UN Security Council Election Results – Drought in Cuba – Biogas in Pakistan

Jay OwenGlobal Citizen

Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Sweden Among New Members of UN Security Council
Tharanga Yakupitiyage

Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden were elected on Tuesday to serve on the UN Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent members, while Italy and Netherlands have split the remaining contested seat. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) met to choose five new non-permanent members who will … MORE > >

Drought Prompts Debate on Cuba’s Irrigation Problems
Ivet González

Five gargantuan modern irrigation machines water the state farm of La Yuraguana covering 138 hectares in the northeastern province of Holguín, the third largest province in Cuba. However, “sometimes they cannot even be switched on, due to the low water level,” said farm manager Edilberto … MORE > >

Biogas Brings Heat and Light to Pakistan’s Rural Poor
Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio

Nabela Zainab no longer chokes and coughs when she cooks a meal, thanks to the new biogas-fueled two-burner stove in her kitchen. Zainab, 38, from Faisalabad, a town 360 kilometers from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, is among the beneficiaries of a flagship pilot biogas project to free poor … MORE > >

 

Preventable Child Deaths Not Always Linked to Poorest Countries: UNICEF
Aruna Dutt

Millions of children still die before reaching their fifth birthday every year, according to the 2016 State of The World’s Children Report released here Tuesday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report, which is released annually, shows that a country’s income does not always … MORE > >

The Case for Cash in Humanitarian Emergencies
Phillip Kaeding

Currently only six percent of humanitarian aid worldwide comes in the form of cash handouts, yet many aid organisations believe that cash transfers should be seen as the rule, not the exception. Both the World Food Program (WFP) and World Vision International, who work together in Somalia, … MORE > >

Why I Started SMART ALEC – Lobbying for the Public Good
Matthew Charles Cardinale

For many years, as a reporter, including for IPS, I wrote about the dominance of a giant, corporate-funded lobbying organization called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), on public policy in the United States. In recent years, public uproar about the influence of ALEC resulted in … MORE > >