Languages
Saturday, November 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse
Despite Progress, Gay & Abortion Rights Face Threats in Latin America
Cancun, Mexico, of white sand beaches and spring break-style nightlife, was, this past June, the unusual backdrop for a regional gathering on human rights and democracy.
Trump-Mideast: Much More than a ‘Kiss of Death’ to Palestinians
US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital does not represent only a ‘kiss of death’ to the two-State solution, but also a strong blow in the face of 57 Muslim countries, let alone igniting fire in this easily inflammable region, providing more false arguments to criminal terrorist groups to escalate their brutal attacks, in addition to taking a step further in Washington’s new conflict with Iran and the ‘restructuring’ of the Middle East.
Rohingya Refugees: The Woes of Women – Part One
Afia* lines up her bucket every morning in the refugee camp for water delivery from humanitarian relief workers. On one particularly sweltering day, she kept four water pitchers in a row with gaps between them, hoping to insert another empty container in the space when the water arrived.
Pacific Islands Struggling to Meet SDG7 Energy Targets
The four Pacific Island nations who are amongst the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) may be falling behind in meeting energy access targets because they are too busy devoting resources towards climate change.
Resistance to Antibiotics: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The growing resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobials due to their overuse and misuse both in humans and animals has become an alarming global threat to public health, food safety and security, causing the deaths of 700,000 people each year. This is a fact.
Rohingya Exodus Is a “Major Global Humanitarian Emergency”
In less than four months, over 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled brutal persecution in Myanmar to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. They are now crowded into camps across a stretch of 30 kms in Cox's Bazar, a southeastern coastal region of the small South Asian nation.
South-South Cooperation Key to a New Multilateralism
“There are new challenges to all states: among them, the real threat to multilateralism... South-South and triangular cooperation can contribute to a new multilateralism and drive the revitalisation of the global partnership for sustainable development.”
UN Makes Record Appeal for Humanitarian Aid in 2018
The UN has made its largest appeal to work towards reaching the more than 135 million people across the world in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.
Q&A: “What Price Do We Put on Our Oceans?”
“Political resolve is the key for succeeding in our fight against oceans pollution,” Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, who is leading hands-on the organisation’s global campaign to clean up seas and oceans of plastic litter, agricultural run‑off and chemical dumping, told IPS.
First Use of Nuclear Weapons Would be Counterproductive
Over the past year, cavalier and reckless statements from President Donald Trump about nuclear weapons and his threat to unleash “fire and fury” against North Korea have heightened fears about Cold War-era policies and procedures that put the authority to launch nuclear weapons in his hands alone.
Six ‘Signature Solutions’ – New Development Plan for a New Era
While the top priority of any development strategy is still the same - to leave no one behind - the new challenges that have emerged show the need to adapt the actions necessary to face them.
Clicktivism & Real Life Activism Potent Instruments Against Sexual Violence
It’s the fifth day of the 16 days campaign on violence against women but I feel like the campaign started months ago because of the powerful #MeToo campaign. While I applaud this campaign, I have some thoughts that I believe could make this a truly global watershed moment in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence.
“Every Day Is a Nightmare”
Parul Akhtar,* a Rohingya woman in her mid-twenties, may never wish to remember the homeland she and her children left about three weeks ago.
Women Activists are Targets of Gender-Biased Violence
Veiled and direct threats, defamation, criminalisation of activism, attacks on their private lives, destruction of property and assets needed to support their families, and even murder are some forms of gender violence that extend throughout Latin America against women defenders of rights.
Education, Not Condemnation, Say Women Leaders Who Survived Violence
Sally Mboumien remembers the day she pressed a steaming hot stone against her chest. In Bawock, the rural community of western Cameroon where she grew up, young girls often had their young, sprouting breasts flattened with a hot iron or a hammer or spatulas that had been heated over burning coals.
Combating Climate Change? Combat Land Degradation, Says UNCCD Chief
Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also stresses that by 2050, the world population will reach 10 billion. To feed that extra 2.4 billion, current food production would need to be increased by 75 percent.
Will DNA Data Base Deter Sexual Abuse at UN?
The United Nations is fighting a losing battle against the widespread – and continued – sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by UN peacekeepers and civilian staff resulting in relatively few convictions amidst daunting problems in tracking abusers and nailing down paternity claims.
Conservative Onslaught Undermines Gender Advances in Latin America
A "conservative and fundamentalist onslaught" in Latin America against a supposed "gender ideology" is jeopardising advances in the fight against violence towards women, feminist activists complain.
Lobbying & Sponsorships at COP23 Corrupted Climate Talks
The world’s nations got together in Bonn, Germany, for the 23rd annual Conference of the Parties (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where nearly 200 countries and some 23, 000 delegates met to discuss and influence the negotiations over the rulebook of the Paris Agreement.
Desperate Need to Halt ‘World’s Largest Killer’ — Pollution
Now that the lights of the UN climate change summit’s meeting rooms have been turned off in Bonn, after a week of intense negotiations and some partial results, another major environmental event is now scheduled in Nairobi, this time to search for ways to halt the world’s major killer – pollution.
At Climate Summit, Two Global Energy Alliances Emerge
As the summit of governments known as COP23 reached its conclusion in Bonn, Germany this week, two clear alliances have emerged in the global energy landscape.« Previous Page — Next Page »
It was dubbed "The Glass House" by U.S. ambassador James Wadsworth in 1966. Half a century later, the United Nations has gradually expanded its role as agent of peace and protector of the world's vulnerable populations, while simultaneously facing internal pressures to become more inclusive, increase transparency and maintain legitimacy in the post-Cold War political and economic order. Highlighting the local impacts of global policies on economic development, environment, health and human rights, IPS's coverage goes beyond the edicts of the Security Council to illuminate the power struggles, successes and shortcomings of the 193-member institution as it grapples with crises like climate change, armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS.
The Week with IPS
