Need for Firewood Raises Threat for Georgia’s Christmas Tree Trade

The South Caucasus country of Georgia is a source of much sought-after Christmas tree seeds. But its own forests are now under threat, as firewood is in increasing demand as a cheap source of heat for homes, schools and hospitals.

In the Philippines, a Vortex of Climate Change and Debt

Since Typhoon Yolanda made landfall in the Philippines on Nov. 8, the country has sent holders of its debt close to one billion dollars, surpassing, in less than two months, the 800 million dollars the U.N. has asked of international donors to help rebuild the ravaged central region of the archipelago.

Towards a Change of Culture Leading to a Gender-Balanced Approach

The past three years have been very important to scale up the movement to protect the rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and, particularly, to eliminate female genital mutilation worldwide.

Assisting Rather than Deporting Trafficking Victims in Spain

María came to Spain from Paraguay to work as a housekeeper in a hotel. But it was a false job promise, and she ended up in a nightclub, where she was forced to work as a prostitute.

Ethiopia Swamped by Tidal Wave of Returned Migrants

The return of 120,000 young undocumented migrant workers from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia has sparked fears that the influx will worsen the country’s high youth unemployment and put pressure on access to increasingly scarce land.

Caring for Water Is a Must for Brazil’s Energy Industry

As they build huge hydropower dams, the Brazilian government and companies have run into resistance from environmentalists, indigenous groups and social movements. But the binational Itaipú plant is an exception, where cooperation is the name of the game.

Ugandan HIV Drugs Outpriced by Imports

The Ugandan government is struggling to live up to its promises to protect the local production of antiretrovirals and anti-malarials from competition from abroad.

World Bank Raises 52b Dollars for Poorest Countries

The World Bank has raised some 52 billion dollars, a record amount, for its fund for development in the world’s poorest countries, though some are expressing concerns over the terms under which some of this money is being offered by donor governments.

U.N. Advice to Aid Worker: Write Last Will Before Leaving Home

When Anoja Wijeyesekera, an aid worker with the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, received her new assignment in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan back in 1997, her appointment letter arrived with a "survival manual" and chilling instructions: write your last will before leaving home.

Drug-Shunning Patients Could Derail Zimbabwe’s AIDS Plan

Each month, scores of people living with HIV gather at Mpilo's Opportunistic Infections Clinic in Bulawayo for free antiretroviral medication that has improved their lives.

Bachelet’s Promised Reforms Could Face Uphill Struggle

The promised structural reforms to modify the political system inherited from Chile’s 1973-1990 dictatorship and reduce the severe social inequalities in the country propelled Michelle Bachelet to a resounding triumph in the Sunday Dec. 15 runoff election.

An Argentine Town that ‘Celebrates’ Garbage

Towns traditionally celebrate their most characteristic aspect. So the town of Bouwer in central Argentina decided to “celebrate” garbage.

Zero Garbage Plan Tied to Fate of Ousted Bogotá Mayor

The ousted left-wing mayor of the Colombian capital, Gustavo Petro, is a casualty of the battle over the introduction of a Zero Garbage programme, which had included thousands of informal recyclers in the waste disposal business.

Climate Makes Refugees Out of Young Ghanaians

It was 20-year-old Fizer Boa who first migrated south to Ghana’s capital, Accra, to work in the local Abobloshie market as a porter or “Kayayei”.

Illicit Capital Leaving Developing Countries Up by 14 Percent

Developing countries are likely losing more than a trillion dollars a year in "illicit financial flows" stemming from crime and corruption, according to new estimates. This fast-rising figure is already 10 times the total amount of foreign aid these countries are receiving.

U.S. Urged to Change Policy on Support to Victims of Sexual Violence

The U.S. government is being urged to roll back a longstanding policy that has banned foreign aid funding from being used for health care services for victims of sexual violence in conflict situations.

Mundurukú Indians in Brazil Protest Tapajós Dams

It took them three days to make the 2,000-km journey by bus from their Amazon jungle villages.

In Home Gardens, Income and Food for Urban Poor

Flowers burst out of old tires and rows of pepper plants fill recycled plastic tubs as herbs pop out of old pipes. As utilitarian as it is cheery, this rooftop array is one of several urban agriculture projects that are significantly improving livelihoods for the urban poor in this sprawling city.

Reaching Quietly for the ‘Solidarity Basket’

In the early morning hours, as hundreds of people grab their breakfast at a busy bakery in Beogradska Street in the Serbian capital, a very special basket quickly fills up with croissants, rolls and breads. It is the ‘solidarity basket’.

Politicians’ Delay Means Climate Catastrophe for Malawi’s Poor

Delays in finalising Malawi’s climate change policy, which has been in the making for the last three years, are affecting millions of families living in disaster-prone areas across this southern African nation, says the country’s minister of environment and climate change management Halima Daudi.

Developing Countries Still Waiting for a Global Response to Climate Change

As president of the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi had the perfect forum to voice his concerns about the effects climate change has had on his island nation.