Active Citizens

Mahrang Baloch—Feted Worldwide, Persecuted at Home

By Zofeen Ebrahim
"This recognition by a media outlet highlights the painful stories of abductions, torture, and the genocide of the Baloch people," said 31-year-old political activist Mahrang Baloch, speaking with IPS over the phone from Quetta, Balochistan, in reference to her inclusion on the BBC’s annual list of 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024.

Nobel Peace Prize Forum Breaks Down Nuclear Risks and Solutions

By Naureen Hossain
The existential threat that nuclear weapons present remains as pertinent as ever, even when they have not been deployed in war for nearly 80 years. As some countries seek out nuclear weapons or to upgrade and modernize their existing warheads, global voices in nuclear politics and disarmament warn of the potential risk of a new nuclear arms race amid the weakening of nuclear treaties that prohibit the proliferation and use of nuclear arms.

COP29: Advancing work for Climate Finance and for Climate-Adapted Agri-Food Systems

By David Nabarro
Frustrations over the pace of climate action and the size of the finance target agreed in Baku are valid from the perspective of low-income countries, especially Small-Island Developing States (SIDS). It is also important to recognize that there has been real progress in some countries at the agri-food-nutrition-climate-water-nature-livelihoods intersection, and this seems to be particularly the case in some countries in the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation (ACF).

Central American Countries Backtrack on Metal Mining Ban

By Edgardo Ayala
Metal mining has a renewed momentum in Central America, encouraged by populist rulers who, in order to soften environmental damage, claim they can develop it in harmony with nature, which is hard to believe

Bold Donor Action Urgently Needed to Give Ethiopia’s Crisis-Impacted Children a Lifeline

By Joyce Chimbi
Ethiopia’s education system is buckling under the weight of complex, competing challenges. The aftermath of a deadly war in the north, ongoing violence, climate-induced disasters, and widespread forced displacements have converged to push as many as 9 million children out of school. With close to 18 percent of schools in the country destroyed or damaged and persisting intercommunal conflicts in various regions, there are fears that many might never find their way back to school.

Zambia: Civil Society Fighting New Legislative Threats and Restrictive NGO Bills

By Leah Mitaba and Bibbi Abruzzini
Over the past few years, new “tools of control” affecting the work of civil society organisations have multiplied, often imposing forms of “bureaucratic criminalisation” and “administrative harassment”. In particular, more and more restrictive and demanding laws are hurting civil society organisations’s capacity to operate across the globe.

How an App Transformed Farming for Rural Tanzanian Women

By Kizito Makoye
In the sun-scorched soils of Moshi, where every drop of rain counts, two female farmers have defied the odds through technology. Mwajuma Rashid Njau and Mumii Rajab, once locked in a daily struggle to survive, have found a mobile phone their best ally.

Youth-Led Landmark Climate Change Case Starts in The Hague

By Cecilia Russell
The intersection of law, diplomacy, and science will come under the spotlight at the International Court of Justice hearings starting today (Monday, December 2, 2024) in The Hague as the court starts its deliberations into the obligations under international law of UN member states to protect people and ecosystems from climate change.

Lahore’s Smog: With the Sun Out, the Government Lifts Restrictions

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Atif Manzoor, 45, the owner of the renowned blue pottery business in Multan, had every reason to feel cheerful last week when the sun finally came out. For a good three weeks, the city of Sufi shrines had been shrouded in an envelope of thick smog.

Expand choices for Women, Prevent New HIV Infections in Africa

By Wambi Michael
In Uganda, women and girls are more affected by HIV. Out of 1.4 million people living with the disease, 860 000 are women and girls. According to UNAIDS, every week, 4,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 years became infected with HIV globally in 2023, with 3,100 of these infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

60 Percent of Femicides Are at the Hands of a Partner or Family

By Naureen Hossain
Every 10 minutes, one woman or girl is killed at the hands of their partner or other family member. This is only scratching the surface on how femicide, one of the most extreme forms of violence against women, persists at high levels around the world. UN-Women and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a joint report, Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides, on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Can Pay, Won’t Pay—COP29 Outcome Far from Promised Historic Deal of a Lifetime

By Joyce Chimbi
They say it is taboo to talk about money. But this is exactly what developing countries came for: to haggle and push for the climate finance deal of a lifetime, as the climate crisis is, for them, a matter of life and death. Wealthy nations also came for their own deal of a lifetime—to hoist the climate finance burden on the private sector as they take the bare minimum financial responsibility.

UN’s OCHA Calls to Correct the Imbalance in Climate Finance Allocation

By Umar Manzoor Shah
As climate-induced disasters continue to wreak havoc worldwide, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a UN body specializing in emergency response, has issued a clarion call for an ambitious and fair global climate finance goal at COP29. Greg Puley, Head of the Climate Team at OCHA, highlighted the pressing need for enhanced disaster risk reduction and climate resilience measures, particularly in vulnerable and conflict-affected regions.

Healing Minds, Empowering Women: Ghana’s Climate Change Battle

By Aishwarya Bajpai
As climate change wreaks havoc across the globe, its effects are most acutely felt by those living in vulnerable coastal and rural communities.

Don’t Lock Us Out of Negotiating Table—Indigenous Communities

By Joyce Chimbi
Delegates representing Indigenous people’s rights have taken issue with the ongoing COP29 negotiations, calling for Parties to include text and language that promote Indigenous rights to be explicitly referenced in the consensus and outcome documents.

Housing for Tomorrow: Sustainable Solutions from Habitat for Humanity

By Aishwarya Bajpai
In the face of a growing climate crisis, the connection between housing and environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly urgent.

‘The International Community Must Stop Turning a Blind Eye to the Suffering of Sudanese Women’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses Sudan’s civil war and its impact on women with Sulaima Elkhalifa, a Sudanese human rights defender and expert on gender-based violence.

Peace Talks—Delegates Turn To Climate Summit for Insights Into What Really Makes People Safe

By Joyce Chimbi
At a time when the COP29 summit is primarily focused on climate finance as a tool to cool catastrophically high global temperatures and reverse consequences for all life on earth, delegates—alarmed and concerned by the state of world peace and stability—are seeking ways to enhance safety.

Youth Protest at COP29: ‘We Will Not Standby to Inherit Dead Planet’

By Joyce Chimbi
“We cannot rely on capitalistic logic to serve our fight for liberation. More investments will not build houses after floods because it's not profitable. Corporations will not overthrow the industrial-agricultural complex that is completing our assault.”

Breakthroughs, Setbacks in COP29’s First Week of Ambitious Pursuit of Climate Consensus

By Joyce Chimbi
It has been a high-profile packed agenda in Baku, Azerbaijan, marked by milestone events designed to complete the first enhanced transparency framework and the new collective quantified goal on finance, among other top priority matters.

Robust Negotiations Still Needed to Push Rich Countries to Honor Financial Commitments

By Aishwarya Bajpai
The irony is that whatever the stakes, finance always features as the “crying onion” at each COP. Hence for the COP29, dubbed the finance COP, no wonder we reach an ocean of tears—especially in view of the current geopolitics, when the world is facing the likelihood of having its historically biggest financial contributor on climate pull out.
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