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Saturday, April 20, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
Inequality
Mexico’s Anti-Poverty Programmes Are Losing the Battle
While most of Latin America has been reducing poverty, Mexico is moving in the other direction: new official figures reflect an increase in the number of poor in the last two years, despite the billions of dollars channeled into a broad range of programmes aimed at combating the problem.
Partnerships Critical to the SDGs, Reducing Inequality
Last week, South Korea's Permanent Representative Oh Joon was inaugurated as the new president of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As such, he will have a key role in setting the course for implementing the ambitious Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will be adopted at the summit of world leaders in September.
Digital Era Here to Stay in Argentina’s Classrooms
The showcases in the Colegio Nacional Rafael Hernández, a public high school in La Plata, Argentina, tell the story of the stern neoclassical building which dates back to 1884. But the classrooms reflect the digital era, thanks to the computers distributed to all public school students as part of a government social inclusion programme.
Opinion: European Federalism and Missed Opportunities
"A serious political and social crisis will sweep through the euro countries if they do not decide to strengthen the integration of their economies. The euro zone crisis did not begin with the Greek crisis, but was manifested much earlier, when a monetary union was created without economic and fiscal union in the context of a financial sector drugged on debt and speculation.”
Latin America Tackles Informal Labour among the Young
The 56 million young people who form part of Latin America’s labour force suffer from high unemployment, and many of those who work do so in the informal sector. Governments in the region have begun to adopt more innovative policies to address a problem that undermines the future of the new generations.
Opinion: U.N. Can Help Reform the International Financial System
The growth in global interdependence poses greater challenges to policy makers on a wide range of issues and for countries at all levels of development.
Opinion: FfD Must Deliver for Least Developed Countries
Three years ago the United Nations initiated a conversation on a successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how the global community can lay foundations for an ambitious endeavour to eradicate extreme poverty, protect the planet, reduce vulnerability to shocks and ultimately raise the dignity of all humanity.
Parliamentary Elections with Gender Parity in Venezuela
More women could be elected to the Venezuelan legislature, but the new rule on gender parity for the upcoming parliamentary elections has been caught up in the political polarisation that has had this country in its grip for years.
Equality, a Hard Game to Win for Women Footballers in Argentina
During a women’s football match in a poor neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, team manager Mónica Santino has to stop the game and ask a group of boys and young men not to invade the pitch where they’re playing. This frequent occurrence is just one symbol of a struggle being played out, centimeter by centimeter, on Argentina’s pitches.
German Development Cooperation Piggybacks Onto Africa’s E-Boom
In a major paradigm shift, the German government is now placing its bets on digitalisation for its development cooperation policy with Africa, under what it calls a Strategic Partnership for a ’Digital Africa’.
Costa Rican Women Try to Pull Legal Therapeutic Abortion Out of Limbo
The lack of clear regulations and guidelines on therapeutic abortion in Costa Rica means women depend on the interpretation of doctors with regard to the circumstances under which the procedure can be legally practiced.
Studying and Working Poses New Challenges for Argentina’s Youth
Until not too long ago, youngsters in Argentina faced a choice: whether to study or drop out and go to work. But now most children and adolescents in Argentina who work also continue to study – a change that poses new challenges for combating school dropout, repetition and truancy, as well as the circle of poverty.
New Approaches to Managing Disaster Focus on Resilience
Natural disasters have become a fact of life for millions around the world, and the future forecast is only getting worse.
Opinion: No Place to Hide in Addis
My colleagues just got back from Munich, where we held a summit bringing together over 250 young volunteers from across Europe. These youngsters campaigned in the run-up to and at the doorstep of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, as one of the key moments in a year brimming with opportunities to tackle extreme poverty.
Industrial Fisheries Crowd out Artisanal Fisherpersons in South America
Millions of families on South America’s Pacific coast have long depended on artisanal fishing for a living. But they have been increasingly being pushed aside by the industrial fisheries that have made this region a major player in the global seafood industry.
Opinion: We Have a Moral Imperative to Act on Climate Change
My country, the Philippines, is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Even though we are among those countries that hardly contributed emissions and benefited least from burning fossil fuels, we find ourselves at the frontline of the climate crisis.
Domestics in Mexico Face Abuse and Scant Protection
Her last two jobs left a bitter taste in the mouth of Yoloxochitl Solís, a 48-year-old single mother from Mexico. She sums up the experience in two words: abuse and discrimination.
U.N. Urged to Put Global Citizenship at Centre of Post-2015 Development Agenda
When Denmark hosted the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) in March 1995, one of the conclusions of that international gathering in Copenhagen was to create a new social contract with “people at the centre of development.”
Opinion: Journey Towards an African Taxation Renaissance
Africa is known as the ‘paradox of plenty’. How can a continent so rich in natural resources be so poor?Africa on Threshold of Triple Energy Win for People, Power and Planet
Renewable energy is at the forefront of the changes sweeping Africa, and a “triple win” is within the region’s grasp to increase agricultural productivity, improve resilience to climate change, and contribute to long-term reductions in dangerous carbon emissions.
Inequality Blocks Further Reduction in Child Mortality in Latin America
The progress that Latin America has made in reducing child mortality is cited by international institutions as an example to be followed, and the region has met the fourth Millennium Development Goal, which is to cut the under-five mortality rate by two thirds.« 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
