A year on from a devastating oil spill, many Indigenous communities are still without clean water, and contaminated soil means they cannot grow crops
Monitoring of oil pollution on the Coca River | Ivan Castaneira, Agencia Teganta / Lanceros digitales
26 April 2021 (openDemocracy)* — On 7 April 2020 in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Napo and Coca rivers flowed dark with oil and fuel.
The spill, caused by three ruptured pipelines, triggered the worst environmental disaster to hit Ecuador in the past 15 years. Some 15,000 gallons of oil and fuel spilled into the rivers, affecting 35,000 people directly and more than 120,000 indirectly, many of them Kichwa Indigenous people from 105 communities.
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 26 2021 (IPS)* – The United Nations– which is desperately seeking funds to help developing nations battling a staggering array of socio-economic problems, including extreme poverty, hunger, economic inequalities and environmental hazards– has continued to be one of the strongest advocates of disarmament.
SIPRI’s research on arms and military spending has been the core of the Institute’s work since its foundation in the 1960s. Credit: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
The world body has relentlessly campaigned for reduced military spending in an attempt to help divert some of these resources into sustainable development and humanitarian assistance.
But according to a new report released April 26 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditure rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2020, an increase of 2.6 percent, in real terms, from 2019.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 