Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Global Economic Recovery must Prioritise Restructuring of Debt for Developing Countries Samira Sadeque Unless there is a restructuring of debt for developing countries, the servicing for this debt will take away valuable resources from these nations that are needed to prevent the further suffering of people during the coronavirus pandemic -- particularly with regards to safeguarding the health ... MORE > >

Rethink Food Security and Nutrition Following Covid-19 Pandemic Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Wan Manan Muda The Covid-19 crisis has had several unexpected effects, including renewed attention to food security concerns. Earlier understandings of food security in terms of production self-sufficiency have given way to importing supplies since late 20th century promotion of trade liberalization. Jomo ... MORE > >

Cover-up at the UN: You Scratch My Back & I’ll Scratch Yours Thalif Deen The ongoing battle between China and the United States is threatening to paralyze the most powerful body at the United Nations – the 15-member Security Council (UNSC)—which has virtually gone MIA (missing in action) on some of the key politically-sensitive issues of the day. The Council has ... MORE > >

The Goan Village Women Helping Mitigate Plastic Pollution by Making Eco-friendly Sanitary Pads Stella Paul Jayashree Parwar has not traveled much outside of her village of Bicholim in the western coastal Indian state of Goa. But the homemaker-turned-social-entrepreneur has been reaching women in dozens of cities across the country with a hygiene product she makes at home along with women from her ... MORE > >

”Murder Most Foul” – the Death of Olof Palme Jan Lundius Just as the U.S. is haunted by the 1963 murder of John F. Kennedy, Sweden is troubled by the 1986 murder of its Prime Minister Olof Palme. The American feelings were aired on Bob Dylan´s latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, containing a 16 minutes long song with lines like: It happened so ... MORE > >

Put Climate at the Heart of COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plans Pablo Vieira Samper Cast your mind back. Six months ago—it seems like a lifetime—the world’s attention was on Madrid. The United Nations was meeting to take stock of international progress in fighting climate change. Headlines were dominated by young people pointing out—rightly—that governments were still not doing ... MORE > >

COVID-19 Pandemic Could Widen Existing Inequalities for Kenya's Women in Business Miriam Gathigah Pauline Akwacha’s popular chain of eateries, famously known as Kakwacha Hangover Hotels and situated at the heart of Kisumu City's lakeside in Kenya, is facing its most daunting challenge yet. Akwacha and other women in business across this East African nation are bracing themselves for the ... MORE > >

Indigenous Farmers Harvest Water with Small Dams in Peru's Andes Highlands Mariela Jara A communally built small dam at almost 3,500 meters above sea level supplies water to small-scale farmer Cristina Azpur and her two young daughters in Peru's Andes highlands, where they face water shortages exacerbated by climate change. "We built the walls of the reservoir with stone and earth ... MORE > >

Safety of Children an Afterthought for Tech Companies Charlotte Munns Global upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has left society’s most vulnerable exposed. Instances of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) found online have increased at an alarming rate over past months. The incidence is higher, the abuse is worse, and the children are younger. ... MORE > >

Sudan's Partners Pledge almost $2Bn but Is it Enough? Reem Abbas This week, when Sudan's Minister of Energy and Mining Adil Ibrahim addressed the country, stating that households will face power-cuts for up to seven hours a day, people had already been sitting on plastic chairs outside their homes, scouring the internet to purchase battery-operated fans. This ... MORE > >

Q&A: Post COVID-19 Pandemic Let's Stop the Next Wave of Medicalisation over Mental Health Samira Sadeque The current pandemic is not only heightening mental health concerns, but might also put many at risk of becoming institutionalised or being neglected by the system. This is according to Dainius Pūras, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the ... MORE > >

African Governments Failing Survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation Tsitsi Matekaire In Malawi, Mary* was only 14 years old when she was recruited and trafficked to the city of Blantyre and sold for sex in a bar. A man had arrived in her village looking for girls to work as domestic helpers for families. He appeared genuine and for Mary - and many girls who are out of school ... MORE > >

The Best Law Capital Can Buy Jomo Kwame Sundaram Katharina Pistor’s recent book, The Code of Capital: How the law creates wealth and inequality shows how law has been crucial to the creation of capital, and how capital continues to survive, evolve and enhance its ability to ‘make money’, or secure wealth legally, i.e., through the law. Jomo ... MORE > >

Lifting Livelihoods by Lifting Water Sabina Devkota While growing up in Lele village in southern Lalitpur, Pratap Thapa watched his parents plant maize on their terrace farm and wait for the rains. He often wondered how much of their drudgery could be reduced if water could be brought up from a nearby river. Thapa went on to study engineering at ... MORE > >