CLIMATE CHANGE: Kyoto Protocol Targets Stressed at UN Meet

Negotiators from the developing world took on the world’s richer nations as the first round of talks began here for a new pact to curb global warming. The fate of the Earth’s future lies in the actions of the industrialised world, they say.

Q&A: "A World &#39Unfit&#39 for 2.2 Billion Children"

As the United Nations plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its landmark Convention on the Rights of the Child next year, the world's 2.2 billion children continue to suffer the consequences of growing poverty, rising illiteracy, increasing sexual abuse and widespread military conscription in conflicts worldwide.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/IRAQ: Blackwater Fever Comes In New Ways

Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of the spread of Blackwater fever, a complication of malaria. Many Iraqis see that name as ominously one with Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

DEVELOPMENT-MALAWI: Water Utility Over-Stretched and Under-Maintained

Long known as a peaceful and quiet city, especially at night, Blantyre is steadily losing its reputation for tranquility. Residents now find themselves waking up to the hustle and bustle of women carrying metal and plastic buckets as they move around the city most nights and early mornings in search of water.

DEVELOPMENT-EUROPE: Not All Aid Is Help

Rich countries have made "patchy progress" in honouring pledges to improve their contribution to the fight against global poverty, according to a new report.

DEVELOPMENT: A Winding Journey From Seed to Plate

Ballooning food prices around the world are prompting a reevaluation of the underpinnings of aid practices that many analysts consider to be inefficient and, in some cases, counterproductive.

INDIA-AFRICA: Competition Does Not Exclude Cooperation

India, with its growing economy, has set its expansion sights on Africa. In an effort to form links and partnerships on different levels with the people of Africa, India will host an Africa-India Summit in Delhi in April.

Q&A: "We Have Managed to Make the Female Agenda a Current Affairs Issue"

Towards the end of last year, IPS reported on efforts to increase women's political participation in Zimbabwe, ahead of the Mar. 29 elections. As it happens, only about 13 percent of candidates for the House of Assembly are women - along with some 30 percent of Senate aspirants, according to statistics from the Women in Politics Support Unit, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO). So, what went wrong?

ZIMBABWE: A Society "Not Ready for Female Leadership"?

Women make up about half the population in Zimbabwe. But, they're far from accounting for 50 percent of those on the ballot for this month's general elections in the Southern African country - sparking concern amongst gender activists.

ZIMBABWE: A "Can Do" Approach to Greater Political Involvement of Women

With general elections taking place in Zimbabwe on Mar. 29, efforts have been underway to increase women's political participation in the Southern African country.

ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: Lights Out, Action! It’s Earth Hour

Organisers of Earth Hour 2008 estimate that in excess of 30 million people worldwide will take action on Saturday to raise awareness of how small changes can make big differences when it comes to climate change.

MIDEAST: Flowers, Strawberries, and Missiles

Just 300 yards from the hidden eyes in the Israeli tank, Ahmed Felfel picks his strawberries. But it isn't the Israelis in the tank who worry him as much as those others who will not let him sell them.

KENYA: Free Secondary Schooling Policy Faces Testing Times

When Kenya's government introduced free primary schooling in 2003, vast numbers of additional pupils were brought into the education system overnight, putting it on a steep learning curve.

HEALTH-ASIA: Report Faults Gov’t Complacency on AIDS

Some 10 million Asian women sell sex, and at least 75 million men buy it regularly, while male-to-male sex and drug injecting add another 20 million or so to the number of those at high risk of HIV infection, says the first report by the Commission on AIDS in Asia.

EGYPT: Can&#39t Wait a Generation to Eat

A World Bank official said this month it could take as long as "a generation" for the effects of Egypt's recent economic growth to be felt by the poorest segments of the population. But as "neo-liberal" economists urge patience, retail prices for essential foodstuffs continue to skyrocket, stretching many household salaries to breaking point.

CUBA: Women Talk to Women about HIV/AIDS Prevention

Prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, the AIDS virus, has become the centre of the lives of a small group of women in the province of Pinar del Río, in the west of Cuba.

BURKINA FASO: Ensuring That the Origin of Life Isn’t Also the End of It

"Water is the origin of life...I come from Central Africa where we have a lot of water, but it was when I came here that I really understood the meaning of this expression," says Antoinette Dinga Dzongo, the African Development Bank's representative in Burkina Faso, in reference to the need for improved water provision in this West African country.

HEALTH-PARAGUAY: Vaccination, Anyone?

Now that the panic that broke out after the reappearance of yellow fever in Paraguay for the first time in 34 years has died down, health authorities are facing the challenge of expanding vaccination against the disease.

Q&A: EU and U.S. Offering Special WTO Deal to Lure South Africa

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has been an active civil society player in South Africa’s decisions during the current World Trade Organisation Doha Round of talks on non-agricultural market access (NAMA).

Q&A: ''Rich Countries Should Bear Burden of Doha Round Adjustments''

The World Trade Organisation’s negotiations on the lowering of industrial tariffs - known as non-agricultural market access (NAMA) - have now reached a critical stage. Faizel Ismail, South Africa’s Geneva-based lead negotiator who also coordinates the NAMA 11 coalition of emerging developing economies, talks to IPS's Aileen Kwa about his concerns.

TRADE-AFRICA: France to Push For Extension of EU Farm Subsidies

France is expected to push for the further entrenchment of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies when it ascends to the presidency of the European Union (EU) on July 1 this year.