Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

The Start of an Important Global Conversation on the Blue Economy Jonathan Wilkinson This November, Canada, along with Kenya and Japan, is proud to host the world’s first global conference focused on the world’s ocean economy: the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, designed to follow the G7 meeting, brings together the ... MORE > >

Expectations High for First Global Blue Economy Conference Miriam Gathigah and Robert Kibet In a matter of days the world’s blue economy actors and experts will converge in Nairobi, Kenya for the first ever global conference on sustainable blue economy. From Nov. 26 to 28, participants from around the globe will meet in Kenya’s capital to discuss how to develop a sustainable blue ... MORE > >

Q&A: How to Transition One of the Fastest-Growing Economies in the World to a Green Growth Model Pascal Laureyn Driven by garment exports, tourism and construction, Cambodia has sustained an average growth rate of 7.7 percent between 1995 to 2017, making this Southeast Asian nation the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world. According to the World Bank, GDP per capita has quadrupled since 1994 to ... MORE > >

Inequality undermines democracy Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram Economic inequality – involving both income and wealth concentration – has risen in nearly all world regions since the 1980s. Gross economic inequalities moderated for much of the 20th century, especially after World War Two until the 1970s, but has now reached levels never before seen in human ... MORE > >

NGOs Call for Disinvestments in Biodiversity Destruction Rabiya Jaffery A discussion held earlier this week at the ongoing Convention of Biodiversity’s (CBD) Conference of Parties in Egypt highlighted that grants to curb deforestation in the Amazon are not enough if they are accompanied with investments that increase the loss of biodiversity. “Parties are talking ... MORE > >

Solar Energy Drives Social Development in Brazil's Favelas Mario Osava "We can't work just to pay the electric bill," complained José Hilario dos Santos, president of the Residents Association of Morro de Santa Marta, a favela or shantytown embedded in Botafogo, a traditional middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. The high cost of electricity in the favela is ... MORE > >

The Blue Economy for the Blue Planet Cameron Diver We live on a “blue planet” where water covers around 75 percent of the Earth’s surface. Without water we would simply not survive as a species. As we strive to find pathways to and take action for inclusive sustainable development, we must ensure that our ocean, our seas, rivers, lakes, waterways ... MORE > >

The Blue Economy – A New Frontier for Small Island Developing States Cyrus Rustomjee The blue economy—a concept and economic model that balances economic development with equity and environmental protection, and one that uses marine resources to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own—is not a new idea. Already the global blue ... MORE > >

Thailand First Asian Nation to Join Global Efforts to Control Tobacco Wendell C Balderas Thailand is set to become the first Asian country to introduce standardized packaging of tobacco. On 14 November 2018, the Thai National Committee on Tobacco Control approved the Ministry of Health Regulation that requires cigarettes in Thailand to be sold in packaging stripped of the fancy, ... MORE > >

Improved Husbandry Practices Boosts Aquaculture in Kenya Justus Wanzala Despite the humid late October midday weather in Kisumu County near the shores of Lake Victoria, Jane Kisia is busy walking around her fish ponds feeding her fish. As she rhythmically throws handfuls of pellets into the ponds, located within her homestead, the fish ravenously gobble them ... MORE > >

Educating Children Starts With Parents Seemant Dadwal Neha is a first-generation learner. Her mother, Hema, a maid, wants her only daughter to grow up to become a government servant. This, according to her, will give her family security, stable water and electricity connections, and also an attached toilet, apart from a better living ...MORE > >

Teenage Pregnancy in Kenya: A Crisis of Health, Education and Opportunity Siddharth Chatterjee That almost one in five Kenyan teenage girls is a mother represents not only a huge cost to the health sector, but also a betrayal of potential on a shocking scale. November 20, 2018 marks International Children’s Day. Perhaps a day we should use to reflect on a national crisis of underage ... MORE > >

Cuba's Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive Ivet González At a brisk pace, Marciano Calamato and Mireya Noa walk along the dry, yellow soil of their farm, where they even manage to grow onions in Cuba's unique semi-arid eastern region. The region, which has a particularly sensitive ecosystem due to the large number of endemic species, covers 1,752 ... MORE > >