Shloka Nath is Executive Director, India Climate Collaborative

MUMBAI, India, Mar 23 2020 (IPS) – Over the past few years, worsening air quality in India—and in north India specifically—has awakened policy makers and civil society to take urgent action.

There have been some efforts to address air quality, specifically the (NCAP), which was launched in January 2019 with the aim of improving air quality standards by 20-30 percent over the next five years. While this has been a positive step, we not only need a more ambitious agenda, but also a strong compliance framework that ensures accountability to the targets we have set.

With growing congestion in cities�…

• Education and COVID-19: UN helps children continue their learning

There have even been that the coronavirus is related to exposure to new technologies (such as 5G, which can be used to deliver money mobiles services). There are measures authorities can take in response to better protect consumers.

Regulators, providers and consumer protection agencies can alert people to the risks; providers can make sure they have adequate consumer complaint mechanisms in place; and law enforcement can coordinate firm action, not only in country but across borders.

Credit: United Nations

Preying on vulnerable populations in developing countries at a time of cris…

A man’s legs chained in a Christian rehabilitation center in Ibadan City, Oyo State, Nigeria, Ibadan City, Oyo State, Nigeria, September 2019. Women and men are chained and tied for perceived or actual mental health condition or intellectual disability. © 2019 Robin Hammond for Human Rights Watch.

NEW YORK, Apr 7 2020 (IPS) – When Akanni’s mother died in early 2018, she stopped eating for three weeks. Her mood became unpredictable; she was often shouting or sulking angrily. Medicine from a local pharmacist didn’t help. At a loss for what to do to handle the trauma, Akanni’s father took her to a church in Abeokuta, Ogun state, in Nigeria. And then he left her the…

A pregnant woman in Kenya’s North Eastern Province with one of her children. Overpopulation in the area contributes to poor maternal health. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 27 2020 (IPS) – Sexual and reproductive health and pandemics might seem to be unrelated topics, but large and dense populations are drivers of the high velocity transmission of COVID-19, and there are lessons to be learned for the future.

Gains made in women’s sexual reproductive health and rights just took several steps backward in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to contraceptives has been interrupted, resulting in an increase in unintended pregnancies. With sch…

JOHANNESBURG, May 15 2020 (IPS) – One of the planet’s – and Africa’s – deepest prejudices is being demolished by the way countries handle COVID-19. 

For as long as any of us remember, everyone “knew” that “First World” countries – in effect, Western Europe and North America – were much better at providing their citizens with a good life than the poor…

The Ibrahim Malik public hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. Abortion is only legal in Sudan under very specific circumstances. As a result a number of women continue to access unsafe abortions. Courtesy: Abdelgadir Bashir

KHARTOUM, Jun 22 2020 (IPS) – Omnia Nabil*, a Sudanese doctor, who worked in one of the largest hospitals in Khartoum, the country’s capital, was devastated to witness the deaths of 50 young women who had unsafe abortions…

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 23 2020 (IPS) – Covid-19 is expected to take a heavy human and economic toll on developing countries, not only because of contagion in the face of weak health systems, but also containment measures which have precipitated recessions, destroying and diminishing the livelihoods of many.

Limited fiscal space
Developing countries generally have limited fiscal capacities to finance relief and liquidity provision in the short-term while rebuilding economic life on a more sustainable basis in the longer-term.

Anis Chowdhury

The shows debt vulnerability growing in many developing countries well before the pandemic. For example, p…

Gary Rynhart, Specialist, Employers’ Activities, DWT/CO-Pretoria, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Without the daily commute it is not hard to see both productivity and financial benefits. Expect a reduced need for big, expensive, downtown offices. Credit: Universidad de Chile

PRETORIA, Aug 28 2020 (IPS) – In the last 100 years there have been seven crises that have had a truly global impact. Two global wars (1914-18 1939-1945); two global health pandemics, the Spanish Flu (1918) and HIV/AIDS (1980s onwards); one major political crisis (1989 – the end of the cold war); and two financial crises (1929 and 2008).

All these crises emerged in un…

During the lockdown, the plight of migrant children, who walked hundreds of miles to reach home, aroused national consciousness. But what happened after that? | Picture courtesy: Needpix.com

Oct 22 2020 (IPS) – A right is an entitlement and it has three basic principles, without which rights cannot be enjoyed. The first principle is that of universality: A right has to be enjoyed by all citizens, including all children. There cannot be a distinction between a Dalit or an Adivasi chi…