POVERTY: IPS news

	Ecotourism Helps Amazon Jungle Communities Survive  Rafael Acuña Coaquira  The Tsimane Mosetene people in Bolivia’s Amazon jungle region have found a tool to preserve their habitat and way of life: a community ecotourism project that won a United Nations-sponsored international award. The Mapajo Indigenous Community Ecotourism Company "is the result of a decision ... MORE > >
	"Two Children May Have Died for You to Have Your Mobile Phone”  Inés Benítez  "It’s possible that two children died so that you could have that mobile phone,” says Jean-Bertin, a 34-year-old Congolese activist who wants to end the “absolute silence” around the crimes committed in his country to exploit strategic raw materials like coltan. The Democratic Republic of the ... MORE > >
	‘Misoprostol - Must for Reducing Maternal Mortality’  Zofeen Ebrahim  “I can’t imagine life without misoprostol,” says Dr. Azra Ahsan, a gynaecologist and obstetrician who has, for more than a decade, been using the controversial drug to stop women from bleeding to death after delivery. Originally intended for treating gastric ulcers misoprostol has since 2000 ...MORE > >
	OP-ED: Women and Girls at Heart of the Blue Revolution  Lakshmi Puri  World Water Week recently concluded in Stockholm with a special emphasis on the linkages between water and food security. Lakshmi Puri. Credit: UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz From the worst drought in 56 years in the United States Midwest, to the Karnataka's drought in India, to the protracted ...MORE > >
	Kenya’s Water Wars Kill Scores  Protus Onyango  Water scarcity is fuelling deadly inter-ethnic wars that continue to claim lives in Kenya, according to government officials. And if nothing is done to educate communities on how to conserve the valuable resource, the situation will escalate, governance experts and environmentalists warn. On ... MORE > >
	Small Dams – from Heroes to Villains in Brazil  Fabiana Frayssinet  A recent Brazilian court decision to suspend construction of small hydroelectric dams along the Paraguay River has highlighted the doubts raised about a growing alternative source of energy that until recently was considered one of the most environmentally-friendly sources. At the request of the ... MORE > >
Agricultural Activity to Slow Clandestine Emigration from Senegal  Souleymane Gano  "It was Ibrahima Sarr, a friend and fellow fisherman, who got me involved with smuggling people across the seas." Senegalese fisherman Doudou Ndoye speaks with the bittersweet conviction of a man redeemed. "Our clients paid between 200,000 and 300,000 CFA francs (400 to 600 dollars) per person, ...MORE > >
Microfinance Brings Hope to Myanmar’s Farmers  Marwaan Macan-Markar  After decades of grinding poverty under successive military dictatorships, Myanmar’s rice farmers have a chance at a better future through rural reforms ushered in by the country’s quasi-civilian government. Microfinance is at the root of it. The guarantees of small, low-interest loans to this ... MORE > >
	Justice a Long Way Off for Dead Miners  Siyabulela Debedu  The South African Police Service members who were involved in a bloodbath with striking workers at the Marikana mine in North West Province could face murder charges, sources close to the investigation told IPS. The possible charges follows the death of 34 mineworkers after police opened fire on ...MORE > >
	Informal Sector Work Survives Economic Boom in Argentina  Marcela Valente  Behind “yerba mate”, a caffeinated herbal brew that is popular in Argentina and neighbouring countries, lies a shameful reality: the dismal labour and living conditions of the workers who harvest the leaves of the bush used to make the infusion. The precarious conditions faced by yerba pickers ...MORE > >
	Hazaras in Pakistan Caught Between Persecution and the High Seas  Zofeen Ebrahim  It will be no less than a miracle if Nadir Ali makes it to Australia, where he planned to seek asylum. But with each passing day, since his boat went missing over two months ago, hopes are dimming. Ali, a 45-year-old Shia Hazara daily wage earner from Quetta in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, ...MORE > >
Read more IPS reporting on Poverty & MDGs here.