Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South | UN Chief Warns of Deadly Germs as Potential Bioterrorist Weapons; Digital Agriculture Linking Indian Farmers to Consumers Can Impact Food Security

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Beware the 'Hunger' to Access Indigenous Peoples' Land and Resources for Post-COVID-19 Recovery Samira Sadeque When governments and states begin their recovery journey from the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there might be a heightened threat to indigenous peoples, their land and resources. “The fear is the economic recovery is based on access to land and natural resources,” Lola ... MORE > >

Digital Agriculture Linking Indian Farmers to Consumers Can Impact Food Security Neeta Lal Digital technologies in agriculture are helping address the twin problems of food security and supply chain disruptions triggered by COVID-19 in India, while augmenting the income of smallholder farmers. Leveraging technology to match supply and demand of resources and food is key to overcoming ... MORE > >

Financialization: Tackling the Other Virus Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Michael Lim Mah Hui The 1971 Bretton Woods (BW) system collapse opened the way for financial globalization and transnational financialization. Before the 1980s, most economies had similar shares of trade and financial openness, but cross-border financial transactions have been increasingly unrelated to trade since ... MORE > >

The Quiet Survivors of a Global Pandemic Saima W. Hossain The issue of women’s rights, feminism and gender is complex and ongoing in most countries including Bangladesh. When I was asked to write about impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, I found myself drawn towards writing about women’s situation in general as that automatically impacts COVID-19 ... MORE > >

UN Chief Warns of Deadly Germs as Potential Bioterrorist Weapons Thalif Deen The coronavirus—which has claimed the lives of over 538,000 people and infected more than 11.6 million worldwide—has destabilized virtually every facet of human life ever since its outbreak in late December. Providing a grim economic scenario of the devastation caused by the pandemic-- ... MORE > >

Online Education Moved to Top of Agenda by Indian State after IPS Reports Risks of Unequal Access Manipadma Jena High up at an altitude of between 1,500 to 4,000 feet in India’s eastern Odisha state, live the Bonda people — one of this country’s most ancient tribes, who have barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years. Living isolated in these high forests, largely antagonistic to outsiders, ... MORE > >

Non-formal Education Helps Senegalese Women Combat FGM and Harmful Practices Stella Paul Growing up in Senegal’s southern Casamence region — a conflict zone — Fatou Ndiaye, now 43, often heard gunfire and watched fearfully as she saw people flee their villages. But what she dreaded more than a flying bullet was Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In her Wolof community, village ... MORE > >

Has COVID-19 Pushed Women in Politics off Kenya's Agenda? Miriam Gathigah In 2013, Alice Wahome ran in her third attempt to win the hotly-contested Kandara constituency parliamentary seat in Murang’a County, Central Kenya. As is typical of rural politics, the field was male-dominated, with the stakes being high for all candidates but more especially so for Wahome — no ... MORE > >

The Missing SDG: Ensure the Digital Age Supports People, Planet, Prosperity & Peace Amy Luers As the nations of the world prepare to gather virtually to assess progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), society is just beginning to imagine what a post-COVID world might be like. While many uncertainties remain, one thing is clear, the lives of people and the transactions ... MORE > >

A Pathway to Universal Healthcare in India Nachiket Mor Universal healthcare (UHC) is an important global goal because of its close links to poverty reduction and enhancement of the growth potential of countries. While several countries can now be said to be well on their way towards achieving this goal, several others, most notably large ones such as ... MORE > >

When Women and Children Cannot Escape their Abusers Sabine Saliba Reports of escalating violence against women and children made the news almost everyday in March and April following the announcement of lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19. The main concern has been that victims cannot escape their abusers or seek help when they share a confined space and ... MORE > >

Q&A: Child Marriage, FGM and Harmful Practices on Women’s Bodies to Increase Because of COVID-19 Samira Sadeque An additional 5.6 million child marriages can be expected because of the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in a short-term increase in poverty and the shutdown of schools. The current pandemic is also expected to have a massive impact on the projected growth of harmful practices on women’s ... MORE > >