News headlines in October 2019, page 5

ROME, Oct 18 (IPS) - Headwinds are blowing amid IMF warnings of a "synchronised slowdown" in global economic growth, yet Africa's investment drive is still gathering pace, supported by intense international competition in development finance.

BAMAKO, Mali/COTONOU, Benin, Oct 18 (IPS) - Abdoulaye proudly displays an album showing photos of him and his family during happier times when they all lived together in their home in northern Mali. Today, these memories seem distant and painful.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (IPS) - A staggering 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) last year, the UN health agency said on Thursday, in an appeal for far greater funding and political support to eradicate the curable and preventable disease.

NAIROBI, Oct 17 (IPS) - Climate change has a disproportionate impact on women and girls. This is clear when it comes to water, for instance. The Global Commission on Adaptation Report launched at the United Nations General Assembly last week states that the number of people who may lack sufficient water, at least one month per year, will soar from 3.6 billion today to more than 5 billion by 2050.

DHAKA, Oct 17 (IPS) - After his father passed away two years ago, the burden of caring for a six-member family rested on the shoulders of the now 19-year-old Farhad Hossain. He had no clue how he would support his family and pay for the education of his four younger siblings. 

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (IPS) - When the six much-ballyhooed high-level UN meetings concluded late September, there were mixed feelings about the final outcomes.

And civil society organizations (CSOs), who were mostly disappointed with the results, are now gearing themselves for two upcoming key climate summit meetings: COP25 in Santiago, Chile in December and COP26 in Glasgow, UK in late 2020, along with the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Women's Conference scheduled to take place in September 2020 in New York.

BONO EAST REGION, Ghana, Oct 16 (IPS) - Adwoa Frimpomaah, a smallholder farmer from Dandwa, a farming community in Nkoranza, in Ghana's Bono East Region, and her two children have been consuming insect-infested and discoloured grains produced from their three-acre farm.

GENEVA / LAGOS, Oct 16 (IPS) - In Geneva this week, a treaty process is underway that promises to usher in a new era for human rights around the globe.

The process—the intergovernmental working group on the binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights—could mean that for the first time, human rights would be prioritized above corporate profits.

ILLINOIS, United States / ABUJA, Oct 16 (IPS) - United Nations World Food Day is celebrated around the world on October 16 under the theme: "Our Actions ARE Our Future. Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World". This theme is timely, especially, because across Africa and around the world, there has been a gradual rise in malnutrition and diet-related non communicable diseases, as highlighted in The Lancet study and a United Nations Report published earlier this year.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) - A wave of bloody Taliban attacks aimed at derailing Afghanistan's recent elections killed and maimed hundreds of people, including children, the United Nations mission to the country said on Tuesday.