Global Issues

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 (IPS) - A new UN report warns of the “brutal and normalized reality” for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya as they face exploitation and human rights violations. Read the full story, “UN Report Warns of Escalating Human Rights Abuses Against Migrants and Refugees in Libya”, on globalissues.org →

NEW YORK, February 20 (IPS) - When the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. declared, “Keep hope alive,” it was not a slogan. It was a discipline. It was a moral posture. It was a promise to those America had locked out of its prosperity and pushed to the margins of its democracy. And for more than five decades, Jackson kept that promise – organizing, marching, preaching, negotiating, and standing in solidarity with oppressed peoples at home and abroad. Read the full story, “Ode to U.S. Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr: A Life That Carried the Rainbow”, on globalissues.org →

DELHI, February 20 (IPS) - Pyari Hessa, 26, balances long shifts as a loco traffic controller at a steel company in Jamshedpur with evening football practice on the same turf where professionals train. Read the full story, “Players Score Dignity in India’s First Transgender Football League”, on globalissues.org →

There has been an “alarming increase” in the number of children being recruited into gangs in Haiti with “devastating consequences” for children, families and society as a whole, the UN reported on Friday.Read the full story, “‘Alarming increase’ in recruitment of children into gangs in Haiti”, on globalissues.org →

Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, millions in Ukraine struggle to keep the lights on and heat their homes, with the crisis taking a particular toll on women, humanitarians warned on Friday.Read the full story, “Ukraine’s women at breaking point after four years of war as attacks on energy, healthcare continue – UN humanitarians”, on globalissues.org →

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, February 19 (IPS) - Africa is home to approximately 160 million adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 (according to 2022 data by the United Nations Population Division). They embody the energy, creativity, and potential of the continent. It is undeniable that The Africa We Want, as envisioned in the African Union’s Agenda 2063, will not be realized without the full participation of this group which represents a key component of the continent’s current and future workforce. Read the full story, “Why Ending Child Marriage is Key to Advancing Africa’s Economic Development”, on globalissues.org →

BRATISLAVA, February 19 (IPS) - Drug reform campaigners have called for an overhaul of global drug controls amid an increasingly complex and deadly drug situation in the world and as hardline anti-drug approaches are increasingly being used as cover for repression of civil society and human rights defenders. Read the full story, “‘Worrying’ War on Drugs Rhetoric Comes with Human, Financial Costs”, on globalissues.org →

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, February 19 (IPS) - It is an indictment on the global food system that, despite having some of the richest and most endowed natural resources in the world and a burgeoning youth population, West Africa spends more than $2 billion a year importing aquatic foods to feed its people, almost half of which is spent by Côte d’Ivoire alone. Read the full story, “Turning the Tide: How West Africa Is Reasserting Its Food Sovereignty Through Aquaculture”, on globalissues.org →

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its emergency response in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, where escalating conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and pushed hunger to critical levels.Read the full story, “World News in Brief: Conflict deepens hunger crisis in South Sudan, restrictions hinder aid delivery in Gaza, UN child rights envoy concludes first visit to Syria”, on globalissues.org →

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for the immediate release of all children detained during the recent public unrest in Iran, expressing deep concern that minors arrested in connection with the protests remain behind bars.Read the full story, “UNICEF calls for release of children detained during Iran protests”, on globalissues.org →