Active Citizens

Youth-Led Landmark Climate Change Case Starts in The Hague

By Cecilia Russell
The intersection of law, diplomacy, and science will come under the spotlight at the International Court of Justice hearings starting today (Monday, December 2, 2024) in The Hague as the court starts its deliberations into the obligations under international law of UN member states to protect people and ecosystems from climate change.

Lahore’s Smog: With the Sun Out, the Government Lifts Restrictions

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Atif Manzoor, 45, the owner of the renowned blue pottery business in Multan, had every reason to feel cheerful last week when the sun finally came out. For a good three weeks, the city of Sufi shrines had been shrouded in an envelope of thick smog.

Expand choices for Women, Prevent New HIV Infections in Africa

By Wambi Michael
In Uganda, women and girls are more affected by HIV. Out of 1.4 million people living with the disease, 860 000 are women and girls. According to UNAIDS, every week, 4,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 years became infected with HIV globally in 2023, with 3,100 of these infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

60 Percent of Femicides Are at the Hands of a Partner or Family

By Naureen Hossain
Every 10 minutes, one woman or girl is killed at the hands of their partner or other family member. This is only scratching the surface on how femicide, one of the most extreme forms of violence against women, persists at high levels around the world. UN-Women and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a joint report, Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides, on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Can Pay, Won’t Pay—COP29 Outcome Far from Promised Historic Deal of a Lifetime

By Joyce Chimbi
They say it is taboo to talk about money. But this is exactly what developing countries came for: to haggle and push for the climate finance deal of a lifetime, as the climate crisis is, for them, a matter of life and death. Wealthy nations also came for their own deal of a lifetime—to hoist the climate finance burden on the private sector as they take the bare minimum financial responsibility.

UN’s OCHA Calls to Correct the Imbalance in Climate Finance Allocation

By Umar Manzoor Shah
As climate-induced disasters continue to wreak havoc worldwide, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a UN body specializing in emergency response, has issued a clarion call for an ambitious and fair global climate finance goal at COP29. Greg Puley, Head of the Climate Team at OCHA, highlighted the pressing need for enhanced disaster risk reduction and climate resilience measures, particularly in vulnerable and conflict-affected regions.

Healing Minds, Empowering Women: Ghana’s Climate Change Battle

By Aishwarya Bajpai
As climate change wreaks havoc across the globe, its effects are most acutely felt by those living in vulnerable coastal and rural communities.

Don’t Lock Us Out of Negotiating Table—Indigenous Communities

By Joyce Chimbi
Delegates representing Indigenous people’s rights have taken issue with the ongoing COP29 negotiations, calling for Parties to include text and language that promote Indigenous rights to be explicitly referenced in the consensus and outcome documents.

Housing for Tomorrow: Sustainable Solutions from Habitat for Humanity

By Aishwarya Bajpai
In the face of a growing climate crisis, the connection between housing and environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly urgent.

‘The International Community Must Stop Turning a Blind Eye to the Suffering of Sudanese Women’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses Sudan’s civil war and its impact on women with Sulaima Elkhalifa, a Sudanese human rights defender and expert on gender-based violence.

Peace Talks—Delegates Turn To Climate Summit for Insights Into What Really Makes People Safe

By Joyce Chimbi
At a time when the COP29 summit is primarily focused on climate finance as a tool to cool catastrophically high global temperatures and reverse consequences for all life on earth, delegates—alarmed and concerned by the state of world peace and stability—are seeking ways to enhance safety.

Youth Protest at COP29: ‘We Will Not Standby to Inherit Dead Planet’

By Joyce Chimbi
“We cannot rely on capitalistic logic to serve our fight for liberation. More investments will not build houses after floods because it's not profitable. Corporations will not overthrow the industrial-agricultural complex that is completing our assault.”

Breakthroughs, Setbacks in COP29’s First Week of Ambitious Pursuit of Climate Consensus

By Joyce Chimbi
It has been a high-profile packed agenda in Baku, Azerbaijan, marked by milestone events designed to complete the first enhanced transparency framework and the new collective quantified goal on finance, among other top priority matters.

Robust Negotiations Still Needed to Push Rich Countries to Honor Financial Commitments

By Aishwarya Bajpai
The irony is that whatever the stakes, finance always features as the “crying onion” at each COP. Hence for the COP29, dubbed the finance COP, no wonder we reach an ocean of tears—especially in view of the current geopolitics, when the world is facing the likelihood of having its historically biggest financial contributor on climate pull out.

Women, Indigenous Communities Must Lead Climate Finance Allocations at COP29—Plan International Global Director

By Umar Manzoor Shah
Plan International, a global leader in advocating for children’s rights and gender equality, sees the need for women and Indigenous people to be at the forefront of climate negotiations.

Walking with Wisdom: Whaia’s Mission to Bring Indigenous Knowledge to COP 29

By Aishwarya Bajpai
Kaitiaki! Whaia says she is at COP29 to bring indigenous wisdom to influence policy and to provide guardianship (kaitiaki) of the climate negotiations.

Seeking COP29 Solutions as Desert Lake Disrupts Harmonious Co-Existence With Indigenous Community

By Joyce Chimbi
Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by indigenous communities, multiplying their vulnerabilities from political and economic marginalization and loss of land and natural resources. The ongoing climatic carnage is displacing indigenous communities at seven times the rate of the global population.

Hustle Culture Emerges in Benin in Face of High Graduate Unemployment

By Megan Fahrney
At just 11 years old, with a heavy heart, Louis  peered up at his parents and said goodbye. He was leaving his small village in northern Benin to live with his uncle in Parakou, where the schools were better. Ever since, Louis has continued to make sacrifices to pursue a strong education and a better life. 

Arab Region Leaders, Experts Gather to Find Solutions to Water Scarcity, Sustainable Development

By Joyce Chimbi
The Arab region is among the most water-scarce areas globally, as nearly 392 million people live in countries facing water scarcity or absolute water scarcity. So dire is the situation that, of the 22 Arab countries, 19 fall below the annual threshold for water scarcity in renewable resources, defined as 1,000 cubic meters per person.

Mexican Cooperative Promotes Energy Transition on Indigenous Lands

By Emilio Godoy
What began as a search for fair prices for indigenous handicrafts in 1985 has evolved into a women's organisation in Mexico that promotes climate justice while advocating for land and environmental rights.

Defending Biodiversity in Armed Conflict: Can COP16 Meet the Expectations?

By Stella Paul
José Aruna, a forest defender from Sud Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remembers the night in September 2019 when a group of heavily armed men barged into his house in the middle of the night. Aruna and his wife—6 months pregnant at the time—were in bed when he heard sounds of boots on the front yard and quickly knew something was about to happen.
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