Zanzibar’s Blue Economy Offers Hope Amid Rising Seas and Gender Inequity

At dawn on the white-sand shores of Jambiani, 45-year-old Saada Juma braces herself against the pull of the tide, wrangling ropes laced with seaweed. Her hands, hardened by decades of labor, move instinctively as she secures her aquatic crop.

Swept Away: Flash Floods, Failed Systems Bane of Pakistan’s North

Intense rainfall over small areas in Pakistan’s mountainous regions caused massive destruction, sweeping away entire villages. On August 15, the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province experienced a weather anomaly in which glacier melt and intense monsoon rains caused floods that buried villages under mud and rock.

UN Security Council Confronts South Sudan’s ‘Compounding Crises’

The UN Security Council convened today (August 18) to discuss South Sudan and the "interlinked challenges of climate change and conflict" affecting the region.

Africa’s Moment: From Addis to the World, Food Systems Must Change Now

The global food system is under pressure from every direction – climate, conflict, inequality, and economic instability. But in Addis Ababa this July, something shifted. At the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4), over 3,500 people from 150 countries came together to confront the lack of progress and push forward solutions that can no longer wait.

From Conflict to Climate Crusade, Refugees Lead the Charge in Kenya

For 18-year-old Lionel Ngukusenge, a refugee from Burundi, where he was forced into hiding because of a repressive regime, he has found another foe to contend with at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya: climate change.

As Gaza Enters ‘Worst-Case Scenario of Famine,’ States Call for Palestinian Self-Determination at General Assembly

As the starvation crisis in Gaza deepens into what aid organizations describe as a “worst-case scenario,” a growing coalition of nations is shifting its rhetoric and policy toward supporting Palestinian statehood. At the United Nations General Assembly this week, the humanitarian emergency has reignited global calls for a two-state solution and reignited scrutiny of the Israeli government’s blockade of aid.

In Syria’s Sectarian Fights for Power, Humanity is the Loser

As sectarian violence rises in Syria, the number of displaced people has climbed exponentially since Syrian forces joined clashes between the Druze and Bedouin groups in the Sweida region.

Africa’s Development at a Crossroads: Report Warns of Missed SDG Targets Without Urgent Action on Jobs, Equity, and Financing

Africa is making progress on over two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the pace remains far too slow to meet the 2030 targets, especially in areas like decent employment, gender equality, and access to social protection.

Two-State Solution Conference Presents an “Exceptional Moment” for International Community – The Elders

Dignitaries across the international community have convened in New York to promote the two-State Solution - the coexistence of Israel and Palestine as sovereign states - as the only path forward to shared sustainable peace in the Middle East. Former and current leaders from 145 countries and independent groups will speak at the United Nations to demonstrate their ‘near-universal support’ and discuss the steps that need to be taken to achieve it.

Soaring Demand for Electric Vehicles, Lithium-Ion Batteries Creates Environmental Crisis in DRC

Electric vehicles contribute to an ongoing environmental and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mining operations cause deforestation, pollution, food insecurity and exploitative labor practices.

‘The Lesson from Gaza Is Clear: When Ai-powered Machines Control Who Lives, Human Rights Die’

 
CIVICUS discusses the military use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Gaza with Dima Samaro, a Palestinian lawyer and researcher, and director of Skyline International for Human Rights, a civil society organisation (CSO) that defends digital freedoms and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Dima serves on multiple boards focused on civic space and surveillance issues, including Innovation for Change’s MENA Hub, the Surveillance in the Majority World Network and the VUKA! Solidarity Coalition, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways to help Palestinian CSOs counter Israeli efforts to restrict civic space and manipulate public narratives.

From Drylands to Dignity: How Solar Energy and Climate-Smart Farming Are Empowering Communities in Burkina Faso

In the heart of Burkina Faso’s drylands, in the village of Zoungou, a quiet transformation is underway. Alhaji Birba Issa, a smallholder onion farmer, bends over neat rows of lush green crops, the hum of solar-powered pumps audible in the background.

The Emerging Quad 3.0: Prioritizing a Hard Security Agenda

On 1 July, the foreign ministers of the Quad—Australia, India, Japan and the US—convened for the second time this year in Washington, DC. While the first meeting, held just hours after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States, signaled the Quad's significance to the new US administration, the second meeting indicates that the Quad is entering a new phase with a renewed focus on a strategic and hard security agenda, weaning itself away from its non-traditional security priorities. This presents a departure from its previous versions: the first Quad, which collapsed in 2007, centred on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and Quad 2.0, which was reinstated in 2017, gradually developed a broad public goods agenda.

WHO, UNICEF Find the World Is Off Track To Meet Childhood Immunization Goals

The latest data highlights that the world is off track to meet the targets set by the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) to achieve 90 percent global immunization coverage for essential childhood vaccines and halve the number of unvaccinated children by 2030.

A Crisis of Contagion and Collapse: Why Cholera Continues To Be a Problem in the DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is grappling with one of its worst cholera outbreaks in recent history, exposing deep systemic cracks in public health, water infrastructure, and humanitarian response, leaving its youngest citizens in peril.

Conflict, Climate Change Push Migrants in Yemen to Return to Their Home Countries

Yemen's humanitarian crisis, driven by conflict, economic collapse and climate shocks, leaves migrants desperate to return to their home countries.

Post-Earthquake Myanmar Faces ‘Immense’ Suffering, Cannot Be Forgotten

“Myanmar cannot become a forgotten crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), has said. “This country has faced cyclones, war, conflict, violence, climate and now immense suffering.”

The Juggling of Aid: How WFP is Delivering More with Less

Serious-to-severe food insecurity has been widely felt among those living through the worst, protracted humanitarian crises. For organizations like the World Food Programme (WFP), they must work under the “relentless demand” for humanitarian aid, including food.

FFD4 Must Deliver for the World’s Most Vulnerable Nations

Five years from the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we face a development emergency. The promise to eradicate poverty, combat climate change, and build a sustainable future for all is slipping away. The SDG financing gap has ballooned to over $4 trillion annually—a crisis compounded by declining aid, rising trade barriers, and a fragile global economy.

The Young Nigerian Innovator Lighting Up Communities With Recycled Solar Innovation

When Stanley Anigbogu heard his name announced as the 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year in London earlier in March, he could hardly believe it. He had not expected to win, especially among a pool of brilliant nominees from across the globe.

Managing Underdevelopment: What Two Decades of ODA Debt Reveal

Imagine investing US$14 billion, or even slightly less, to achieve universal literacy in 17 African countries where more than half the adult population still cannot read or write . Pair that with another US$36 billion to connect Africa’s landlocked nations through 12,000 kilometres of new railway lines along priority transport corridors.