NIGERIA: Fearing the Floods – Sleeping with One Eye Open

The women of Makoko, a low-lying slum close to the Lagos Lagoon along Nigeria’s Atlantic coast, always sleep with one eye open. Many live in fear that when they go to sleep at night they will wake to flooded homes and business.

ARGENTINA: Water – Some Waste It, Some Want It

In Argentina, the availability of water far outstrips demand, yet 11 percent of the population still lacks piped water, while a large proportion of the rest squanders it without a second thought.

CLIMATE CHANGE: City Apartheid Built Turns Green

Something unusual is happening in Atlantis. Created in the 1970s to fulfill the apartheid government's agenda to evict "coloured" South Africans from Cape Town, Atlantis has always been best known as the city that apartheid built.

‘Walk the Busan Talk’

Women’s rights champions are not prepared to let the dust settle on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that ended in this South Korean port city on Dec. 1 with the customary nod towards gender equality and empowerment.

SOUTH SUDAN: Refugees Reluctant to Move to Safety as War Looms

In the sprawling settlement of Yida, just south of the Sudan border, more than 20,000 people have gathered after fleeing battles in the country's Southern Kordofan state. But they now find themselves caught up in a new conflict, as recent clashes along the frontier have some warning of the possibility of war.

SOUTH AFRICA: Climate Change Affecting Fisherwomen’s Livelihoods

Having observed changes in the sea and the life cycles of the rock lobsters that their livelihoods depend on, a group of fisherwomen from the Western Cape, South Africa are calling on government to adjust fishing seasons to adapt to what they claim are climate change-related alterations.

DR CONGO: Shooting in Kinshasa after Election Results Released

Fears of violent demonstrations against the provisional results of the presidential elections - released on Dec. 9 by the electoral commission - have given way to terror in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has crackled with the sound of gunshots and the firing of tear gas canisters since Friday afternoon.

Decent Work Key to Food Security

Basic income security and access to social services can improve food production and consumption in the developing world, which can be boosted by South-South cooperation.

Armed Societies, Another Tragedy for Women

Kairobis Arcia, 25, died from a bullet to her head shot by her husband, Oswaldo Mendoza, 32, who said he was blinded by jealousy in an argument fuelled by alcohol and drugs.

CARIBBEAN: Castro Comes Calling as U.S. Tries to Pull the Plug

Even the rains seemed to have joined forces against Cuban President Raul Castro.

Q&A: “Investing in the Fight against Hunger Brings Extraordinary Returns”

The man who played a key role in the design of Brazil's successful food security policies believes it is possible to eradicate hunger in the world, and intends to try by promoting "a simple idea."

BRAZIL: Child-Adapted Formula to Deal Major Blow to Chagas Disease

A new paediatric formulation developed in Brazil holds out hope for a cure for over 90 percent of newborn babies infected with Chagas disease, a parasitic infection endemic in 21 Latin American countries, where it kills more people every year than malaria.

SOUTH SUDAN: Returning to an Unsettled Home

Joyous reunions accompanied the latest batch of South Sudanese returning from Sudan to their newly independent homeland. But the returnees will face huge challenges integrating into South Sudan, which became the world's newest nation on Jul. 9, but also one of the poorest.

UGANDA: Deforestation Robbing Communities of their Income

From a distance, Bugala Island in Lake Victoria is a patchwork of green and brown. The pattern is a result of dense forest retreating in the wake of recently planted palm tree plantations.

Brazil Pushes for Sustainable Development Goals

With seven months to go until the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, Brazil is uniting in support of proposals to be included in the summit's draft final document, which aim to transfer its successful national social and environmental sustainability programmes to the global scale.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Biofuels Are Not the Solution

Science tells us that we are heading for a climate crisis, yet it is within our means to change course.

Climate Change Killing Womens’ Livelihoods

Talata Nsor, a 54-year-old woman from Bolgatanga community in Northern Ghana, has been weaving the cultural Bolga baskets, which are named after her community, her entire life.

A Recipe for Carbon Farming

Civil society has warned of the danger of turning Africa's food-producing lands into "carbon farms" so that rich countries can avoid making cuts in their carbon emissions.

Q&A: ‘For Fragile States Aid is Life, Not Money’

The new deal for the ‘fragile states,’ from the g7+ – a group of 19 countries that struggle with poverty, instability and violent conflict - has been hailed as a major breakthrough at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness here, earlier this week.

No Agriculture, No Deal

Zambian dairy farmer, Effatah Jele, does not believe in farming luck but in pragmatism because of climate change.

OP-ED: Can Finance Provide the Crown Jewels of a Durban Climate Accord?

As climate talks get underway in Durban, South Africa this week, progress on a Green Climate Fund is one of the hottest, most contentious tickets in town. It is also one of the great prizes to be won.