It is not easy to juggle the various interests that revolve around the GGW, and it is just as difficult to trace the nature of the funds that have flowed to back the Project, which started out as African, but ended up becoming international. “Economic resources are a problem”, said Abakar Zougoulou, Agency’s scientific director…
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The new encyclical of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All) draws attention to social consciousness of the common responsibility toward building solidarity, social friendship, global citizenship and fraternal economy. How the encyclical speaks to the continent, and how Christians and people of good will ought to respond to the social concerns of our society today.…
Read moreThe trade in human hair in the wig-makers’ salons is becoming a business worth millions of dollars. There are many orders from India. The role of the Hindu temples. “Real hair, not artificial hair, is very much in demand – the young barber tells us. Every woman dreams of having a full head of long…
Read moreThe serious crisis in the tea plantations. Alternative forms of working. Commitment to education. The role of the laity. We discuss these topics with Mons. Vincent Aind, Bishop of Bagdogra. The district of Darjeeling, in the region of Western Bengal, is one of places most famous for the quality of its tea. Traditionally, Darjeeling is…
Read moreNew international challenges may significantly change the geopolitics of Western intelligence. The alliance between the intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (the so-called ‘Five Eyes’) doubtless represents the fulcrum of Western espionage and its greatest expression in terms of geopolitical power. Created in 1946, at first it…
Read moreThe Great Green Wall’s goal is clear: to regenerate 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030; to sequester 250 million tons of carbon dioxide; and to create 10 million jobs in rural areas, contributing directly to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Still, understanding what the results have been so far is more complex. If…
Read moreWelcome to the Murchison Falls National Park named after its famous waterfall. George Atube, the ranger who talks with animals, accompanies us during our tour through this spectacular place. The Murchison Falls National Park is the oldest and largest park in Uganda which was established in 1952. It is situated in the north western part…
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Advocacy is a process to ensure change where there is injustice, providing a solution to a problem, and building support for acting on both the problem and the solution. Its aims, among others, are social changes in attitudes and relationships. However, advocating for the poor is far from lobbying for an ideology. This clear divergence…
Read moreMainly for reasons of energy sources, the last decade has seen China investing heavily in the Middle East and North Africa. The Silk Roads have sought the improvement of ports and other regional infrastructure, rendering the countries of the Gulf, Egypt and Iran the main destinations of Chinese investment. Despite all this, the premises for…
Read moreFrom a green wall of trees to a mosaic of ecosystems. From the moment it was conceived to now, The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel (GGW) – has been radically transformed. The objective, however, has stayed the same: to curb soil degradation and to combat poverty. In June 2005, the Heads…
Read moreThe New York music house Ostinato Records recently released a Groupe RTD album – a Djibouti band composed of civil servants – the first to take modern music beyond the borders of the country in the Horn of Africa. The international diffusion of modern music in the Horn of Africa came late on the scene…
Read moreInspired by St. Francis of Assisi and by Pope Francis, 2,000 young adults met online to discuss making the economy more responsive to human dignity and more respectful of creation. The Economy of Francesco project, sponsored in part by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, hosted a virtual global meeting Nov. 19-21. Below…
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When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…
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Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…
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On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…
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