Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Running from the Storm - How Bangladesh’s Climate Migrants are Becoming Food Secure Rafiqul Islam It was almost a decade ago when Ruma Begum and her family left their home in Bangladesh’s coastal Tazumuddin upazila or sub-district and travelled some 50 km away to start a new life. They had been driven out of their home by an extreme and changing climate that has continued to ravage the district ... MORE > >

Bangladeshi Migrant Female Domestic Workers Face Violence Nayema Nusrat Millions of Bangladeshi women are facing violence either as domestic housemaids or as migrant workers in Gulf countries. A few days ago, a video in social media, secretly filmed by a Bangladeshi housemaid employed in Saudi Arabia, caught everyone’s attention where she was helplessly crying and ... MORE > >

IDB Modernises Crucial Social and Environmental Safeguards Emilio Godoy The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is in the process of modernising the social and environmental safeguards that govern the financing of projects considered vital for the construction of sustainable infrastructure in the Latin American region. The participation of social organisations and ... MORE > >

Despite Halting Progress, UN Continues its Push for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East Thalif Deen A longstanding proposal for a regional nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East – one of the world’s most conflict-ridden regions – has been kicked around the corridors of UN committee rooms since 1974. And as another effort to negotiate a legally-binding treaty concluded last week, ... MORE > >

UN Warns of ‘Screen Teens’ not Getting Enough Exercise James Reinl It is a common complaint of parents globally that their children and teenagers spend far too many hours sprawled on couches playing video games, sharing selfies with online friends and giggling over TikTok videos. Now, the call for youngsters to put down their mobile devices and head outdoors ... MORE > >

Social Protection Necessary to Quickly End Poverty, Hunger Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury Historically, most social security systems have developed in the formal sector of rich economies. However, most of the poor and hungry in the world live in rural areas, surviving in the informal economy. Meanwhile, the world economy continues to struggle to recover following the 2008 ... MORE > >

When African Women are Financially Included, an Entire Continent Wins Emmanuel Hitimana When Rwandan-born, Senegalese-raised entrepreneur and businesswoman Kristine Ngiriye was 18 she had a brilliant idea that she wanted to translate into a business. But when she went to her local bank for a loan they told her to rather get married, because “ a woman must be married instead of ... MORE > >

Statistics and Stories – Time to Change the Refugee Narrative? Farhana Haque Rahman Statistics and stories. When aid agencies appeal for funding to tackle the latest refugee crisis and journalists do their reporting, then these are the two narratives most chosen -- one impersonal and the other upfront and individual. The sheer numbers can feel overwhelming. The UN refugee agency ... MORE > >

More Austerity for Developing Countries: It’s Bad News, and It’s Avoidable Isabel Ortiz and Thomas Stubbs After years of austerity, a number of Eurozone countries are now considering expansionary fiscal policies. And in the UK, government spending is set to return to levels last seen in the 1970s. But austerity abounds elsewhere in the world, including in some of the poorest countries. Since 2010, ... MORE > >

Global Clothing Brands Should Respond to the #MeToo Mandate Aruna Kashyap It has been two years since #MeToo went viral, and it’s about time the garment industry’s sexual harassment problem got the attention it deserves. Clothing and footwear brands can do much more to prevent and address gender-based violence in their supply chains, but first they need to confront how ... MORE > >

A Staggering One-in-Three Women Experience Physical, Sexual Abuse Violence against women and girls is among the most widespread, and devastating human rights violations in the world, but much it is often unreported due to impunity, shame and gender inequality, the UN highlighted ahead of Monday’s World Day to stamp out abuse of women and girls. Here is the ... MORE > >

Saudi UNESCO Win Riles Khashoggi Standard-Bearers James Reinl Human rights campaigners have reacted angrily to the election of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO’s top board, highlighting the kingdom’s ongoing crackdowns on political freedoms and critics. On Wednesday, Saudi culture minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan ... MORE > >

A 650 Million Dollar Pledge Aimed at Eradicating Extreme Hunger by 2030 Thalif Deen When a coalition of international donors pledged more than $650 million to provide assistance to over 300 million smallholder farmers in developing countries, the primary aim was to help increase agricultural and livestock production besieged by droughts, floods and other natural disasters ... MORE > >

Green Steel Charlotte King How Indonesian craftsmanship is undergoing a revival at the world’s first ‘bamboo university’. It’s fast-growing, flexible and strong. Standing underneath a bamboo canopy, it is easy to understand why people have been using this grass plant for years, in the construction of houses, bridges and ... MORE > >