Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

VIDEO: World Day against Trafficking in Persons IPS World Desk The darkest underbelly of human existence hides right in front of us – modern day slaves are the foundation of the third largest criminal economy on the planet. As media consumption in the West is drawn to negative, sensational and explosive headlines, sinister realities escape our attention. ... MORE > >

Horn of Africa Drought Threatens Re-run of Famines Past James Reinl Humanitarian groups and the United Nations are warning of another drought in the Horn of Africa, threatening a repeat of the deadly dry spell and famine that claimed lives in Somalia and its neighbours eight years ago. The British charity Oxfam said Thursday that more than 15 million people ... MORE > >

Hidden in Plain Sight: Sex Trafficking in Canada Nadia Kanji Human trafficking for sexual exploitation has been steadily increasing in Canada. The most recent statistics indicate that 2016 had the highest recorded rate of human trafficking, with one police-reported incident for every 100,000 people in Canada. Despite these staggering numbers, reported cases ... MORE > >

Global Aids Fight Running out of Steam, U.N. says James Reinl The global fight against Aids is floundering amid cash shortfalls and spikes in new HIV infections among marginalised groups in developing regions, Gunilla Carlsson, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said Tuesday. Speaking with reporters in New York, ... MORE > >

Privatization Increases Corruption Jomo Kwame Sundaram International financial institutions (IFIs) have typically imposed wide-ranging policy reforms – called ‘conditionalities’ – in exchange for country governments to secure access to financial assistance. While IFIs may demand anti-corruption policies, other IFI policy conditionalities, such as ... MORE > >

The Precipitous Barbarisation of Our Times Roberto Savio When all is said and done, it appears that Thomas Hobbes, the 17th century English philosopher who had a dire vision of man, was not totally wrong. From the frivolous to the serious, in just a week we have had four items of news which would not happen in a normal world. An English porn beauty ... MORE > >

Treaty Violators Make Mockery of Refugee Convention Thalif Deen With the rise of rightwing nationalism, primarily in the Western world, an increasingly large number of countries are not only abandoning multilateralism but also violating international treaties and conventions signed and ratified in a bygone era. The most blatant is the violation of the ... MORE > >

Finland’s Education System Leads Globally Lakshi De Vass Gunawardena Finland has garnered attention for its top-notch education, and the newly appointed Minister of Education for Finland is planning to continue with the success of her country’s education system through various and innovative approaches. “In education, Finland has the lead according to many ... MORE > >

Will a Global Fund Help Deliver UN’s Development Agenda? Thalif Deen The United Nations, which has been tracking both the successes and failures of its highly-ambitious Agenda for Sustainable Development, has warned that “progress has been slow” in many of the 17 Goals after four years of implementation. Described as “a global blueprint for dignity, peace and ... MORE > >

US Leads Donor Funding to Fight HIV/AIDS Amidst Overall Decline Caley Pigliucci Since 2010, donor funding to fight HIV/AIDS in low-and middle-income countries has dropped significantly, according to a new report released here. The study, Communities at the Centre, released July 16 by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ... MORE > >

How China’s Africa Alliance is Shifting World Order Daniel Yang When the United Nations General Assembly met in 2007 to vote on North Korea’s human rights record, only 10 of the 56 African countries voted with the U.S.-led western coalition. The overwhelming majority followed China – either by voting against or abstaining from the resolution. This has ... MORE > >

Parts of Kenya are Already Above 1.5˚C Isaiah Esipisu Kenya’s getting hotter. Much hotter than the 1.5˚C increase that has been deemed acceptable by global leaders, and it is too hot for livestock, wildlife and plants to survive. Thousands of households, dependent on farming and livestock, are at risk too. This is according to researchers who ... MORE > >

Heatwaves are a ‘New Normal’, Says Red Cross James Reinl It is barely the middle of the month, but the verdict is in: July has been hot. In recent weeks, climate scientists have monitored a freak heatwave in the Canadian Arctic, droughts around Harare and Chennai and forest fires across southern France that have sent holidaymakers fleeing from their ... MORE > >