The Week with IPS

2016/10/7	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Reject Abusers from UN Human Rights Council: Advocacy Groups Tharanga Yakupitiyage The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the UN Watch have called on UN member states to oppose the bids of some of the major human rights abusing governments from joining the Human Rights Council (HRC). “This is absurd and outrageous,” said UN Watch’s Executive Director Hillel Neuer on the ... MORE > >
	Antonio Guterres Selected as Next UN Secretary-General Faces Tremendous Challenges Lyndal Rowlands The 15 members of the UN Security Council jointly announced Wednesday their decision to select Antonio Guterres of Portugal as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. “We have a clear favourite and his name is Antonio Guterres,” Vitaly Churkin, Russia's Permanent Representative to ... MORE > >
	Coffee Producers in Costa Rica Use Science to Tackle Climate Change Diego Arguedas Ortiz “Our coffee production per hectare has dropped due to early ripening of the fruit and diseases,” Maritza Cal coffee farmer in the mountains in southern Costa Rica, told IPS. This story repeats itself all over the world. The report “A Brewing Storm”, released on Aug. 29 by the Climate Institute ... MORE > >
	Amid South Africa's Drought, Proposed Mine Raises Fears of Wetlands Impact Mark Olalde The dam supplying Johannesburg’s water sits less than 30 percent full. Water restrictions have been in place since November and taxes on high water use since August. Food prices across South Africa have risen about 10 percent from last year, in large part due to water shortages. 3In the midst of ... MORE > >
	'The Earth Is Not Flat; It Is Urban' Baher Kamal When the United Nations elaborated its latest report on the impact of what it calls “the dramatic shift towards urban life,” it tried to draw a balanced portrait of both the opportunities and the challenges of the fact that 1 in 2 world inhabitant already lives in urban areas and what this ... MORE > >
	The UN's Blind Spot for Conflict Prevention Jonathan Rozen As the world struggles to respond to conflicts and the people fleeing them, UN insiders are also struggling to advance a ‘shift in mindset’ to help prevent these crises from happening in the first place. “Part of the challenge is the way we have characterised the work of the UN as one of a ... MORE > >
	Environmental Crimes Could Warrant International Criminal Court Prosecutions Phoebe Braithwaite The International Criminal Court (ICC) will pay more attention to crimes of environmental destruction and land-grabs, according to a new policy paper published by the court. This may see business executives and government officials in cahoots to exploit natural resources prosecuted for crimes ... MORE > >
	Pensions for All Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Rob Vos October 1st is the International Day of Older Persons. Just another day? Perhaps, but it should remind us that the world’s population is ageing, brought about by the combined effects of declining mortality and fertility rates and longer longevity. By mid-century, one out of five people will be over ... MORE > >
	UN Resolution on Journalist Safety Passed, But Long Way to Go Tharanga Yakupitiyage The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) advanced its commitment to the safety of journalists after adopting a groundbreaking resolution with measures for states to ensure journalist protection. But this is only the first step, many note. Though the UNHRC has adopted resolutions on the safety of ... MORE > >
	Wave Energy on the Horizon in the Pacific Islands Catherine Wilson Waves are ubiquitous in the more than 20 island states scattered across 165 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. But only this year, following a ground-breaking study by oceanographic experts, are they now seen as an economically viable source of renewable energy in the region. The ... MORE > >