Oct 5 2020 – As COVID-19 shapes and re-shapes the “new normal” in the Pacific, organic food and products will be a key to community adaptation and resiliency in the region’s economies and livelihoods, with the opportunity to advance a more inclusive gender and people centred approach.

The POETCom initiative, under the SPC’s Land Resources Division, has recognized this by taking the next step in its Building Prosperity for Women Producers, Processors, and Women Owned Businesses through Organic Value Chains (BPWP) project, a collaboration with the Australian Government. The project seeks to empower women for greater access to sustainable livelihoods t…

With upwards of 200 separate pieces of labour legislation, there is no strict definition in India of ‘labour laws’ to draw any boundaries. | Picture courtesy: Nayantara Parikh

DELHI, India, Nov 13 2020 (IPS) – Back in May 2019, we were visitin…

Daniel Kopp of International Politics and Society* (IPS) interviews Cristián Samper, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with global experts, governments and partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge on this new virus, to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and to provide advice to countries and individuals on measures to protect health and prevent the spread of this outbreak. Credit: WHO

NEW YORK, Dec 23 2020 (IPS) – Cristián Samper is working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, an organization that concerns itself with the health of wildlife all over the globe…

MEXICO CITY, Feb 4 2021 (IPS) – All of Erizo s nightmares are the same. Since his return from the ocean almost unrecognizable every bad dream is identical. A wave punches his little boat and throws him into the deep sea where everything is so dark that he can t even see his own hands.

Rosi Orozco

Even when he swam with all his energy, this 31 year old fisherman was never able to set foot on the mainland and to him, the Mexican Pacific ocean slowly became a grave formed only of water.

When Erizo dies in his nightmare, he wakes up in real life, opening his mouth like a dying fish that desperately tries to gasp some air. Then, he and his wife are on a midnight routine…

Minor resting after exiting the mine, Ghana. Credit: Lisa Kristine

SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 9 2021 (IPS) – I am about 200 feet down a rickety old mine shaft, in the Ashanti gold mining region of Ghana. It is stiflingly hot and darker than a moonless night. I can only feel the touch of sweaty bodies passing in the darkness and hear the reverberating sound of miners coughing and breaking rocks. The lack of oxygen and dust make it hard to breathe. I have no idea how deep this shaft goes – hundreds of feet? More? If there is a Hell this must be what it feels like.

The abolitionists who have brought me to this illegal operation refuse to go down the dilapidated shaft – …

The writer is UN Under Secretary-General for Economic & Social Affairs

This family in Tuvalu* is at the frontline of the effects of climate change. The water is only 10 metres from their house at high tide. Tuvalu rarely exceeds 3 metres above sea level, and at its widest point it spans about 200 meters. Tuvalu is extremely vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels combined with extreme weather events is contributing to the inundation of low-lying areas. Coastal erosion is also a major problem in Tuvalu, particularly on the western side of the islands. Credit: Mark Garten/UN Photo

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 14 2021 (IPS) – Millions of l…

The following Oped is part of a series of articles to commemorate World Environment Day June 5

Sunrise in the Ebro Delta in Spain’s Catalonia region. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said last month there was a 40% chance of the watershed global warming mark being met during the time frame, and these odds are increasing with time. Credit: WMO/Agusti Descarrega Sola

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Jun 2 2021 (IPS) – With the climate negotiations getting more and more intense in the light of ensuring meaningful achievements in the upcoming COP- 26 summit in Edinburgh, an event that is key to move forward the pathway towards a net zero future started in Paris, this year on J…

Logistic and communication challenges to rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine are immense in the rural and remote highlands region of Papua New Guinea. Credit: Catherine Wilson

CANBERRA, Australia , Jul 13 2021 (IPS) – Papua New Guinea (PNG), like many other Pacific Island countries, successfully held COVID-19 at bay last ye…

Dr Shafi Bhuiyan with colleagues. He and his colleagues argue that COVID-19 has exposed gaps in the Canadian healthcare system.

Toronto, Canada, Sep 3 2021 (IPS) – Access to quality healthcare is a basic human right, but for many, especially those in vulnerable communities, the right is not fully realized.

The exposed this in the Canadian healthcare system.

While surgical backlogs and delayed appointments may be prominent features of the healthcare crisis, the indirect impacts of Covid-19 must be considered. These include a , such as cancer screenings, declining health among Indigenous and aging people and for those with chronic illnesses, as well as worseni…

Women are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from mental illness, including depression. Credit: Unsplash /Melanie Wasser.

Oct 11 2021 (IPS) – was on October 10, 2021. The theme for this year was Mental Health in an unequal World . This is an appropriate focus given the extreme that exist in our society.

We are three providers committed to mental health equity across the globe-in India, Uganda and the United States. While…