Sri Lanka & the Global Climate Emergency: The Lessons of Cyclone Ditwah

Tropical Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall in Sri Lanka on 28 November 2025, is considered the country’s worst natural disaster since the deadly 2004 tsunami. It intensified the northeast monsoon, bringing torrential rainfall, massive flooding, and 215 severe landslides across seven districts.

‘Inclusive Digital Transformation Will Pave Path for Prosperity, Bridge Divides’

Weeks after an international conference on inclusive and people-centric digital transformation organized by the Global Development Network (GDN) here, a new narrative is unfolding about the need for digital innovations to serve people first and narrow inequalities rather than widening them.

Evaluation Finds Food Systems Programs Deliver Results but Warns of Missed Transformation Chances

A new independent evaluation of the Global Environment Facility’s food systems programs says they are delivering strong environmental and livelihood gains in many countries but warns that a narrow focus on farm production, weak political analysis, and shrinking coordination budgets are holding back deeper transformation.

School Days Lost, but Non-Economic Loss and Damage Not Part of Global Talks

Jyoti Kumari missed her online classes again today. Her father, a vegetable seller in West Delhi’s vegetable market, had to go to work, taking with him the only smartphone the family uses. Kumari has been taking online classes since November 11, when the state government declared a shutdown of all elementary schools due to air pollution hitting the “severe” category.

Kashmir’s Small Farmers Endless Wait for Climate Justice

In the fertile fields of Jammu's R.S. Pura, rice farmer Mohd Yaseen Khan stares at a cracked irrigation canal, battered by erratic rainfall. “One day heavy rain, next week a dry spell,” he says, dusting his palms. “Our crop suffers. Our costs rise.”

Innovative Approaches to Climate, Peace and Security: Opportunities for India–Germany–Australia Collaboration

 
Emerging research on the nexus between climate, peace and security (CPS) supports the integration of climate adaptation and mitigation methods to advance sustainable peace. While climate change itself may not be the direct cause of conflict, its cascading effects such as resource scarcity, displacement, and economic stress could become focal points of tension. Although these links remain debated, meaningful responses could have delayed stabilizing effects. Locally driven responses become essential in addressing climate change as a security concern, to mitigate future cycles of conflict. A nuanced CPS framing can support smarter climate action while enhancing security at multiple levels. India’s scalable local models, Germany’s technical expertise, and Australia’s Pacific engagement pose an opportunity for the three countries to collaborate on advancing integrated CPS approaches.

Rising Heat, Rising Risk: Regional Policy Actions

The year 2024 was the hottest on record globally. In Asia and the Pacific, Bangladesh was the worst-hit country, with about 33 million people affected by lower crop yields that destabilized food systems, along with extensive school closures and many cases of heatstroke and related diseases. Children, the elderly and outdoor low-wage earners in poor and densely populated urban areas suffered the most, as they generally had less access to cooling systems or to water supplies and adequate healthcare. India, too, was badly affected, with around 700 heat-related deaths mostly in informal settlements.

Belém’s Hunger, Poverty Declaration Places World’s Most Vulnerable Populations at Centre of Global Climate Policy

A young woman at COP30 speaks about retracing her father’s footsteps. At only 16, her father and her grandfather were among the first families displaced by an unfolding climatic crisis of erratic weather and worsening climate conditions that goes on to date from their ancestral village in Sundarbans. Nearly 60 years later, she is on a mission to reclaim her ancestral lands.

Forcefully Deported Afghan Women Return to a Life of Fear and Anxiety

When Roya, a former police officer under Afghanistan’s Republic government, left the country with her family, she felt a great sense of relief, having escaped from the horrors of Taliban rule. She never imagined that less than three years later she would be forced back into the same conditions, only worse.

Indigenous Knowledge Holders Want to Be Acknowledged

Generational lived experiences are key to confronting and living with a changing climate, say Indigenous knowledge holders and activists at the UN Climate Conference (COP30). As the first COP to be held in the Amazon region, in Belém, representatives of Indigenous communities reiterated the importance of generationally transferred knowledge and skills to adapt to and mitigate the threats posed by climate change.

A Lesson for Pakistan in Indian Sweet Syrup Death

When 23 children died in India’s Madhya Pradesh after consuming contaminated cough syrup in early September, the news barely registered across the border. In Pakistan—where self-medication is rampant and syrup bottles are household staples—the tragedy strikes dangerously close to home.

United in Diversity: the Asia-Pacific Region’s Path to Inclusive Social Development

The Second World Summit for Social Development, held in Qatar earlier this month, marked an important moment for global efforts to advance inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. Throughout the Summit, contributions from the Asia-Pacific region demonstrated that diversity is not a barrier but a strength in crafting people-centred solutions.

Arrested for a Greeting: The Price Afghan Women Pay for a Simple Word

The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, is the name given by the Taliban to their religious police, tasked with enforcing strict Islamist rule on the people of Afghanistan. But for Afghan women, the name evokes only fear and terror, as they bear the harshest consequences of its actions.

Rajagopal PV’s Blueprint for Another World: Peace

"If nations can have defense ministries, why not peace ministries?" asks Rajagopal PV, the soft-spoken yet formidable founder of Ekta Parishad. "We are told to see issues through a gender lens—why not a peace lens? Why can’t we imagine a business model rooted in non-violence or an education system that teaches peace?”

Humor, Courage, and Coffee: Inside Asia’s Independent Media Resistance

In Pakistan, journalism is a risky profession—and the danger only intensifies if you’re a woman, young, and a freelancer, says 30-year-old Saba Chaudhry, a journalist from a village near Narowal, in Punjab province.

Asia-Arab Parliamentarians Forge Regional Pathways for Gender Justice and Youth Empowerment

Inclusive legislation, empowered youth, and anti-violence policies are inseparable aspects of sustainable development and were the key messages at a conference of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Asian and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development held in Cairo on October 24, 2025.

Challenging Elites, Defending Democracy: Oxfam’s Amitabh Behar Speaks Out

Speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week in Bangkok (November 1–5), Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International and a passionate human rights advocate, highlighted his concerns about rising inequality, growing authoritarianism, and the misuse of AI and surveillance. Yet, he expressed optimism that, even as civic spaces shrink, young people across Asia are driving meaningful change. He also shared his vision of a just society—one where power is shared, and grassroots movements lead the way.

Defending Democracy in a “Topsy-Turvy” World

It is a bleak global moment—with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.

As Civil Society Is Silenced, Corruption and Inequality Rise

From the streets of Bangkok to power corridors in Washington, the civil society space for dissent is fast shrinking. Authoritarian regimes are silencing opposition but indirectly fueling corruption and widening inequality, according to a leading global civil society alliance.

Tackling the Hidden Toll of Breast Cancer in the Pacific Islands

The burden of breast cancer, the most common cancer among women, is global, and the projected increase in cases in the coming decades will affect women in high- and low-income countries in every region.

Community Volunteers Working to Safeguard Bangladesh’s Last Wild Elephants

When wild elephant herds come down from the hills in search of food, Sona Miahm, with community volunteers, steps forward to help prevent human-elephant conflicts.