Salvadoran Civil Society Groups Opposed to Carbon Credit Plan

Civil society organisations are asking the World Bank to reject the Salvadoran government's proposal to join a programme for reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked to deforestation, on the argument that it will actually harm the environment.

Many Chilean Women Keep Mum About Unequal Wages

"I know that my male colleagues earn more than I do and work the same amount or even less. And my employers keep me in a non-managerial post, even though I do tasks at that level,” said Pamela, a Chilean professional who holds a doctorate in economics.

South Korea Showcases Role as Donor at Expo 2012

When South Korea took the initiative to integrate a development cooperation programme into this year’s World Expo, it stepped up its efforts to gain credibility as a donor on the international stage.

Human Right to Water and Sanitation Remains a Political Mirage

When the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policy-making body, declared water and sanitation a basic human right back in July 2010, the adoption of that divisive resolution was hailed by many as a "historic" achievement.

Portugal’s Innovative Drug Policy Offers Hope*

Portugal was traditionally one of the European countries with the lowest levels of drug use, until the 1980s and 1990s, when problematic drug abuse, especially of heroin, became a major problem.

Trash Collectors Become Zimbabwe’s Unlikely Climate Change Ambassadors

Tomson Chikowero was ashamed of his job. He did not want anyone finding out what he did to earn a living, so he used to wake up early every morning and leave his home in Hatfield, a residential suburb in Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare, under the cover of darkness.

Peru Working to Reform Environmental Impact Assessment System

A random review by the Peruvian government of 205 environmental impact assessments approved between 2001 and 2010 revealed that 86 percent lacked complete information on how they had received the green light from the authorities.

Teachers’ Strike Does Not Mean Political Liberation for Swaziland

Swazis should not see the ongoing nationwide one-month teachers’ strike as a movement capable of overthrowing the political regime here, despite the fact that civil servants and nurses have joined the action, according to political analyst Dr. Sikelela Dlamini.

Laos’s Rural Women Await Midwives

A year after the Laotian government launched a safe pregnancy programme news of this initiative,  involving the dispatch of teams of midwives across the country, is yet to reach women in the remote  communities.

Profiting from Sustainable Forests on Communal Land in Mexico

Mario Guzmán plans to start cutting down trees again in August and September, the last months of the rainy season. “Now the roads are impassable, and the trucks can’t get in to haul out the timber,” the Mexican farmer, whose community is sustainably managing its forests, told IPS.

Caribbean Sees Progress on HIV/AIDS, Fears Funding Cuts

Ian McKnight, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), used one word - “tokenistic” - to sum up his perspective on the 19th International AIDS Conference that ended here over the weekend.

Private Sector Debt Gnawing at Developing Countries

Twelve years after a global campaign successfully advocated the cancellation of some of the world’s poorest countries’ public debt, developing economies are again facing unsustainable debt burdens. Only this time, it is the private sector’s debt in developing economies that is inflating dangerously.

Trading Across the Line of Control

As part of recent confidence building measures aimed at minimising tensions between India and Pakistan, which arose largely due to conflicting claims over Kashmir, the two countries have decided to make the Valley an economic bridge, rather than a bone of contention.

AIDS Meet Ends with Talk of Cure, But Realities of Scourge Persist

As the International AIDS Conference ended in Washington on Friday, organisers unveiled groundbreaking new research on the promise of early anti-retroviral (ARV) drug therapy.

Children Injured in Police Crackdown on Chile’s Mapuche Indians

“We have been trampled by this racist Chilean state, which oppresses us. The police force represses all Mapuche people…they shoot at us in cold blood.”

Govts Boost Nukes While Cutting Aid, Social Services

As U.N.-led talks on disarmament resume in Geneva Monday, calls are growing for nuclear-armed nations to cut spending on their stockpiles and instead divert resources to development.

Military Service Leaves Culture of War Behind in Guatemala

“I feel proud to be a part of this change. Malnutrition cannot be wiped out in just two or three years, but this is the beginning and I want to be a part of it,” says Isabela Tzoc, a civic service volunteer involved in a youth programme aimed at fighting extreme poverty in Guatemala.

Punish Those Carrying Out FGM, Say Côte d’Ivoire Campaigners

Nine women in the northern Côte d'Ivoire town of Katiola have been convicted for carrying out female genital mutilation – the first time that a 1998 law banning FGM has been applied.

Africa Must Earn Its Climate Change Adaptation Finance

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference less than four months away, African countries need to present convincing arguments and successful adaptation projects to attract competitive funding for adjusting to changes in global weather patterns, climate finance experts say.

Banksters Hijack Microfinance

For several decades, microcredit presented itself as a magical and benign financial tool for the poorest people in the world, who were otherwise completely excluded from conventional commercial banking services, to secure easy access to loans in order to set up their own businesses and live a dignified life.

Papua New Guinea Casts Wide Net Against Malaria

In Papua New Guinea, a Pacific Island nation located south of the equator, 90 percent of the population is at risk of malaria and 1.9 million cases are reported every year.  But, according to a recent medical study, a programme to distribute long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to every district in the country has dramatically reduced malaria infections.