Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Beyond Saudi Arabia: The World Is Failing Journalists Tharanga Yakupitiyage Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was deliberately killed at the hands of state actors and journalists around the world are increasingly seeing the same fate, said a United Nations expert. After a six-month investigation, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary ... MORE > >

A Roadmap for Children as Victims, not Terrorists Caley Pigliucci The feeling in the air at a recent meeting of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was one of compassion and benevolence. The focus was on children as Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs), a subject that everyone at the panel discussion argued is delicate and politically ... MORE > >

Fighting Food Insecurity in Africa - Lessons from the United States Esther Ngumbi The U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green recently concluded a one-week visit to USAID-funded programs at several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya and Mozambique. His goal was to promote sustainable paths to ... MORE > >

How Effective is a Non-Binding Treaty Aimed at Ending Harassment at Work Places? Thalif Deen Against the back drop of widespread charges of sexual abuse and harassment at workplaces-- including the United Nations-- the International Labour Conference (ILC) last week adopted a “Convention” and a set of “Recommendations” to protect workers and employees worldwide. According to the ... MORE > >

Looking to the Land in the Climate Change Race Tharanga Yakupitiyage The international community still has a long way to go to chart a new, sustainable course for humanity. But the upcoming climate change meetings provide a renewed opportunity to tackle climate change head on. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September, governments are gearing ... MORE > >

Women’s Rights are Key in Slowing Down Population Sivananthi Thanenthiran The increase in world population by 2 billion in the next 30 years will present a serious global challenge especially if we do not find new paradigms of development thought and renewed global political leadership. Our region, the Asia and the Pacific region is already home to 60 per cent of ... MORE > >

A Bad Free Trade Agreement Is Worse than Nothing Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Nazran Zhafri Ahmad Johari With growing economic conflicts triggered by US President Donald Trump’s novel neo-mercantilist approach to overcoming his nation’s economic malaises, many voices now argue that bad free trade agreements are better than nothing. After US withdrawal following Trump’s inauguration in early 2017, ... MORE > >

Blockchain Releases Farmers From the Collateral Trap Busani Bafana A Jamaican start-up has an innovative solution to help smallholder farmers—many of whom do not have the collateral demanded by financial institutions to access loans—build a track record of their production that is proving better than collateral. FarmCredibly creates a record for farmers ... MORE > >

Partnering for Youth in Central Asia Tharanga Yakupitiyage Young people around the world are facing increasingly insurmountable, persistent barriers as they try to achieve their full potential and secure a prosperous future. However, Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific have already begun working to ensure that no one is left behind. In collaboration with ... MORE > >

‘Inna de Yard’ Delves into the ‘Soul’ of Jamaica A. D. McKenzie Dogs barking in the distance. Birds chirping nearby. A man walking through the mist, surrounded by lush vegetation. A distinctive vibrato singing “Speak Softly, Love” over it all. So begins Inna de Yard, a documentary that can safely be called a love poem to reggae music, or the “soul of ... MORE > >

Liberalism and Developing Countries Leila Yasmine Khan and Daud Khan As China rapidly replaces Europe and the USA as the key player in developing countries, the Western press is full of articles about the dangers of dealing with the Chinese. China, it is said, is not liberal and not democratic and hence is not a trustworthy partner in strategic and economic ... MORE > >

World’s Poorest Nations Weighed Down by Fastest Growing Populations Thalif Deen With a new report projecting a rise in population, specifically in Asia and Africa, the United Nations has warned that continued rapid population growth presents enormous challenges for sustainable development in the world’s 134 developing nations. Among them, the heaviest impact will be on ... MORE > >

Chinese DG To Lead FAO For 4 Years From 1 Aug 2019 IPS INTERNATIONAL DESK Qu Dongyu, China's vice minister for agriculture and rural affairs, was elected to be the next Director-General of FAO, winning a majority of the 191 votes cast in the first round of an election held Sunday. Qu said he will be “committed to the aspirations, mandates and missions of the ... MORE > >

From Tony Blair to Mette Frederiksen Roberto Savio Social Democrats, who had been steadily disappearing following the crisis of 2008, have been making a small comeback in the last year. Now they are in power in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland and, most recently, in Denmark. But the statistics are daunting. The recent European elections gave ... MORE > >

Low-Income Countries Pay Over 20 Times More for Generic Drugs Caley Pigliucci A recently-released report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development (CGD) shows that generic drugs, like omeprazole (used to treat heartburn), can cost 20-30 times more in low and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. Rachel Silverman, a researcher with CGD who ... MORE > >

Patriotism versus Hope: Eritreans Wrestle with Leaving Home or Remaining Milena Belloni and James Jeffrey Most media narratives about Eritrea suggest an endless stream of young people fleeing the country, who couldn’t wait to escape. But the reality is far different and more nuanced—both when it comes to those who have left, and those who chose to remain. Colossal cost: The nearly three decades ... MORE > >