Bolivia Steps Up Campaign at U.N. to Legalise Coca Leaf

Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 30 2011 (IPS) – Is coca a dangerous drug that should be tightly regulated, or an essential part of Andean indigenous people s cultural and medicinal heritage? Or perhaps both?
In the coming months, diplomats at the U.N. body will face the thorny issue of how to address the production and use of coca plants in the Andes region of South America.

The United States and some of its European allies contend that coca leaf is a narcotic substance and that its production must be banned in accordance with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

The Bolivian government strongly disagrees, and for the past two years has been calling for an amendment to article 49 of the U.N. anti-narcotics treaty that considers coca production unlawf…

The Triple Humanitarian Crisis and Why Kenya Deserves An A + in its Response

2020 was a particularly difficult year for Kenya. A triple crisis, coming on the heels of a protracted period of droughts, a cholera epidemic and not to underestimate the spectre of cross-border terror attacks, which dented one of Kenya’s biggest foreign exchange earners-tourism

The triple humanitarian crisis. Photo Credits from left and in clockwise direction-UN Habitat, Kenya Red Cross and FAO Kenya.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 1 2020 (IPS) – The United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Ms Amina Mohammed recently commended “”.

On Monday, 28 September 2020, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta hosted a national conference on COVID 19. I was invited to s…

Pandemic Relief Policies Need More Resources, Better Design

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 1 2021 (IPS) – Pandemic relief measures in developing countries have been limited by modest resources, fear of financial market discipline and policy mimicry. COVID-19 has triggered not only an international public health emergency, but also a global economic crisis, , especially in developing countries.

Struggling to cope
The pandemic’s economic and social impacts weigh more heavily on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The estimated that the pandemic pushed 119 to 124 million more people into extreme poverty in 2020.

Anis Chowdhury

The Bank also reported disproportionately larger in terms of closures, drops in s…