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Sunday, November 15, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Human Rights
Dangers and Questions of the Zuckerberg Era
This year the Worldwide Web is thirty years old. For the first time since 1435, a citizen from Brazil could exchange their views and information with another in Finland.
Empower Young People to Sustain Our Planet, and Let Peace and Prosperity Thrive
Q: At ICPD25 we heard that women and girls are still waiting for the unmet promises to be met? DO you think this time around there is a commitment to ensure that these promises are met? The Nairobi Summit is about the Future of Humanity and Human Prosperity.
World’s Sewage Workers ‘Underpaid, Sidelined and Risking their Lives’
People who empty out sewage tanks and scrub down latrines doubtless perform a vital, thankless and even undesirable task. A new report, however, shows that doing such jobs could also cost workers their lives.
Art Helping Women to Highlight Gender-based Violence at ICPD25
While women find it hard to talk about their painful experiences, some have found a way of expressing themselves through art. Women, trained as artists, from Nairobi’s informal settlements Kibera and Kangemi, have produced a beautiful quilt that tells stories about their daily challenges.
This Time Around ICPD25 Commitments Will Be Met Says UNFPA …
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA Ethiopia country representative, Bettina Maas speaks to IPS at the ICPD25 Nairobi Summit and she says she is optimistic that this time around that the three critical commitments; bringing preventable maternal deaths, gender based violence and harmful practices, as well as unmet need for family planning to zero will be realized.
Young People at ICPD25: ‘ We Have the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Rights’
Every day in developing countries it is estimated that 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth. This amounts to 7.3 million births a year.
The UN at 75: Time to Give Citizens a Voice
Next year the United Nations will commemorate its 75th anniversary. The General Assembly determined that all the UN’s activities in 2020 shall be guided by the theme “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism”.
Campaign Targets UNESCO’s Tie-up with ‘Saudi Spies’
The United Nations faces renewed criticism over its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Misk Foundation amid revelations that the charity is headed by the mastermind of a recent Twitter spying operation.
Rock Glaciers Supply Water to Highlands Communities in Argentina
In Argentina's Puna region, at 4,000 metres above sea level, the color green is rare in the arid landscape, which is dominated by different shades of brown and yellow. In this inhospitable environment, daily life has improved thanks to a system of piping water downhill from rock glaciers to local communities.
World Youth Call to Governments to Ban All Hindrances to LGBTQI Communities
Governments across the world must ban all state-implemented harmful practices against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community delegates at the ICPD25 tells IPS.
ICPD25: Lessons From the East
The Japan Parliamentary Federation for Population represented by Mr Teruhiko Mashiko and its secretariat, the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) has made a clear and concrete commitment to endorse the ICPD25 agenda. Mashiko tells IPS that Japan, as should every country driven by the well-being of its population, should create the best possible conditions to achieve the ICPD25 agenda.
Women with Disabilities Speak out Against Exclusion at ICPD25
One in five women globally lives with a disability even as they have same needs and interests as women without disabilities, their access to sexual and reproductive health services and rights remains severely limited.
Forced Child Marriage Must Be Stopped Says South Sudanese Child Activist
Young women and girls are still subjected to a range of harmful practices and violence, including early marriage. Every year, an estimated 12 million girls get married before the age of 18.
PNG Bougainville Prepares for Historic Vote on Nationhood
The people of Bougainville, an autonomous region in eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG), have aspired to self-government for more than a century. Now their longed-for opportunity to vote on independence will occur on Nov. 23. But, even with a clear majority in the vote count, the region’s future, which must be agreed and ratified by PNG, is far from certain.
Cairo Dream Requires $264 Billion to Deliver Women’s Call for Justice and Bold Leadership
For each of the 830 women dying each day from pregnancy complications and childbirth, an estimated 20 others suffer serious injuries, infections or disabilities. This is the reality that millions of women face, and informs the Nairobi Summit’s three critical commitments which are to bring preventable maternal deaths, gender-based violence and harmful practices, as well as unmet need for family planning, to zero. To achieve this objective money is needed.
Nairobi Summit to Redouble Efforts to Urgently Deal with Reproductive Rights for Women and Girls
More than 6 000 delegates in the population development sector are gathering in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi this week to renew the promise made to girls and women 25 years ago in Cairo.
The Slippery Slope to Autonomous Killing Machines
Would you trust an algorithm with your life? If that thought makes you uncomfortable, then you should be concerned about the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race that is secretly taking off, fueled by the arms industry.
Call to Action as Thousands Breathe New Life to the Cairo Promise at ICPD 25 Summit in Nairobi This Week
Every day 830 women die while giving life. At least 33,000 girls are forced into child marriage with 11,000 girls undergoing female genital mutilation. These are some of the cruel realities young women face every day. However, there is renewed hope that delegates expected to attend the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Nairobi this week will re-energise and breathe new life to the Cairo Promise.
Criminalising dissent: What about muzzling opinions?
(The Daily Star) - Holding or expressing opinions that do not go along the lines of the State is criminalised by law in many countries including ours. And the State often translates here as “people in power”. So, having differences of opinion with “people in power” can land anyone in serious trouble. Not surprisingly, this has been happening for years and under different governments in Bangladesh. Numerous dissenting voices had to pay—of course with the help of laws that have earned the labels “draconian” and “repressive” from rights activists.
Central America – Fertile Ground for Human Trafficking
Central America is an impoverished region rife with gang violence and human trafficking - the third largest crime industry in the world - as a major source of migrants heading towards the United States.
UN Peacekeeping Should Not Violate Charter or Principles of Sovereignty of Member States
Given the political, economic and social exigencies of contemporary peacekeeping, it is important that the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) remains engaged in the process.« Previous Page — Next Page »
One world, one humanity, now one court to defend its rights. Another step towards universal human rights, but not remotely a step far enough. The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than half a century ago, but that has done little to stop violations the world over, just as the Geneva Convention has not protected prisoners of war enough. Democracy itself and the freedom it presupposes has not been protective enough. This is the century to move from politicisation of human rights towards humanising political ways. IPS keeps an eye on that difficult path.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
