AUSTRALIA, Jan 3 2022 (IPS) – The new Yangtze River Protection Law (YRPL), which came into effect on March 1, 2021, is China’s . The Yangtze River is China’s longest and largest river system, and has over . With a drainage basin covering more than 1.8 million square kilometres, approximately one-fifth of China’s total land area, the river basin is home to over 40% of the .
Genevieve Donnellon-May
The new law suggests that the Chinese Central government is shifting its priorities when it comes to rivers and ecological conservation. The YRPL demonstrates a major milestone in the CCP’s legislation on ecological protection and restoration: it seeks to str…
The following opinion piece is part of series to mark International Women’s Day, March 8.
Activists in Myanmar taking part in the ‘Sarong Revolution’. Credit: Khin Su Kyi
NEW YORK, Mar 2 2022 (IPS) – This will be the second International Women’s Day since the brutal coup erupted in Myanmar – and women remain fiercely in the lead in demanding justice and peace in the streets and behind closed doors.
Last February, the coup threw Myanmar into further chaos and violence. The military used excessive force, indiscriminate killings, arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, limits on civic space, nightly raids, and more.
With this complete upheava…
SINGAPORE, May 2 2022 (IPS) – Amidst a backdrop of rising food insecurity worldwide and a global food supply chain crisis, many countries are attempting to increase the level of food self-production. One improved input for farming which is receiving renewed attention is improved seed. The two most populous countries in the world, China and India, have recently made ground-breaking moves to improve their competitive position by developing new seeds which will improve their food production and increase resilience to climate change. So far, in 2022, new regulations on using biotechnology () have been put in place by both countries to ultimately allow smallholder farmers to benefit from these new seeds.
The proposed law seeks to provide age appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and services. Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPS
NAIROBI, Jun 27 2022 (IPS) – The Ministry of Health in Kenya recently that about 700 teenage girls got pregnant daily over a two-month period, in this year alone. What is more is that during this period, 98 adolescent girls betwe…
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 27 2022 (IPS) – Inflation phobia among central banks (CBs) is dragging economies into recession and debt crises. Their dogmatic beliefs prevent them from doing right. Instead, they take their cues from Washington: the US Fed, Treasury and Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs).
Costly recessions
Both BWIs – the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank – have recently raised the alarm about the likely dire consequences of the ensuing contractionary ‘race to the bottom’. But their dogmas stop them from being pragmatic. Hence, their policy analyses and advice come across as incoherent, even contradictory.
Anis Chowdhur…
The African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation will be hosted by Rwanda. It is part of the African Development Bank’s commitment to spend at least USD 3 billion over the next ten years to …
Dr. Jharendu Pant is Senior Scientist – Sustainable Aquaculture Program, WorldFish
Fish farmers harvest genetically improved farmed tilapia. Credit: Shandy Santos
PENANG, Malaysia, May 3 2023 (IPS) – For Timor-Leste, as with most other islands in the Pacific, fortunes are to be found in fish – an equity food available to all regardless of status.
Nevertheless, the island is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change, hampering domestic food production and contributing to Timor-Leste’s ranking of out of 121 countries for malnutrition. Meanwhile, the country is highly dependent on imported foods – including aquatic foods.
But a na…
Women’s rights groups have questioned the legal provision requiring doctors to collect records on all pregnancies, saying it could be used to monitor abortions.
BRATISLAVA, Jul 5 2022 (IPS) – Women’s rights groups fear a new legal provision in Poland requiring doctors to collect records on all pregnancies could create what they have described as a ‘pregnancy register’ to monitor whether women are having abortions.
Poland has some of Europe’s strictest abortion laws with terminations allowed in o…
Oct 5 2022 –
Sigrid van Aken is the CEO of , a private company with a social purpose, that brings together business and ideals. It sets up and operates Postcode Lotteries worldwide to raise funds for charity. With a lucky winning postcode (zipcode), neighbours win together. At the same time, thanks to these player communities, vital funding is raised for charities and good causes (yearly €825 million), making the Postcode Lottery Group the 3rd largest private charity donor in the world after the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.
Since 2013, Sigrid has been a member of the international Executive Board. Postcode Lotteries are operated in the Ne…
Ibrahim Mayaki, the Africa Union Special Envoy for Food Systems, previously served as the CEO of the AU Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). Ahead of the UN Food System Stocktaking Moment scheduled to take place in Rome on 24 – 26 July 2023, Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor interviewed Dr. Mayaki. They discussed various issues regarding the state of Africa’s food systems and the opportunities and challenges involved in feeding a rapidly growing population. Credit Africa Renewal, United Nations.
Below are excerpts from their insightful conversation:
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 20 2023 (IPS) –
Q: As the African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems, w…