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Friday, July 3, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse
How Aid Cuts Will Shatter Global Water and Sanitation Progress
The principle of leaving no one behind is central to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The progress toward achieving SDG 6, which aims to ensure universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030 is increasingly under threat with recent development funding cuts posing a significant barrier.
Why “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” Advocates Cling to Genocide Denial
Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza comes several months after both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued reports concluding without equivocation that Israel was engaged in genocide. But very few members of Congress dare to acknowledge that reality, while their silence and denials scream out complicity.
Musk is Wrong. Empathy is Not a Weakness
“The fundamental weakness is empathy,” Musk recently told radio podcast host Joe Rogan. “There is a bug, which is the empathy response.” As Musk has established himself as at least the second most powerful person in an administration seeking a wholesale remaking of institutions, rules and norms, what he said matters, because it encapsulates a political plan. What the Project 2025 report set out in over 900 turgid pages, Musk’s remark captures in a simple pithy mantra for the social media age.
Pioneering Sustainable Energy Solutions in Africa
The 12th Sankalp Africa Summit, held on Feb 26-27 in Nairobi, brought together a pivotal cohort of start-up innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers to accelerate the innovation needed to enhance Africa’s energy transition.
WTO: Standing Tall as the Winds Howl
Winds are also changing in trade policy. As they get rougher and more unpredictable, the much-criticised multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has so far proved surprisingly resilient. Paradoxically, Donald Trump’s tariff policy could actually strengthen the WTO.
UN Chief’s Ramadan Solidarity Visit Revives Rohingya Refugees Hope
When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appeared before the Rohingya refugees wearing a traditional white panjabi, a costume of Muslims, to join an iftar party in Ukhiya refugee camp, thousands who had gathered waved to welcome him.
Trump, Democracy and the U.S. Constitution
In these turbulent and sad times, it is hard to keep quiet about abuses and violations of human rights taking place around the world; in eastern DR Congo, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza. Among the most egregious examples of incomprehensible stances on such abuses is the behaviour displayed by the Trump Administration, not least the President’s behaviour against the lawfully elected president of Ukraine. Trump’s doubts about the validity of a nation’s desperate struggle against the forces of a dictatorial regime, which destroys their country and aims at taking over its richest territory.
Is UN in Danger of Losing its Battle for Gender Equality?
The Trump administration’s decision to abandon DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion— which was aimed at promoting fair treatment in the work place, is having its repercussions at the United Nations. The US has been exerting pressure on UN agencies to drop DEI largely protecting minority groups, and women in particular, who have been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination.
Trashing Jewish Values Risks Israel’s Survival as We Know It
77 torturous years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, punctuated by intense violence and wars, successive Netanyahu-led governments have shattered Jewish values to the core—values that have sustained and preserved Jewish lives for centuries and provided the moral foundation on which Israel was built.
United Nations’ New Efficiency Initiative is Aiming for Structural Changes to Operations
The United Nations chief announced on Wednesday (March 12) a new initiative that aims to assess areas of efficiency and improvement for the international organization to expand its efforts and recognize the need “for even greater urgency and ambition.”
UN Chief Launches New Initiative as World Faces Growing Challenges
Our world is facing challenges on every front. Since the United Nations reflects that world in all its aspects, we feel it in all our work.
Nuclear Testing in Kazakhstan Documentary Showcases Urgent Need for Nuclear Abolition
The documentary I Want to Live On: The Untold Stories of the Polygon exposes the lifelong impacts of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan’s Semey region. As a third-generation survivor born in Semey, international relations legal expert based in New York, Togzhan Yessenbayeva said she was aware of the “profound impact” that nuclear testing has had on her community and environment. She remarked that the tests in Semipalatinsk have left a “legacy of challenges” that people must deal with to this day.
The G20: How it Works, Why it Matters and What Would be Lost if it Failed
South Africa took over the presidency of the G20 at the end of 2024. Since then the world has become a more complex, unpredictable and dangerous place.
Society’s Self-Sabotage: How Discrimination Cripples Nations
One look at the headlines recently and anyone would know that cuts to foreign aid are jeopardizing hard-won progress on a range of issues. AIDS is one of them.
A Cash Crisis Forces UN to Re-Figure its Budget and Freeze Staff Hiring
Faced with an impending cash crisis primarily due to non-payment of dues by the US and over 100 other member states-- along with threats of a US withdrawal from the world body-- there were widespread rumors the United Nations was re-costing and reducing its approved budget for 2025 while deciding to freeze hiring new staffers.
Developing a Thriving e-vehicles Value Chain in Africa
African countries should join hands to make the most of their own resources and build a formidable electric vehicle ecosystem that could help fast-track realisation of SDGs.
How the Arts Play a Role in the Fight for Nuclear Disarmament
This week countries and communities converge in New York for the 3rd Meeting of State Parties on the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), with multiple side events to address the social, political and cultural impact of nuclear abolition across different sectors.
International Women’s Day, 2025
The Quest for a Female UN Secretary-General: Assessing the Probability
The United Nations has chosen “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” as the theme for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025. This theme emphasizes the importance of equal rights, power, and opportunities for all women and girls, urging action to create a feminist future where no one is left behind.
Nuclear Weapons, Far from Diminishing, Keep Rising
The United Nations, whose primary mandate is to maintain international peace and security, has been one of the longstanding leaders in the global campaign for a world without nuclear weapons. But the progress has been relatively slow – despite the growing number of anti-nuclear treaties. Perhaps the only consolation is the absence of a nuclear attack or a nuclear war in over 80 years.
International Women’s Day, 2025
It’s time for a Feminist Woman Secretary General at the UN
In 2025, the United Nations will celebrate 80 years of shaping global policies, fostering peace, and driving international development. Yet, in those eight decades, not a single woman has held the position of Secretary-General.
International Women’s Day, 2025
New Report Finds Sexist Laws Persist Worldwide
A new global report analyzing sex discrimination in laws reveals that while some commendable gains have been achieved in strengthening legal protections for women and girls over the past five years, progress remains slow, uneven, and increasingly under threat from a growing backlash against women’s rights.
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It was dubbed "The Glass House" by U.S. ambassador James Wadsworth in 1966. Half a century later, the United Nations has gradually expanded its role as agent of peace and protector of the world's vulnerable populations, while simultaneously facing internal pressures to become more inclusive, increase transparency and maintain legitimacy in the post-Cold War political and economic order. Highlighting the local impacts of global policies on economic development, environment, health and human rights, IPS's coverage goes beyond the edicts of the Security Council to illuminate the power struggles, successes and shortcomings of the 193-member institution as it grapples with crises like climate change, armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS.
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