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Sunday, November 15, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse
Aggression against children in the Arab region needs to come to an end
On 20 February 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/77 to promote the rights of children. This Resolution was considered a milestone in promoting and advancing the right of children in conflict and wars.
Latin America Lacks Clear Policies to Tackle Human Trafficking
Each year, some three million undocumented immigrants enter the United States, half of them with the help of traffickers, as part of a nearly seven-billion- dollar business, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Global South Calls for International Body to Fight Tax Havens
Tax havens are “one of the worst enemies of our democracies,” said state representatives during a meeting at the United Nations.
Why We Need to Save Our Oceans Now—Not Later
What if the blue fades away as seawaters become brown and coral reefs become white as marine grasslands wither and life below water vanishes?
Mixed Reactions to U.S. Withdrawal from Climate Deal
The United States is expected to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, prompting mixed reactions from civil society and political representatives.
A UN of the Future to Effectively Serve all Member States
Through a series of recent global agreements on sustainable development, climate change, sustaining peace, disaster risk reduction, and financing for development, Member States have provided a broad vision of the future they want. I am committed to advancing meaningful reforms to adapt the United Nations to this complex world, so that it can effectively serve all of its Member States in achieving that future and managing shared challenges and opportunities along the way.
How to Produce More Food with Less Damage to Soil, Water, Forests
Massive agriculture intensification is contributing to increased deforestation, water scarcity, soil depletion and the level of greenhouse gas emission, the United Nations warns.
Business Unusual: Valuing Water for a Sustainable Future
Valuing water is more than simply assigning costs to a scare resource - it is an essential step for transforming water governance to meet the needs of a prosperous future.
Proposed UN Pay Cuts Threaten Work Stoppage in Geneva
Facing significant reductions in US financial contributions from a politically-unpredictable Donald Trump administration, the UN Secretariat is gearing itself for a rash of austerity measures and budgetary cuts, including downsizing peacekeeping operations and cuts in development aid, reproductive health and overseas travel.
The ‘Water-Employment-Migration’ Explosive Nexus
Water--everybody talks about it, warns against its growing scarcity, excessive waste, the impact of climate change, the frequent severe droughts and so on. Now, a global action network with over 3,000 partner organisations in 183 countries comes to unveil the dangerous nexus between water, employment and migration, in particular in the Mediterranean region.
Valuing Water Beyond the Money
Amid the worst drought in a century, South Africans are kick-starting a global consultative process to agree on the values of water in a bid to ensure more equitable use of the finite resource.
Brazil Drives New School Feeding Model in the Region
“I am going back to Panama with many ideas,” said Gilda Montenegro, a nutritionist with the Panamanian Education Ministry, after getting to know the school feeding system in the city of Vitoria, in central-eastern Brazil.
Asia: 260 Million Indigenous Peoples Marginalised, Discriminated
Asia is home to the largest number of indigenous peoples on Earth, with an estimated 260 million of a total of 370 million original inhabitants worldwide. In spite of their huge number-equaling half of the combined population of Europe-- they are often victims of discrimination and denial of their rights.
Q&A: “It’s a Crime” that 35 Million Latin Americans Still Suffer from Hunger
The fight against hunger has been “remarkably successful” in Latin America and the Caribbean, but “it is a crime” that 35 million people still go to bed hungry every day, FAO regional representative Julio Berdegué told IPS.
The Ocean Conference: An Integrated Vision that must be Delivered
In March 2015 at the Sendai World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction, the then President of Kirbati, Anote Tong, made it very clear how vulnerable his country was to climate and disaster risk, when he informed the room (which was sadly less than half full) that his country had purchased land in Fiji.
Mideast: Growing Urbanisation Worsens Water Scarcity, Food Imports
Conflict and insecurity remain the key barriers to development progress in the Middle East and North Africa. In Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, about half the population—around 40 million people—require humanitarian assistance. Across the region, countries depend heavily on food imports. As their populations urbanise and grow, the need for imports will increase.
Truth or Delusion?
One inevitable outcome of the phenomenal violence we all suffer as children is that most of us live in a state of delusion throughout our lives.
World to Cut Emissions With or Without Trump
In a last-ditch effort, Germany and China are trying to influence the United States not to walk away from the Paris climate change accord it signed along with 194 nations.
At the UN Oceans Forum in June, Will the US Play a Bit Part?
In just a few weeks, the United Nations is convening a world gathering to discuss the health of the world’s oceans and seas, with member states, government and nongovernmental organizations, corporations and members of the scientific community and academia signed up to take part.
Agony of Mother Earth (I) The Unstoppable Destruction of Forests
The world’s forests are being degraded and lost at a staggering rate of 3.3 million hectares per year. While their steady destruction in many Asian countries continues apace, deforestation of the world's largest tropical forest - the Amazon - increased 29 per cent from last year’s numbers. And some of the most precious ecosystems in Africa are threatened by oil, gas and mineral exploration and exploitation.
Defence of Right to Water Drives Call for Land Reform in Chile
Water at high prices, sold as a market good, and small farmers almost a species in extinction, replaced by seasonal workers, are the visible effects of the crisis in rural Chile, 50 years after a land reform which postulated that “the land is for those who work it.”« 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
