The blame game Martin Khor, Blame Denmark, not China, for Copenhagen failure, The Guardian: The decision to override the multilateral process and hold a secret meeting of select nations ruined any chance of success Mark Lynas (British, adviser to the Maldives delegation), How do I know China (…)
Tous les articles et traductions
The Revolution Will Be Mapped
GIS mapping technology is helping underprivileged communities get better services — from education and transportation to health care and law enforcement — by showing exactly what discrimination looks like. Read more
Abortion law’s grey zone: retarded mothers
In India, a disabled girl-child is usually at the receiving end of a lot of contempt and neglect. Women with disabilities have been consistently denied their rights. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court (SC) of India recently allowed a 19-year-old mentally challenged orphan girl to carry on (…)
Not learning from Bhopal
It is 25 years of the Bhopal gas disaster—the night when chemicals spewed out of the Union Carbide factory to kill and maim thousands over generations. The question is if we have learnt from the disaster—learnt how to handle chemical accidents; to dispose of industrial toxic waste; to manage (…)
Righting the RTI (Right To Information)
Shailesh Gandhi’s work is proof that working in an accountable, democratic and transparent manner is possible in the official Right to Information machinery. Darryl D’Monte reports. Read
Starvation deaths continue, as officials demur
Twenty two per cent of Orissa’s population are tribals, and another 16 per cent are dalits, both highly vulnerable communities. Therefore, proper mapping of BPL (Below Poverty Line) families is important, as it serves as the lifeline for many. But the BPL politics at the central level is skewed, (…)
Seeking identity
Interview with Priya Babu, transgender activist.
PRIYA BABU has been working for the welfare of transsexuals as the leader of the Tamil Nadu Aravanigal Association and the managing trustee of the Social Integration and Development for Aravanis Foundation (SIDA). She hit the headlines five years ago when she filed a writ petition in the Madras (…)
Contours of Climate Justice
Edgardo Lander, Walden Bello
This publication aims to contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the emerging climate justice movement and to create resonances between different perspectives and spheres of engagement. The activities around the COP 15 in Copenhagen are a starting point in the creation of such a (…)
Fair Miles: Recharting the food miles map
Today’s food is well travelled. A pack of green beans in a Northern supermarket may have journeyed 6000 miles, or 60. But while food miles loom large in our carbon-aware times, transporting it counts for less than you might think. And there is a far bigger picture. Food is more than a plateful (…)
Africa’s children are important
‘I am an angry African,’ Assefa Bequele writes in this week’s Pambazuka News, challenging the continent’s failure to meet its collective responsibilities to children. ‘I will tell you why and what, I hope, we can do to build an Africa fit for children and help nurture an African man and woman (…)
The Carbon Supermarket: Your Future is for Sale
Creative, accessible, and illuminating introduction to the con of carbon trading by UK cartoonist Kate Evans. Download pdf
Climate Change in Africa
IIED/Zed Books, 160 p.
Climate change is a major challenge for us all, but for African countries it represents a particular threat. This book outlines current thinking and evidence and the impact such change will have on Africa’s development prospects.
Global warming above the level of two degrees Celsius would be (…)
The Migrant Condition
Migrants’ rights have to be addressed on two fronts: end the neoliberal policies that are responsible for creating poverty in their home countries, thus forcing them to emigrate, and demand that they are given full rights in their host countries. Read more
Maternal tragedies
A Human Rights Watch report emphasises the need for a system of recording and investigating all maternal deaths.
THE maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is calculated by the number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 births. Consider this: In 2005, India’s MMR was 16 times that of Russia, 10 times (…)
Not ready for REDD?
It is clear that any effective international ’deal’ on climate change must decrease emissions from deforestation and land-use change that represent about a fifth of all emissions. An international mechanism to fund such reductions, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (…)
The heart of India is under attack
The government has announced Operation Green Hunt, a war purportedly against the "Maoist" rebels headquartered in the jungles of central India. Of course, the Maoists are by no means the only ones rebelling. There is a whole spectrum of struggles all over the country that people are engaged (…)
Belching Out the Devil. Global Adventures with Coca Cola
Mark Thomas, Random House
‘Belching out the devil’ chronicles a series of journeys to various parts of the world to meet those who have experienced ‘the Coke side of life’ that the adverts don’t tell us about. There are Indian farmers with empty wells, Colombian trade unionists with collections of death threats, hassled (…)
China: Detainees ‘Disappeared’ After Xinjiang Protests
The Chinese government should immediately account for all detainees in its custody and allow independent investigations into the July 2009 protests in Urumqi and their aftermath, Human Rights Watch said in a new report on enforced "disappearances" released today.
The 44-page report, "‘We Are (…)
Guinea: Military Rule Must End
The killing of at least 160 participants in a peaceful demonstration, the rape of many women protestors, and the arrest of political leaders by security forces in Conakry on 28 September 2009 showed starkly the dangers that continued military rule poses to Guinea’s stability and to a region (…)
Modernizing Public Services through the Use of ICT’s : The Case of Senegal
Since 2000, armed with strong political good will, Senegal is implementing a development policy that lays much emphasis on ICT’s. Part of this strategy is the modernization of public services by using ICT to establish an adequate institutional framework, equipping government offices with (…)