Languages
Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Humanitarian Emergencies
Italy Sees New Migrants Influx
After what is remembered as the North Africa emergency of 2011, Italy is again seeing an increase in the arrivals of migrants, especially asylum seekers.
Even if Syria Complies on Chemical Arms, Six Others Still at Large
If Syria eventually agrees to relinquish its stockpile of chemical arms under the 1993 international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), what of the six other countries that have either shown reluctance or refused to join the treaty?Russia Throws Obama a Life Preserver on Syria
With President Barack Obama facing increasingly certain defeat in his quest for Congressional authorisation to carry out military strikes against Syria, the Russian government Monday appeared to offer the White House a way out of the crisis.U.N. Inspection a Figleaf to Justify Air Strike on Syria
The United Nations, which has remained deadlocked over Syria, is in danger of being craftily exploited to justify the impending air strike on Damascus.
Mugabe’s Policies Starve Zimbabweans
Tambudzai Javangwe from Mwenezi district in southern Zimbabwe, has run out of food and each day she begs for hand-outs from well-wishers so that she can feed herself an her six orphaned grandchildren.
Obama Increasingly Isolated on Syria Military Action
With a week of intense lobbying behind him, U.S. President Barack Obama looks increasingly beleaguered - both at home and abroad - in his effort to rally support for a military strike against Syria to punish its government for its alleged Aug. 21 chemical-weapons attack outside Damascus.
U.N. Urges Culture of Peace amid Rising Sectarian Strife
Against the backdrop of widespread sectarian violence in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria - and rising xenophobia and Islamophobia in Western Europe and the United States - the United Nations hosted its second high-level forum on the "culture of peace".OP-ED: Syria Has Become Iran’s Vietnam – Let’s Help It Escape
As if the Iran nuclear issue was not already difficult enough, it became even more complicated when Bashar al-Assad unleashed his chemical weapons across Damascus suburbs last month. Suddenly, the Syria issue is overshadowing all other factors concerning Iran.Iran Looms over Syria Debate for Pro-Israel Groups
With Congress still deliberating over Barack Obama’s request for authorisation to take military action against Syria, the powerful Israel lobby here has taken the lead in pressing the president’s case.
Ex-World Leaders Urge U.S. to Forego Military Attack on Syria
The United States, which is preparing to launch a military strike on Syria, is being cautioned by several former world leaders and Nobel Peace laureates to seek a political solution to the ongoing crisis - and forego armed intervention in the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation.
Poor Picked for ‘Paradise’
“I consider myself lucky after finding my son,” says Muhammad Jabeen, a juice vendor in Bannu, one of the 25 districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan. The Taliban had taken his son, Mateen Shah, away from a madrassa to join their ranks.
Top Republicans, Israel Lobby Weigh for Obama’s Syria Strike
In an important boost for President Barack Obama, two key Republicans and the Israel’s lobby’s two most influential groups Tuesday announced their support for a proposed Congressional resolution authorising limited military strikes against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
U.N. Chief Dodges Question on “Illegal” Attack on Syria
When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was South Korea's foreign minister during 2004-2006, his answers to reporters were so predictably evasive the press corps in Seoul affectionately dubbed him "the slippery eel".
Sri Lanka Cornered Over Human Rights
That it would be a visit fraught with diplomatic tension was undoubted. Navanetham ‘Navi’ Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was into the third day of her week-long visit from Aug. 25 to Aug. 31 to Sri Lanka when her entourage broke into animated discussion.
Splintered Damascus Holds Its Breath
“Life is almost normal in the centre of Damascus," local resident Hisham says from the predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Bab Touma. "Only the occasional noise of artillery on the outskirts reminds me that we are at war."
DR Congo Armed Groups Increase Child Recruitment
Over 2,000 children are still being used as soldiers by 27 armed groups in North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo despite efforts by the United Nations Children’s Fund to remove them from the frontlines and return them to their homes.
One Way to See the Killing in Syria
Zuhair Hassib did not witness the last and the most ghastly massacre in Syria. Images of last year’s Siege of Homs were enough for the artist to have seen. His paintings have brought those horrors home in a way pictures could never have.
Cuban Doctors Bring Eyesight, Healthcare to Haiti
It's Saturday, and the entrance hall of a police station in front of the busy market in Salomon in the Haitian capital has become an improvised health post. In a few minutes there is a long queue of people waiting to be seen by the Cuban medical brigade.
U.S., UK, France Seek Wider U.N. Support for Syria Probe
The United States, Britain and France, three veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, are making a strong push for an "urgent" U.N. investigation of the alleged use of chemical weapons Wednesday in Syria.
Poor and Disabled When Disaster Strikes
Upon first glance, the emergency checklist distributed in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake looks like any other. Organised into key categories like water, sanitation and hygiene, and psychosocial support, the information is typical of the kind circulated for emergency response.
Q&A: Colombia Still in the Icy Grip of Impunity
Death threats are hardly uncommon in Colombia. In fact, if you are a human rights activist, they are practically guaranteed.« Previous Page — Next Page »
MONUSCO Peacekeepers and FARDC Soldiers Patrol Fataki Area. Credit: UN Photo/Jorkim Jotham Pituwa
Conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters, and famine have been at the forefront of concerns for humanitarian organizations. The escalation of humanitarian crises has led to over 239 million people in need of humanitarian assistance at the start of 2026, as estimated by OCHA’s Global Humanitarian Overview. The 2025 humanitarian appeal received only $12 billion, the lowest funding in over a decade, which has left 24 million fewer people reached in comparison to 2024. Conflict has remained the primary driver of crisis.
Humanitarian emergencies massively impact progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adversely affecting economic development, inequality, education, planetary well-being, and poverty. Millions of people are faced with reduced access to essential services, including shelter, food, healthcare, and access to clean drinking water. UN Organizations such as UNHCR and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are committed to providing direct relief to affected communities when state governments cannot.
The United Nations 2024 Summit of the Future discussed measures that will be taken to reduce global inequality and promote peacekeeping efforts around the world. The recent UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, agreed to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually for climate action by 2035, operationalize the loss and damage fund, and triple adaptation finance. However, a fossil fuel transition commitment was not secured, despite climate change and the greenhouse effect being major contributors to humanitarian crises worldwide.
Countries across the world have also rallied to end humanitarian crises, as witnessed in conflicts such as Palestine and Ukraine. IPS is committed to providing relevant and in-depth reports of humanitarian emergencies around the world and their implications.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
