Finance : Post-Soviet Russian economic collapse (PRIV)
(Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Moscow/Kuala Lumpur)
Moscow/Kuala Lumpur, 6 Jun (IPS/Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*) -- Wide-ranging economic reforms following the demise of the Soviet Union at the end of December 1991 mainly resulted in economic collapse in most successor states.

United Nations : Saving the oceans, saving the future (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The health of the oceans is only getting worse and the cycle of decline must be reversed, said representatives at the opening of a high-level UN conference.

United Nations : Global South calls for international body to fight tax havens (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Tax havens are "one of the worst enemies of our democracies," said state representatives during a meeting at the United Nations.

United Nations : AIDS pandemic far from over (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
During the process of developing the Sustainable Development Goals it was clear to me how relevant and innovative the approach to ending AIDS had been and how important it would continue to be.

Environment : Re-connect with nature now... before it is too late! (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
Now that president Donald Trump has announced the withdrawal of the world's largest polluter in history - the United States, from the Paris Accord, perhaps one of the most specific warnings is what a United Nations independent expert on rights and the environment has just said: "We should be fully aware that we cannot enjoy our basic human rights without a healthy environment."

Latin America : Lacks clear policies to tackle human trafficking (PRIV)
(IPS, Mexico City)
Each year, some three million undocumented immigrants enter the United States, half of them with the help of traffickers, as part of a nearly seven-billion-dollar business, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).