Today, around 21,000 children died around the world. This daily tragedy, from poverty and other preventable causes, rarely makes headline news.

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World

  1. Trapped by Tradition: The Widows of Ukerewe and the Ritual They Cannot Escape

    - Inter Press Service

    UKARA, Tanzania(, Apr 04 (IPS) - The night after her husband was laid to rest, 24-year-old Vivian Magesa sat in the dimly lit brick-walled house, surrounded by women from her late husband’s family. She had spent the past few days in mourning, wrapped in a white shroud, her head shaved as custom dictated. But as the hushed voices of her in-laws filled the room, Magesa realized her grief was far from over.

  2. Myanmar quake: Airstrikes continue despite ceasefire

    - UN News

    A story from UN News

    Myanmar’s military has continued to launch airstrikes and other attacks against opposition forces in the devastated country, one week since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck and despite agreeing to a ceasefire, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday.

  3. Energy Transfers Lawsuit Against Greenpeace Is an Attempt to Drain Our Resources and Silence Dissent

    - Inter Press Service

    Apr 04 (IPS) -
     

    CIVICUS speaks with Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel Strategic Defence for Greenpeace International, about the lawsuit brought by an oil and gas company against Greenpeace and its broader implications for civil society. Greenpeace is a global network of environmental organisations campaigning on issues such as climate change, disarmament, forests, organic farming and peace.

  4. Global Disability Summit Galvanizes Education Support for Crisis-Impacted Children with Disabilities

    - Inter Press Service

    NAIROBI & BERLIN, Apr 03 (IPS) - Of the nearly 234 million children and adolescents of school age affected by crises, 85 million are already out of school. At least 20 percent of them—or 17 million—are children living with disabilities.

  5. World Autism Awareness Day 2025: Sustainable Development Must Include Neurodivergent Perspectives

    - Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Apr 03 (IPS) - In 2007, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD), in an effort to promote inclusion and human rights for autistic individuals. Much work has been done and pushed forward by autistic advocates to bring lived experiences to global discussions.

  6. Solar-Powered Spinning Machines Help Indian Women Save Time and Earn More

    - Inter Press Service

    WARMAWASAW, Meghalaya, India, Apr 03 (IPS) - In India’s Meghalaya, silkworm rearing and weaving are common in rural areas. Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya is among the regions where eri culture is deeply rooted in tradition; several women there are using solar-powered spinning machines to make yarn.As light enters through the small window of a modestly constructed tin-roofed house, Philim Makri sits on a chair deftly spinning cocoons of eri silk with the help of a solar-powered spinning machine in Warmawsaw village in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya in northeast India.

  7. DR Congo: Millions Facing Destitution as Violence Forces People to Flee Multiple Times

    - Inter Press Service

    OSLO, Norway, Apr 03 (IPS) - Jan Egeland is Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warns that 100,000s of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been pushed into desperate conditions by the escalation of violent conflict in 2025.

  8. ‘Every piece tells a story’: Bombs to beauty, from Gaza to Ukraine

    - UN News

    What happens to bombs after they land? Some explode. Some don’t, leaving behind a deadly legacy of war, but now the remnants of conflict and devastation are being turned into wearable messages of peace.

  9. DR Congo: Armed violence displaces thousands as cholera outbreak worsens

    - UN News

    A story from UN News

    Ongoing violence in North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to kill, injure and displace civilians, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned.

  10. World News in Brief: Israeli military escalation in Syria, Nicaragua rights probe, South Sudan talks

    - UN News

    A story from UN News

    The UN Special Envoy for Syria has condemned the repeated and intensifying military escalations by Israel in the country, including airstrikes that have caused civilian casualties.

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Issues in depth

Latest

Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction

Many are afraid that tackling climate change is going to be too costly. But increasingly, studies are showing action will not just be cheaper than inaction, but could actually result in economic, environmental and even health benefits, while improving sustainability.

Read “Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction” to learn more.

Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction

The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing.

Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.

This section looks at what causes climate change, what the impacts are and where scientific consensus currently is.

Read “Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction” to learn more.

COP20—Lima Climate Conference

An overview of the Climate Change Conference (also known as COP 20), held in Lima, Peru in December 2014.

While it seemed like it was a successful meeting, because developing nations were committed to drawing up their own plans for emissions reductions for the first time, a number of important issues were left undecided such as how financing would work.

This page is an overview of the Lima Climate conference.

Read “COP20—Lima Climate Conference” to learn more.

Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

An overview of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa that has been described by the World Health Organization as the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease.

The epidemic began at the end of 2013, in Guinea. From there it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. Many of the affected countries face enormous challenges in stopping its spread and providing care for all patients.

Thousands of people have died and many are at risk as the fatality rate from this virus is very high. As the crisis worsens, as well as the enormous health challenges involved, the social and economic consequences may set these countries back, reversing some gains a number of these countries have made in recent years.

Read “Ebola Outbreak in West Africa” to learn more.

Foreign Aid for Development Assistance

In 1970, the world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their gross national income as official international development aid, annually.

Since that time, billions have certainly been given each year, but rarely have the rich nations actually met their promised target.

For example, the US is often the largest donor in dollar terms, but ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated 0.7% target.

Net ODA in dollars and percent of GNI

Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations. Common criticisms, for many years, of foreign aid, have included the following:

  • Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countries
  • Most aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most
  • Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products
  • Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away.

This article explores who has benefited most from this aid, the recipients or the donors.

Read “Foreign Aid for Development Assistance” to learn more.

Nature and Animal Conservation

Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves.

Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other challenges are making conservation a struggle.

Read “Nature and Animal Conservation” to learn more.

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“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.” — Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom