As the UN’s human rights chief warned that only swift action could avert genocide in South Sudan, Ben Quinn reported from the world’s youngest country on how ethnic violence is being stoked by hunger. On a visit to Malakal, Quinn discovered that a bookshop at the protection of civilians camp offers a welcome distraction from the harsh realities of life there.
Karen McVeigh reported from Bangladesh on how superstition is a major obstacle to action against drowning, the leading cause of death in children under the age of 18. She also spoke to Mohammed Alamgir, a lifeguard at the resort town of Cox’s Bazar, who has so far saved 20 lives with a surfboard he developed from recycled materials – as shown in our video.
Our 12 days of innovations series looked at groundbreaking initiatives that are having a life-changing effect for some of the world’s poorest people. Among these are the Story Kitchen in Nepal, which enables women to share their side of the country’s history, playing a key role in the truth and reconciliation commission’s inquiries into civil war abuses. There is also a report on a fog harvesting project in an arid region of rural Morocco, which eases pressure on water, and means women no longer have to spend hours collecting the vital resource. See our Innovations page for details of other inventive development ideas.
Elsewhere on the site
‘Tree man’ Abul Bajandar regains use of his hands after surgery
Brazil ordered to pay $5m to workers formerly enslaved
UK among six countries to hit 0.7% UN aid spending target
The year’s top development stories: 2016 in review
India currency note ban sparks ‘dramatic fall’ in sex trafficking
UN says more children and men falling prey to traffickers amid migration crisis
The world in 2016: how much do you know? – quiz
In depth
‘We had nothing to give him’: the human cost of malnutrition in Maharashtra
Chroniclers of a continent: capturing the lives of southern Africa
Kenya’s women struggle to end male stranglehold on power
Drought worsens deadly battle between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria
Brazil’s men helped to become better fathers to reduce gender violence
Southern Africa’s food crisis in a dozen dishes
India’s good samaritan law takes aim at road deaths
Opinion
Olivier De Schutter and Emile Frison – Modern agriculture cultivates climate change – we must nurture biodiversity
Michel Silva – View from the favelas: ‘Rio’s instability haunts the lives of thousands’
Thaís Cavalcante – Developments in Rio masked the bleak reality
Daiene Mendes – The Games’ legacy of corruption, neglect and repression
Giorgio Trombatore – Medics in Yemen: delays can cost lives
Multimedia
Children collapse from hunger after poor harvests in Zimbabwe – in pictures
After El Niño: a trail of scorched earth – in pictures
Zika, drought, conflict: what 2016 meant for the world’s poorest – podcast
Women of Las Patronas get fast food to migrants on Mexico’s Beast train – video
Searching for our missing children: ‘It’s been six years. It feels like yesterday’ – video
What you said
On the feature on road deaths in Karnataka by Vidhi Doshi, stingrayj wrote:
A good move. A national campaign about driving safety is needed too. It’s law of the jungle out there with trucks at top of food chain.
Highlight from the blogosphere
For the Overseas Development Institute, Marta Foresti discusses how to move away from a polarised debate about the merits of migration and address the reality of human mobility.
And finally ...
Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global development website. On Twitter, follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @LizFordGuardian, @BenQuinn75 and @karenmcveigh1 – and join Global development on Facebook.
