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Friday, May 1, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Inequality
What’s Driving the Merciless Asylum Seeker Policies in Australia?
As conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere pushed the number of refugees to 13 million last year, the international community is struggling to shoulder the humanitarian responsibility of protecting those fleeing violence and persecution in their homelands.
First the Taliban, then the Army, now Hunger: The Woes of Pakistan’s Displaced
A doctor shakes his head in despair as he examines a 10-year-old child at the Jalozai refugee camp, about 35 km by road from Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
In India, an Indoor Health Crisis
For years, Kehmli Devi, a middle-aged woman from the village of Chachadeth in India’s northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, has prepared her family’s meals on a wood-burning stove.
Newly Recognised Indigenous Rights a Dead Letter?
Nearly three years after the rights of El Salvador’s indigenous people were recognised in the constitution, there are still no public policies and laws to translate that historic achievement into reality.Prominent Lawyer Defending the Poor Gunned Down in Mozambique
As billions pour into Mozambique from foreign investors scooping up fields of coal and natural gas, the signs of newfound wealth are impossible to miss.
Families See Hope for Justice in Palestinian Membership of ICC
"I have lost all meaning in life after the death of my child, I will never forgive anyone who caused the tearing apart of his little body. I appeal to all who can help and stand with us to achieve justice and punish those who killed my child."
Everyone Benefits from More Women in Power
Women’s participation in decision-making is highly beneficial and their role in designing and applying public policies has a positive impact on people’s lives, women leaders and experts from around the world stressed at a high-level meeting in the capital of Chile.
Opinion: Goals for Gender Equality Are Not a ‘Wish List’ – They Are a ‘To Do List’
This weekend, at the invitation of President Michelle Bachelet and myself, women leaders from across the world are meeting in Santiago de Chile. We will applaud their achievements. We will remind ourselves of their contributions. And we will chart a way forward to correct the historical record. History has not been fair to women – but then, women usually didn’t write it.
Rousseff’s Brazil – No Country for the Landless
In Brazil, one of the countries with the highest concentration of land ownership in the world, some 200,000 peasant farmers still have no plot of their own to farm – a problem that the first administration of President Dilma Rousseff did little to resolve.
From the Police Station Back to the Hellhole: System Failing India’s Domestic Violence Survivors
“One time my husband started slapping me hard on the face because I had not cooked the rice to his satisfaction,” Suruchi* told IPS. “He hit me so hard that my infant daughter fell from my arms to the ground.”
Gazan Fishermen Dying to Survive
The beautiful Mediterranean Sea laps gently onto the white sandy beach near Gaza City’s port. Fishing boats dot the beach as fishermen tend to their boats and fix their nets.
Sometimes a Single Tree Is More Effective than a Government
Every morning, Raj Kumari Chaudhari walks from her home to the other end of Padnaha village, located in the Bardiya district of mid-west Nepal, to a big mango tree to offer prayers.
Mobile Technology a Lever for Women’s Empowerment
Providing women with greater access to mobile technology could increase literacy, advance development and open up much-needed educational and employment opportunities, according to experts at the fourth United Nations’ Mobile Learning Week conference here.
Opinion: Water and the World We Want
We have entered a watershed year, a moment critical for humanity.
Better to Die at Sea, than Languish in Poverty
Weerasinghearachilage Ruwan Rangana had it all planned out last year in September: the big break that would change his life and those of his extended family had finally arrived.
Tackling Corruption at its Root in Papua New Guinea
Corruption, the single largest obstacle to socioeconomic development worldwide, has had a grave impact on the southwest Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea. While mineral resource wealth drove high gross domestic product (GDP) growth of eight percent in 2012, the country is today ranked 157th out of 187 countries in terms of human development.
Analysis: Economic Growth Is Not Enough
Recent new data show a worrying picture of Latin America and the Caribbean. Income poverty reduction has stagnated and the number of poor has risen — for the first time in a decade — according to recent figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Hidden Billions Behind Economic Inequality in Africa
Reports this year of illicit moneys from African countries stashed in a Swiss bank – indicating that corruption lies behind much of the income inequality that affects the continent – have grabbed international news headlines.
LGBTI Community in Central America Fights Stigma and Abuse
Despite the aggression and abuse she has suffered at the University of El Salvador because she is a trans woman, Daniela Alfaro is determined to graduate with a degree in health education.
Maimed by Conflict, Forgotten by Peace: Life Through the Eyes of the War-Disabled
It is a hot, steamy day in Sri Lanka’s northwestern Mannar District. Mid-day temperatures are reaching 34 degrees Celsius, and the tarred road is practically melting under the sun.
Millennium Development Goals: A Mixed Report Card for India
Despite being one of the world's fastest expanding economies, projected to clock seven-percent GDP growth in 2017, India – a nation of 1.2 billion – is trailing behind on many vital social development indices while also hosting one-fourth of the world's poor.« 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
