Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Preserving Food Security in Africa's Urban Areas Isaiah Esipisu In Torit State, southern South Sudan, Margaret Itto is one of the farmers in Africa’s youngest country who have invested heavily in agriculture. But she is not able to access the lucrative market for her produce in the capital Juba simply because of poor roads. “Road infrastructure in this ... MORE > >

COVID-19 Pandemic an Opportunity to Re-evaluate How we Treat World's Starving Children Miriam Gathigah While COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world, Nobel Laureates and world leaders have today expressed concern that ongoing crisis is far from being an equaliser. The pandemic has revealed that the most vulnerable and marginalised populations, including and especially children, remain ... MORE > >

Caring for Poorest and Most Underserved Children Vital for Creating a Better World Stella Paul Kerry Kennedy has a clear mission – along with Nobel laureates and leading international figures – she wishes to ensure that hard-won gains in children’s rights are not destroyed by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy is the president of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights, ... MORE > >

Failing Africa’s Farmers, Starving the Continent Timothy A. Wise African organizations are demanding answers after a recent report found that Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) strategies have failed spectacularly to meet its goals of increasing productivity and incomes for millions of small-scale farming households by 2020 while reducing food ... MORE > >

Regressive Taxation Must Be Reversed Jomo Kwame Sundaram With many in the world experiencing declining living standards, there has been growing frustration. Many hope that progressive taxation will improve things. While some economies once had progressive tax systems, recent decades have seen regression. Competing, contradictory trends Triumph of ... MORE > >

Exclusive: Kailash Satyarthi Warns over a Million Children Could Die Because of COVID-19 Economic Crisis Stella Paul Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi warns of the danger that over one million children could die, not because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because of the economic crisis facing their families. In an exclusive interview with IPS, Satyarthi said that without prioritising children we could lose an ... MORE > >

UN Women Calls for Accelerating its Unfinished Business Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Twenty-five years ago, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing set a path-breaking agenda for women’s rights. As a result of the two-week gathering with more than 30,000 activists, representatives from 189 nations unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for ... MORE > >

World Risks Losing Entire Generation of Children, Nobel Laureates Warn Thalif Deen The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of millions of people worldwide, accounted for over 869,000 deaths, destabilised the global economy and triggered a marked rise in poverty and hunger in the developing world. But the fallout from one of the most devastating consequences of the ... MORE > >

COVID-19: Presidents, the Press, and the Pandemic Andrés Cañizález The presidents of the Americas, beyond their ideological differences, seem to agree in questioning the role of journalists and the media in the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, human rights organizations remind us of the fundamental role of information, especially in times of ... MORE > >

Americans By Force Joaquín Roy Why, in the United States, where change is the most pronounced hallmark, do some aspects never change? Why do many bad habits resist giving way to novelties that prove to be the basis of the success of the most developed country on earth and still the leading power? Why is the explanation for that ... MORE > >

Mozambique Reels from Repeated Attacks on Press Freedom Samira Sadeque While Mozambique was recently rattled by an arson attack on a local media organisation, experts say that it’s only a part of a worrying pattern of continuous attacks on the media in the country. On Aug. 23, unknown attackers set on fire the office of a weekly newspaper Canal de Moçambique ... MORE > >

Nobel Laureates and Global Leaders Call for Urgent Action to Prevent COVID-19 Child Rights Disaster Miriam Gathigah Regina Njagi’s four children, aged between 11 and 17, have not benefitted from online learning since the COVID-19 led to the closure of all schools in Kenya, earlier in March. With the closure, Njagi lost her job as a teacher at a local private school. “As a widow, these are desperate times for ... MORE > >

Not Guilty Verdict in Kuciak Killing - a Chilling Message for Journalists Ed Holt A Slovak businessman with alleged links to organised crime has been found not guilty of ordering the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak in a ruling that has left press freedom campaigners and politicians shocked. Marian Kocner had been accused of ordering the killing of Kuciak, an investigative ... MORE > >

COVID-19: Without Help, Low-Income Developing Countries Risk a Lost Decade Daniel Gurara , Stefania Fabrizio, Daniel Gurara , and Johannes Wiegand While the COVID-19 crisis is sending shockwaves around the globe, low-income developing countries (LIDCs) are in a particularly difficult position to respond. LIDCs have both been hit hard by external shocks and are suffering severe domestic contractions from the spread of the virus and the ... MORE > >