News headlines in March 2018, page 5

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (IPS) - Sanjay Wijesekera is Global Chief, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene at the UN children's agency UNICEF*When disaster strikes, or conflict rages, families soon discover their most urgent need - water. In such precarious situations, access is usually limited or non-existent, and children and their families are forced to put themselves in further danger in the quest for water.

ROME, Mar 19 (IPS) - World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water' – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 (IPS) - David S. Evangelista is President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia.The parched earth made for a tough football pitch, but the youth of Loresho Primary school were determined. It was blue against yellow- two teams competing for the coveted prize of pride and victory.

NEW DELHI, Mar 19 (IPS) - Geetika Dang is Independent Researcher, India; Vani S. Kulkarni is Lecturer in Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, USA; Raghav Gaiha is (Hon) Professorial Research Fellow, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, England.Dowry deaths rose from about 19 per day in 2001 to 21 per day in 2016. It is indeed alarming that the rise in dowry deaths is unabated despite greater stringency of anti-dowry laws. In 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act made giving and taking of dowry, its abetment or the demand for it an offence punishable with imprisonment and fine or without the latter. This was an abysmal failure as dowries became a nationwide phenomenon, replacing bride price. More stringent laws followed. The Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1983 inserted a new section (498-A) to deal with persistent and grave instances of dowry demand and such offences were punishable with imprisonment extendable to three years. As cases of brutal harassment and dowry deaths continued to rise, another Act was passed in 1986, relating specifically to the offence of dowry death.

ISLA DE ASSUNÇÃO, Brazil, Mar 17 (IPS) - Indigenous communities in Latin America, who have suffered the plunder of their natural resources since colonial times, are reliving that phenomenon again as mega infrastructure are jeopardising their habitat and their very survival.

SAN SALVADOR, Mar 16 (IPS) - Carrying a red plastic bag containing an old pair of shoes and a few other belongings, David Antonio Pérez arrives to El Salvador, deported from the United States.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 16 (IPS) - As the death toll keeps mounting and the humanitarian crises continue unabated, the life of the average migrant or refugee has largely turned out to be an unmitigated nightmare.

WASHINGTON DC, Mar 16 (IPS) - Grace Virtue, Ph.D., is Senior Advisor – Communications, ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership.Known as El Libertador throughout the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, Simón Bolívar was central to the battle for independence from Spanish rule in Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

NEW DELHI, Mar 16 (IPS) - As Cape Town inches towards ‘Zero Hour' set for July 15, 2018, the real threat of water scarcity is finally hitting millions of people worldwide. For on that day, the South African city's 3.78 million citizens -- rich and poor, young and old, men and women -- will be forced to queue up with their jerry cans at public outlets for their quota of 25 litres of water per day.

ROME, Mar 15 (IPS) - This year, World Water Day, celebrated annually on 22 March, is themed "Nature for Water", examining nature-based solutions (NBS) to the world's water problems.