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 …
Steven Broad is Executive Director, TRAFFIC, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network
An animal market in Indonesia. Credit: TRAFFIC
CAMBRIDGE, UK, May 7 2020 (IPS) – At the time of writing, the COVID-19 pandemic is raging worldwide, causing human mortality and socio-economic disruption on a massive scale and it appears highly likely that profound impacts will continue for many years to come.
Although the precise origins of the disease remain unproven, there are strong indications of a wild animal source and a direct link to wildlife trade in China.
Even if evidence points elsewhere in future, the magnitude of the current outbreak places under an intense spo…
Djaffar Shalchi is an entrepreneur and business owner and founder of the Move Humanity campaign
Health workers applause back to the public applauding them. Madrid, Spain, 22 March 2020. Credit: Burak Akbulut
COPENHAGEN, May 28 2020 (IPS) – For the past few decades, many big corporations and very wealthy individuals have operated according to the myth that they are “self-made”, that their success owed nothing to anyone else.
From that narrative has come the notion that they are entitled and able to cut themselves off from others, contributing as little as possible in taxes and workers’ wages.
But now that the myth has run into the fact of th…
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jul 8 2020 (IPS) – The issue of women’s rights, feminism and gender is complex and ongoing in most countries including Bangladesh. When I was asked to write about impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, I found myself drawn towards writing about women’s situation in general as that automatically impacts COVID-19 response as well. Since I am a woman who has been a part of many different cultures, yet a Bangali at heart, I am not only a survivor within its ranks but also responsible for being a part of the solution to the problems we face.
Saima W. Hossain
At the heart of it is the question: Are women in Bangladesh truly equal in all social, economi…