Active Citizens

Peru’s Agro-Export Boom Has not Boosted Human Development

By Mariela Jara
Peru’s agro-export industry is growing steadily and reached record levels in 2022. But this has not had a favorable impact on human development in this South American country, where high levels of inequality, poverty, childhood anemia and malnutrition persist, as well as complaints about the poor quality of employment in the sector.

Kenyan Scientist’s Trend-Setting Research into Health Benefits of Snails

By Wilson Odhiambo
Snails and slime are usually followed by the thought ‘EEW!’ from most people … some might even scream at seeing a snail near them. For Dr Paul Kinoti, however, these slimy creatures could earn him international recognition because his research on snails landed his institution, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), a Ksh. 127 million (USD 1 million) grant.[related_articles]

Menstrual Health and Hygiene Is Unaffordable for Poor Girls and Women in Latin America

By Humberto Márquez
Menstrual hygiene management is elusive for millions of poor women and girls in Latin America, who suffer because their living conditions make it difficult or impossible for them to access resources and services that could make menstruation a simple normal part of life.

Cooperatives in Argentina Help Drive Expansion of Renewable Energy

By Daniel Gutman
When the residents of Armstrong, a town of 15,000 in western Argentina, began to meet to discuss a renewable energy project, they agreed that there could be many positive effects and that it was not just a question of doing their bit in the global effort to mitigate climate change.

Women’s Cooperatives Work to Sustain the Social Fabric in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
Nearby is an agroecological garden and a plant nursery, further on there are pens for raising pigs and chickens, and close by, in an old one-story house with a tiled roof, twelve women sew pants and blouses. All of this is happening in a portion of a public park near Buenos Aires, where popular cooperatives are fighting the impact of Argentina's long-drawn-out socioeconomic crisis.

UNDP Assistance Helps Farmers to Meet New EU Deforestation Rules

By Alison Kentish
In 2015, just over 30 cocoa farmers from Padre Abad in Ucayali, a province in the lush and ecologically diverse Peruvian Amazon, formed an alliance to tackle long-standing concerns such as soil quality, access to markets, fair prices for their produce and a growing number of illegal plantations. The result was the Colpa de Loros Cooperative, and from the start, the goal was to produce the finest quality, export-ready cocoa.

Cuba: Elections Without Choices

By Inés M. Pousadela
The uncertainty that’s the hallmark of a democratic election was absent on 26 March, the day Cubans were summoned to appoint members of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the country’s legislative body. A vote did take place that day – people went to the polls and put a ballot in a box. But was this really an election? Cubans weren’t able to choose their representatives – their only option was to ratify those selected to stand, or abstain.

Andean Indigenous Women’s Knowledge Combats Food Insecurity in Peru

By Mariela Jara
Paulina Locumbe, a 42-year-old peasant farmer who lives in ​​the Andes highlands of southern Peru, learned as a child to harvest and dry crops, one of the ancestral practices with which she combats the food insecurity that affects millions in this Andean country.

The LGBTIQ+ Community Still Oppressed in Venezuela

By Humberto Márquez
The vulnerability and struggles of the LGBTIQ+ community in Venezuela were once again highlighted when the Supreme Court finally annulled the military code statute that punished, with one to three years in prison, members of the military who committed " acts against nature.”

Civil Society a Vital Force for Change Against the Odds

By Andrew Firmin and Inés M. Pousadela
Brave protests against women’s second-class status in Iran; the mass defence of economic rights in the face of a unilateral presidential decision in France; huge mobilisations to resist government plans to weaken the courts in Israel: all these have shown the willingness of people to take public action to stand up for human rights.

Beatriz v. El Salvador Case Could Set Precedent on Abortion in Latin America

By Edgardo Ayala
An open hearing in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Beatriz v. El Salvador case is raising hopes that this country and other Latin American nations might overturn or at least mitigate the severe laws that criminalize abortion.

Kenyan Entrepreneur Using Organic Microbes to Unlock Hidden Nutrients in Dairy Feeds

By Isaiah Esipisu
Using naturally occurring microbes, a Kenyan entrepreneur has developed a molasses-based supplement that pre-ferments animal feeds to unlock all the necessary nutrients that would otherwise find a way out of the animal through cow dung, and dairy farmers have fallen in love with the product.

BRAC International Signs MoU with Rwanda to Empower People in Extreme Poverty

By Joyce Chimbi
Last week, BRAC International signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Rwanda under the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) to support efforts to empower people in extreme poverty to develop sustainable livelihoods and break the poverty trap long term. This is part of the Government’s broader efforts to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

Civic Space – the Bedrock of Democracy – is Scarce & Contested

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
On 29 and 30 March, the US government, in partnership with Costa Rica, Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia, will co-host the second virtual Summit for Democracy. Several elected leaders and state representatives will come together to highlight achievements in advancing democratic principles.

International Women’s Day, 2023: Gender-Responsive Approach to Technology and Innovation Will Ensure Progress

By Naureen Hossain
Promoting gender equality in technology and digital spaces is at the core of the UN’s observance of International Women’s Day (IWD) as UN senior officials call on the world to take concrete action against ingrained gender biases.

Parliamentarians Tackle Youth Employment, SRHR in Post-COVID Asia and Pacific

By Cecilia Russell
With more than 600 million youth aged between 18 and 24 in the Asia and Pacific region, putting their issues front and center is crucial. Speakers at a recent forum, Youth Empowerment: Education, Employment and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, held in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, agreed that policy development and implementation should be youth-centered.

Digital Gender Gap in Latin America Reflects Discrimination Against Women

By Mariela Jara
The digital gender gap is multifactorial in Latin America and as long as countries fail to address discrimination against women, inequality will be reflected in the digital space, excluding them from access to opportunities and enjoyment of their rights.

Forget ChatGPT: The Greatest Tech Breakthrough Would Be Getting Cell Phones to Rural Women

By Nicoline de Haan
While 100 million people worldwide are using the AI chatbot ChatGPT to get ahead on homework and try out for top jobs at Google, more than 370 million women in developing countries lack the services of a simple cell phone.

Indigenous Conflicts over Land Spread, Fueling Debate in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
In 1994 Argentina recognized in the constitution the ethnic and cultural pre-existence of indigenous peoples. However, enforcement of respect for their rights has fallen short and almost 30 years later the question of land is generating growing conflicts, which sometimes pit native communities against the rest of society.

Venezuela Drafts Legal Stranglehold on NGOs

By Humberto Márquez
The Venezuelan parliament, in the hands of the ruling party, is moving towards passing a law to control non-governmental organizations (NGOs) so that, in practice, they could not exist independently.

Russia and Ukraine: Civil Society Repression and Response

By Andrew Firmin
Over the year since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, on one side of the border civil society has shown itself to be a vital part of the effort to save lives and protect rights – but on the other, it’s been repressed more ruthlessly than ever.
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