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Friday, August 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Economy & Trade
Indispensable—Native Hawaiian Elder Says of Indigenous Ocean Management Systems
Indigenous people play a vital role in ocean protection due to their deep-rooted connection to the marine environment and their traditional knowledge of sustainable resource management. They often possess centuries-old practices and stewardship ethics that prioritize ecological balance and community well-being.
Sights Set on Highest Ambition as World Rows Through Toughest Ocean Crisis
Participants from over 100 countries will leave the 10th Our Ocean Conference in Busan, the Republic of Korea, with stark reminders that with sea levels rising dangerously, coastal regions and low-lying areas globally, particularly densely populated areas, are threatened.
Economic Community of West African States: Fifty and Fractured
Half a century after ECOWAS promised peace and prosperity, three breakaway states are testing West African solidarity, sparking a potential trade war.
Mexico Bans GM Corn Cultivation in Constitutional Reform: Action Follows Trade Ruling That Ignored Evidence of Genetic Contamination
On March 17, Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum signed into law a constitutional reform banning the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) corn. The action followed a December ruling by a trade tribunal, under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, in favor of a U.S. complaint that Mexico's 2023 presidential decree, with broader restrictions on the consumption of GM corn, constituted an unfair trade practice by prohibiting the use of GM corn in tortillas.
Tanzania’s Women Miners Digging for Equality in a Male-Dominated Industry
Under the scorching Tanzanian sun, Neema Mushi wipes sweat from her dust-covered face and swings her pickaxe into the earth. The impact sends dust swirling into the air, coating her tattered clothes. She barely notices. For the past eight years, this has been her life—digging, sifting, sieving, and hoping to strike gold in the male-dominated pits of Geita. It is a grueling task riddled with obstacles.
Floods and Droughts are Two Sides of the Same Crisis
Water emergencies are deeply personal to us. Coming from Southeast Asia and southern Africa—two regions that struggle with water challenges—we have witnessed firsthand how water defines the fate of communities and nations.
Global Community in Busan to Define Sustainable Future for Life Under Water
“As the son of a haenyeo, a traditional Korean female diver, I grew up by the sea, often watching the ocean with my mother. Captivated by the beauty and majesty of the sea, I chose to study marine science and have devoted my entire career to the ocean,” said Do-hyung Kang, Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea.
Korea’s Troubled Waters: Traditional Women Divers Protecting an Ocean in Crisis
Ahead of the 10th Our Ocean Conference, with the theme "Our Ocean, Our Action," comes a global call to protect the world's oceans.
Venezuela’s Oil trapped in Hurricane Trump’s Onslaught
Reduced to a marginal oil producer over the past decade, Venezuela has suffered another blow as United States president Donald Trump ordered punitive measures to blockade and further restrict the country’s oil exports.
Kashmir Reels After Pahalgam Attack, Fear Long Term Impacts on Livelihoods
Abdul Majeed Mir strolls leisurely among the purple crocus flower rows in Pampore's saffron fields as the morning mist hovers low over them. His family has been growing this valuable spice, called "red gold," for many generations, but now his hands go through the harvest mechanically. There is a noticeable lack of the typical commotion of tourists haggling over saffron packets.
Financing for Whom? The Financing for Development Summit Must Address Social Dimensions
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will bring world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how to finance a better future for all. Yet, in practice, the first drafts of its outcome reveal a glaring omission: people. Despite rhetoric about inclusivity, the drafts are strikingly weak on social issues, as if financing and macroeconomic policies exist in a vacuum, detached from the lives they impact.
‘Noboa Did Not Receive a Blank Cheque: He Will Have to Show Tangible Results’
CIVICUS discusses Ecuador’s presidential election with Jorge Tapia de los Reyes, Coordinator of the Democracy and Politics Department and the Political Funding Observatory of the Citizenship and Development Foundation (FCD). FCD is an Ecuadorian civil society organisation that promotes participation, citizen monitoring and open government.
UN Warns of an Imminent Collapse in Haiti
As gang violence in Haiti continues to target civilians and critical infrastructures, humanitarian organizations and the Haitian National Police (HNP) have found it increasingly difficult to manage the growing scale of needs. The United Nations (UN) and its partners fear that Haiti will approach a nationwide collapse due to numerous shortfalls in funding, a widespread lack of essential resources, and rampant insecurity.
African Countries Still Underfunding Health by as Much as 50 Percent
The majority of African countries are yet to commit 15 percent of their GDP to funding the health sector, despite the growing disease burden weighing down the continent and two decades after the coming into force of the Abuja declaration on health sector funding.
Climate Groups Report 2025 Is Unlikely To Be Hotter Than 2024
On March 19, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) issued a report on the State of Global Climate in 2024, detailing the numerous heightened natural disasters that were a consequence of human-induced climate change. With the past three years having been recorded as the three hottest years in human history, climate scientists are optimistic that 2025 will see slightly cooler global temperatures.
Chel Snakehead: A Fish That Time Forgot, Rediscovered
The Chel Snakehead fish, thought to be extinct, has made a dramatic comeback to the eastern Himalayan ecosystem after more than 85 years of absence near its source river in India.
How Science Solutions Are Saving Africa’s Livestock and Livelihoods
Livestock are a lifeline for millions of farmers in Africa as a source of food and wealth. But devastating diseases are threatening the health and productivity of their animals. Now scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have unleashed a toolbox of science solutions by outsmarting the parasites and pathogens that cost millions of dollars in livestock losses across Africa. The toolbox includes everything from vaccines that protect livestock from ‘cattle malaria’ to genetics to breed animals tolerant to East Coast fever.
Trump Wants World to Subsidise US Empire
Donald Trump’s top economic advisor claims the President has weaponised tariffs to ‘persuade’ other nations to pay the US to maintain its supposedly mutually beneficial global empire.
Four Rare Snow Leopards Spotted Together on Pakistan’s Northern Peaks
In a remarkable conservation achievement, four rare and elusive snow leopards have been spotted together in the rugged peaks of northern Pakistan, highlighting the success of the ongoing global efforts aimed at protecting this critically endangered species and preserving its fragile habitat.
Hooves Vs. Habitats: Striking a Sustainable Balance Between Livestock and the Environment Is Crucial to Africa’s Future
In my country, Senegal, almost 70 percent of our land is used to graze livestock. Here and across Africa, pastoralists and livestock keepers sustain herding systems which are closely bound up with our landscapes and crucial to nationwide food security, economic growth, and ecological balance.
Bringing Resilience to the Table to Achieve Development Goals
The global risk landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, posing significant threats to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As extreme weather, macroeconomic shocks, conflict, and other risks intensify and intertwine, they can create ripple effects that amplify existing vulnerabilities and put both human and development progress in peril.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Trade has historically been a geopolitical tool, creating significant economic imbalances in developing countries. However, many countries in East Asia and Latin America have been able to alleviate poverty due to increasing trade. Tackling poverty has proven to be much harder in low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, and their dismal trade performance is one important reason for that. They remain at the margins of world trade and indeed of the world economy. These articles are aimed at informing readers about the complexities of trade and its varying effects on development, with a special focus on the consequences of the global economic crisis, the potential of fair trade and the gender implications of trade policies.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
