News headlines in April 2018, page 2

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 27 (IPS) - Eleni Mourdoukoutas writes for Africa Renewal* When some 276 teenage girls were kidnapped from their boarding school in northeastern Nigeria in April 2014, Oby Ezekwesili, a civil society activist and former World Bank vice president, was disheartened by the lacklustre response of her government and local television stations.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 27 (IPS) - While sustainable development may still seem elusive to some, a new initiative wants to pave a path for nations working towards a greener future. Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, or P4G, is a new partnership initiative that aims to boost countries' efforts in achieving the globally adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CHULUCANAS, Peru, Apr 26 (IPS) - Getting children and adolescents to replace junk food with nutritious local organic foods is the aim of a group of women farmers in a rural area of Piura, on Peru's north coast, as they struggle to overcome the impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon.

KARACHI, Apr 26 (IPS) - "If I'm assured that my home and my village has been de-mined, I'd be the first to return with my family," says 54-year old Mohammad Mumtaz Khan.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 26 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.When a Malaysian politician of a bygone era was asked about the "leading newspapers" in his country, he shot back: "We don't have any leading newspapers in our country because all our newspapers are misleading."

ROME, Apr 25 (IPS) - The theme for the 25th celebration of World Press Freedom Day is "Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law," focussing on the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom, and gives attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and prosecution of crimes against journalists.

CANBERRA, Apr 25 (IPS) - Trevor Wilson is a retired Australian diplomat who served as Australian Ambassador to Myanmar from 2000-03, and has been Visiting Fellow at The Australian National University since 2003.The lead-up to the Australia-ASEAN Summit in Sydney on 16-18 March 2018 was characterised by widespread and well-publicised protests in Sydney against human rights abuses occurring in several ASEAN member countries – namely Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 25 (IPS) - Joyce Nganga is policy advisor with WACI Health, an African regional health advocacy NGO headquartered in Kenya. Inviolate Akinyi, a 46-year-old grandmother, is certain that her grand-daughter needs to get all her vaccines for her to grow up healthy and strong. She uses a mix of private and public clinics in Kibera, one of the largest informal settlement in Nairobi, to get the 15-month-old the shots she needs.

NEW DELHI, Apr 25 (IPS) - A devastating fire in a shanty at Kalindi Kunj, a New Delhi suburb, that gutted the homes of 226 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, including 100 women and 50 children, has trained a spotlight on India's ad hoc policy on international migrants.

DHAKA, Apr 24 (IPS) - Asma saw the roof collapse over her colleagues. Johora was dragged out of the rubble by her hair. Shirin was only 13 years old when her eyes and airways were filled with concrete dust. Five years have passed since the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1 134 people.BANGLADESH. Garment factories lie side by side along the freeway leading into the capital, Dhaka. But between the concrete blocks, a square, uninhabited piece of land is overgrown with greenery. This is where Rana Plaza used to be. Shirin Akhter, 18, turns her eyes away.