Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

World’s Poor Hit by Double Jeopardy: a Deadly Virus & a Devastating Debt Burden Thalif Deen The world’s poorer nations, reeling under an unrelenting attack on their fragile economies by the COVID-19 pandemic, have suffered an equally deadly body blow: being buried under heavy debt burdens. Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said last ... MORE > >

Coronavirus Hasn´t Slowed Down Ecological Women Farmers in Peru's Andes Highlands Mariela Jara It's eight o'clock in the morning and Pascuala Ninantay is carrying two large containers of water in her wheelbarrow to prepare with neighbouring women farmers 200 litres of organic fertiliser, which will then be distributed to fertilise their crops, in this town in the Andes highlands of ... MORE > >

Enforced Disappearances, Arbitrary Detentions, Hate Speech & Attacks on Civilians - ICC Report on Libya Samira Sadeque The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday highlighted crimes against humanity and grave mismanagement of the law in Libya during a release of their latest report on the North African nation. Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, said enforced disappearances, arbitrary ... MORE > >

COVID-19: Developing Countries Must Not be Left Behind Lars Hein and Daud Khan Globalization has been a driver for increased prosperity world-wide, but it has been in reverse in the last years due to the growth of populism in the USA and Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic may well provide further momentum to increasingly national-interest oriented policies in the ... MORE > >

Q&A: COVID-19 Means we Must Innovate Data Collection, Especially on Gender Samira Sadeque The current coronavirus pandemic can offer insight into how to shake-up traditional methods of data collection, and might provide an opportunity to do it in more innovative ways, in turn enhancing progress towards gender equality. “Necessity is the mother of invention, and when you look at ... MORE > >

How Coronavirus Makes us Rethink Youth Protests Diana Gheorghiu As social distancing, quarantines and lockdowns have spread across the globe to slow the spread of coronavirus, they have imposed some of the greatest worldwide restrictions on public gatherings in living memory. These restrictions may be necessary for public health, but they require the most ... MORE > >

Has COVID-19 Reversed Progress for India's Small Tea Growers? Stella Paul As the sun sets over the hills, Prafulla Debbarma, a small tea grower in Dhanbilash village in north eastern India, walks along the labyrinth path of his farm and past a thick blanket of well-grown tea plants. In the fading light, the farmer appears deeply worried. This tea farm, the sole source of ... MORE > >

The Unseen Link Between Clean Cooking and the COVID-19 Pandemic Eco Matser The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and revealed to what extent current economic models are not sustainable. It has also shown that most countries are not equipped to cope with a health crisis. The World Food Program is warning that the lives and livelihoods of 265 million people ... MORE > >

COVID-19 Deaths Before A Vaccine? Joseph Chamie How many COVID-19 deaths will occur before a vaccine becomes available worldwide? As with many seemingly simple questions about an uncertain future, the proper answer to that important query is: “it depends”. The total worldwide number of deaths from COVID-19 before a vaccine, reported to be ... MORE > >

Journalism is Not a Crime…and Fake News on Social Media is Not Journalism Namrata Sharma This year’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May falls during COVID-19 lockdowns in many of our countries. Restriction on movement means journalists all over the world are facing obstacles in getting interviews and data, and verifying stories before publishing. In addition, the global pandemic has ... MORE > >

Africa's Youth Scholars Harvest Ideas on the Business of Agriculture Busani Bafana In Rwanda, Benimana Uwera Gilberthe, a scholar and pepper producer, experienced first-hand the challenges of breaking into agribusiness. While in Nigeria, Ayoola Adewale is trying to understand if poultry egg farming will prove a profitable and viable business opportunity to the youth of the ... MORE > >