Stephen O’Brien is UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator
UNITED NATIONS, May 31 2017 (IPS) – The cruel conflict in Syria continues to tear families apart, inflicts brutal suffering on the innocent, and leaves them pleading for protection and justice. I readily acknowledge that there have been reports of a significant drop in violence in some areas of the country, but such steps forward continue to be counter-weighted by the reality of a conflict that continues to devastate the civilian population.
Stephen O’Brien
Just last week, 30 children and women were gravely injured in a heinous attack …
Born stateless, this baby acquired nationality in 2008 in Bangladesh. Credit: UNHCR/G.M.B. Akash
ROME, Nov 10 2017 (IPS) – Here’s another ‘unseen’ stark reality—that of millions of people around the world who are deprived of their identity, living without nationality. Their total number is by definition unknown and their only ‘sin” is that they belong to an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in the country where they have often lived for generations.
These millions of human beings are victims of continued discrimination, exclusion and persecution, states a UN refugee agency’s new report, calling for “immediate action” to secure equal nati…
Protesters gather outside the Lahore Press Club in the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, to demand justice for victims of sexual violence. Credit: Irfan Ahmed / IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 15 2018 (IPS) – Persistent and pervasive gender-based discrimination is undermining sustainable development and preventing communities and countries from reaching their full potential, said a UN agency.
In a new first-of-its-kind report, UN Women examines the progress in realizing the globally adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a gender lens.
Though SDG 5 specifically highlights the need to achieve gender equality, the report points to…
View from the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Credit: Ravin Vimesh
ROME, May 14 2018 (IPS) –
The end of the oil age
In the early 1970’s the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was an impoverished desert, with little access to food, water and well-paying jobs. Today, this country looks nothing like it was fifty years ago. Thanks to oil, the UAE has completely transformed and now is one of the most developed economies in the Middle East, if not the world: its per capita GDP is equal to those of highly developed European nations ($68,000 2017 est.).
Wealth in the UAE, as in other Gulf coun…
Vladimir Bozovic is Advisor of Government of the Republic of Serbia
Child labourers rescued in Delhi waiting to be sent back to their villages. Credit: Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec 18 2018 (IPS) – Entire human history is one great struggle for freedom. To many, slavery is a synonym for something in the past, for transatlantic slave trade, but, unfortunately, slavery still exists in many different forms.
Records show that over twenty seven million men, women and children still live today in conditions that characterized social form of the slave ownership. They are trapped in forced labor and debt bondage, in domicile work and forced marria…
Saima W. Hossain, a licensed school psychologist, is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Autism in the South East Asia Region, Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Autism and NDDs in Bangladesh, and Chairperson of Shuchona Foundation
WHO-SEARO Goodwill Ambassador for ASD Saima Wazed Hossain with the Honorable Prime Minister of Bhutan during a ‘Special Session’ featuring self-advocates. Credit: Rohit Vohra, APF
DHAKA, Mar 28 2019 (IPS) – The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked c…
MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Sep 7 2019 – World Health Organization’s (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and recipient of the 2019 Order of the Rising Sun as well as the 2018 Gandhi Peace Prize, Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, is in the Philippines to call on academics, medical stakeholders and those affected by the disease to unite towards “Zero Leprosy”.
Mr. Sasakawa, chairperson of The Nippon Foundation (TNF) one of Japan’s largest private organisations is attending two key global conferences on the disease being held in Manila this week. The first is the Global Forum of People’s Organizations on Hansen’s Disease, which is being held September 7 to 10, and the 20th International Leprosy Congress (ILC), from September 11 to 13.
Mr. Sasakawa will also call on e…
Mental health concerns for Bangladeshi garment workers — especially females — has always been of concern, even before the collapse of Rana Plaza. Credit: Obaidul Arif/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 2019 (IPS) – Nearly seven years ago, garment workers in Bangladesh were victims of one of the gravest man-made disasters in history a factory collapse that left more than 1,100 workers dead, and rendered thousands with injuries in many cases lifelong ones.
For many of the workers from Rana Plaza, the trauma remains real even to this day.
Bangladesh relies heavily on its garment industry for its rising status in the global economy, with text…
Off the main streets in Gonder, Ethiopia, poverty becomes starker. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS
PHILADELPHIA and NEW DELHI, Mar 13 2020 (IPS) – With about 109 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in Africa after Nigeria, and the fastest growing economy in the region. However, it is also one of the poorest, with a per capita income of $790.
About 80% of the Ethiopian population lives in rural areas, but these are increasingly migrating to urban areas due to a lack of job opportunities. However, with unemployment levels at 16.5%, the situation in urban areas offers even fewer possibilities of finding employment.
Poverty is predominantly a rur…
Part 1 – Addressing the Short Term Aspects
Credit: UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
AMSTERDAM/ROME, Apr 1 2020 (IPS) – What is likely to be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing economies? It is difficult to make predictions, because much will depend on the spread of the disease, especially in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, and the measures various Governments will take in the coming weeks and months.
This two part article looks at possible economic impacts and what actions may be required to minimize disruptions on the poor and vulnerable. The first part looks at short term actions, whereas the second will look at possible medium …