News headlines in February 2020, page 3

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 (IPS) - The United Nations, which has long preached the irrefutable concept of income equality to the outside world, is now accused of condoning wage discrimination in its own backyard.

KATHMANDU, Feb 21 (IPS) - A major discrepancy between Nepal government and foreign records of the number of Nepali children adopted in North America and Europe has exposed a trafficking ring that involves various child welfare agencies in Kathmandu.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 20 (IPS) - The UN's highly-touted socio-economic agenda, which lays out an ambitious global plan for "people, planet and prosperity", has been dominated by "goals, targets and deadlines."

HARARE, Feb 20 (IPS) - While there are a large number of instances of child smuggling and trafficking across Zimbabwe's porous borders, these cases still remain unknown and unreported because of the nature of the crime.

Elton Ndumiso*, a bus-conductor who works a bus route from Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, to neighbouring South Africa, sees it all the time: Zimbabwean women travelling with three or four children, who are clearly not their own kids, and taking them across the border.

It's a crime that most bus drivers or conductors either turn a blind eye to, or become accomplices in by assisting the women. 

NAIROBI, Feb 20 (IPS) - The global gender community will meet in New York in March to review progress on gender equality and women's empowerment in the 25 years since the Beijing declaration. The theme for this year's Commission on the Status of Women gathering is Generation Equality, emphasizing how the current generation must close the gender gap. 

WASHINGTON DC, Feb 20 (IPS) - Making sure that opportunities to enter the workforce are fair and rewarding for women benefits everyone. Yet, the average female workforce participation rate across countries is still 20 percentage points lower than the male rate, largely because gender gaps in wages and access to opportunities, such as education, stubbornly persist.

ROME, Feb 19 (IPS) - In a groundbreaking ruling in January 2020, the International Court of Justice demanded that Myanmar halt all measures that contribute to the genocide of the Rohingya community.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (IPS) - "He struck his head, his side, his stomach and went on hitting him. When Hunain said he could not breathe, the teacher slammed him against the wall, saying, 'Being dramatic are we?'" This is the eye witness account from the classmate of 17-year-old Pakistani student, Hunain Bilal, who was allegedly beaten to death by his teacher after he failed to memorise his lessons.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 (IPS) - A report released last week has detailed the complex ways in which President Donald Trump's ‘Global Gag Rule' (GGR), that blocks U.S. global health assistance to foreign non-governmental facilities providing abortion or abortion-related services, is affecting the population in Malawi, a country already hard hit with numerous climate change disasters. 

NEW YORK, Feb 19 (IPS) - As reporters for Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper, Samuel Ogundipe and Azeezat Adedigba told CPJ they spoke often over the phone. They had no idea that their regular conversations about work and their personal lives were creating a record of their friendship.