Matthew O. Berger
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 2010 (IPS) – With a record number of people undernourished last year and that number only down about 10 percent this year this year s World Food Day, to take place Saturday, carries with it a new sense of urgency. But in the conferences and events being held to commemorate the day, there will also likely be a sense of hope and opportunity.
That hope is coming from the discovery of both new ways to feed a crowded, hungry planet and new efforts to spread and implement those practices.
Danielle Nierenberg has spent the past year travelling the globe as co-director of the Worldwatch Institute s Nourishing the Planet project, whose mission has been to assess and raise awareness of the state of agricultural innovations everything from cr…
This playground just outside the Slovak capital, Bratislava, was sealed off to stop people spreading the virus. Similar measures were in place in cities and towns across Europe. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 17 2020 (IPS) – United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday pleaded with global leaders and families to ensure the protection of the world s children, millions of whom he says are vulnerable to a myriad of threats as a result of the shutdown arising from the global coronavirus pandemic.
While children are at a significantly lower health risk than adults from the coronavirus, the social and economic impacts as a result of bot…
Credit: UNICEF/Nahom Tesfaye
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 11 2021 (IPS) – Thanks to President Biden, the US now supports a suspension of intellectual property (IP) rights to increase vaccine supplies. However, without vaccine developers sharing tacit technical knowledge for safe vaccine mass production, it will be difficult to rapidly scale up vaccine output.
Waiver delayed is waiver denied
The CEOs of Pfizer and Astra Zeneca had the US President to reject the waiver request. Nevertheless, on 5 May, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced US support for a vaccine waiver. The hope is that many, mainly rich countries will now stop opposing th…