WOMEN’S DAY: Overcoming Barriers in Central America

Amarilis Chilel, 15, left her hometown of Ixchiguán in northwest Guatemala to work as a domestic in the capital: a common story among rural girls and women in Central America. "I went to school up to fourth grade," she told IPS.

AFRICA: World Bank Identifies Five Poor States as “Growth Poles”

Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity to transform itself, says the World Bank. Its new strategy for the continent aims to leverage growing South-South investment to ensure more inclusive development, while identifying five poor states as "Growth Poles".

WOMEN’S DAY: Female Scientists Abound in Brazil – But Not at Senior Levels

There are nearly as many female as male scientists in Brazil. But in academia or in private laboratories, women face subtle barriers to career advancement and equal salaries.

Q&A: “The Sky Is My Laboratory”

When it comes to breaking through the glass ceiling, astronomers are among the most determined of female professionals. And they have high aspirations. "The sky is my laboratory," Argentine astrophysicist Gloria Dubner told IPS.

MEXICO: Eco-Friendly Livelihoods for Women in the Sierra Madre

They live in a town with an apt name, Soledad (Solitude) de Guadalupe, of just 50 houses, most of which are inhabited by women on their own, in the Sierra Madre mountains in the small state of Querétaro in central Mexico.

Arab Uprising Bypasses Domestic Slaves

The uprisings sweeping the Arab world have been provoked by long injustice, low income, police brutality, and lack of social security. While the world looks at this, the suffering of up to three million maids across the Arab world remains wrapped in silence.

U.S.: Workers, Students Vow to Fight on in Wisconsin

Despite heavy protests against Republican Governor Scott Walker's 'Budget Repair Bill', the Republican-controlled State Assembly in Wisconsin abruptly passed the bill - which would strip the labour force of its collective bargaining rights - early Friday morning.

TRADE: South African Imports Filling Zimbabwean Shop Shelves

When the government of national unity (GNU) was formed two years ago, Zimbabweans expected that the days of shop shelves being filled with imported consumer goods would soon be over.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Better Coffee Brings Better Living Conditions

Producing quality Arabica coffee beans on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda is only viable once farmers are assured ready access to the global market. Fair trade has made this possible.

Great Green Wall to Stop Sahel Desertification

Imagine a green wall - 15 kilometres wide, and up to 8,000 kilometres long - a living green wall of trees and bushes, full of birds and other animals. Imagine it just south of the Sahara, from Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in the east, all the way across the continent to Dakar, Senegal, in the west.

U.S.: From Madison to Manhattan, Workers Defend Union Rights

Taking their place among a newly vocal chorus of protesters around the world, over 68,000 workers in the northeastern U.S. state of Wisconsin came out Tuesday to oppose a bill, sponsored by Republican Governor Scott Walker, designed to strip the labour force of its collective bargaining rights.

BALKANS: Rising Anti-EU Sentiment

Anti-European Union (EU) sentiment is growing across the Balkan countries that have proclaimed membership in the European family of nations as their highest political goal during the past decade. It is caused by prolonged economic hardships that still bite hard, failure of authorities to fight widespread corruption and political deadlock in creating stable governments.

ENERGY-MALAWI: Rise in Paraffin Prices Leaves Traders in the Dark

Increasing energy prices have caused anxiety for many small-scale Malawian traders, especially those in rural areas and peri-urban areas who rely on paraffin for lighting their business premises.

Q&A: Responsible Practices Can Have Tremendous Ripple Effects

As concerns mount about environmental degradation and rising inequalities, many development experts and corporate executives alike are asking whether a business as usual attitude is sustainable in a world of increasingly scarce natural resources.

KENYA: Flower Industry Still Not Back in Full Bloom

Kenya’s flower exporters are cautiously optimistic that the prospects for their industry will improve during 2011 after disaster struck in the form of volcanic ash and adverse winter weather conditions in 2010. But prices will be lower as the global economic recession still weighs heavily on their primary market, the European Union.

Men Slowly Evolving from Breadwinners to Bakers

The domestic role played by half of the world's population has long been overlooked by policy-makers, with research and reports on gender roles focusing almost entirely on women.

CHINA: Men Becoming More Suicide-Prone

While new research indicates that China’s overall suicide rate has been in decline for the last two decades, some segments of the population – including urban males and the elderly – are increasingly likely to take their own lives, the result of breakneck social change in the world’s most populous country.

Egypt Takes a Step Back From IMF Ways

Egypt could soon be looking for a new economic model – one that will be different from the traditional system that has been promoted for years by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under the reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

MEXICO: China Is Hiring; Only Professionals Need Apply

Mexican pilot Armando Arauz is preparing the thick pile of documents and exams he needs to work for an airline in China.

NAMIBIA: Basic Income Grant: ‘Let Others Taste What We Have Tasted’

A universal Basic Income Grant (BIG) would create laziness and dependence among Namibia’s poor, say politicians. A daring pilot project set out to prove that this untrue. IPS spoke to one of the beneficiaries of the BIG.

EGYPT: Labour Anger Does Not End With Mubarak

Before his ouster on Friday, toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had made one of the biggest mistakes of his reign; not learning from the lessons of hundreds of small labour and professional strikes that littered the country since 2005. These were the actual precursors to the Jan. 25 Revolution that end his 30-year autocratic rule.