The Word from the Street: City Voices

Journalism is Not ‘More Fun’ in the Philippines

Reporters working in the Philippines, the world’s third most dangerous nation for journalists, are having difficulty identifying with the "It’s More Fun in the Philippines" tourism promotion campaign launched by the Liberal Party-led government of President Benigno Aquino III.

With extremist violence on the rise, many Tunisians believe the revolution never ended, and that a second wave of protest is not far off.  Credit:  scossargilbert/CC-BY-2.0

Tunisia’s Revolution is Just Beginning

Lingering violence, intolerance and oppression in Tunisia, following the ousting of former dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, tells the revolutionaries who sparked the Arab Spring that their work is just beginning.

Hope Dwindles Ahead of Elections in Algeria

"Is that your photo on the poster?" a policeman asked a woman standing in front of an electoral campaign board in Algiers. "Why do you ask?" she inquired. "Because only the candidates are interested in these elections," he replied.

Mexico City – More Grey than Green

In his book "La Ville Radieuse" (The Radiant City), architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887-1965), known worldwide as Le Corbusier, proposed a city filled with skyscrapers, wide streets, cement and cars, but decorated with gardens. The Mexican capital seems to be following these principles.

Unions Urge Development Bank To “Walk the Talk” on Labour Rights

The exclusion of certified labour union delegates from the official opening ceremony of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting here on May 4 revealed a wide gap between the Manila-based development bank’s promises and practices on labour rights.

Greeks Gear Up to Cast ‘Protest Votes’ Against Austerity

Aggeliki Anagnostopoulou (30) sits in a corner of the huge room that volunteers from the new party, Independent Greeks, are using as a headquarters for their pre-election campaign in the lead up to polling day on May 6.

Cooperative member Rosinéia Soares displays the aubergines growing in her garden in Parque Genesiano da Luz.  Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

Urban Farming Takes Root in Brazil’s Favelas

Women in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of this city 40 km north of Rio de Janeiro no longer have to spend money on vegetables, because they have learned to grow their own, as organic urban gardening takes off in Brazil.

First School for Transvestites Opens in Buenos Aires

With 35 students, the first secondary school specifically for transvestites and other members of sexual minorities who face discrimination in mainstream schools opened in March in the Argentine capital.

Aerial Tramway – a Means of Transport and Social Inclusion

"It changed our lives" is a sentiment frequently heard from commuters who use Metrocable, the aerial cable car system that connects one of the poor hillside neighbourhoods in the Venezuelan capital with the city’s public transport system.

Nazi Propaganda Gets a Makeover in Serbia

As the May 6 date for Serbia’s general election inches closer, two young Belgrade playwrights have capitalised on the electoral war of words between the pro-European camp and conservative nationalists to highlight the dark side of propaganda and expose the omnipotence of party membership.

Women of the World Unite for Rights

The world’s recent financial and political upheavals have not been kind to women. In Libya’s Tripoli, female suicide rates increased tenfold during the revolution, while dismal job prospects have young Greek women abandoning their career aspirations, participants in a global forum on women’s rights said over the weekend.

Morocco Clamours for Justice

A government plan to reform Morocco’s dilapidated justice system, the details of which are still a mystery to the general public, has become the subject of much scepticism, especially from justice professionals around the country.

Brazilian Favela Becomes a Living Museum

The history, daily life and folk artistry as well as spectacular views of this southeastern Brazilian city are all part of a living museum created by community leaders in a favela that is displaying its cultural heritage as well as its wounds.

Thousands of Tunisians have protested against a government ban on street demonstrations. Credit: Jake Lippincott/IPS.

Protest Time in Tunisia Again

Thousands of centre-left demonstrators violently clashed with police in street battles that completely shut down central Tunis last week, left scores seriously injured and underlined the persistent divisions in Tunisian society.

Haemophiliac children receive treatment at Srinagar hospital. Credit:  Sana Altaf/IPS

Hepatitis Hits Haemophiliacs in Kashmir

Recent research has found that over 90 percent of haemophilia patients across Kashmir are also affected by hepatitis due to the dearth of safe Anti- Haemophilic Factor (AHF) in the Valley.

Amman’s streets are more for cars than for women.  Credit:  Michael Coghlan/CC-BY-SA-2.0.

Not for a Woman in Amman

Two young women in brightly coloured hijabs and tight jeans stand on the edge of a freeway as cars whiz by. They watch the traffic, heavy in Amman where car ownership is skyrocketing by 10-15 percent a year. When there’s a break in the steady flow of vehicles, the women hold hands and race across the road.

U.S. Withdrawal a Blessing and a Curse for Afghans

Though the United States’ announcement to pull its troops from Afghanistan by 2014 was celebrated by most Afghans as the imminent end of a protracted and controversial foreign occupation, there are lingering questions about the outcome of such a withdrawal.

‘Slum Cities’ Need Better Planning

Sri Lanka’s capital city Colombo, the vibrant economic and administrative heart of the bustling island nation, is rapidly turning into a city of slums. Home to over 30 percent of the country’s population, one in every two people living in the Greater Colombo Area is a slum dweller.

Europe’s Austerity Programme Spawns ‘Lost Generation’

The recent dramatic rise of youth unemployment across Europe – particularly in the Mediterranean member countries of the Eurozone most affected by the sovereign debt crisis and so-called ‘remedial’ austerity programmes – indicates that the continent is sacrificing its future on the altar of short-term budget consolidation.

Maldivian Women Fight for Rights

Maldivian women, long used to taking a backseat in the Muslim-dominated Indian Ocean country, say they are determined to ensure that they are not deprived of their rights under the new regime of President Mohammed Waheed Hassan.

Afghan Women Victims Not Perpetrators of ‘Moral Crimes’

Mursal, a beautiful 19-year-old girl who has run away from home to escape a mentally ill husband, is just one of many Afghan women and girls who are now considered criminals under the country’s laws on ‘morality.’

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