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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Indigenous Rights
NICARAGUA: Major Blow to Illiteracy Among Native Groups
For 46 years, Nicanor García didn't know that his first name was seven letters long and that the first letter was also the start of the names of his country, Nicaragua, and his father, Norberto. He found out just eight months ago, when he finally learned how to read and write.
CHILE: Forestry Industry Sows Poverty, Study Says
The poverty rate in the districts of southern Chile where the logging industry is the main economic activity is nearly twice the national average, a new study shows.ECUADOR: Small Farmers Sell to Government in “Inclusive Markets”
The powerful middleman threatened them: "I hope it lasts for you. I hope the government buys your beans forever, because I don't want you ever coming back to me!"
Q&A: Native Women in Bolivia’s Lowlands Build Leadership Skills
In the northeastern Bolivian department (province) of Beni, a region of wetlands, savannah and jungle where three-quarters of the population lives in poverty, indigenous women are building a new kind of leadership to help develop their communities.
BRAZIL: Water Abounds in Amazon, But Sanitation Is Scarce
It might seem a bit strange to adopt, in the Amazon rainforest, a solution developed for drought-stricken northeastern Brazil. But rainwater collected on rooftops and stored in tanks is helping to improve the health, hygiene and overall living conditions of rural communities in the jungle.MIDEAST: Uprooted Villagers Hold Fast During Ramadan
On the eve of the start of Ramadan last week, Israeli police demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev desert. It was the third time within two weeks that the village had been razed.Americas Social Forum Calls for Agriculture Based on Solidarity
Small-scale agriculture based on the principles of solidarity and cooperation is the only way to guarantee food sovereignty in Latin America, said peasant and indigenous activists meeting in the Paraguayan capital this week.CHILE: Mapuche Prisoners on Hunger Strike to Demand Talks
The families of 32 Mapuche prisoners on a hunger strike for a month in different prisons in southern Chile have come to the capital to denounce irregularities in their trials and push for dialogue with the authorities.
PERU: Unearthing Victims of the Christmas Massacre
The families of 40 villagers murdered in Peru on Christmas Day in 1984 are camping out next to the eight graves in which their loved ones were buried, to keep watch over the slow, painful process of exhuming the bodies, a task that is being carried out by the public prosecutor's office.U.N. Salutes Indigenous Filmmakers
The United Nations celebrated the International Day of the World's Indigenous People this week by showcasing award- winning short films produced by indigenous filmmakers and reaffirming indigenous rights and cultural treasures.AUSTRALIA: Compensation Isn’t Justice in Aboriginal Death – Critics
Late on a hot summer morning in January 2008, 46-year-old Aboriginal elder Mr Ward climbed into the back of a prisoner transport van for the 360- kilometre, four-hour journey from the small Western Australian goldfields town of Laverton to Kalgoorlie, a larger mining centre, where he was due in court to face drink driving charges.
MIDEAST: Homeless Take On Israeli Forces
A bruising battle of will is taking place between Israeli security forces and Palestinians recently made homeless after two Palestinian villages were razed and hundreds left homeless.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Native People Demand Autonomy Over Territory
In the view of governments, international bodies and some sectors of civil society participating in negotiations towards new global rules on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the REDD programme is the last chance to save tropical rainforests.
MEXICO: Craftswomen Weave a Better Future Out of Recycled Garbage
Women's laughter fills the rectangular room on the ground floor of a building that houses a school for 250 local children, on the southern edge of Mexico City's sprawling metropolitan area.
Q&A: Clean Energy and Cultural Survival in Nicaragua
For the past six years, French and U.S. engineers have been installing solar panels and wind turbines in the southeastern Nicaraguan town of Bluefields, promoting clean energy and development among the region's Rama indigenous peoples.BRAZIL: Young Indigenous Hero Teaches History in Video Game
Computer game technology can have an impact on the way we view the world. In a new video game developed in Brazil, a young indigenous boy named Jeró helps break down the stereotypes of the worldwide video game industry while teaching about the history of colonialism.
PERU: Families of Victims of Biggest Shining Path Massacre Seek Justice
For 26 years, Gregoria Aguilar has been mourning the loss of her son, son-in-law and nephew, who were killed in the biggest massacre committed by the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas in Peru's highlands.Slack Oversight of Peru’s Amazon Rainforest
Fifty-three percent of Peru is covered with native rainforest, but the agencies in charge of protecting and monitoring this vast area are toothless and have neither the staff nor the resources to cope with the job, according to a report from the Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsperson's Office).
RIGHTS-PERU: No Reparations Yet for Families of Civil War Victims
The families of victims of the political violence in the impoverished southern highlands province of Ayacucho, the epicentre of Peru's 1980-2000 counterinsurgency war, complain that the government of Alan García has set new conditions for the start of the payment of reparations.Canada Slowing Biodiversity Protocol’s Progress
The spirit of international negotiations in Montreal on a draft protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of natural resources were marred by Canada’s insistence on a decentralised approach to ABS, Peigi Wilson, a Métis lawyer present at the meeting in support of the Quebec Native Women, told IPS.World Bank, NGOs Spar over Indonesian Mine Project
The World Bank's Board of Directors said studies for a potential mining project in Indonesia could move forward Tuesday but civil society groups, citing studies that have already been done, condemned the decision.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The planet's roughly 350 million indigenous peoples took notable steps on the international stage in the last decade. They got the world's governments to agree to create a body to represent them at the United Nations, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and to appoint a special rapporteur responsible for their human rights. In 2007 a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was approved by the UN. Yet the living conditions of most "tribal", "aboriginal", "native" or "first" peoples remain precarious. IPS, with its network of contributors at the UN and linked to indigenous communities worldwide, is committed to tracking the world community's efforts to do justice to the rights and aspirations of these peoples, with a special current focus on Latin America's 40 million rural indigenous peoples.
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