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Friday, October 20, 2017

The Week With IPS 10/20/2017

   2017/10/20 Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter   

Can Index Insurance Make African Farmers Climate-resilient?
Wambi Michael
Index insurance is being promoted as a solution to protect climate affected smallholder farmers in Africa. This type of micro insurance is slowly gaining ground as a way of compensating farmers for lost crops and livestock due to climate change. A number of African governments have either ... MORE > >

Mexican Immigrants Help Sustain Two Economies - and Are Discarded
Daniela Pastrana
They work for years to bolster the economies of two countries. For one, the United States, they provide labour and taxes; for the other, Mexico, they send remittances that support tens of thousands of families and communities. Then they are deported, and neither government takes into account their ... MORE > >

Global Campaign to Smoke Out Tobacco Firms from UN Body
Thalif Deen
The world’s tobacco companies – which have been widely ostracized in the UN system – may be ousted from one of their last fortified strongholds in the United Nations: the International Labour Organization (ILO). A letter signed by nearly 200 public health organizations and labour rights groups ... MORE > >

The Future for Financing Africa’s Renewable Energy
Wambi Michael
Lack of energy access presents a formidable challenge to Africa and lack of access to financing has been singled out as the biggest reason why over 620 million people living on the continent are stuck in energy poverty.The issue of inadequate financing, especially for renewable energy sources, was ... MORE > >

Zimbabwe’s Diaspora Could Help Revive Ailing Economy
Sally Nyakanyanga
At the dawn of the millennium, Sheila Mponda, 60, waved goodbye to her four children, who were leaving Zimbabwe for the United Kingdom in search of greener pastures. Mponda had just lost her husband and had been a housewife all her life. While the parting was bittersweet, since they established ... MORE > >

An Inequality Beyond Wealth: Gaps in Women’s Health
Tharanga Yakupitiyage
While many often focus on wealth disparities, economic inequality is often a symptom and cause of other inequalities including women’s access to sexual and reproductive health. In a new report, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) explores the persistent, if not widening, inequalities in sexual and ... MORE > >

To Eliminate Poverty, Better Understanding Needed
Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
As the United Nations’ Second Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017) comes to an end, more self-congratulation is likely. Claims of victory in the war against poverty will be backed by recently released poverty estimates from the World Bank, entrusted by the UN system to monitor poverty. ... MORE > >

What Do You Really Eat When You Order a Steak, Fish or Chicken Filet?
Baher Kamal
The world is running out of antibiotics to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned while announcing the World Antibiotic Awareness Week on 13-19 November. The reason, according to WHO, is that most of the drugs currently in the ... MORE > >

Argentina’s Biodiesel Plagued by Commercial and Environmental Challenges
Daniel Gutman
The Argentine biodiesel industry, which in the last 10 years has become one of the most powerful in the world, has an uncertain future, faced with protectionist measures in the United States and Europe and doubts in the international scenario about the environmental impact of these fuels based on ... MORE > >

Ending Poverty in Next 13 years Means Boosting Resilience Now
Jessica Faieta
This month the world marks two key International Days: for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October and for Disaster Reduction, four days earlier. It is no coincidence that they are profoundly connected. Reducing risks related to disasters has never been so urgent—and the Latin America and ... MORE > >

Dams Hurt Indigenous and Fishing Communities in Brazilian Amazon
Mario Osava
The dirty water is killing more and more fish and ‘Taricaya’ yellow-spotted river turtles every day. In addition, the river is not following its usual cycle, and the water level rises or declines without warning, regardless of the season, complained three Munduruku indigenous law students in the ... MORE > >

Trying to Make Immigration an Option Rather than a Need in Latin America
Orlando Milesi
The aim is for migration to become just one option among others for the rural population of Latin America, says Brazilian expert Luiz Carlos Beduschi, referring to an issue that causes concern in the region due to its impact on food security. The theme this year of World Food Day, celebrated ... MORE > >

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