to Read?

“Unless we take action, the share of children leaving school in developing countries who are unable to read could increase from 53 to 70 percent.”

The UN’s Vital Role in Afghanistan

On December 22, 2021, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to allow for more humanitarian assistance to reach vulnerable Afghans, while preventing the abuse of these funds by their Taliban rulers.

Human Rights Violations and Culture of Impunity in South Asia

As countries across South Asia continue to battle the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, causing serious public health and economic crisis, this region, which is home to almost 2 billion people, is also grappling with the erosion of democratic norms, growing authoritarianism, the crackdown on freedom of press, speech and dissent.

Covax, the Developing World’s Hope against COVID, Has Made It Only Halfway

The Covax initiative, the hope of the countries of the developing South to immunize their populations against COVID-19, only met half of its goals in 2021. And as 2022 begins, and the omicron variant of the virus is spreading fast, the scheme still depends on the decisions of pharmaceutical companies and the goodwill of donor governments.

Health Workers Lauded for Role in Leprosy Treatment During Pandemic

The human rights of people affected by leprosy are central to Yohei Sasakawa’s concept of a leprosy-free world.

Human Trafficking, Rape, Extortion Behind ‘Forced Conversions’, say Experts

Two years after Michelle, 15, was kidnapped, sold, forced to convert to Islam and married to a stranger, relatives still ostracise her.

Key Pillars Mostly in Place to Speed up Africa’s Free Trade in 2022

The official start of free trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021 moved a major continental aspiration closer to reality.

Adolescents Left Behind Global AIDS Response – Experts

The ominous warning came in 2019 through an anonymous message on her mobile phone to stay away from a man she met on social media.