Daily Archives: November 18, 2014

South Africa

Inequality in South Africa

SangoNet

Gavin Keeton

In this article, Keeton discusses inequality, its possible causes and factors that contribute to increasing inequality worldwide

saf2South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. It is often said to be the most unequal, but that is incorrect. A number of countries, for example Namibia and Seychelles, have higher gini coefficients (the measure most often used to measure income distribution) than does South Africa1. There are a number of other countries that are clearly very unequal – some major oil producers for example – but, for obvious reasons, choose not to measure the extent of their inequality. Continue reading →

Women

Rural women working toward empowerment

Latin American Press

Carmen Herrera

Campesino women’s organizations demand economic autonomy in public and productive sectors.

Rural women demand access to the resources and means for production, like land. (Photo: Sergio Cruz)
Rural women demand access to the resources and means for production, like land. (Photo: Sergio Cruz)

Of the 1.1 million women who live in rural Nicaragua, only 23.2 percent own their land, in parcels ranging from (0.9 to 8.7 acres), according to the 4th National Agricultural Census (2011).

Nevertheless, according to the leaders of campesino women’s organizations who gathered for the International Day of Rural Women on October 15, as the land parcel size increases, the number of women-owners decreases. Continue reading Rural women working toward empowerment →

Brazil

Rousseff faces obstacles in new term

Latin America Press

José Pedro Martins

President proposes political reform to broaden citizen representation, which would affect rural and business interests in the legislature.

resident Dilma Rousseff and environmentalist Marina Silva in close race for the presidency of Brazil. (Photos: PT and MercoPress)
resident Dilma Rousseff and environmentalist Marina Silva in close race for the presidency of Brazil. (Photos: PT and MercoPress)

With 51.6 percent of valid ballots, President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers´ Party (PT) was reelected in a run-off election on Oct. 26. And in the week after, the leader already got an idea of how difficult governance will be in the coming four years, considering that the next National Congress will have a much more conservative composition.

Rousseff garnered 54.5 million votes against 51 million (48.3 percent) cast for Aécio Neves, a senator with the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). It was the most contested presidential election in Brazilian history, in a campaign marked by many changes in voter preferences. Continue reading Rousseff faces obstacles in new term →

Peru

When oil is more important than life

Latin America Press

Paolo Moiola

Oil exploitation leaves trail of pollution and death in the Peruvian Amazon.

Indigenous communities, flora and fauna endangered by polluted water with oil spill. (Photo: Miguel Angel Cadenas)
Indigenous communities, flora and fauna endangered by polluted water with oil spill. (Photo: Miguel Angel Cadenas)

The dumping of oil waste into the waters of the Marañón, Corrientes, Pastaza and Tigre rivers and the Amazon forest is producing fatal consequences for the local population, mostly to the Kukama ethnic group. The responsible are well-known oil companies, but the Peruvian authorities have not acted with timeliness, making them responsible as well. For years, victims have protested against pollution and violence, but the oil business has always had the upper hand. Continue reading When oil is more important than life →

Latin America

Corruption as political ideology

Latinamerica Press

Public shows increased lack of confidence in politics after regional and local elections.

The results of Peru´s regional and municipal elections on Oct. 5 were no surprise. National political parties continue on their route to disappearance, and corruption has infiltrated politics.

The country´s 20.6 million voters chose from 106,058 names representing 475 political organizations. The candidates competed for leadership positions in 25 regional governments, 195 provinces, and 1,843 districts. What is clear following these elections, says analyst Fernando Tuesta, is that “political party fragmentation has increased.” Continue reading Corruption as political ideology →

Children, USA

Study: More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point in US History

Common Dreams

Jon Queally, staff writer

A new report on child homelessness in America finds that 2.5 million children experience homelessness annually.
A new report on child homelessness in America finds that 2.5 million children experience homelessness annually.

New report, America’s Youngest Outcasts, looks at child homelessness nationally, ranks the states, and examines causes of child homelessness and the solutions. (Image: National Center for Family Homelessness)

The annual levels of homelessness among children have never been higher in the United States, according to a new comprehensive report released on Monday. Continue reading Study: More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point in US History →

Peru

Strengthening youth leadership and capacity in environmental and social action in Huamanga and Jaén, Perú

EcoJesuit

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An exciting new three-year project on the training and democratic participation of youth leaders from Huamanga and Jaén for the environment, areas with the greatest levels of poverty and inequality in Perú, intends to strengthen the capacities and skills of young people regarding environmental issues.

The project was launched last July 2014 at the Casa Matteo Ricci SJ in Huamanga, Ayacucho and sponsored by the Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas and the Centro Loyola Ayacucho. Continue reading Strengthening youth leadership and capacity in environmental and social action in Huamanga and Jaén, Perú →

Church

On the Way to Healing

America
by Jon Sobrino

Humanizing a ‘gravely ill world’

REMEMBERING IN HOPE. Members of Christian communities participate in a procession outside the Central American University in San Salvador, Nov. 15, 1999, as they observe the tenth anniversary of the massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter.

REMEMBERING IN HOPE. Members of Christian communities participate in a procession outside the Central American University in San Salvador, Nov. 15, 1999, as they observe the tenth anniversary of the massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter.

My presence here today brings back cherished memories. Twenty-five years ago the Jesuit School of Theology conferred on me an honorary doctorate as a way of honoring my Jesuit brothers and two simple women who had been betrayed and assassinated in the middle of the night just a few weeks earlier in San Salvador. Continue reading On the Way to Healing →

Food Security

McDonald’s Rejects GMO Potatoes, Other Fast Food Chains Should Follow Suit

Food & Water Watch

WASHINGTON – “This week McDonald’s, one of the largest fast food chains on the planet, told an agriculture news service that it would not use the J.R. Simplot Company’s Innate GMO potato. This victory for consumers is another indication that the food industry recognizes that consumers do not want to eat GMO foods. Many parents are already limiting the amount of fast food that their children eat, and GMO french fries would give them another reason to pass by the golden arches. Over the past year, Food & Watch submitted over 90,000 petitions urging McDonald’s to reject GMO potatoes.
Continue reading McDonald’s Rejects GMO Potatoes, Other Fast Food Chains Should Follow Suit →

Children

25 Years After Rights Convention, Children Still Need More Protection

Fresh in my mind right now are deadly bomb attacks on schools in northern Nigeria and Syria, Central American children braving perilous journeys to flee violence, children being recruited to fight in South Sudan and gang rapes in India.

Analysis by Susan Bissell

Uwottyja children in the Amazon community of Samaria in Venezuela. Credit: Humberto Márquez/IPS
Uwottyja children in the Amazon community of Samaria in Venezuela. Credit: Humberto Márquez/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 14 2014 (IPS) – Next week marks 25 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a historic commitment to children and the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history.

The CRC outlines universal rights for all children, including the right to health care, education, protection and the time and space to play. And it changed the way children are viewed, from objects that need care and charity, to human beings, with a distinct set of rights and with their own voices that deserve to be heard. Continue reading 25 Years After Rights Convention, Children Still Need More Protection →