‘Investing’ Key to the Prevention of Military Coups – UN

The United Nations says increased investment in the Sahel region will assist in preventing military coups. This after military officers in Gabon announced a seizure of power from long-time President Ali Bongo Ondimba following the results of a disputed election in Gabon on Wednesday.

Alleviating Urban Poverty Through Livelihood Generation

In a bid to tackle the complexities of urban poverty, the Government of Bihar’s Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) has launched Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana Shahari (SJY Urban). The program will include a time-bound series of multifaceted interventions addressing food security, social inclusion, and sustainable economic livelihoods to enable participating households to achieve a better standard of living.

General Assembly President Calls for a ‘Human-Centered Approach to Disarmament’

The President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, struggled to find a reason to celebrate the 13th International Day against Nuclear Tests. There have only been five nuclear tests, all conducted by North Korea since the day was declared in 2010. Still, Kőrösi said he sees a world plagued by more distrust, geopolitical competition, and conflict than before.

UN Summits & High-Level Meetings: More Promises, Less Deliveries

The United Nations will host six “high-level” meetings, including two summits of world leaders-- over a short span of five consecutive days, beginning September 18. The back-to-back meetings, described as unprecedented, includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on September 18-19; a high-level dialogue on Financing for Development (FfD) on September 20; and a ministerial meeting of the Summit of the Future on September 21 (with the summit itself scheduled to take place September 2024).

IPBES’ Third Season of Hit Podcast ‘Nature Insights – Speed Dating with the Future’ Takes Listeners Inside Humanity’s Relationship With Nature

If you’ve ever heard that 1 million species are at risk of extinction and wondered what that means for you, your family, and your future – there’s a podcast you won’t want to miss.

Kenya’s Population Growth Decreases as More Women Embrace Modern Family Planning

According to a family planning brief, more than 370 million women in middle and low-income countries were finally embracing modern contraception to help curb unintended pregnancies. This statistic suggests that one in every three women from middle and low-income countries use contraceptives today.

Flooding, Water Insecurity Looms as Indian Kashmir’s Titanic Water Bodies Shrink

Sadiq Dar, 68, is surprised how the heavy siltation of Wular Lake has turned many of its areas into land masses. “When we were growing up, we would only see water in this lake. Now, we see cattle grazing in it while a large portion is also being used by children for playing cricket,” he tells IPS.

Nepal’s Covid-19 Immunization Campaign – An Unlikely Frontrunner

Badri Acharya is currently at the helm of the public health office in Pokhara, a prominent city within Nepal's Himalayan region and a renowned tourist hotspot.

Sexual Violence Survivors in Tigray Need Urgent Medical, Psychological and Economic Support

The war in Tigray, northern Ethiopian, led to sexual and gender-based violence against women, but when Hilina Berhanu Degefa, researcher, gender policy expert and co-founder of the Yellow Movement AAU, appeared before the UN Security Council Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict last year, and catalogued the problems that the victims of the war faced, it didn’t shock the world.

Moving From Trauma to Healing: Practicing Self-Care in Refugee Camps

A Rohingya woman tells a forum of peer counselors the story of her divorce. A survivor of domestic abuse, she has started a new life alone with her daughter. She has weathered a storm of neighbors telling her she was the problem. Now, she provides the support she didn’t have to other women like her.

Floods, Now Torrential Monsoon Rains Leave Pakistani Women in Crisis

Torrential monsoon rains have left the people, especially women, in crisis as they are still grappling to recover from the last year’s floods in Pakistan. “We are yet to return to normal lives after devastation caused by severe rains in June 2002 when the new series of rains have started only to further aggravate our problems,” Jannat Bibi, a resident of Kalam in the Swat Valley, told IPS.

Artificial Intelligence Faces Charges of Left-Wing Political Bias

The artificial intelligence (AI) platform ChatGPT, whose negative consequences include misinformation, is facing new charges of political bias. According to a study by the University of East Anglia (UEA), released August 17, AI ChatGPT shows “a significant and systemic left-wing bias”.

Pre-Colonial Delicacy Could Help Food Security and Climate Change

Kenya’s fight for food security may have just gone ‘Old School’ as Egerton University dons win a grant to help bring back a pre-colonial delicacy that was gradually sliding its way off consumers’ plates. Their project, dubbed ‘Exploring Potential of Togotia (Erucastrum arabicum), a forgotten African leafy vegetable for nutritional security and climate adaptation in Kenya,’ won the grant in October last year in a bid to help farmers and consumers realise the importance of the crop that many, today, term as a weed.

Himalayan Monsoon Disaster: Climate Change Colludes with Bad Development

As torrential rains, cloudbursts, floods, and landslides continue to wreak colossal damage and claim lives in Himachal Pradesh, India’s Himalayan foothill provinces. The question everyone is asking is: why is this happening?

#AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign to Elevate Voices of Young Afghan Girls on Global Stage

Two years ago, the then 19-year-old Somaya Faruqi and the Afghan Robotic Team travelled from Herat City to Kabul, the heart of Afghanistan—the Taliban had taken over Herat city, cutting off electricity and internet. The all-girls team’s great passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) had driven them to Kabul to rehearse for a competition.

Political Will and Investment Will Score the Goal for Zero Hunger

A world free from hunger is possible, but it demands political will, investment, and effective policies to transform agriculture and rural development, says Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Russia Upstages Neo-Colonialist France in West Africa

Going back to the 16th century and continuing through the late 1960s, France was described as the world’s second largest colonial power—just behind the British Empire. As the old saying goes: The sun would never set over the British Empire because God wouldn’t trust an Englishman in the dark. But would that also apply to the French colonial empire?

Disappearing Fish Spell Hard Times for Women in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's ballooning informal sector has, in recent years, spawned the over-exploitation of the country's natural resources, with the fisheries taking some of the most felt battering.

Taking Stock of Two Decades of Trailblazing Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa

It promised to be the most defining, groundbreaking, and transformative protocol on African women’s rights. Specific in its approach, broad in its reach, and unique in its all-encompassing nature, covering issues such as HIV/Aids, widow inheritance and property disinheritance in a most unprecedented manner.

Empowering Women in Assam: Livestock Farming Brings Economic Relief Post-COVID

Seema Devi is a 39-year-old woman hailing from India's northeastern state of Assam. She lives in a village called Milonpur, a small hamlet with no more than 1 000 inhabitants. While most men from the village, including Devi's husband, move to cities and towns in search of work, women are left behind to take care of the house and kids.

France, Russia, ECOWAS in Battle for Soul of West Africa

On July 26 2023 a man named Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, flanked by soldiers with military fatigues, appeared on Niger's national television to announce the execution of a coup. It was the country’s fourth coup since it gained independence from France in 1960.