News headlines in October 2017

NEW DELHI and PHILADELPHIA, Oct 31 (IPS) - Undernutrition is widespread and a key reason for poor child health in many developing countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, around 40 percent of children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth, that is, severely reduced height-for-age relative to their growth potential. Stunting is a result of periods of undernutrition in early childhood, and it has been found to have a series of adverse long-term effects in those who survive childhood. It is negatively associated with mental development, human capital accumulation, adult health, and with economic productivity and income levels in adulthood.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (IPS) - Although quite selective, targeted, edited and carefully managed, last year's Panama Papers highlighted some problems associated with illicit financial flows, such as tax evasion and avoidance. The latest Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report shows that illicit financial outflows (IFFs) from developing countries, already at alarming levels, continue to grow rapidly.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 31 (IPS) - Sustainable water supply is imperative for economic growth, but so often gets side-lined in the rush for development. The unanticipated consequence is a global economy that is increasingly stunted by water resource challenges, with worldwide predictions suggesting that global water demand will increase by approximately 75% more than global water supply in the next 30 years!

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 (IPS) - A UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution adopted on 31 October 2000, underlying the role of women in peacekeeping, has long been described as both historic and unprecedented.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Oct 31 (IPS) - At this crucial juncture of international migration, where numerous push and pull factors have engendered unprecedented migration flows across the globe, the ongoing discussions at the United Nations must lead to meaningful and practical outcome.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 31 (IPS) - The wave of conservativism is testing its limits in Brazil, as reflected by a Labour Ministry decree that seeks to block the fight against slavery-like working conditions, which has been provisionally revoked by the justice system.

NAIROBI, Oct 30 (IPS) - Fostering and harnessing innovative technologies could significantly reduce the negative impacts from climate change, including drought, water scarcity and food insecurity in African countries.

ROME, Oct 30 (IPS) - Facts are facts, and one of them is that while everybody talks about the growing forced movement of people --be they migrants or refugees—decision-makers haven't seriously acted on the root causes of why millions of humans are compelled to leave their homes.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 30 (IPS) - In August last year armed forces from both sides pushed forward into the desert and into the no-go buffer zone that the UN had established.

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (IPS) - Twenty-year-old Gogontlejang Phaladi of Mahalapye, Botswana is grateful she was never sent to a so-called "hyena" like scores of girls in neighboring Malawi were.