AFRICA: Taking the Lead on Water

Water is a resource that binds people together, for better or worse.

EDUCATION-URUGUAY: Literacy Starts at Home

"At first I was embarrassed and had a hard time getting involved, but then I started relaxing. I like it a lot, because it helps me share different things with my kids," says María José Jara, a young mother from a poor neighbourhood in this Uruguayan city, referring to an innovative and successful family literacy project.

Q&A: “CEDAW is UNIFEM’S Entry Point”

On Sep. 14, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly adopted a resolution that opened the door for the creation of a new U.N. agency specifically for women.

BRAZIL: Leading Ladies Give Gender Slant to Campaign

With the possible participation of three high-profile women candidates in Brazil's 2010 presidential elections, the irruption of gender issues in the campaign in Latin America's largest democracy seems inevitable.

FRANCE: Top Designers Make Dolls to Fund Darfur Vaccinations

Designer rag dolls, the concept couldn't sound more frivolous. But dolls made by top fashion designers such as Armani and Prada are helping to fund a vaccination programme in war-torn Darfur.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Dark Clouds Gathering Over Copenhagen

It has been a bad week for the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month. During the week the last meeting in the formal round of pre- Copenhagen talks collapsed in Barcelona. Then, meeting here on the weekend, the G20 finance ministers put the seal on that failure by failing to agree a financial package.

ZIMBABWE: Numerous Challenges For Harare Water Supply

Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda is a troubled man. When he took office in July 2008, one of his most immediate tasks was to resolve the water crisis in the capital.

LATIN AMERICA: Journalistic Prize for Making Poverty News

The second "Latin America and the Millennium Development Goals" Journalism Prize, sponsored by the UNDP and IPS, was awarded Thursday in the Chilean capital in a ceremony addressed by the head of the U.N. agency, Helen Clark.

AFRICA: Drug Subsidy Key to Anti-Malaria Effort

Just three percent of malaria-infected children in Africa get World Health Organisation-recommended drugs. One expert has equated this to a death sentence for sick children.

Q&A: Put the New Women’s Agency in Africa

On Sep. 14, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution that gave the green light to the creation of a new U.N. agency for women.

Q&A: ‘ODA Is What Governments Want to Do at Their Whim’

Think of a world where rich nations did not fund what was popular but instead collaborated to solve the developing world’s most pressing health needs.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: The Reverend Raped Me


A countrywide survey of the incidence of rape in Cameroon has returned disturbing statistics: 20 percent of the nearly 38,000 women surveyed reported having been raped; another 14 percent said they had escaped a rape attempt.

GUATEMALA: (Barely) Surviving on Beans and Tortillas

Juan Manuel Ardón's bones jut out and his hair is dull and thin: signs of severe malnutrition. He is so weak that he can hardly walk or talk, and the doctors say his weight and stature are those of a six-year-old, rather than 15-year-old, boy.

SIERRA LEONE: New Dawn for Small Farmers?

They call her "Marie Nerica", after a new breed of rice.

AGRICULTURE-SENEGAL: Groundnut Production in Freefall

Farmers are complaining about a lack of technical assistance and the poor quality of seeds they've planted this year in the Kaolack region, Senegal's groundnut-producing area, 200 kilometres south of the capital Dakar.

HEALTH: Vaccines, Antibiotics Could Slash Pneumonia Deaths

Seven-month-old Marta lived in the central highlands of Guatemala when she came down with a high fever and rapid, shallow breathing.

LABOUR: Sorting Garbage – Green and Dignified Work

More than 1,500 representatives of waste recyclers from 13 countries, and thousands of other visitors, including the host country Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, met last week in São Paulo, demonstrating that they are no longer pariahs in our throw-away society.

ARGENTINA: ‘Drugs Are Killing the Youngsters We’re Feeding’

"You often ask yourself why feed them if some wretch is just going to come along and sell them that rubbish," says Isabel Ruiz, who runs the Las Brujas soup kitchen in Moreno, a poor neighbourhood on the west side of the Argentine capital.

CHILE: Teen Pregnancy, a Problem That Won’t Go Away

Chile currently stands out for its spectacular progress in a number of health indicators, including maternal and child mortality and chronic malnutrition. But these successes obscure an acute social problem that refuses to yield: the steady rise in the number of teenage mothers.

DEVELOPMENT: Hunger and Conflict Go Hand in Hand

Countries emerging from conflict need more international assistance to rebuild their food production, since hunger and scarcity may prompt a return to fighting, United Nations and development officials warned this week.

MOZAMBIQUE: Quiet Progress Against HIV/AIDS

When Dorothy Kakongwe smiles, her creases tell stories no history book can recount. This elderly nurse can reflect on numerous changes in the landscape and people around her.