Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

As Climate Crisis Worsens & Poverty Rises, UN Appears Off-Track on Development Agenda Thalif Deen The two key goals in the UN’s development agenda are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030. But most of the world’s developing nations, currently fighting a losing battle against rising poverty and hunger –and suffering from the devastating impact of climate change-- are likely ... MORE > >

When the Search for Jobs Ends in Slavery Wambi Michael In 2017, Zubedah Nakitende’s electronics shop was robbed with thieves taking her entire stock. But she had heard from a colleague about lucrative jobs in Jordan and decided to take on work as a domestic helper, earning an income of 740 dollars a month. “I was desperate, I had debts. So I said ... MORE > >

AUDIO: How a Bangladesh Non Profit for Leprosy Made its Members Completely Self-Sufficient Stella Paul The 20th International Leprosy Congress just wrapped up in Manila, Philippines last week. Alongside policy makers, diplomats, medical researchers, doctors, donors and academics, several Hansen's disease-affected people’s organisations also participated in the 3-day congress that was co-sponsored by ... MORE > >

Petition and Critics of Khashoggi Killing Heap Pressure on U.N.-Saudi Event James Reinl The United Nations faces growing public opposition to an event it is co-hosting with a Saudi Arabian charity only days before the anniversary of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a watchdog, joined the campaign to scrap the Sept. 23 ... MORE > >

Developing Economies’ Subordinate Financialization Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Michael Lim Mah Hui Rapid financial globalization is due not only to financial innovations, but also to choices made by national policymakers, often with naïve expectations, trusting promoters’ promises of steady net inflows of financial resources. Rapid financialization has involved fund or asset investment ... MORE > >

UN Chief Calls for Action, Not “Beautiful Speeches” Thalif Deen UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has offered an unsolicited piece of advice to the 190-plus speakers, including heads of state and heads of government, who will address an unprecedented six high level plenary meetings during the General Assembly sessions September 23-27. "I am asking ... MORE > >

African Development Bank Plans for a Self-sufficient, Integrated and Industrialised Continent Nalisha Adams and Busani Bafana Arama Sire Camara, a fruit and vegetable seller in the province of Kindia, some 135 km from the Guinean capital of Conakry, feels safer trading well into the night thanks to the Rural Electrification Project, financed by 21-million-dollar investment by the African Development Bank. “With ... MORE > >

Multidisciplinarity of Data: Time to Put Data at the Heart of UN’s 2030 Agenda Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, El Iza Mohamedou and Koffi Zougbede The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015. At its core are 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets, all meant to guide efforts by all countries towards a more sustainable, prosperous and equal future. Today, nearly a third of the way towards 2030, progress has ... MORE > >

Asian & Arab Parliamentarians to Move Forward on Reproductive Health & Gender Empowerment Razeena Raheem Over the years, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has worked in tandem with legislators and parliamentarians to help implement the historic Programme of Action (PoA) adopted unanimously by over 20,000 UN delegates at a landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo ... MORE > >

Leaders Must Start Taking Science Seriously - U.N. James Reinl World leaders attending this month’s United Nations General Assembly should listen harder to scientists if they want to tackle climate change and meet global anti-poverty targets, U.N. experts warned this week. Shantanu Mukherjee, from the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ... MORE > >

Translating Ambition to Action: High Hopes for United Nations Action Week Cameron Diver In less than 10 days, countries from around the planet will come together in New York for the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit. I look forward to representing the Pacific Community (SPC) at this important event, and throughout “Action Week” during the upcoming UN General ... MORE > >

AfDB ‘s Solar Project Aims at Making Africa a Renewable Power House Razeena Raheem When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the International Solar Alliance last October, he applauded the goal of mobilizing about trillion dollars towards the deployment of some 1,000 gigawatts of solar energy by 2030. “It is clear,” he said, “that we are witnessing a global ... MORE > >

Big Power Conflicts are Increasingly Taking Place in Outer Space Daniel A. Porras Nearly every article on ‘space security’ begins with the acknowledgement that satellites and space-based services are critical for modern societies. And with good reason. Space technologies provide tools that enable worldwide communications, remote sensing and global navigation. Even ... MORE > >