MEXICO: Women Package the Sweet Taste of Nostalgia
By Emilio Godoy
AYOQUEZCO, Mexico - Years ago, when Catalina Sánchez saw an opportunity to earn an income and improve her family’s living conditions by growing and selling nopales - an edible cactus native to Mexico - she probably never imagined that her idea would spawn three businesses.
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AFRICA: We Are the Government
By Jessie Boylan
LAGO DISTRICT, Mozambique - As if they were going to the races, Emma Musako and Monica Mhango showed up in their finest outfits to attend a meeting on the health, social and environmental impacts of uranium mining. They came because they, like the other attendees, no longer want to remain uninformed citizens.
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ZIMBABWE: Numerous Challenges For Harare Water Supply
By Vusumuzi Sifile
HARARE - Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda is a troubled man. When he took office in July 2008, one of his most immediate tasks was to resolve the water crisis in the capital.
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DEVELOPMENT: "Africans Should Become Their Own Philanthropists"
By Christi van der Westhuizen
CAPE TOWN - Africans "should dare to imagine an African world not defined by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund but one that comes out of Africa". This is necessary for Africans to grow out of dependence and become the agents of their own development.
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AFRICA: 'Pick Up Your Money With Your Groceries'
By Paul Virgo
ROME - Of the many proposals on how to combat poverty in Africa, the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is championing what must be one of the simplest - make it cheaper and easier for migrants to send money home.
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NEPAL: Hopes High for Environmental Rights in New Constitution
By Mallika Aryal
KATHMANDU - As the new federal republic of Nepal forges ahead with writing a new constitution, activists are demanding that environmental rights be enshrined in this important document.
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BURMA: U.S. Mission’s Meeting with Ethnic Minorities Signals Hope
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The United States government’s diplomatic foray into military-ruled Burma made early inroads into an area sealed off to United Nations envoys in recent years—meeting the country’s oppressed ethnic minorities.
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LESOTHO: AIDS Orphans get Helping Hand
By Letuka Mahe
MASERU - Fifteen-year-old Ntsebeng Tlokotsi* sighs with relief as she is given 140 dollars. Along with it she receives a bag of maize meal and cooking oil. It is a government handout, and she qualifies for this only because both her parents are dead.
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CLIMATE CHANGE: Carbon Trading Welcomed, Criticised
By Jessie Boylan
NIASSA PROVINCE, Mozambique - A visit from Dutch contractors to Niassa Province, in northwestern Mozambique has got communities excited about the prospect of a carbon credit scheme in the area.
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Q&A: Put the New Women's Agency in Africa
By Suzanne Hoeksema interviews NAISOLA LIKIMANI, advocacy officer of FEMNET*
UNITED NATIONS - On Sep. 14, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution that gave the green light to the creation of a new U.N. agency for women.
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