Thalif Deen interviews Anders Berntell, Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute*
STOCKHOLM, Aug 18 2009 (IPS) – We can provide astronauts with a safe supply of drinking water when they travel to the moon, but we cannot provide the same service to slum dwellers in Kibera, Nairobi or Dharavi, Mumbai, Anders Berntell, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), told a gathering of over 2,400 participants at the annual World Water Week concluding Friday.
Anders Berntell Credit: Stockholm…
LUSAKA, Sep 22 2009 (IPS) – The economy s down, the price of fertiliser s up. And Zambian farmers are stealing sewage for their vegetable gardens.
Farmers dig canals like this one to lead waste water directly to their gardens. Credit: Lewis Mwanangombe/IPS
Yes, raw sewage is a cocktail of germs that can cause life-threatening illnesses. Sanitation officials in both Lusaka and the Copperbelt province are accusing peri-urban farmers of …
LUSAKA, Oct 4 2009 (IPS) – For 70 minutes, the girls in the distinctive gold-and-green jersey of Brazil shut out the attacks by the visiting team. The bare feet of chubby-faced left back Njavwa Silungwe are lively in defence.
Jennifer Tembo is one of scores of vulnerable girls finding support in local football. Credit: Lewis Mwanangombe/IPS
The yellow-clad Chibolya Queens eventually lose the match. But their team s mer…
Zenzele Ndebele and Nasseem Ackbarally
MIDRAND, South Africa, Nov 11 2009 (IPS) – Water is a resource that binds people together, for better or worse.
Building a catchment pond in Uganda: Africa Water Week is a forum to discuss water issues across the continent. Credit: Glenna Thomas/IRIN
The care taken to prevent pesticides or sewage from washing into water supplies in one plac…
Chryso D’Angelo
NEW YORK, Dec 2 2009 (IPS) – When I saw the leaves on the trees curl and turn black and birds fall dead out of the sky, I knew that this was Death, come among us as foretold. My regret is that I survived, said a native of Bhopal, India after a gas leak at a pesticide plant killed 8,000-10,000 people in 1984.
The abandoned Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Credit: Bhopal Medical Appeal
A quarter century later, the disaster continues to unfold, an …
Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Jan 14 2010 (IPS) – As India s central government begins a series of public meetings across the country this month on the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) brinjal or eggplant in this country, activists and farmers groups are mobilising to oppose such a plan.
The meetings are a response by Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh to a storm of protests generated by the approval issued by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in October last year for the commercial cultivation of the genetically modified brinjal also called aubergine to resist pests with a gene from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt brinjal).
The environment ministry s first hearing, held Wednesday in the eastern city of Kolkata, ended u…
José Adán Silva
MANAGUA, Feb 15 2010 (IPS) – Nicaragua slammed the door on any possible debate on the restitution of therapeutic abortion performed to save the life of the pregnant woman despite demands that it do so voiced during a United Nations review of human rights in the country.
Under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) system, the U.N. Human Rights Council examines the human rights record of each member state every four years. The seventh session of the Council s UPR is taking place Feb. 8-19 in Geneva, Switzerland, and includes Nicaragua.
At last week s review on this Central American country, the Human Rights Council issued a report urging Nicaragua to strengthen protection for girls and women against domestic and sexual violence, by providing shelters for…
Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Mar 22 2010 (IPS) – The full-page newspaper advertisements touting the benefits of a controversial aluminium smelter plant appeared here just as the court of appeal is preparing to rule on whether such a facility is ever built in Trinidad and Tobago.
The advertisements feature prominent people and groups from the La Brea community in Trinidad s south, where the Alutrint Smelter Plant would be located. In one, Arthur Forde, identified as a La Brea community elder, says the smelter plant would allow Trinidad and Tobago to build ships, planes and every other thing that can be done here in Trinidad .
But anti-smelter activist Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh believes the ads and other activities are designed to prejudice the court process.
The …
Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON, Apr 26 2010 (IPS) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in its first-ever case involving genetically modified crops. The decision in this case may have a significant impact on both the future of genetically modified foods and government oversight of that and other environmental issues.
The case, Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, revolves around an herbicide-resistant alfalfa, the planting of which has been banned in the U.S. since a federal court prohibited the multinational Monsanto from selling the seeds in 2007.
That decision found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not do a thorough enough study of the impacts the GM alfalfa would have on human health and the environment and ordered the agency to do another env…
Kristin Palitza
DURBAN, South Africa, Jun 3 2010 (IPS) – Even though tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause for illness and mortality in children, South Africa lacks the political will to tackle the disease, health experts say.
TB goes undiagnosed in many South African children. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS
And the country s health system is not up to scratch to diagnose and treat children who have contracted the bacteria.
TB in children is neglected, and we need to urgently redress this, said Health System…