‘Tell Us When the Next Storm Will Come’—Human Stories From Kashmir’s Deadliest August

The relentless rain that battered the mountains and valleys of Jammu and Kashmir this August shattered lives and records.

Trump’s Tariff Tsunami Hits Brazil

Since January 2025, Donald Trump’s second presidency has been focused on securing the global supremacy of the United States. It justifies a package of international coercive and intimidatory measures, accompanied by an aggressive, arrogant rhetoric. Right at the outset, the new administration announced a veritable tsunami of tariffs and immediately implemented them as a sign of its new independence.

Iconic World Heritage Sites Threatened by Water Risks as Climate Change Marches On

From Zimbabwe's 'The Smoke that thunders,' Victoria Falls, to the awe-inspiring Pyramids in Egypt and the romantic Taj Mahal in India, these iconic sites are facing a growing threat - water risk.

UN 80 – Clustering the Climate Conventions

The international governance of environmental challenges has progressively evolved over the past decades, transitioning from isolated treaties addressing specific issues to a complex web of multilateral agreements that aim to foster sustainable development and environmental integrity.

Togo’s Young Generation Challenges Six Decades of Dynastic Rule

In late June, thousands flooded the streets of Lomé, Togo’s capital, presenting the ruling dynasty with its biggest challenge in decades. The catalyst was constitutional manoeuvring by President Faure Gnassingbé to maintain his grip on power. In March 2024, his government pushed through constitutional amendments that transformed Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system. This created a new position, the President of the Council of Ministers – effectively Togo’s chief executive – elected by parliament rather than by popular vote, and with no term limits. Gnassingbé assumed this new role in May, making it abundantly clear the changes were only about keeping him in power indefinitely.

From Matriarchy to Victims: An Ongoing Story of Indigenous Women in Canada

If European colonialism had never happened in Canada, matriarchy would still have been strong in Indigenous culture.

Toward Enhanced Synergies among Biodiversity Related MEAs: Addressing Fragmentation with Strategic Coordination

The governance of nature and biodiversity has evolved from early 20th-century treaties on hunting and migratory species to today’s complex web of multilateral environmental agreements.

African Debt & Climate Change: How the ICJ’s Vanuatu Ruling Could be Used for Broader Justice

African sovereign debtors in distress face terrible choices. They are often forced to choose between fully paying their creditors and financing the needs of their populations – health, education, renewable energy, water.

‘Who Will Take the Mic at the United Nations When Doing so Might Cost Them Their Freedom?’

 
CIVICUS discusses civil society’s challenges in engaging with United Nations (UN) processes with an activist from a Salvadoran queer-led organisation who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

UN General Assembly Urged to Temporarily Move to Geneva to Circumvent US Visa Denials

When Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was denied a US visa to visit New York to address the United Nations back in 1988-- under the Ronald Reagan administration-- the General Assembly defied the United States by temporarily moving the UN’s highest policy making body to Geneva– for the first time in UN history– providing a less-hostile political environment for the PLO leader.

E3, US Need a More Effective Diplomatic Strategy for Iran Post-Snapback

The decision early this week by the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) to initiate the process to snap back UN sanctions on Iran that were modified as part of the 2015 nuclear deal must be paired with an effective diplomatic strategy that restarts talks between the United States and Iran.

UN Reforms Include “Painful Staff Reductions”—and Forcible Return to Home Countries

The 193-member General Assembly, the UN’s highest policy-making body, will make the ultimate decision on the proposed UN restructuring, which will include staff cutbacks, merging or eliminating of departments and relocating UN agencies from high-cost to low-cost locations.

DRC: Reforesting Sites Once Used by War Displaced People

The Youth Circle for Nature Conservation and Community Development is working toward the reforestation of sites where displaced people lived near the town of Goma.

‘Israeli Offensive in Gaza City an Existential Threat to the Two-State Solution’

Ahead of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to the press on the “unfolding tragedy that is Gaza,” calling Israel’s new plans to take over Gaza City with the military a “deadly escalation” and an “existential threat to the two-state solution.”

Afghan Journalism Under Siege: Arrests, Censorship, and Collapse

Ahmad Siyar works in road construction in Balkh province. He wears a safety helmet to protect himself from debris constantly falling from the mountain where the road is being built. Once, he wore the same type of helmet for a very different reason. He was reporting from various parts of northern Afghanistan. Back then, his helmet bore the word “Journalist” in both Dari and English.

The Right to Care: A Feminist Legal Victory That Could Change the Americas

On 7 August, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights delivered a groundbreaking decision that could transform women’s lives across the Americas. For the first time in international law, an international tribunal recognised care as an autonomous human right. Advisory Opinion 31/25, issued in response to a request from Argentina, elevates care – long invisible and relegated to the private sphere – to the level of a universal enforceable entitlement.

Can the Asia-Pacific Region Deliver Clean, Affordable Energy by 2030?

The future of the global energy landscape will be shaped by Asia and the Pacific. Over the past two decades, our region has been the principal driver of global energy demand and emissions. Energy has powered prosperity, lifted millions out of poverty and transformed societies.

Intensified Legal, Political, and Grassroots Battles Over Amazon Oil Expansion

A report has warned about the risks of expanding oil and gas exploration in the Colombian Amazon, which may undermine environmental goals, Indigenous rights, and long-term economic stability, unless the government pivots toward sustainable development pathways.

From Endurance to Resilience: The Future of Development in Latin America & the Caribbean

The development trajectory of Latin America and the Caribbean is going through a period of unprecedented vulnerability and uncertainty. The significant achievements of past decades, as well as the possibility of continuing to make progress, are under threat from the impact of growing geopolitical tensions, unresolved structural challenges, and an increase in crises of various kinds—environmental, political, health, technological, and social.

Hypertension and Diabetes Grows Among India’s Poor Communities

Generally thought to be diseases of the wealthier classes, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes are on the rise among India’s underprivileged working classes in semi-urban and rural sprawls.

When Disasters Strike, Homes are Destroyed, Livestock Lost, Crops Fail or Local Economies Collapse

As climate change intensifies, disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires are becoming more frequent and devastating. Rising sea levels are further threatening coastal communities, putting millions at risk. Strengthening disaster preparedness and resilience is now essential to protect lives and mitigate long-term climate impacts.