CUBA: Shoring Up the Educational System

In the new school year, which begins next Monday, Cuba’s educational system will be trying out several changes aimed at overcoming the decline in the quality of teaching, blamed on a shortage of teachers and other problems.

DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: Ground Realities Stall Basket Fund Take Off

In 2006, there was shared concern among donors and women’s organisations over the fragmented approaches to gender and women’s empowerment programmes in Zimbabwe.

Q&A: "Where Women Can't Thrive, MDGs Are in Jeopardy"

Ines Alberdi has worked for over 25 years on gender issues and in politics.

EDUCATION-MEXICO: Teachers and Students Failing Exams

Assessments of student performance at primary and secondary schools in Mexico have produced dismal results, as have evaluations of new teachers, who have to pass exams before being appointed to a teaching post.

BRAZIL: Start of Landmark Case Bodes Well for Indigenous People

A Brazilian Supreme Court hearing on a landmark case got off on a positive footing for the indigenous people who live in the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation in northern Brazil.

MEXICO: Conservatives Lose Key Battle Against Abortion

The Mexican government, Catholic Church and conservative groups lost a crucial battle Wednesday in their fight against abortion, which was legalised in the capital in April 2007.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Women Challenge King Mswati

Hard on the heels of the signing of the Gender Protocol at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state summit, Swazi women have challenged King Mswati III on the monarchy's lavish lifestyle in the face of abject poverty and disease.

DEVELOPMENT: Nepal Scrutinises Spending to Cap Gender Gaps

The period between 2002 and 2007, was marked with various political and economic changes in Nepal. As the government and the Maoist rebels fought a bloody war in the hinterlands, exports plummeted due to internal and international factors, investments by government and private sectors dropped due to instability caused by the war and agriculture stagnated. During this period Nepal’s average growth dropped from 5 to 2.9 percent.

DEVELOPMENT: Africa Still Hampered by Lack of Geographical Data

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) could play a vital role in improving agriculture and boosting food security in Africa. However, only a few African countries are capable of developing such systems, partly because of a lack of basic geographical data.

BRAZIL: Producing Guitars and Luthiers in the Rainforest

Cuban instrument-maker or luthier Raúl Lage came for six months, but has already spent seven and a half years in Manaus, the city in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. "The project is really fantastic," he says, explaining why he plans to renew his work contract again in September.

TRADE-KENYA: British Imports Losing Their Appeal

When Kenya purchased Toyota vehicles for its military forces, instead of the all-pervasive Land Rover, it signalled a seismic change - in effect ending the most favoured status enjoyed by imports sourced from its erstwhile colonial master the United Kingdom.

ENVIRONMENT-ARGENTINA: Scarce Water Threatened by Gold Mine

For nearly a year and a half, local residents in the northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja have been blocking the road that climbs up to the Nevados de Famatina mountain to protest a gold mining project that they say will pollute the water in the country’s driest district.

ETHIOPIA: Choosing Among One's Own Amid Food Crisis

The global food crisis has forced families to make grievous choices. When Mulu Baboche travelled from the Ethiopian capital to visit her home town in the drought-stricken southern countryside, she found her brother weakened, his animals emaciated and his nine children wilting from hunger.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Free Trade Deal Full of Potential – And Danger

The launch of a free trade area (FTA) within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has brought the region one step closer to a regional customs union by 2010. But the launch of the FTA at the recent SADC heads of state summit was met with mixed reaction.

TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: FTA Will ‘‘Choke’’ Small Business

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that Southern African Development Community (SADC) governments agreed to will boost large South African companies’ reach in the region at the expense of small-scale producers and shops.

PERU: Indigenous Groups Win Major Battle in Congress

The Peruvian Congress voted Friday to repeal two decrees that opened up communally owned native lands to private investment and that triggered a wave of protests this month by indigenous people in Amazon jungle provinces.

DEVELOPMENT: Food, Fuel and Water Crises Converging

A spectre is haunting the cities and villages of most developing nations, warns a senior official of a World Bank-affiliated organisation.

DEVELOPMENT: Wasted Food Is Also Wasted Water

The world's growing food crisis - which triggered riots and demonstrations in over 30 developing nations early this year - is being aggravated primarily by wastage and overconsumption.

BRAZIL: Setting an Important Precedent for Indigenous Lands

An imminent decision by Brazil’s Supreme Court on the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reservation in the Amazon jungle region has the country’s native communities on edge, because of the precedent it will set.

CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Crafts That Steal Hearts All Over the World

It is early on a Monday morning and Margret Woermann is late for her interview with IPS. The owner and creative force behind the Heartworks shops is at a meeting discussing a project with a clothing designer.

KENYA: Gathering Storm of Expectations in Nairobi Slum

For the first time in its 60 years of existence, there is a ray of hope for the one million inhabitants of Kibera, one of the world's most densely-populated slums. After spending most of his life on opposition benches - or in prison - as a champion of the poor, the member of parliament for this desperately poor constituency is now the prime minister of Kenya.