Fixing the ‘Silent’ Sanitation Crisis

Organisers of this year’s World Toilet Day, which falls on Nov. 19, are using the slogan ‘I give a shit – do you?’ to break the silence around the crucial issue of sanitation and remind the international community that 2.5 billion people around the world don’t have access to clean and private toilets.

Bangladesh Eyes Drug Export Market

Bangladesh has begun to shed its image as one of the world’s poorest nations and make a reputation for itself as a major exporter of cheap generic drugs to over 85 countries.

How Austerity Plans Failed the European Union

The austerity programmes being rolled out in virtually every member state of the European Union (EU) - particularly in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy - have failed to reach their stated objective of consolidating public finances in order to solve sovereign debt crises.

Teach a Woman to Farm…And She Creates Jobs

Give a woman a hand-out and you feed her for a day. But teach her to farm, and how to add value to her product, and you feed her and her family for a lifetime. And if she happens to be Nigerian smallholder farmer Susan Godwin, she in turn will also provide jobs for her community and become a national food hero.

World Bank Launches Review of Social, Environmental Safeguards

The World Bank has begun a highly anticipated reappraisal of its social and environmental “safeguards” policies, a process that is slated to take place over the next two years.

Thinking Outside the Stall on World Toilet Day

When the United Nations commemorates World Toilet Day next week, there will be a lingering question in the minds of activists: how best can water and sanitation be given high priority in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the U.N.'s post-2015 economic agenda?

Citizens’ Tribunal Brings Charges Against Mexican President

Conservative outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderón is to face a ballot again - not to compete for public office but to receive the verdict of a citizens' trial that is accusing him of violating the constitution.

How African Men are Changing Traditional Beliefs

Charles Kayongo of Uganda is a father of two girls aged five and three. And even though age-old traditions among his ethnic group, the Baganda, say a man should have an unlimited number of children and a son as an heir, Kayongo refuses to have more children.

Soy and Sugar Cane Fuel Native Land Conflicts in Brazil

The threat of mass suicide by native Guaraní-Kaiowá people in southwest Brazil brought to light a new formula for worsening conflicts over indigenous territory: the expansion of the cultivation of soy beans and sugar cane, two top export crops.

Some U.S. Farmworkers Face “Inhuman Conditions”

A widely respected advocate for U.S. farmworker rights received a prestigious award on Capitol Hill here Wednesday, using the occasion to highlight pending state legislation that could significantly improve lives and working conditions that some have likened to modern-day slavery.

Family Planning Falters Despite Treaty Commitments

Since the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations has consistently maintained that family planning is a basic human right to be exercised by all - not just the wealthy and otherwise privileged.

Family Planning Skips Millions in Pakistan

Thirty-year-old Shahida Saleem, who was not educated past the tenth grade, is a mother of two, living with her family in Karachi. Six months ago she suffered a miscarriage and her doctor, concerned about her anaemic condition, advised her to space out her next pregnancy by taking contraceptives.

Unsafe Abortions Threaten Thousands in Eastern Europe

Pressure from the Catholic Church, social stigma, a lack of information about sexuality and reproductive health and limited access to reproductive healthcare services are putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of women across Eastern Europe at risk.

Soup Kitchens Overwhelmed in Crisis-Ridden Spain

A huge pot of rice steams on the stove at the soup kitchen run by Emaús in the municipality of Torremolinos, on the outskirts of this southern Spanish city. This morning, like every other, Pepi, Adriana and Diego are cooking for over a hundred people who can no longer afford to feed themselves.

Racism Is Bad for Health

If a black woman and a white woman both need emergency obstetric care, a Brazilian doctor will assist the white woman because of the stereotype that black women are better at handling pain and are used to giving birth.

Lead Funder on AIDS, Malaria, TB Gets a Reboot

After weathering the departure of its executive director amidst a misallocation scandal earlier this year, the world's largest funder of programmes to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is poised to announce a new leader Thursday.

No Contraceptives Means More Illegal Abortions in Uganda

Every day at least five women are brought to the gynaecological ward of Uganda’s Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala for treatment for complications caused by crude attempts to terminate their pregnancies.

Radical Clerics Seek to Legalise Child Brides

An ultraconservative Salafi cleric recently sparked outrage among Egypt’s liberal circles when he attempted to justify his opposition to a proposed constitutional article that would outlaw the trafficking of women for sex.

Faces of the Crisis in a Protesting Europe*

Out-of-work engineers, family businesses that are falling apart, people working in precarious conditions in an ailing labour market – it’s a description of Spain, but it could just as easily be Portugal, Greece or Italy…

Latin American Middle Class Booming but Fragile

New data from the World Bank shows that the middle class in Latin America has expanded substantially, growing by 50 percent over the past 10 years despite decades of sluggish poverty reduction.

Canada Eyes African Resources amid Shrinking Foreign Aid

With an initial focus on oil-producing Nigeria and mineral-rich Ghana, Ottawa is bolstering its trade strategy in Africa, but some within the international development and economic communities have expressed concerns about Canada’s approach.