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Saturday, May 2, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Inequality
OP-ED: Beyond the Street Protests: Youth, Women and Democracy in Latin America
Women’s empowerment and political participation are not only crucial for women: they are essential for effective democratic governance, one which promotes human rights and equity. The same can be said about the importance of boosting youth political participation.
CEOs at Big U.S. Companies Paid 331 Times Average Worker
In new data certain to fuel the growing public debate over economic inequality, a survey released Tuesday by the biggest U.S. trade-union federation found that the CEOs of top U.S. corporations were paid 331 times more money than the average U.S. worker in 2013.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Tech Solutions to Local Problems
When Ivorian Thierry N’Doufou saw local school kids suffering under the weight of their backpacks full of textbooks, it sparked an idea of how to close the digital gap where it is the largest — in local schoolrooms.
Is Puerto Rico Going the Way of Greece and Detroit?
Puerto Rican society has been shaken to its foundations by the announcement in February by Standard & Poor's and Moody's credit rating agencies that they had downgraded the island's creditworthiness to junk status.
Q&A: Malawi’s President Banda Confident ‘I Will Win this Election’
Malawi's President Joyce Banda is campaigning ahead of next month's elections to extend her term of office. But many believe that the massive public service corruption scandal here has weakened her chances of winning.
Lynchings on the Rise in Argentina
The term “lynching”, which emerged in the United States and refers to vigilantism or a mob taking justice into its own hands, has now entered the vocabulary in a number of Latin American countries.
World Bank, IMF Urged to Act on New Inequality Focus
Global income inequality threatens economic and social viability, according to a World Bank report released Thursday, reiterating a new but increasingly forceful narrative from both the bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In Peru, Low-Income Cancer Patients Find Fresh Hope
Her tiny fingers and toes have been painted with different shades of nail polish, the bright colours contrasting sharply with the bleak road she has been on for half her young life.
Jordan Faces Looming and Complex Cancer Burden
The concrete skeleton of a twin 13-storey complex towers over surrounding buildings on one of Amman's busiest streets. The ongoing expansion of the King Hussein Cancer Centre symbolises progress as much as it portends a crisis.
Malignant Growth: Battling a New Cancer Pandemic
Few people in the world can claim to be untouched by cancer. If not personally battling it in one form or another, millions are at this very moment sitting beside loved ones fighting for their lives, visiting friends recovering from chemo, or researching the latest treatments for their relatives.
Soaring Child Poverty – a Blemish on Spain
“I don’t want them to grow up with the notion that they’re poor,” says Catalina González, referring to her two young sons. The family has been living in an apartment rent-free since December in exchange for fixing it up, in the southern Spanish city of Málaga.
Indigenous Leaders Targeted in Battle to Protect Forests
Indigenous leaders are warning of increased violence in the fight to save their dwindling forests and ecosystems from extractive companies.
Colombia’s Breadbasket Feels the Pinch of Free Trade
“Things are getting worse and worse,” Enrique Muñoz, a 67-year-old farmer from the municipality of Cajamarca in the central Colombian department of Tolima, once known as the country’s breadbasket, said sadly.
Taliban Provokes New Hunger for Education
Following scattered defiance of the Taliban earlier, a new wave of students is now heading for education in schools and colleges across the troubled north of Pakistan.Economic Growth and Wellbeing “Not Equal”, Study Finds
The United States ranks among the highest in the world in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, but only 16th among 132 countries in terms of social progress and environmental performance, according to a new index released Wednesday.
Tanzania’s Farming Cooperatives Struggle to Bear Fruit
John Daffi climbs to the top of a hill overlooking a scenic Rift Valley wall and the Ngorongoro forest, where wildlife migrates between the world famous Ngorongoro crater and Tanzania’s Lake Manyara. Daffi, 59, looks down upon his family’s farm below and reminisces about the time his father first brought him here as a boy.
Using Ethiopia’s Healthcare Gaps to Do Good and Make a Profit
For a while now, Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI scanners have typically been a luxury that both government and private hospitals in Ethiopia have struggled to afford to purchase for in-house use.« Previous Page — Next Page »
As the international community takes stock of the progress over a decade and a half of Millennium Development Goals, rising inequality is the black cloud that hovers over achievements worth celebrating, when the world debates a development agenda beyond 2015. While inequality between countries has declined, many nations have seen a rise in the rift between rich and poor within their borders. Not infrequently, inequality is compounded by a lack of sound governance that allows for corruption, tax evasion and illicit money flows. A handful of countries, however, have managed to combine growth with a historic decline in inequality. IPS tracks the achievements of development, while closely examining obstacles to equal growth and forces driving progressive change.
This page includes independent IPS news coverage supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to put the issue of inequality higher up the news agenda during the run-up to the 2015 MDG deadline and the process to forge a new development consensus
