Gender

Banking on the Milk of Human Kindness

By Neeta Lal
The recent launch of Amaara, New Delhi's first human milk bank, has been greeted with much cheering. The initiative endorses the long-term goal of reducing infant mortality and addresses the critical issue of lack of mothers' milk for physically fragile newborns in India's capital city.

A Jarring Anomaly of Society

By Aasha Mehreen Amin
It is easy to miss stories about child domestic workers being tortured and killed. Easy because stories of children being killed have become eerily regular. It is May 28 and there is the report of 14-year-old Konika Rani being hacked to death by a drug addict with three of her classmates also grievously injured by him. There is also the horror of having to read about a six-year-old being left critically wounded after being raped by her neighbour. Next to this is the news of 11-year-old Hasina Akhter dying in hospital from the fatal wounds inflicted on her, presumably by her employers.

Menstrual Hygiene Gaps Continue to Keep Girls from School

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Around the world girls are struggling to stay in school when their menstrual hygiene needs are forgotten or ignored, yet the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and education sectors have remained reluctant to address the issue.

Malawi’s Drought Leaves Millions High and Dry

By Charity Chimungu Phiri
It’s Saturday, market day at the popular Bvumbwe market in Thyolo district. About 40 kilometers away in Chiradzulu district, a vegetable vendor and mother of five, Esnart Nthawa, 35, has woken up at three a.m. to prepare for the journey to the market.

UNFPA Funding Cuts Threaten Women’s Health in Poorer Nations

By Thalif Deen
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which has played a key role in ensuring maternal health and promoting reproductive rights of millions of women world-wide, is expected to suffer over $140 million in funding cuts by Western donors this year.

Water Security Critical for World Fastest-Growing Economy

By an IPS Correspondent
Lack of water management and limited access to data risk hindering Myanmar’s economic growth, making water security a top priority of the new government.

Prickly Pears Drive Local Development in Northern Argentina

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Family farmers in the northern Argentine province of Chaco are gaining a new appreciation of the common prickly pear cactus, which is now driving a new kind of local development.

County Governments in Kenya Must Take Lead in Fight for Gender Equality

By Ambassador Tarja Fernandez and Siddharth Chatterjee
The 3rd Devolution Conference that took place in Meru, Kenya between 19 and 21st April was an opportunity to discuss how the post-2015 development agenda will be localized and how county governments will deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Will Canada Recognise Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Developing Countries Too?

By Aruna Dutt
While Canada’s long-awaited support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples brought hope and celebration last week, it's not yet clear whether the rights of Indigenous people in developing countries harmed by Canadian mining companies will also be included.

Best Strategies to Empower Girls

By Dr. Bjorn Lomborg
Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls worldwide will become child brides - defined by the United Nations as marriage before age 18. The effects from such early marriage can be devastating and long-lasting for women: lower education levels and lower lifetime earnings, higher rates of domestic violence, greater risk of dying from pregnancy complications, and increased mortality rates for the children of these young brides.

Kenya’s Young Inventors Shake Up Old Technology

By Justus Wanzala
Emma Masibo and Lucy Bwire have many things in common.

A Refugee Crisis with No End in Sight

By Silvia Boarini
"We don't want charity, we want a long-term solution."

Is Demise of Small Farmers Imminent?

By Raghav Gaiha and Vani S. Kulkarni
Imminent demise of small farmers is predicted as they are not competitive in a context of transforming agrifood markets. Most important is the transformation of the "post–farm gate" segments of the supply chains.

Analysis: Why the UN Needs a “Peace Industrial Complex”

By Jonathan Rozen
In a world where annual defence spending is over 1.6 trillion dollars and the UN Peacebuilding Fund receives less than 700 million dollars, it would seem that the military industrial complex is unwaveringly entrenched.

Bees and Silkworms Spin Gold for Ethiopia’s Rural Youth

By Munyaradzi Makoni
Beekeeping and silkworm farming have long been critical cogs of Ethiopian life, providing food, jobs and much needed income.

Justice for Berta Caceres Incomplete Without Land Rights: UN Rapporteur

By Lyndal Rowlands
The murder of Honduran Indigenous woman Berta Caceres is only too familiar to Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

OPINION: After the Primaries

By Joaquín Roy
It was no news to observers, analysts and potential voters that Hillary Clinton would seek the Democratic nomination again to run for president of the United States in November 2016. This was not a surprise. But what only a bold analyst could have speculated is that Bill Clinton’s wife would end up facing off against such unlikely rivals.

Economic Failings Lead to Impeachment of Another Economist in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Ironically, the only two economists who have served as president of Brazil are also the only ones impeached for economic failures.

A Women`s Jirga

By Rafia Zakaria
When interviewed by Reuters, Zardad Khan, from the village of Makol to which 16-year-old Ambreen belonged, said, `This barbarity has never happened before.` The teenager was killed, her body put in a van and burned.

Breastfeeding Saves Lives But Can’t Compete With Aggressive Marketing

By Lyndal Rowlands
Despite its many lifesaving benefits breastfeeding still struggles to compete with the marketing used by the multi-billion dollar baby formula industry, according to a new report published this week.

WFO Calls for Farmer-Centred Sustainable Development

By Friday Phiri
Over 600 delegates representing at least 570 million farms scattered around the world gathered in Zambia from May 4-7 under the umbrella of the World Farmers' Organisation (WFO) to discuss climate change, land tenure, innovations and capacity building as four pillars on which to build agricultural development.
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