Race Against Time as Hunger, Poverty Rise Amid Growing Global Uncertainties

Nearly one in 11 people in the world and one in five people in Africa go hungry every day, a crisis primarily driven by chronic inequality, climate change, conflict and economic instability. At the current pace, hunger and extreme poverty rates show little sign of drastically receding by 2030.

Gender Inequality in Science Limits Progress Towards Solving Complex Global Challenges

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and a time to take stock of progress, successes, and setbacks towards open and gender-inclusive science. Gender equality remains elusive in science, as only one in three scientists is a woman. Not only do these inequalities hold women back, but they also limit scientific progress.

Not an Option. A Call for Action

A global alert is not an option. It requires global action. Over the past three years, the number of crisis-impacted school-aged children in need of urgent quality education support has grown by an alarming 35 million, according to Education Cannot Wait’s new Global Estimates Report.

Namibia’s Drought Crisis: Building Resilience for Women and Girls

Communities in the Kavango West region of northern Namibia have firsthand experience of the severe impacts of climate change. The dry, cracked soil and emaciated livestock provide a constant reminder of the lack of access to water in this part of the country.

Belarus: Brutal Repression Continues Post Presidential Election, Say Human Rights Groups

In the months leading up to presidential elections at the end of January, Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of hundreds of political prisoners. Some observers saw this as a sign that the man who had led the former Soviet state for the last three decades could be planning a relaxation of his regime’s brutal repressions in return for a lessening of Western sanctions.

Forcing Palestinians Out of Gaza is A Recipe for Unimaginable Disaster

Even after Trump declared that he wanted to take back the Panama Canal, acquire Greenland by force, if necessary, and rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I could not, like many others, imagine that his madness could reach a new unfathomable height.

Tanzanians with HIV Left in Crisis as USAID Funding Ends

At 9 a.m. on Monday, Mariam Msemwa clutched her clinic card tightly as she stood in line at Bagamoyo District Hospital’s HIV Clinic in Tanzania’s coastal region. The 19-year-old had been here many times before, picking up monthly doses of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that kept her alive. But today was different.When she reached the counter, the nurse flatly told her. “There’s no more free medication, ” she said. “You’ll have to buy it yourself.”

Ending FGM Requires Strengthening Partnerships and Advocacy Efforts

February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). A practice deemed a gross violation of human rights, tragically the practice persists across multiple countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Over 230 million women and girls alive today have been subjected to this gruesome practice, and experts warn that at least 27 million more could endure this by 2030.

Goma: What Have We Done to God to Deserve All This?

Zawadi Delphine is a soldier's wife and mother of three. She and her family live in Camp Katindo, east of the city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. Recalling what happened on the night of Sunday, January 26, 2025, she says that her husband had come from the front, north of the city of Goma, visibly angry and in a hurry. Without telling her what was really going on, he had told her that they would only meet again by "divine grace."

U.S. White House Executive Order Raises Concerns for Its Support to the UN

A new executive order from the United States White House calls for withdrawing support from major UN entities and a review of all international intergovernmental organizations which the United States is a member of. The U.S.’s orders against the UN Palestine Refugee Agency also do not bode well for ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

Haitian Government Faces Criticism for its Response to Gang Attack in Kenscoff

The humanitarian situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate as armed gangs expand their control in Port-Au-Prince and escalate acts of violence throughout the nation. Due to heightened insecurity, civilian displacement has reached new peaks, with hunger, disease, and the economic crisis having grown worse. With access to basic services diminished, approximately 5.5 million Haitians are dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. However, relief efforts have been severely hampered due to safety risks, restricted mobility and the vast scale of needs.

Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis Expected to Worsen in 2025

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the 2021 Taliban Offensive, an insurgency that resulted in the Taliban’s reclamation of power and the fall of the nation’s republic. In 2024, the Taliban issued further restrictions on human rights in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls. These restrictions caused the country to enter a state of economic emergency. This, compounded with heightened insecurity and limited access to basic services, has left over 23 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Hidden Danger: How War Remnants Threaten Syrian Lives

When 42-year-old Amina al-Hassan's family returned home after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, her son stood on a landmine. Hassan, from Kafranbel in southern Idlib countryside, sits beside her son's bed in the hospital after his leg was amputated following the explosion on agricultural land near their home.

Gaza Humanitarian Aid: How a Lack of Political Will Sabotaged Resolution 2720

Before the three-phased ceasefire deal—proposed by President Joe Biden and dragged over the finish line by the then-incoming Donald Trump administration—silenced the bombs and drones over Gaza and allowed for humanitarian aid to flow into the strip, there was United Nations Security Council Resolution 2720.

African Countries Called Upon to Improve Data Collection

Africa's lack of robust application of statistical research has been flagged as slowing the use of evidence-based data to drive development.

Greed and Cynicism Fuel Rwanda’s War in DRC

The fresh offensive by the M23 rebels and Rwanda forces in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) coincides with the first anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the European Union (EU) and Rwanda to cooperate on the supply of “critical minerals.”

Malnutrition in Nigeria Rises Alarmingly, Urgent Action Needed

In June 2024, 26-year-old Zainab Abdul noticed her two-year-old daughter growing pale, losing weight, and battling diarrhea. She wasn’t surprised. Since jihadist-linked bandits had forced them out of their village in Kadadaba, Zamfara State, in northwestern Nigeria, her family had been living in a refugee camp with limited access to food.

Davos Leaders Pledge Support for Bangladesh Reform Agendas

As Bangladesh Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus emerged from a meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF), Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta came forward to greet him, a demonstration of how warmly the global leaders and dignitaries received the person tasked with leading the interim government.

The “Fierce Urgency of Now”– to Reverse Course in Haiti

As we commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day on January 20, 2025—a day that also marked America welcoming its newly elected president—we honor the legacy of this civil rights leader by reflecting on his powerful words: “We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”

Report Exposes Silent Global Emergency as More Crises-Affected Children Need Urgent Education Support

A report released today on the International Day of Education sounds alarm as the number of school-aged children in crisis worldwide requiring urgent support to access quality education reaches a staggering 234 million—an estimated increase of 35 million over the past three years fueled by intensifying armed conflict, forced displacements, more frequent and severe weather and climatic events, and other crises.

Should King Baudouin, DRC’s Last Sovereign, Be Beatified?

During his visit to the Kingdom of Belgium in September 2024, Pope Francis was full of praise for King Baudouin, who ruled Belgium for more than 40 years. The pontiff announced the start of the beatification process for the man who, on the Belgian side, ratified the Congo's act of independence on June 30, 1960.