Humanitarian Aid is Stretched Following Surges in Violence in Sudan

After over two years of extended warfare in Sudan, humanitarian organizations have expressed fears of an imminent collapse as widespread hunger, displacement, and insecurity ravages the population. With tensions between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) having reached a new peak in 2025, it is imperative that Sudanese communities in the most crisis-affected areas have unfettered access to life-saving aid.

‘The International Response Should Follow the Principle of ‘Nothing about Us, Without Us’’

CIVICUS speaks with Ukrainian gender rights activist Maryna Rudenko about the gendered impacts of the war in Ukraine and the importance of including women in peacebuilding efforts. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has profoundly impacted on women and girls. Many have been displaced and are struggling with poverty and unemployment. Those who’ve stayed endure daily missile attacks, damaged infrastructure, lack of basic services and sexual violence from Russian forces if they live in occupied territories. Women activists, caregivers and journalists are particularly vulnerable. The international community must increase support to ensure justice for victims and women’s inclusion in peace efforts.

World Immunization Week Highlights the Urgency of Global Vaccine Access

For 2025, the theme of World Health Immunization Week (24-30 April), “Immunization for All is Humanly Possible”, emphasizes the need to eradicate disparities in access to vaccines, particularly for children. By encouraging governments to implement vaccination programs at the local and national levels, the World Health Organization (WHO) seeks t0 ensure worldwide access to life-saving vaccines.

Mexico Bans GM Corn Cultivation in Constitutional Reform: Action Follows Trade Ruling That Ignored Evidence of Genetic Contamination

On March 17, Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum signed into law a constitutional reform banning the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) corn. The action followed a December ruling by a trade tribunal, under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, in favor of a U.S. complaint that Mexico's 2023 presidential decree, with broader restrictions on the consumption of GM corn, constituted an unfair trade practice by prohibiting the use of GM corn in tortillas.

Reclaiming Equity: Why G20 Must Center Women, Children & Adolescents in the UHC Agenda

As the G20 Health Working Group convened in KwaZulu-Natal under South Africa’s presidency earlier this year, a central question echoed across plenaries: How can we accelerate universal health coverage (UHC) in an increasingly unequal world?

Financing for Whom? The Financing for Development Summit Must Address Social Dimensions

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will bring world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how to finance a better future for all. Yet, in practice, the first drafts of its outcome reveal a glaring omission: people. Despite rhetoric about inclusivity, the drafts are strikingly weak on social issues, as if financing and macroeconomic policies exist in a vacuum, detached from the lives they impact.

UN Warns of an Imminent Collapse in Haiti

As gang violence in Haiti continues to target civilians and critical infrastructures, humanitarian organizations and the Haitian National Police (HNP) have found it increasingly difficult to manage the growing scale of needs. The United Nations (UN) and its partners fear that Haiti will approach a nationwide collapse due to numerous shortfalls in funding, a widespread lack of essential resources, and rampant insecurity.

African Countries Still Underfunding Health by as Much as 50 Percent

The majority of African countries are yet to commit 15 percent of their GDP to funding the health sector, despite the growing disease burden weighing down the continent and two decades after the coming into force of the Abuja declaration on health sector funding.

Children at the Center

Creativity and innovation are essential to finding extraordinary solutions to abnormal problems. Now more than ever we must continue finding creative solutions to protect the world’s most vulnerable children from the excruciating pain of war, dispossession and destruction of their last hope: a quality education. The current humanitarian and development funding levels are falling. However, with creativity we can prevent further deterioration and instead turn towards an upward direction.

Essential Supplies Run Critically Low in Gaza While Displacement Soars

Since the deterioration of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in March, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have issued numerous evacuation orders and bombardments on the Gaza Strip, resulting in exacerbated rates of displacement and a significant amount of civilian casualties. Roughly two million Palestinians within the enclave struggle to stay alive amid repeated blockages of humanitarian aid.

ECOSOC Forum Highlights the Importance of Educational and Economic Empowerment for Youth

This year, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum’s theme is “Youth at the Forefront: Leveraging Science and Social Inclusion for Sustainable Development”, bringing together government representatives, young leaders and policymakers among other relevant stakeholders, to deliberate over youth involvement in the ongoing efforts to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Long Goodbye: The Rise of Dementia

As the world’s population of 8.2 billion people increases in size and becomes older due to demographic ageing, the number of people experiencing the long goodbye, or dementia, is rapidly rising.

Netanyahu Refuses Calls to End the Gaza War as Palestinians Struggle to Survive

Since the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to significant bombardment and blockages of humanitarian aid. With aid deliveries having been halted from entering the Gaza Strip for over one month, roughly two million Palestinians have been relying on dwindling resources, facing heightened risks of malnutrition and disease.

Strengthening One Health Approach in Agriculture Requires Cross-Sectoral Partnerships, Information

Increasingly, experts in the global health and agricultural sectors are finding the One Health approach effective for identifying and addressing health concerns that can influence facets of health. Implementing this approach worldwide will require partnerships across different sectors.

Myanmar Reels From Its Strongest Earthquake in Over a Century

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar on March 28, marked the strongest earthquake the nation has experienced in over a century and the second deadliest in it’s history. The earthquake caused extensive damage in Myanmar and Thailand, with infrastructures in southern China and Vietnam also having been affected.

The Current Plight of Haitians: Interview with a Mason in the Dominican Republic

On March 18, the first plane with deportees from the US landed in Cap-Haïtien. Of the 46 passengers, 25 were convicted felons. Taking effect on April 24 the US Department of Homeland Security will revoke the temporary legal status of more than 210,000 Haitians. They had by the Biden administration been granted a safe haven, but all these Haitians are now expected to be deported back to a country immersed in a humanitarian crisis.

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures

Education is an essential investment in providing health to those left furthest behind. On World Health Day, we must connect the dots between education and health in humanitarian crisis settings. A child attending school gets vaccinations and healthcare, a nutritious meal and mental health and psychosocial services. By funding education, we optimize our investments to cover multiple sectors in one investment, such as health.

Trapped by Tradition: The Widows of Ukerewe and the Ritual They Cannot Escape

The night after her husband was laid to rest, 24-year-old Vivian Magesa sat in the dimly lit brick-walled house, surrounded by women from her late husband’s family. She had spent the past few days in mourning, wrapped in a white shroud, her head shaved as custom dictated. But as the hushed voices of her in-laws filled the room, Magesa realized her grief was far from over.

Putting People First: Why SRHR Must Be Central to Health and Development Agendas

As global leaders prepare to convene for the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) in New York, April 7-11, the world finds itself at a critical crossroads. We can either recommit to human dignity, equality, and justice—or risk unraveling decades of progress in global health.

World Autism Awareness Day 2025: Sustainable Development Must Include Neurodivergent Perspectives

In 2007, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD), in an effort to promote inclusion and human rights for autistic individuals. Much work has been done and pushed forward by autistic advocates to bring lived experiences to global discussions.

Make America Great Again? Not by This Administration

For most voters, to make America great again, as the 47th president has repeatedly pledged, meant to make the United States markedly superior globally. However, the administration’s actions, policies and program cuts will not improve but only worsen the US’s mediocre standing among advanced countries.