Will Women Change the World Economy?

About eight years ago when the financial crisis hit Iceland, a tiny island with a population of 320,000, most Icelanders found themselves in serious financial tribulations. If the US and Europe got drunk on easy money, Iceland was the guy at the party who fell unconscious in the corner. It got so bad that somebody put the country on eBay up for sale. Three of the country's largest banks, with assets worth 10 times the country's GDP, fell in the span of three days, the currency collapsed, the stock market fell 95 percent and nearly every business on the island was bankrupt.

Democratic Protest

Pakistan has had its fair share of street protests, some of them even toppling rulers. Decades before the Arab Spring, Pakistan had its own ‘spring’ in March 1969 when protests toppled Ayub’s regime. Street protests also toppled Bhutto and weakened Zia and Musharraf.

Using the ‘F’ Word

If 2016 has reminded us of anything, it is that not only do we not learn from our mistakes but we keep repeating them. For a species that is constantly challenging scientific, medical and technological boundaries, we seem incapable of moving forward on a social and moral level. 'Never again' is a phrase we use to appease ourselves, showing that we have acknowledged or condemned an incident, a group of people or whatever the latest outrage or media sensation might be. But here we are witnessing countries being ravaged by war, cities decimated, millions displaced and killed – in the name of religion and in service of greed and political ambition. To commit an act of evil, as they say, only requires good people to do nothing. Whether it is at the level of governments or wider society, we need both to understand and to take responsibility for the consequences of our (in)actions. In a world where truth and accountability have taken a backseat, however, this seems highly unlikely.

Politics of Urban Water

It was sadly ironic that on Dec 27, 2016, while the political leadership of Sindh was busy taking a dig at their political rivals, the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry was constituting a judicial commission to investigate the poor state of drinking water in Pakistan’s largest city. The two-judge bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, asked the Sindh High Court chief justice to nominate a serving high court judge to head the commission.

The Wrong Man

It was the week before Christmas and, like all cities in the Western world, Berlin was lit up, the air was cold and the mood festive. At the Christmas market near the Zoologischer Garten train station, people milled about shopping and enjoying themselves.

Violence: An Inevitable Outcome of a World Unequal

What do you think about when you think about violence against women? Do you think about sexual harassment on the streets? Or on public transportation, like buses? Do you think about the criminal justice system? Do you think of incarcerated women? Do you think about workplace harassment of women? Do you think of violence taking place within institutions – schools, hospitals, universities, churches, and mosques? Or do you think about domestic violence? Marital rape? Wife-beating?

PAKISTAN: Lady Health Workers’ struggle

HOW do you deal with deceit, dishonesty and debasement in your day-to-day life? Sounds like an existential question. Substitute the three D’s with a single word, ‘corruption’, and the question loses its dimensions and sounds almost clichéd.

A unique solution to three environmental problems

During a recent trip to Bermuda, what impressed me most about this island nation were the tidy pastel houses with stucco exteriors and artistically built brilliant white roofs with grooves perfectly placed amid the palm trees for which the island is famous. The white roofs – signature pattern of the island's architecture – are built not only for aesthetic reasons but also for some distinct purposes.

General Assembly Resolution Bypasses Right to Self-Determination

The Group of 77, joined by China, has expressed disappointment that a key principle has been omitted from a draft resolution on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely, the recognition of the inalienable right to self-determination of countries and peoples living under colonialism and foreign occupation.

A Crisis Only ‘Humanity’ Can Overcome

On December 18, as appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, the international community recognises and celebrates the rights of migrants around the world. This date was chosen because the General Assembly had adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution 45/158) on December 18, 1990. Thus, by building on the rights of migrant workers, the UN, with the aid of other organisations, incorporated successfully, the idea of upholding the rights of all migrants.

Colombia’s Example and Our Calamitous Blunders

There is a reason why the peace deal of the Colombian Government with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) became a reality despite formidable obstacles. Credited with brokering the deal and bringing to a close, one of the deadliest and longest-running civil wars in Latin America, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos,Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for 2016 attributes his success to putting the victims at the heart of the process.

Developing Nations Face Challenges Achieving Food Security

Some 795 million people worldwide do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life—and the vast majority of the world's hungry live in developing countries, where 12.9 percent of the population is undernourished, according to UN estimates.

Beyond Dreams

An op-ed article, advising President Barack Obama to accord recognition to Pales¬¬tine before he left office, appeared out of the blue some days ago in the New York Times.

RTI Act: Learning How to Use It

Despite the political turmoil that engulfed much of the first two and a half decades of Bangladesh's entry into the 21st century, we have fared remarkably well in terms of development and economic growth. While serious governance issues persist, accompanied by socio-political unrest, there is a consensus that the country is going through fundamental changes. We are moving away from the image of a poverty-stricken, trouble-ridden third world country and surging towards becoming a middle-income country soon.

Indigenising Human Rights

The notion of human rights has gradually been stripped of its moral legitimacy. It has been reduced to little more than a fiction, laid bare of any substance and consigned to the inaccessible echelons of our society — a paper tiger, to be unleashed only for abstruse debates and holier-than-thou table talk.