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Friday, November 13, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Human Rights
Doctors Without Borders Halts Operations in Haiti Amid Threats from
Doctors Without Borders, the medical humanitarian organization, which has served in Haiti for over 30 years, announced on Wednesday that it would suspend its activities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital amid repeated threats from local law enforcement. This announcement indicates the precariousness of the situation in Haiti where humanitarian groups on the ground face security issues from even members of law enforcement.
Born Innocent, Raised Violent: The Fate of a Billion Children
Did you know that hundreds of millions of children around the world are currently suffering from physical, sexual, and psychological violence, including child labour, child marriage, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, war, trafficking, bullying, and cyberbullying?
COP29 Focus On Climate Migration as Hotter Planet Pushes Millions Out of Homes
Migration is growing as the planet gets even hotter. Climate change is fuelling a migration crisis and millions of people in vulnerable nations are continually being uprooted from their homes. The climate and migration nexus are undeniable and the global community has turned to the Baku climate talks for urgent and sustainable solutions.
Future of Children in 2050 Will Be Shaped Through Global Trends
The future of childhood will be fundamentally shaped by the interventions taken in the present that can determine how children’s rights are protected amid compounding issues. As a new report from UNICEF shows, global trends that are already influencing children’s welfare and development will continue to shape them and be a further reflection of overall global development.
Women in Africa are Better Off Today but Gender Equality Remains Out of Reach
Today, women in Africa generally have better access to education, healthcare, and opportunities than ever before. Yet, as they step into the world, a gap between them and their male counterparts persists, a reminder that gender equality remains out of reach.
One in Three Women Experiences Gender-based Violence
Every year, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) campaign led by UN Women serves as a powerful reminder of the widespread violence women and girls face worldwide.
Embedding Education into Climate Finance Will Deliver Desired Learning, Climate Action Outcomes
Education is under threat as multiple crises push children out of school and into harms way. COP29 Baku could break historical barriers that hold back education from playing a unique, critical role to accelerate the ambition of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, protecting people and planet from life-threatening risks of climate change.
The Overlooked Crisis of Domestic Violence in the Workforce
In Indonesia’s humid heat, I watched as dozens of men on motorcycles lingered outside the garment factory gates, their children hanging off their shoulders, as they waited for their partners to finish their shift. These men – many without jobs of their own – came to pick up the women who provide for their families.
Pakistan’s Climate Minister Pitches for ‘Climate Diplomacy’ at COP29
Romina Khurshid Alam, the Coordinator to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Climate Change, praised the resilience of the people of her country in the face of climate disasters and has put her faith into diplomacy to achieve climate justice.
Don’t Lock Us Out of Negotiating Table—Indigenous Communities
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.
Contingent Mission in Haiti Exacerbates Gang Offensives
Over the past week, the deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti and extended efforts by the Haitian National Police has led to local gangs ramping up their offensives in order to hold onto their territories. Humanitarian organizations fear that displacement will skyrocket without more efficient security controls and relief responses.
Genocide: The Wheels of Justice Must Keep Turning
Last April, we commemorated the 30th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. At the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at United Nations Headquarters, in New York, and across the world, we remembered the immense suffering this genocide caused on so many innocent civilians, who were targeted because of their identity, because of who they were.
Money Talks: Why COP29 New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance Matters
The industrial revolution set the ball rolling towards global warming. Today, developing nations are on the frontlines of a climatic carnage and its snowballing effects. Developed nations bear a financial responsibility to provide climate finance to developing nations, as financing the transition to a low-carbon economy is an urgent, critical matter.
‘The International Community Must Stop Turning a Blind Eye to the Suffering of Sudanese Women’
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.
Governments Must Ease Pressure on Families to Stop Children Slipping Through the Cracks
From the cost-of-living crisis to the impacts of war, cuts to social protection and even climate change, families worldwide are facing a combination of pressures that test their capacity to cope and care for children.
Rebuilding Trust, Dialogue, Collaboration Key to COP29’s Success, Says Barbados Minister
"This Finance COP has to deliver. I think this is a crucial moment for the COP process," said Shantal Munro-Knight, Barbados Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. Barbados, a nation at the forefront of climate advocacy, continues to push boundaries at COP29, the so-called Finance COP. Knight shared her views on the state of negotiations, the urgency of climate finance, and the innovative solutions her country is championing.
Human Rights Watch Condemns Israel’s “Deliberate” Military Offensives in Gaza
A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) postulates that Israeli military practices in the Gaza Strip constitutes as war crimes. Released on November 14, the new report details the scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip over a 13-month period, during which time the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) undertook a campaign to enact “deliberate, controlled demolitions of homes and civilian infrastructure” that were conducted to drive millions of Gazans out of their homes and inflict as much damage as possible.
Peace Talks—Delegates Turn To Climate Summit for Insights Into What Really Makes People Safe
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’
“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.”
Children’s Needs Due to Climate Change, Conflict Often Ignored in Negotiations
As the world grapples with ongoing armed conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza, advocacy for a more proactive approach to understanding and effectively responding to the needs of children affected by both armed conflict and climate-induced crises is growing.
Building Resilience: Spotlight on Poorest, Rural Communities Amid COP29 Competing Priorities
Life in remote, marginal areas, drylands and deserts is increasingly becoming difficult because rural people are in the crosshairs of an unprecedented climate onslaught. A substantial number of lives and livelihoods are on the line, as nearly half of the world's population, 3.3 billion, lives in rural areas and 90 percent of them are in developing countries.« Previous Page — Next Page »
One world, one humanity, now one court to defend its rights. Another step towards universal human rights, but not remotely a step far enough. The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than half a century ago, but that has done little to stop violations the world over, just as the Geneva Convention has not protected prisoners of war enough. Democracy itself and the freedom it presupposes has not been protective enough. This is the century to move from politicisation of human rights towards humanising political ways. IPS keeps an eye on that difficult path.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
