News headlines in 2019, page 11

ROME, Nov 25 (IPS) - Statistics and stories. When aid agencies appeal for funding to tackle the latest refugee crisis and journalists do their reporting, then these are the two narratives most chosen -- one impersonal and the other upfront and individual.

The sheer numbers can feel overwhelming. The UN refugee agency UNHCR says more than 70 million people are currently displaced by conflict, the most since the Second World War. Among them are nearly 26 million who have fled their countries (over half under the age of 18) and 3.5 million more are registered as asylum seekers.

GENEVA, Nov 25 (IPS) - Minamata COP3 provides chance to get effectiveness evaluation right. It has been more than two years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force. The global treaty protects humans and the environment from the toxic metal, but countries are still stuck on how to measure the agreement's effectiveness.

WASHINGTON DC and LONDON, Nov 25 (IPS) - As the West questions damaging austerity policies, it is becoming the new normal for the rest of the world, risking achievement of sustainable development goals. After years of austerity, a number of Eurozone countries are now considering expansionary fiscal policies. And in the UK, government spending is set to return to levels last seen in the 1970s. But austerity abounds elsewhere in the world, including in some of the poorest countries.

Nov 24 (IPS) - It has been two years since #MeToo went viral, and it's about time the garment industry's sexual harassment problem got the attention it deserves. Clothing and footwear brands can do much more to prevent and address gender-based violence in their supply chains, but first they need to confront how badly their inspection or "social auditing" programs fail women.  

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 24 (IPS) - Violence against women and girls is among the most widespread, and devastating human rights violations in the world, but much it is often unreported due to impunity, shame and gender inequality, the UN highlighted ahead of Monday's World Day to stamp out abuse of women and girls.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (IPS) - Human rights campaigners have reacted angrily to the election of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO's top board, highlighting the kingdom's ongoing crackdowns on political freedoms and critics.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (IPS) - When a coalition of international donors pledged more than $650 million to provide assistance to over 300 million smallholder farmers in developing countries, the primary aim was to help increase agricultural and livestock production besieged by droughts, floods and other natural disasters triggered by climate change-- mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Nov 22 (IPS) - Since philanthropists are unlikely to fund anything that destabilises their businesses, building independent institutions can be an effective approach to create lasting impact.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (IPS) - An alarming lack of exercise among adolescents across the world risks seriously compromising their health into adulthood, the UN said on Thursday.

BEIJING, China, Nov 21 (IPS) - How Indonesian craftsmanship is undergoing a revival at the world's first ‘bamboo university'.

It's fast-growing, flexible and strong. Standing underneath a bamboo canopy, it is easy to understand why people have been using this grass plant for years, in the construction of houses, bridges and scaffolding.