|
Newsfeed |
|
Choike
|
a portal on Southern civil societies
|
-
Time for the UN to recognize the human right to water and sanitation
For the first time since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 60 years ago, the UN General Assembly is finally poised to recognize the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. By the end of July, the General Assembly will consider an historic resolution brought to the UN member states by the Bolivian government. For many years, the water justice movement has been calling for UN leadership at the highest levels on this critical issue — without success until now.
-
The state of lesbian and gay rights in the world
Seventysix countries around the world still consider homosexuality illegal, five of them punish homosexual acts with death. To raise awareness on the extent of State Sponsored Homophobia in the world, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intesex Association (ILGA) presents a series of resources in different languages: an updated world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults, maps on Lesbian and Gay rights in different regions, videos and more.
-
The Millennium Development Goals report
The world is still on track to achieve the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) target of cutting the rate of extreme poverty in half by 2015 says a new report by the United Nations a few months before a major General Assembly meeting is to review progress so far. Many countries are moving forward, but unmet commitments, inadequate resources, lack of focus and accountability, and insufficient dedication to sustainable development have created shortfalls in many
areas. Some of these shortfalls were aggravated by the global food and economic and financial crises.
-
New report on irregular migration and migrant smuggling
Migration policies across the world are driven by three core concerns: border and law enforcement, economic interest, and protection. A new report by the NGO December 18 argues that official policies are failing partly because protection has been marginalised. Intensified efforts to suppress migration have not deterred people from seeking security or opportunity abroad but drive many into clandestinity.
-
Measuring human well-being beyond GDP
The current default measure for economic and social progress is gross domestic product (GDP): the market value of all goods and services produced in a country during a given year. However, many question whether GDP is an adequate indicator of the well-being of countries and their citizens. A new paper by the Urban Institute synthesizes alternative indices that assess more adequately the development of all segments of society including women, children, the elderly, and racial and other minorities.
-
New gender toolkit for international finance-watchers
IFI policy-based loans disproportionately harm poor women, who often become “shock absorbers” for neoliberal economic reforms like trade liberalization, privatization of public enterprises, government retrenchment, social spending cutbacks, user fees for essential services and financial sector reforms. A new guide developed by Gender Acion gives tips for submitting a gender discrimination compalint to an IFI accountability mechanism.
|
|
