Poverty poses the greatest challenge to the promotion of peace, equality, and prosperity for all. Acknowledging the eradication of poverty and hunger as fundamental to sustainable development, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 as “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.” These Goals call on the international community to further human dignity and equality, promote global sustainability, and develop peaceful and inclusive societies. IPS sheds light on the stories of peoples and communities facing the realities of development around the world.
DEVELOPMENT & AID
Quenching Humanity’s Freshwater Thirst Creates a Salty Threat
Starting from a few, mostly Middle Eastern facilities in the 1960s, today almost 16,000 desalination plants are in operation in 177 countries, producing 95 million cubic meters of freshwater every day - equal to about half the flow over Niagara Falls.
Davos, Inequality & the Climate Emergency
Four of the top five most impactful threats in this year’s World Economic Forum´s Global Risks report are related to climate change. The report warns that we are “sleepwalking to disaster” . But that is not true.The disaster is already here, it´s not something we are still walking towards. Climate change is no future threat, it´s a current one. We have entered a new phase, one in which the impacts are coming faster, with greater intensity.
Q&A: 17 Percent of the Problem, but 30 Percent of the Solution
From expansive evergreen forests to lush tropical forests, the Earth’s forests are disappearing on a massive scale. While deforestation poses a significant problem to the environment and climate, trees also offer a solution.
Wasting & Dining: the New Water Dilemma
Concerns about the supply side of food systems are shifting from insufficient production and supply, to issues likely to affect food production in the medium and long term, such as water risks, global warming and environmental consequences.
Experience With Irregular Migration is the Best Teacher
The International Organization For Migration (IOM) has taken its campaign against irregular migration to schools in Nigeria. The school campaigns are meant to educate children who are among victims of human traffickers.
A New Spectre is Haunting Europe
After Theresa May’s defeat in the British parliament it is clear that a new spectre is haunting Europe. It is no longer the spectre of communism, which opens Marx’s Manifesto of 1848; it is the spectre of the failure of neoliberal globalisation, which reigned uncontested following the fall of the Berlin Wall, until the financial crisis of 2009.
Climate Change Threatens Mexico’s Atlantic Coast
"I couldn't plant my cornfield in May, because it rained too early. I lost everything," lamented Marcos Canté, an indigenous farmer, as he recounted the ravages that climate change is wreaking on this municipality on Mexico's Caribbean coast.
Acts of Terror Will Not Undermine Our Resolve
On 15 January 2019, terror struck Nairobi's 14 Riverside Drive.Kenya is in mourning following a senseless act on innocent and defenseless civilians by individuals preoccupied with contemptible and misplaced ideology; who hope to intimidate others through violent acts of terror. Like in their other past attempts, they have failed, and Kenya remains unbowed.
A Salty Dilemma
As the threat of water scarcity increasingly grows, many have turned to the Earth’s plentiful oceans for a solution. However, this has created a new risk threatening public and environmental health: brine.
Why We Should Care about Vulnerable Coastal Communities
According to UN statistics, approximately 40 per cent of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast, and overall the world’s coastal population is increasing faster than the total global population. At the same time, global warming is causing sea levels to rise and increasing extreme weather incidents on coastlines.
Honduran Crisis Produces New Caravan
A new caravan heading towards Mexico and the United States was reportedly set to leave San Pedro Sula in Honduras on 15 January. The large number of people expected to leave Central America is a true testimony to the desperate situation for children, women and men in this poor and violence affected region.
Bridging the Infrastructure Financing Gap in the Asia Pacific Region
Infrastructure development is undoubtedly critical for a country’s long-term economic growth and competitiveness as it impacts economic activities by increasing productivity, facilitating trade, and promoting innovation.
Building Mongolia’s Green Future
The landlocked country of Mongolia sparks certain images in the mind—rolling hills with horses against a picturesque backdrop.However, the East Asian country is facing a threat that will change its landscape: climate change.
Gloom Ahead of World Economic Storm
In light of the uncertainty caused by the US-China trade war, the IMF expects the US economic growth to slow from a three-year high of 2.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.5 per cent in 2019, while China’s expansion has already slowed in recent years, albeit from much higher levels.
Is Love an Embarrassment?
I do not understand a word of Persian and cannot determine whether these lines, taken from a German translation, are a correct interpretation of Muhammad Hāfez-e-Shīrāzī´s original poem. Nevertheless, Hāfez, who lived 1315-1390 CE, was apparently one of those great writers able to provide bemused couples with points of reference after being struck by the tumultuous sensation of passionate love.
With All Things Equal Would the Ruling Party have Won the Elections in Bangladesh ?
It was the first time in the history of parliamentary elections in Bangladesh that a party won with such a huge margin. But according to local analysts familiar with Bangladesh's political climate, the victory by the ruling Awami League (AL) led coalition—which won over 96 percents of seats in parliament in the country's 11th national elections on Dec. 30—was expected in the face of the country's unprecedented development.
Shedding Light on Forced Child Pregnancy and Motherhood in Latin America
Research and campaigns by women’s rights advocates are beginning to focus on the problem of Latin American girls under the age of 14 who are forced to bear the children of their rapists, with the lifelong implications that entails and without the protection of public policies guaranteeing their human rights.
Argentina’s Indigenous People Fight for Land Rights
Nancy López lives in a house made of clay, wood and corrugated metal sheets, on private land dedicated to agriculture. She is part of an indigenous community of 12 families in northern Argentina that, like almost all such communities, has no title to the land it occupies and lives under the constant threat of eviction.
Q&A: ‘There’s a Lot More Climate Finance Available than People Think’
While growth in the green economy looks promising, government regulation and a business-as-usual approach are among the hurdles inhibiting cleaner energy production.
Blue Economy Can be a Lifeline for Africa
By efficient management, the sustainable exploitation of resources in oceans, seas, lakes and rivers—also known as the blue economy—could contribute up to $1.5 trillion to the global economy, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, an intergovernmental organization comprising of 36 countries.
We Are All DukDukDiya: Humming Bird with One Drop of Water at a Time
There is a Quechan fable about a hummingbird named Dukdukdiya. During a fierce forest fire, while all other animals stood in stunned fear, Dukdukdiya alone took action by repeatedly carrying a single drop of water in her beak to the flames. When asked why she bothered with such paltry efforts, she replied that she was simply doing everything in her power to stop the fire.
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