The Week With IPS

	Women Benefit From Simple Economic Ventures Miriam Gathigah Angelina Chiziane starts her day by getting her husband ready for work in a small village in the southern province of Gaza, Mozambique, some 216 kilometers away from the capital, Maputo. She then makes the three kilometer journey to a nearby stream to fetch water and firewood and by the time ... MORE > >
	Heavy Rains Once Again Scatter the Poor in Asunción Mario Osava Néstor Colman, 69, remembers the river overflowing its banks nine times in Bañado Sur, the poor neighourhood in the Paraguayan capital where he was born and has lived all his life. “A record,” he jokes. He is one of the oldest in the improvised shelters of huts made of thin, fragile wood built ... MORE > >
	International Community Falls Short on Syrian Resettlement Tharanga Yakupitiyage “We cannot respond to refugee crises by closing doors and building fences,” said UN High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in his opening address to a high-level event in Geneva. By the end of the meeting, however, the international community remained reluctant to welcome ... MORE > >
OPINION: Ignore Standard Good Governance Prescriptions To Accelerate Development Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram Many well-meaning people believe that “good governance” is key to inclusive development. But research claiming that “good governance” is essential for rapid growth suffers from serious methodological or conceptual limitations. Existing definitions are extremely broad, suffer from functionalist ... MORE > >
	Thaw with United States Will Put Cuba’s Agroecology to the Test Ivet González The United States has indicated a clear interest in buying organic produce from Cuba as soon as that is made possible by the ongoing normalisation of ties between the two countries. But farmers and others involved in the agroecological sector warn that when the day arrives, they might not be ... MORE > >
	Press Freedom in Peril Moyiga Nduru A single phone call from an irate security official is enough to shutdown a newspaper in Sudan. Security agents sometimes employ unorthodox methods: they storm the premises of a newspaper or a printing press and confiscate print runs in full view of employees. No reasons are provided. And there is ... MORE > >
	Opinion: World Bank Reinvents Tainted Aid Program for Ethiopia Elizabeth Fraser I was taught that responsibility means admitting your mistakes and being accountable when you make a mistake. I still believe this to be true for individuals and institutions. So when a powerful group like the World Bank makes a mistake, I expect it to be accountable for its wrong-doings, and to do ... MORE > >
	Challenges of Polio Vaccination Ashfaq Yusufzai Pakistan and Afghanistan, the two remaining polio-endemic countries, have joined forces to eradicate poliomyelitis by vaccinating their children in synchronised campaigns. The two neighbouring countries -- sharing a 2,400 kms long and porous border -- have been bracketed as the stumbling block ... MORE > >
Yemen’s Health Crisis is “Critical,” Says WHO Tharanga Yakupitiyage The health situation in Yemen has severely deteriorated and is critical, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported. The conflict, which is now entering its second year, has devastated the country’s health system. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief ... MORE > >
	UN Begins Negotiations on Treaty to Protect Marine Resources Thalif Deen The United Nations has begun negotiations for a new legally binding treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological resources in the world’s oceans – nearly 64 percent of which lie beyond national jurisdiction. Elizabeth Wilson, Director of International Ocean Policy for ... MORE > >
	OPINION: A Decalogue to Understand Terrorism and Its Consequences Roberto Savio The recent Brussels massacre has created a short term reaction, which ignores a long term projection. All the debate is now about security, police reinforcement, new military strategies, as if terrorism can be solved just as a matter of public order. Roberto SavioIt is of critical importance ... MORE > >
	Why Poverty Won’t Go Away Amitava Kar In an email interview, Dr Geof Wood shares with Amitava Kar of The Daily Star why poverty and inequality persist despite all the fuss. Emeritus Professor of International Development at the University of Bath, Dr Wood is an internationally renowned development anthropologist and author of several ... MORE > >
	Agroindustry Provides Jobs, Better Living Standards in Paraguay Mario Osava “I worked in many companies, in construction, fertilisers, chemicals, but none of them were as good as this one,” said Dario Cardozo, who works in the Angostura Agroindustrial Complex (CAIASA) grain reception facility. The way he is treated by the owners and managers – “very educated people” – ... MORE > >