Publications by: Guest content
Hunger in Africa, land of plenty
Article / 18th October 2017Globally, 108 million people faced food crises in 2016, compared to about 80 million in 2015 – an increase of 35%, according to the 2017 Global Report on Food Crises. Another 123 million people were ‘stressed’, contributing to around 230 million such food insecure people in 2016, of whom 72% were in Africa.
The true cost of a plate of food: $1 in New York, $320 in South Sudan
Article / 17th October 2017The world’s poorest pay more than a day’s wages for a single plate of food, according to a report from the World Food Programme, which reveals that the same bean stew can cost the average consumer in New York just $1.20, while the price tag is more than $320 in South Sudan.
The equality effect
Article / 12th October 2017The political landscape may seem particularly bleak at present. But, if we stand back and look at the bigger picture, the dominance of rightwing populists and neoliberal policies is likely to be a temporary blip. The evidence is mounting that greater economic equality benefits all people in all societies, whether you are rich, poor or in-between. Once this is widely understood, politicians and policymakers will be forced to take note, as Danny Dorling explains.
Global Social Protection Charter
Article / 12th October 2017At the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) of July 2016, the initiative was taken to draft a Global Charter for 'Universal Social Protection Rights'. These principles for universal social protection systems, by all and for all, are promoted as a reference for national and local movements organising their diverse social struggles.
Systemic change driven by moral awakening is our only hope
Article / 12th October 2017Our core ecological problem is not climate change. It is overshoot, of which global warming is a symptom. Overshoot is a systemic issue.
Banning nuclear weapons: the beginning
Blog / 6th October 2017Against all odds, 122 countries agreed in July to ban nuclear weapons. At the heart of the United Nations treaty is an explicit ethical goal: to protect peoples of the world from the humanitarian catastrophe that would ensue if nuclear weapons were employed.
Global humanitarian needs have never been higher, says UN official
Article / 4th October 2017The number of those needing humanitarian assistance is at its highest since the end of the Second World War – some 145 million people. Several protracted crises in Africa and the Middle East are deteriorating and climate-induced emergencies, sometimes combined with violent conflict, continue to wreak havoc on vulnerable communities. Amid all this, United Nations-coordinated response plans remain severely underfunded.
Making the right to development a reality for everyone
Article / 4th October 2017More than 30 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, business-as-usual will not be sufficient to achieve progress, a United Nations human rights expert has said.
A society beyond consumerism
Blog / 29th September 2017Does consumerism thrive on our discontentment? Tim Jackson previews his talk at the Resurgence Festival of Wellbeing
Philanthrolateralism: Private funding and corporate influence in the United Nations
Article / 28th September 2017In order to make the UN system really ‘fit for purpose’, member states and UN bodies have to take bold action to overcome selective multilateralism, the weakening of democratic governance, and the financial erosion of public institutions. A special issue article by Karolin Seitz and Jens Martens for Global Policy.