IPS Inter Press Service

After banning polythene bags, Bangladesh sees hope in the Sonali Bag, a jute-based, eco-friendly alternative created in 2017 by Dr. Mubarak Ahmed Khan. Sonali bag, or the golden bag, is named after the golden fiber of jute from which it is made https://lnkd.in/dQXVkmT9

In most Western European countries you can purchase –or rent- a 60 square-metres flat that is equipped with two toilets, one for her and one for him. Larger apartments may feature even more. For those who can afford it, such facilities are taken for granted. Yet, nearly half the global population—over 3.5 billion people—live without access to safely managed sanitation, including 419 million forced to practice open defecation. https://lnkd.in/dF5DVmAm

María Bacab, a Native Maya, considers herself the “guardian of seeds” as she cares for the milpa – an ancestral Mesoamerican polyculture that mixes maize, beans, squash and other vegetables – and promotes its practice and use in Mexico. The milpa is a benefit, because we don’t buy corn, she tells IPS in the community of X’box (the black one, in the Mayan language), in Chansinkin, a municipality in the state of Yucatán, southeastern Mexico. The peninsula is home to the majority of the Maya population, one of Mexico’s 71 indigenous groups and one of the most culturally and historically representative. https://lnkd.in/eUqyK2Tf

Chile generates 43.8% of its electricity from renewables, but it is woefully lacking in distributed generation projects, also known as decentralised generation: small-scale, community-driven and mostly dedicated to self-consumption https://lnkd.in/d78pSkHV

Every 10 minutes, a woman or girl loses her life at the hands of a partner or family member. UN Women’s latest report highlights urgent steps to end femicide, from stronger legislation to global accountability. Let’s act now. #NoExcuse #UNiTE #EndFemicide https://lnkd.in/dB6vXqmv

Violence against #women affects every country. Amber Morley - a City Councillor in Toronto - highlights the importance of early education, workplace accountability, and community wellness in addressing this global crisis.  #NoExcuse #UNiTE

While financial independence can be a protective factor against domestic violence, in societies where patriarchal attitudes prevail, women breadwinners disrupt the traditional household power dynamics and can face a backlash from their husbands, as men use violence to reassert control, writes Negar Mohtashami Khojasteh, Human Rights Watch https://lnkd.in/dqn-kD3k

Sophia Goodfriend, Post-Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Middle East Initiative, explores how #AI technology is reshaping military operations, raising urgent ethical questions about accountability, human rights, and the depersonalization of violence. [CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation]

Violence against women is not just a women’s issue. It is a societal, economic, and security issue. Given the vast majority of perpetrators are men, it is also very clearly a men’s issue, writes Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) https://lnkd.in/dmgnNzJb

Did you know that hundreds of millions of children are currently suffering from physical, sexual, and psychological violence, including child labour, child marriage, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, war, trafficking and bullying? https://lnkd.in/duQAXCYf