By Thalif Deen

Young children are pictured at a tent camp in Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur. / UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 9 (IPS) – Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council described as key arms suppliers to the embattled regime in Syria, are now accused of supplying weapons and [...]

By Kanya D’Almeida
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (IPS) – They called themselves the “cut hands commandos” because they lopped off their victims’ hands with machetes; the “burn house unit”, for the thousands of families who were locked into their homes and roasted alive; the “born naked squad”, in reference to the hapless hundreds who were stripped naked [...]

By A.D.McKenzie

Louisamène Joseph Alionat. / A.D.McKenzie/IPS.

PARIS, Jan 27 (IPS) – When Louisamène Joseph Alionat unexpectedly began singing in a packed hall at the United Nations cultural agency here this week, it was an attempt to give encouragement to her peers engaged in the uphill battle of trying to end extreme poverty.

"I work with families [...]

By A.D.McKenzie

Louisamène Joseph Alionat. / A.D.McKenzie/IPS.

PARIS, Jan 27 (IPS) – When Louisamène Joseph Alionat unexpectedly began singing in a packed hall at the United Nations cultural agency here this week, it was an attempt to give encouragement to her peers engaged in the uphill battle of trying to end extreme poverty.

"I work with families [...]

Tressia Boukhors interviews BRIGID INDER, Executive Director of Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice

Brigid Inder / Tressia Boukhours/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 28 (IPS) – Most of the cases brought before the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) include gender-based crimes, but advocates say the court is still falling short in ensuring that women play an active role [...]

By Fawzia Sheikh

Canada de-prioritised eight African countries a few years after listing them as top concerns without notifying many governments beforehand. / Aimable Twahirwa/IPS

TORONTO, Dec 22 (IPS) – Many Canadian civil society organisations working in international development are still awaiting a definitive answer about future government funding, a months-long lag critics argue has hampered [...]

By Stephen Leahy
 

The United Nations climate negotiations ended with the world’s nations still to agree on a new global treaty to reduce carbon emissions. / Tinus de Jager/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 11 (IPS) – The world is increasingly committed to dangerous levels of global warming with yet another failure by nations of the world to [...]

By Stephen Leahy

Protesters rally in Durban on Dec. 3, 2011. / IPS Africa

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 9 (IPS) – No one is happy late Friday at the very contentious U.N. climate talks that went into extra time on Saturday. As the lights flicker on a rainy night here, the partial power failure echoes the [...]

Kristin Palitza spoke to REGINE GÜNTHER, climate protection and energy policy chief at the World Wide Fund for Nature.
 

WWF climate scientist Regina Guenther. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 9 (IPS) – Despite the high risk, it remains difficult to convince politicians to take immediate action to prevent further climate change and make available the [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Almost nobody believes that a second, comprehensive commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is still possible. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 8 (IPS) – The last hours of the 17th United Nations climate change summit in Durban have begun. Since the arrival of almost 150 ministers and heads of state on [...]

By Stephen Leahy

Reducing carbon emissions will not result in limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius. / Zukiswa Zimela

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 8 (IPS) – Countries at the United Nations climate change negotiations have publicly acknowledged their current pledges to reduce carbon emissions will not result in limiting global warming to [...]

By Kanya D’Almeida

Philippi residents grow organic produce for sale to upmarket restaurants in Cape Town as well as for their own table. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (IPS) – The forests in Africa absorb over 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon annually. With these diverse and natural forests, grasslands and prairie lands disappearing under investment schemes [...]

By Kristin Palitza

U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said there is a pool of possible financing options for the Green Climate Fund. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 7 (IPS) – Carbon pricing will be the core mechanism to finance the Green Climate Fund and with it climate change adaptation projects in developing countries.

"If you can [...]

By Kanya D'Almeida

A member of the Mundari tribe stands amongst cattle in Terekeka, South Sudan. / Jared Ferrie/IPS

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (IPS) – While the United Nations climate talks in Durban enter their fifth day of political feet-dragging, researchers and peasants around the world are busy connecting the dots between so- called "green climate solutions", [...]

By Kristin Palitza

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres (l) and COP 17 President Maite Mkoana- Mashabane (r) spoke at the opening of the high-level talks. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – The goal of a comprehensive and binding agreement may be beyond the reach of the 17th United Nations climate change [...]