NEW YORK, Jan 24 (IPS) - “Is it a sin to be a girl? We don’t want to be at home and illiterate. We want to go to school, study and be intelligent.” In just a few words, this plea for education from a young Afghan girl has captured the world’s attention. Her heartbreaking question shows how the Taliban’s recent ban on girls attending secondary school and university – effectively ending education opportunities for all Afghan girls and women – is not only violating their fundamental human right to education but shattering countless hopes and dreams in an instant.

Read the full story, “On International Day of Education, We Must Prioritize Girls in Humanitarian Crisis”, on globalissues.org →

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico, Jan 24 (IPS) - The Mayan Train (TM), run by the government’s National Tourism Development Fund (Fonatur), threatens the Mayan Jungle, the second largest in Latin America after the Amazon rainforest. its ecosystems and indigenous communities, as well as underground caves and cenotes - freshwater sinkholes resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater.

Read the full story, “The Mayan Train Pierces the Yucatan, the Great Jungle of Mexico”, on globalissues.org →