Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad and Zoe PC This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – Not much, apart from football, unites the Colombian people. If a 2014 Interior Ministry survey called “The Power of Football” is to be believed, then 94 percent of the Colombian population […]
World Leaders Call for Funds to Stop COVID-19 Generation from Being Locked Out of the Classroom
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – As country lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic come to an end, an immediate priority is the fate of 30 million children who may never return to school, warns a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report. With this in view, former world leaders, […]
India’s COVID-19 Experience May Usher in a More Humane World for Women and Informal Sector Workers
Viewpoint by Lakshmi Lingam*, Tata Institute of Social Studies MUMBAI (IDN) – Women in India spend 297 minutes on unpaid domestic work each day, 245 minutes more than men who contribute only 52 minutes. Women’s work is not accounted for in the national accounting system, making their contributions unrecognised and unvalued. An Oxfam report observes […]
Uncertainty Hangs Over the Fate of Elections in Bolivia
Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad and Manuel Bertoldi * This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – On November 10, 2019, President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia announced his resignation from the presidency. Morales had been elected in 2014 to a third presidential term, which should have […]
Nonviolent Protests in Belarus Have More Chance Than Any Violent Activities
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) – There have never been such massive crowds of anti-government protestors in the countries of the ex-Soviet Union as there are this week. In Minsk, the capital of Belarus and in other major cities they stretch as far as the television cameras can see. Not even the protestors […]
COVID-19 Derails Education in Southern Africa
By Jeffrey Moyo MUSINA, South Africa (IDN) – His three teenage children play home-made paper ball on the dusty streets of Musina, exercise books scattered on the veranda of their rented home in the South African border town with Zimbabwe. Yet Gerald Gava, the children’s 47-year old father, lies on a reed mat spread on […]
Feminism in The Spotlight at South African Book Fair 2020
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – “Feminism: Our Bodies, Our Truths” will take centre stage at the upcoming South African Book Fair taking place virtually from September 11-13 at the culmination of South Africa’s National Book Week. Featured speakers include Mishumo Maduma, Terry-Ann Adams, Jen Thorpe and Anelile Gibixego in discussion […]
Cameroon Decides to Save Last Intact Forest in Central Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Good news is rare for those toiling to save the environment, but environmentalists could finally share the excitement of hard-won success. The government of Cameroon announced on August 14 it was cancelling plans to log some 170,000 acres of the Ebo Forest, home to hundreds […]
Russian Influence in Southeast Asia Will Struggle to Be More Than Marginal
Viewpoint by Joshua Bernard B Espeña, UP Diliman * DILIMAN, Quezon City, Philippines (IDN) – The Russian people have voted in favour of constitutional reforms that give President Vladimir Putin the potential to stay in power until 2036 through a landslide victory in a national referendum on 2 July 2020. While critics complain about voting […]
Media and Artists Join UN in Fighting COVID-19 Fake News
By Franck Kuwonu * NEW YORK (IDN) – Aissata Diop, a Senegalese mother of four, living in Pikine on the outskirts of the capital city Dakar, had long heard that consuming garlic and lemon could have health benefits. So, when her friend, Ramatou, displayed a message on her phone saying that drinking a daily bowl […]