A boy grazes his cattle on farmland close to the site of a landslide in northern Pakistan’s Bagrot valley. Credit: Saleem Shaikh/IPS

BINDO GOL, Pakistan, Jan 15 2015 (IPS) – Khaliq-ul-Zaman, a farmer from the remote Bindo Gol valley in northern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has long lived under the shadow of disaster.

With plenty of fertile land and fresh water, this scenic mountain valley would be an ideal dwelling place – if not for the constant threat of the surrounding glacial lakes bursting their ridges and gushing down the hillside, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

“We can safely say that over 16,000 have been displ…

Corinne Schuster-Wallace, Senior Research Fellow at the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and Robert Sandford is EPCOR Water Security Chair at UN University, are lead authors of the new report, “Water in the World We Want, Catalyzing National Water-Related Sustainable Development.”

Little girls in Timor-Leste cross a rice field after heavy rains carrying water in plastic containers. Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret

HAMILTON, Canada, Feb 25 2015 (IPS) – We have entered a watershed year, a moment critical for humanity.

As we reflect on the successes and failures of the Millennium Development Goals, we look toward the post-2015 …

Distributing condoms in prisons and schools has set off a heated debate, rendering the fight against HIV/AIDS a challenge ahead of this year’s U.N. deadline for nations to halt its spread. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/ IPS

HARARE, Mar 28 2015 (IPS) – Tatenda Chivata, a 16-year old from Zimbabwe’s Mutoko rural district, was suspended from school for an entire three-month academic term after he was found with a used condom stashed in his schoolbag.

Regerai Chigodora, a 34-year-old prisoner at a jail in Harare, had his 36-year sentence stretched to 45 years after he was caught with used condoms in prison early this year.

With restrictions blocking the distribution o…

Yury Fedotov is Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “The magnitude of the problems we face is such that it is sometimes hard to imagine how any effort can be enough to confront them. But to quote Nelson Mandela, ‘It always seems impossible until it is done’. We must keep working together, until it is done” – Yury Fedotov. Credit: Courtesy of UNODC

VIENNA, May 27 2015 (IPS) – With terrorism, migrant smuggling and trafficking in cultural property some of the world s most daunting challenges, the magnitude of …

Priestesses from the Dongria Kondh tribal community in the eastern Indian mountain range of Niyamgiri perform an elaborate ritual before setting out on a quest for ancient seeds. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

NIYAMGIRI, India, Jul 22 2015 (IPS) – As the rhythmic thumping of dancing feet reaches a crescendo, the women offer a song to their forest god for a bountiful harvest.

“We are Dongria Kondh. We will die without our sacred hills and seeds.” — a priestess from the Niyamgiri Hills in eastern India
Then, with earthen pots on their heads and their spiritual creatures – a pigeon and a hen – in tow, they proceed in single file on a long march away from the…

Rome , Oct 1 2015 (IPS) – The 2015 Right Livelihood Awards were announced today in Stockholm at the Swedish Foreign Office International Press Centre by Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director, and Dr Monika Griefahn, Chair of the Board of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation.

Ole von Uexkull said: “This year’s Right Livelihood Laureates stand up for our basic rights –be it the rights of indigenous peoples or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities, or the right of all citizens to live in a world free from the scourges of war and climate chaos.

With their tireless work, on the frontlines and in courts, the Laureates uphold the values that led t…

“Abortion shouldn’t be a crime” reads a sign held in one of the numerous demonstrations held in Brazil to demand the legalisation of abortion. Credit: Courtesy of Distintas Latitudes

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 8 2016 (IPS) – The Zika virus epidemic and a rise in the number of cases of microcephaly in newborns have revived the debate on legalising abortion in Brazil. However, the timing is difficult as conservative and religious groups are growing in strength, especially in parliament.

“We…

This article forms part of an IPS series on the occasion of the World Humanitarian Summit, to take place May 23-24 in Istanbul.

Syrian refugee children learn to survive at a camp in north Lebanon. Credit: Zak Brophy/IPS

GAZA, Palestine, May 18 2016 (IPS) – We don t want charity, we want a long-term solution.

That s what a group of Palestinian refugees who fled the war in Syria and found safety in Gaza told last November.

Today, their sentiment continues to be echoed in Syria and in camps and urban centres hosting refugees across the region.

Ne…

Women with disabilities in Afghanistan protest for their rights. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 21 2016 (IPS) – Nearly 10 years after UN members adopted a progressive Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), progress implementing the convention has been mixed, even at the UN itself, say disability advocates.

Last week the 165 member states that are party to the met at the UN to review implementation and elect members of the committee of experts with disabilities which provides advice on the convention.

The elections last week brought about two firsts for the committee, including the first deaf sig…

Aug 1 2016 – To observe the World Breastfeeding Week, which is marked around the world from August 1-7 since 1992, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has declared this year s theme to be Breastfeeding: a key to sustainable development August 1-7.

Breastfeeding is in many ways linked with nutrition and food security, health, development, survival, and the achievement of full educational potential and economic productivity. Breastfeeding is an environmentally sustainable method of feeding compared to other substitutes. Linking breastfeeding with sustainable development is relevant and inclusive, as it enables the breastfeeding movement to connect with many other development issues over the next fifteen years to create greater impact globally.

This year, th…