United Nations : Over 10,000 civilian casualties in Afghan conflict last year (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
Civilians continued to suffer the effects of armed conflict in Afghanistan throughout 2017, with 10,453 civilian casualties (3,438 deaths and 7,015 injured) being documented between 1 January and 31 December of that year, according to a new United Nations report.

United Nations : Working towards gender equality (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Persistent and pervasive gender-based discrimination is undermining sustainable development and preventing communities and countries from reaching their full potential, said a UN agency.

Opinion : African migration to Europe, not a crisis but an opportunity (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington DC)
An increasingly common justification for European development assistance to Africa is the notion that it will reduce migration from the South.

Opinion : Gender empowerment - what will you do in 2018 to make a change? (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
In the last year, a women's rights tidal wave flooded the world: over 4 million people marched in the first "Women's March" in January 2017, and over a million marched a year later, from Washington DC to New York, from Sydney to Osaka, and from Rome to Nairobi.