AFRICA: “Women’s Decade”: Greater Attention to Implementation

Fears that the impact of the global economic meltdown would affect funding to various development areas have been rife. Already, several governments have cut their budgets for HIV and AIDS and bilateral and multilateral funding partners have done likewise.

Q&A: “We Have a Take-Make-Waste Economy”

To halt the planet's declining biodiversity and loss of critical natural resources, both the economy we live in and communication about science needs to be changed profoundly, says a prominent Dutch ecologist.

DEVELOPMENT: Grassroots Aid Groups Struggle to Stay Afloat

The Holy Child Integrated Agricultural Centre, an organic farm near Abeokuta in southwestern Nigeria, was looking forward to having running water. An industrial borehole had already been already installed, and a pump and piping to various buildings were in place.

Q&A: “It’s Not Easy to Fight Impunity”

Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom said he intends to extend the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), in this interview with IPS during a three-day visit to the United States.

DEVELOPMENT: World’s Longest Toilet Queue in the Making

The "world's longest toilet queue," scheduled for next month, may not be a celebrity-filled event worthy of a Hollywood spectacle - but it could still find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Women Traders Demand Support

Support for regional trade is one of the cornerstones of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). But the focus has been on large scale trade in goods and services, ignoring one important group trading throughout the region.

RIGHTS: U.N. to Focus on Global Epidemic of Gender Abuse

The statistics relating to the world's socially and economically-distressed women are staggering.

ENVIRONMENT-LATIN AMERICA: Glass Half Empty

The countries of Latin America have made progress in terms of access to clean water and sanitation, but have failed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, says a new United Nations report.

EAST AFRICA: Women Want Visibility in Regional Union

As the East Africa Community (EAC) gradually moves towards a political confederation, women’s rights groups from the five member states are pushing for an East African Protocol on Gender and Development to bridge the gender gaps within the integration process.

DEVELOPMENT-ASIA: ‘Poverty Still Has a Woman’s Face’

Women and poverty still share an uncomfortable spot on the development matrix of countries across Asia-Pacific that are struggling to end deprivation, according to the newly launched third joint report of the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

EUROPE: Fight Female Mutilation Harder Activists Urge EU

With hundreds of thousands of girls and women believed to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Europe, rights groups have mounted a campaign to get EU leaders to stop what they see as a barbaric and dangerous procedure.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Policy Changes Revive Poultry Industry

Ivorian poultry producers are enjoying strong growth thanks to the imposition of a tax on imports of poultry products from the European Union and South America.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Women Eke Out a Living in Informal Economy

"I've been working in the streets since I was a girl. My parents didn't send me to school, so it's really hard for me to find a job," says Carol Orozco, 31, who forms part of the veritable army of vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Central America.

GUATEMALA: Anti-Mine Activists Encouraged by Canadian Ruling

Ecologists in Guatemala see a recent ruling by Canada's Supreme Court, which ordered Canadian mining companies to carry out rigorous environmental assessments, as a positive precedent that could help improve environmental controls over the mining industry in this Central American country.

RIGHTS: Nicaragua Refuses to Discuss Therapeutic Abortion

Nicaragua slammed the door on any possible debate on the restitution of therapeutic abortion - performed to save the life of the pregnant woman - despite demands that it do so voiced during a United Nations review of human rights in the country.

MIDEAST: Gaza’s Female Scribes Face Worse Than Discrimination

Female journalists worldwide complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender. However, their colleagues in Gaza also face death threats, the dangers of working in a war zone and the struggle for daily necessities as the Israeli siege on Gaza drags on.

Q&A: The Two Faces of Agriculture

The challenge of the 21st century is to transform agriculture into a good administrator of biodiversity and reverse its destructive capacity, without restricting its mission to feed a growing world population, said Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

MALAWI: Free Education At What Price

He fishes by night and sells his catch by day. He's the breadwinner for his family of six. Maliko Malombe is nine years old.

URUGUAY: Making the Secret Shame of Illiteracy a Thing of the Past

"Excuse me, I forgot my glasses, could you tell me what that sign says?" This was one of the ruses commonly used by Juan Gómez, who was too embarrassed to admit that at the age of 77, he had never learned to read or write.

BIODIVERSITY: U.N. Treaty Key Tool in Conserving Ecosystems

In a bid to pressure policymakers to take urgent action to implement a major United Nations treaty on the preservation of plant and animal species, the world body has launched a global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity.

RIGHTS: U.N. Goals on Education Under Widespread Attack

The relentless attacks on educational institutions in war zones - along with growing threats against academics, teachers and school-going children - have jeopardised one of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - education for all by 2015.