Photojournalists stage a demonstration demanding the safe return of Shafiqul Islam Kajol, in front of the National Museum in Dhaka, on March 18, 2020. PHOTO: COLLECTED Mar 23 2020 – A barrage of fireworks light up the smoggy skies of Dhaka and I feel as if I m in the opening scenes of a dystopian…

Linda Eckerbom Cole is the Founder and Executive Director of . She shuttles between Santa Barbara, California and Uganda. KAMPALA, Uganda, Apr 7 2020 (IPS) – We are living in uncertain times. All of us are experiencing the Corona pandemic in various ways. For most it means quarantine and physical isolation. We worry about family…

Ensuring sex workers’ rights was essential, not just for the workers themselves, but for any country’s wider society, including public health The Russian capital, Moscow. Sex workers in the country say although public opinion about their work is shifting, they still face marginalisation and criminalisation. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS BRATISLAVA, Apr 27 2020 (IPS) – Despite…

Singapore, May 18 2020 (IPS) – When the United States and China signed the First-Phase of their Trade Agreement in January this year, President Donald Trump called it a “momentous step”, and the world believed they had stepped back from a dangerous brink. But, alas, to cite an idiom that is so current today, it…

Credit: shutterstock / getty / the atlantic Jun 30 2020 – President Donald Trump has got himself a wall. But it is not the one of his choosing, as one on the Mexican border. It is on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, a high fence that now separates him from his people. But as polls for…

Dr Renata Clarke is Sub-regional Coordinator Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ROME, Jun 8 2020 (IPS) – Few things are as natural and as necessary as eating food. However, if food producers, food processors, food handlers and consumers do not follow good food safety practices, food can become contaminated and rather…

Ramu Damodaran is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact* Engineering students gave a new purpose to a 3D printer by producing personal protective equipment (PPE) for local health professionals. Credit: Andrés Bello Catholic University/UN Academic Impact UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 2020 (IPS) – Among the many compelling points made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in our “Rethinking…

Batara slum in a Dhaka suburb. Credit: Naimul Haq/IPS ROME, Nov 26 2020 (IPS) – The recent meeting of the G20 – scheduled to take place in Riyadh but held virtually due to the Coronavirus pandemic – has been an eloquent example of how the world is drifting, in a crisis of leadership. It was,…

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 6 2020 (IPS) – Participation in global and regional supply chains has been one of the most reliable economic growth strategies, especially for developing countries in Asia and the…

The writer is International Climate Political Advisor at Greenpeace International The UN says global temperature rise could lead to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts or devastating floods. Nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming, according to a UN climate action report…