UN Labour Report Highlights Employment Challenges for Youth

When COVID-19 prompted economic shutdowns across the globe, many analysts predicted that youth would be especially at risk. This is because young people tend to have fewer economic assets and limited experience in the labor market.

Thinking Like a Tree – A Tribute to Life Sustainers

When I was a child, a friend asked me: “How would you describe a tree to someone who has never seen one?” I looked at the trees surrounding us and realised it was impossible, considering their versatility, beauty and utter strangeness. Since that time, I have often wondered about trees, as well as I have been worried by the indiscriminate destruction of trees and forests.

A Stress Test for Nuclear Deterrence

This month, the Tenth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is taking place in New York (and scheduled to conclude August 26). The meeting of states parties, postponed four times because of the Covid-19 pandemic, had originally been scheduled for April 2020.

Funding Urgently Needed for Children’s Education in Conflict Areas—ECW Director

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW) issued a wake-up call for the global community to support efforts on facilitating education in crisis areas. She was speaking at the United Nations at the launch of the global fund's annual report titled We Have Promises to Keep.

Keeping the Promise of Education for Crisis-Impacted Children and Adolescents

Syrian refugee children are among the most disadvantaged in Iraq. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 53 percent of school-aged Syrian refugee children in the country were enrolled.

Yezidis in Armenia: From Reincarnation to Exodus

There are those cows watching the fight in the mud of rusty Soviet cars; there are those tethered dogs that bark next to bathtubs full of rainwater, or those cats that frolic in freedom. This is Armenia, a state of three million deep in the heart of the Caucasus region.

Celebrating 30 Years of Shared Water

We tend to associate rivers and lakes with the countries in which they are located. Yet a little-known fact is that more than half of the world’s freshwater bodies are shared.

How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People

After four years of Trump’s ‘America first’ isolationism, US President Joe Biden announced “America is back”. His White House has since tried to find allies against China and Russia. But it has not found many, especially in the Global South. His summit with Southeast Asian leaders was well attended, but promised little. Worse, his Summit of the Americas revealed fading US influence in its long-time backyard.

High Cost of Medical Services Puts Immigrants’ Health at Risk in the U.S.

Getting sick is one of the worst fears facing Jorge, a Salvadoran living in the United States, because without access to health insurance or public health programs, he knows he will not be able to afford the high cost of hospital care.

‘And of Water We Made Every Living Thing’

This is how the Muslims’ Holy Book - the Quran refers to the most precious element of life.

The Challenges of High Fertility, Rapidly Growing Populations

While most countries in the world have made the transition from high to low rates of deaths and births, many countries, largely in Africa, face the challenges of high fertility rates that are resulting in rapidly growing populations.

Why Electoral Malpractices are the Leading Form of Governance in Africa

Once again, Kenya finds itself at a crossroads. The current events in Kenya illustrate how and why electoral malpractices and not democracy and human rights are the leading form of governance in Africa.

Millions Go Hungry– While Billions Worth of Food Go into Landfills

The ominous warnings keep coming non-stop: some of the world’s developing nations, mostly in Africa and Asia, are heading towards mass hunger and starvation. The World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that as many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night while the number of those facing acute food insecurity has soared -- from 135 million to 345 million -- since 2019. A total of 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine.

Starvation Pounds Inflation-Hit Urban Zimbabweans

With inflation at 256.9 percent, 49-year-old Dambudzo Chauruka can no longer afford to buy bread despite working as a civil servant in Zimbabwe.

Biofuels Slow Down Electric Vehicles in Brazil

Brazil celebrated 100,000 electric vehicles in circulation in late July, but this is a drop in the ocean compared to the 46 million combustion vehicles registered in the country and in contrast with the pace of the phasing out of oil in the world's automotive industry.

Afghanistan: What Went Wrong?

After the horrendous tragedies of 9/11 in the year 2001, the US intervened in Afghanistan. Promising statements such as "we are going to smoke them [Al-Qaeda and their Taliban protectors] out" and "we are after ending terrorism" received warm receptions.

Of Aristotle, Orwell, and the Young Heirs

A couple of decades ago in Athens, a conversation over a ‘souvlaki’ and wine dinner with a young Greek economist led to talking about democracy. Asked for his opinion, he said “By then, when philosophers like Aristotle formulated their theories about democracy, the society was dominated by the rich.”

Chinese Fleet Threatens Latin America’s Fish Stocks

Illegal and excessive fishing, mainly attributed to Chinese fleets, remains a threat to marine resources in the eastern Pacific and southwest Atlantic, as well as to that sector of the economy in Latin American countries bathed by either ocean.

Yes, Africa’s Informal Sector Has Problems, But the Answer Isn’t to Marginalise It

African leaders are increasingly aspiring to “modernise” their cities. That is to make them “globally competitive” and “smart”. The hope is to strategically position cities in Africa to drive the continent’s much-needed socio-economic transformation.

COVID-19: Scientists Warn That It’s Not Over Till It’s Over

After two years of economic and social upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, including South Africa, have lifted the tough protocols such as lockdowns, the mandatory wearing of masks and social distancing.

To Accelerate Social Change, Approach Philanthropy With a Feminist Lens

Feminist movements are powerful, and donors who want to contribute to solving the biggest challenges facing the world today, should fund them deeply, and without restrictions. Research by Htun and Weldon back this up, showing that globally, feminist movements have been some of the biggest drivers of progressive social change.