The Week With IPS 9/26

2014/9/26	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Conflict Keeps Mothers From Healthcare Services Stella Paul Twenty-five-year-old Khemwanti Pradhan is a 'Mitanin' - a trained and accredited community health worker - based in the Nagarbeda village of the Bastar region in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Since 2007, Pradhan has been informing local women about government health schemes and ... MORE > >
	Comprehensive Sex Education: A Pending Task in Latin America Fabiana Frayssinet In most Latin American countries schools now provide sex education, but with a focus that is generally restricted to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases - an approach that has not brought about significant modifications in the behaviour of adolescents, especially among the poor. The ... MORE > >
	The Changing Face of Caribbean Migration Jewel Fraser Ruth Osman is attractive and well-groomed in tailored slacks and a patterned blouse, topped by a soft jacket worn open. Her demeanour and polished accent belie the stereotypical view that most Caribbean nationals have of Guyanese migrants. As a Guyanese migrant living in Trinidad, the ... MORE > >
	Where Women Don't Work Ashfaq Yusufzai Saleema Bibi graduated from medical school 15 years ago - but to this day, the 40-year-old resident of Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has never been able to practice as a professional. "I wanted to get a government job, but my family wanted me to get ... MORE > >
	'Therapeutic Abortion' Could Soon Be Legal in Chile Marianela Jarroud Chile, one of the most conservative countries in Latin America, is getting ready for an unprecedented debate on the legalisation of therapeutic abortion, which is expected to be approved this year. In Chile, more than 300,000 illegal abortions are practiced annually - a scourge that is both ... MORE > >
	Climate Summit: Much Talk, A Bit of Walk Joel Jaeger Speaking to more than 120 heads of state at the U.N. Climate Summit, actor and newly appointed U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio made clear the long-ranging impact of the attendees' decisions. "You will make history," he said, "or you will be vilified by it."3 Tuesday's climate summit ... MORE > >
	Climate-Smart Agriculture is Corporate Green-Washing, Warn NGOs Thalif Deen On the sidelines of the U.N.'s heavily hyped Climate Summit, the newly-launched Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture announced plans to protect some 500 million farmers worldwide from climate change and "help achieve sustainable and equitable increases in agricultural productivity and ... MORE > >
	Water: A Defining Issue for Post-2015 Amantha Perera A gift of nature, or a valuable commodity? A human right, or a luxury for the privileged few? Will the agricultural sector or industrial sector be the main consumer of this precious resource? Whatever the answers to these and many more questions, one thing is clear: that water will be one of the ... MORE > >
	On Sri Lanka's Tea Estates, Maternal Health Leaves a Lot to Be Desired Kanya D'Almeida A mud path winds its up way uphill, offering views on either side of row after row of dense bushes and eventually giving way to a cluster of humble homes, surrounded by ragged, playful children. Their mothers either look far too young, barely adults themselves, or old beyond their years, ... MORE > >
	Saving the Lives of Cameroonian Mothers and their Babies with an SMS Ngala Killian Chimtom "You can't measure the joy in my heart," Marceline Duba, from Lagdo in Cameroon's Far North Region, tells IPS as she holds her grandson in her arms. "I am pretty sure we could have lost this child, and perhaps my daughter, if this medical doctor hadn't shown up," Duba says, a smile sweeping ... MORE > >
	U.N. High-Level Summits Ignore World's Political Crises Thalif Deen As the 69th session of the General Assembly took off with the usual political pageantry, the United Nations will be hosting as many as seven "high-level meetings", "summits" and "special sessions" compressed into a single week - the largest number in living memory. The agenda includes a world ... MORE > >
	"No Planet B": Marchers Demand Swift Action on Climate Change Roger Hamilton-Martin and Gloria Schiavi On Sunday, Sep. 21, at least 300,000 people filled the streets of New York City ahead of the U.N. General Assembly and special one-day Climate Summit Sep. 23 to protest the ongoing lack of political will to cut global CO2 emissions and kick-start a greener economy. They came by bus and bike and ... MORE > >
	Kenya's Ogiek Women Conquer Cultural Barriers to Support their Families Robert Kibet Just two years ago, Mary Ondolo, a 50-year-old mother of nine from Kenya's marginalised, hunter-gatherer community, the Ogiek, used to live in a grass thatched, mud house. She'd been living there for decades. But thanks to a donation of livestock and equipment she has now been able to send ... MORE > >
	Half a Century of Struggle Against Underdevelopment Pablo Piacentini The idea of creating Inter Press Service (IPS) arose in the early 1960s in response to awareness that a vacuum existed in the world of journalism, which had two basic aspects. Firstly, there was a marked imbalance in international information sources. World news production was concentrated in ... MORE > >
	Africa Seeks Commitment to Adaptation in Climate Deal Brendon Bosworth It is a critical time for international climate change negotiations. By December 2015, world leaders are due to decide on an international climate change agreement covering all countries that will take effect in 2020. Going into the upcoming United Nations negotiations -- the December COP 20 ... MORE > >
	Geographical Divide in Maternal Health for Syrian Refugees Shelly Kittleson At the largest refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, young Syrian mothers and pregnant women are considered relatively lucky. The number of registered Syrian refugees surpassed 3 million in late August, with the highest concentrations in Lebanon (over 1.1 million), Turkey (over 800,000), and Jordan ... MORE > >