The Week with IPS 5/8/2015

2015/5/8	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Living the Indigenous Way, from the Jungles to the Mountains Stephen Leahy In the course of human history many tens of thousands of communities have survived and thrived for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Scores of these largely self-sustaining traditional communities continue to this day in remote jungles, forests, mountains, deserts, and in the icy regions of the ... MORE > >
	Sri Lanka’s Development Goals Fall Short on Gender Equality Ranjit Perera When Rosy Senanayake, Sri Lanka’s minister of state for child affairs, addressed the U.N. Commission on Population and Development (CPD) in New York last month, she articulated both the successes and shortcomings of gender equality in a country which prided itself electing the world’s first female ... MORE > >
	Urban Slums a Death Trap for Poor Children Valentina Ieri It’s called the urban survival gap – fuelled by the growing inequality between rich and poor in both developing and developed countries – and it literally determines whether millions of infants will live or die before their fifth birthday. Save the Children’s annual report on the State of the ... MORE > >
	Costa Rica’s Energy Nearly 100 Percent Clean Diego Arguedas Ortiz Costa Rica has almost reached its goal of an energy mix based solely on renewable sources, harnessing solar, wind and geothermal power, as well as the energy of the country’s rivers. In April, the state electricity company, ICE, announced that in 2015, 97 percent of the country’s energy supply ... MORE > >
	Families in Quake-Hit Nepal Desperate to Get on With Their Lives Naresh Newar Just over a week after a dreadful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal, displaced families are gradually – but cautiously – resuming their normal lives, though most are still badly shaken by the disaster and the proceeding aftershocks that devastated the country. However, delivery of ... MORE > >
	EU Calls for Paradigm Shift in Development Cooperation Ramesh Jaura In the run-up to the international Conference on Financing for Development from Jul. 13 to 16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the European Union has called for a “true paradigm shift” in global development cooperation. The Addis Ababa conference will be followed by the U.N. post-2015 Summit in New ... MORE > >
	Israel Slammed Over Treatment of Palestinian Children in Detention Mel Frykberg Palestine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council demanding that action be taken against Israel over the abuse of Palestinian children after they have been arrested by Israeli security forces. "Every single day and in countless ways, ... MORE > >
	In India, a Broken System Leaves a ‘Broken’ People Powerless Neeta Lal As India paid glowing tributes to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the architect of its constitution and a champion of the downtrodden, on his 124nd birth anniversary last month, public attention also swivelled to the glaring social and economic discrimination that plagues the lives of lower-caste or ... MORE > >
	Jazz as a Force for Peace and Freedom A. D. McKenzie Against the backdrop of civil unrest in Baltimore, Maryland, the fourth annual International Jazz Day was celebrated with events around the world and appeals for peace, unity and dialogue. "Each of us is equal. All of us inhabit this place we call home," said American jazz legend Herbie Hancock. ... MORE > >
	The Blue Amazon, Brazil’s New Natural Resources Frontier Fabiola Ortiz The Atlantic ocean is Brazil’s last frontier to the east. But the full extent of its biodiversity is still unknown, and scientific research and conservation measures are lagging compared to the pace of exploitation of resources such as oil. The Blue Amazon, as Brazil’s authorities have begun to ... MORE > >
	Draconian Ban on Abortion in El Salvador Targeted by Global Campaign Edgardo Ayala International and local human rights groups are carrying out an intense global campaign to get El Salvador to modify its draconian law that criminalises abortion and provides for prison terms for women. Doctors, fearing prosecution, often report poor women who end up in the public hospitals with ... MORE > >
	Watch What Happens When Tribal Women Manage India’s Forests Manipadma Jena Kama Pradhan, a 35-year-old tribal woman, her eyes intent on the glowing screen of a hand-held GPS device, moves quickly between the trees. Ahead of her, a group of men hastens to clear away the brambles from stone pillars that stand at scattered intervals throughout this dense forest in the ... MORE > >