Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Qatar Accuses UAE of Racial Discrimination in UN’s Highest Court Samira Sadeque Qatar officials reiterated their claim on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) be held responsible for their “discrimination” against Qatari citizens, as the third day of public hearings proceeded at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s highest court. But foreign ... MORE > >

Trinidad and Tobago - Protecting the iconic Three Sisters Jewel Fraser Trinity Hills in Trinidad and Tobago’s southeast region, also affectionately known as the Three Sisters, is home to a wildlife sanctuary that serves as a sort of incubator for fauna to reproduce and replenish the surrounding forest reserves of the Victoria-Mayaro region that includes the ... MORE > >

It Is Time to End the Controversial World Bank’s Doing Business Report Isabel Ortiz and Leo Baunach On 27 August the World Bank announced that it will suspend the Doing Business Report over data irregularities, until it conducts a review and audit. The halting of the report was welcomed by trade unions, academics and human rights groups. The World Bank’s Doing Business Report ranks countries ... MORE > >

Seeking Asylum? Not Here! Joseph Chamie Although the right to seek asylum is recognized nearly universally, governments across the globe are increasingly declaring, “Not Here!”. Those governments view the large and growing numbers of men, women and children seeking asylum in their countries as serious threats to their native populations, ... MORE > >

South Sudan - COVID-19 and Ongoing Violence has Catastrophic Impact on Civilians Samira Sadeque Large-scale intercommunal violence on civilians in the Jonglei and greater Pibor regions in South Sudan has led to the mass displacement of thousands of people who are living in the open without health care, adequate food, shelter, water or sanitation in the middle of the rainy season. With ... MORE > >

Trump Undermines WHO, UN System Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury After accusing the World Health Organization (WHO) of pro-China bias, President Donald Trump announced US withdrawal from the UN agency. Although the US created the UN system for the post-Second World War new international order, Washington has often had to struggle in recent decades to ensure that ... MORE > >

Energy Cooperatives Swim Against the Tide in Mexico Emilio Godoy A Mexican solar energy cooperative, Onergia, seeks to promote decent employment, apply technological knowledge and promote alternatives that are less polluting than fossil fuels, in one of the alternative initiatives with which Mexico is seeking to move towards an energy transition. "We ... MORE > >

Nepal Welcomes Qatar Labour Reform Upasana Khadka Even as Nepali workers stranded overseas face confusion and uncertainty during the Covid-19 crisis, labour reforms in Qatar – including an increase in the minimum wage announced in Doha on Sunday — may have lasting implications for migrants there. On 30 August, Qatar revised the minimum wage to ... MORE > >

Racism at the UN: Practice What You Preach Thalif Deen When two recent staff surveys, one in Geneva and the other in New York, revealed widespread racism at the United Nations, it triggered the obvious question: why shouldn’t the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) probe these ... MORE > >

It is Time for a Democratic Global Revolution Daniel Jositsch and Andreas Bummel The people of the world need to seize the moment and bring about a democratic global revolution. It is time for a global parliament and real representation. More than 21 million people got infected with the novel coronavirus and over 770,000 have died. Never before did the world witness similar ... MORE > >

Madagascar - Jails Hold more Pre-trial Prisoners than Convicted Criminals Samira Sadeque The recent killing of 22 prisoners in Madagascar during a prison escape on Sunday, Aug. 23 has brought the extraordinary situation of the country’s prisons under a spotlight. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the killings, criticising the current judicial system that has led ... MORE > >

Looking Back to Look Forward: What Does the Next Normal Look Like? Gary Rynhart In the last 100 years there have been seven crises that have had a truly global impact. Two global wars (1914-18 & 1939-1945); two global health pandemics, the Spanish Flu (1918) and HIV/AIDS (1980s onwards); one major political crisis (1989 – the end of the cold war); and two financial crises ... MORE > >

Semiarid Regions of Latin America Cooperate to Adapt to Climate Mario Osava After centuries of poverty, marginalisation from national development policies and a lack of support for positive local practices and projects, the semiarid regions of Latin America are preparing to forge their own agricultural paths by sharing knowledge, in a new and unprecedented ... MORE > >

Amazon ‘Women Warriors’ Show Gender Equality, Forest Conservation Go Hand in Hand Rosamaria Loures and Sarah Sax On an early December morning last year in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, half a dozen members of the Indigenous Guajajara people packed their bags with food, maps and drone equipment to get ready for a patrol. They said goodbye to their children, uncertain when, or whether, they would see them ... MORE > >

Firing Up India’s Clean Cooking Fuel Plan Neha Jain Usage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in rural Indian households has surged, partly due to India’s flagship clean cooking programme, but beneficiaries of the scheme consume less LPG than general customers per year, reports a new study. Household air pollution from burning solid fuels such as ... MORE > >

What Will It Take to Prioritise Climate Change? Moutushi Sengupta India ranks third in terms of absolute levels of carbon emissions after China and the United States. In a business as usual scenario, by 2030, emission levels are predicted to reach more than 4.4 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GTCO2) equivalent of greenhouse gas—up from 3 GTCO2 today—overtaking the ... MORE > >

Standing Up to Myths and Misinformation in Nigeria During the Pandemic Chylian Azuh ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a common and seemingly harmless saying. But what happens when commonly eaten foods like pepper, garlic and ginger are wrongfully said to prevent COVID-19? What can we do to fight harmful misinformation? During the first two weeks of the lockdown in ... MORE > >