Partnering for Progress: Maldives’ Sustainable Ocean Initiatives

The ocean is our lifeline, covering 70 percent of the earth’s surface, it is the source of half of the oxygen we breathe, and it absorbs 26 percent of the carbon dioxide we produce. It is home to millions of marine species, contains 97 percent of all of the water on our planet and offers humankind immense resources. 

79 Years After Hiroshima & Nagasaki: A Grim Reminder of Nuclear Annihilation

The upcoming 79th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which took place on August 6 and 9, 1945, remains a grim reminder of the destructive consequences of nuclear weapons. The US bombings killed an estimated 90,000 to 210,000, with roughly half of the deaths occurring on the first day in Hiroshima.

Cambodia’s Young Environmental Activists Pay a Heavy Price

It’s risky to try to protect the environment in authoritarian Cambodia. Ten young activists from the Mother Nature environmental group have recently been given long jail sentences. Two were sentenced to eight years on charges of plotting and insulting the king. Another seven were sentenced to six years for plotting, while one, a Spanish national banned from entering Cambodia, was sentenced in absentia.

Economic Prospects in Asia & the Pacific – Celebrate Resilience, Prepare for Headwinds

Economic performance in Asia and the Pacific has proved to be quite resilient to the shocks of the past few years – the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the cost-of-living crisis. In 2023, the region’s economy drove over 60 per cent of the global economic growth.

Femicide and Reproductive Violence Harm African Women, Girls

International African Women’s Day on July 31 recognizes the contribution of African women toward political, social, and economic freedom on the continent. But gender equality is still not a reality for most African women.

At Paris Olympics, Art Runs in Tandem with Sports

As cheers from beach-volleyball fans fill the air at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on a steamy, sunny day, pedestrians just down the road are enjoying another kind of show: an outdoor exhibition of huge photographs gleaming on the metal railings of UNESCO headquarters.

Can Kenya’s Gen Z Lead an African Agriculture Revolution?

Kenyan Gen Z recently led a series of historic protests that resulted in Kenya’s President rejecting the Finance Bill 2023 and dissolving his cabinet.  These protests are inspiring a wave of change, revolutions, and optimism in Kenya and the African Continent.

Intl. AIDS Conference: Trans Man Asks Governments to Pressure Uganda to Repeal Punitive Anti LGBT+ Law

Jay Mulucha, Executive Director of FEM Alliance Uganda, gave an impassioned plea to governments around the world to push lawmakers in his home country to reverse punitive new legislation criminalizing the LGBT+ community.

The Price Women Pay for Climate Change

Global warming, widely believed to be a universal crisis, will actually impact girls and women far more than boys and men. It is already known that we live in a patriarchal world, one in which men are afforded far greater opportunities for success while women generally hold less societal power and have access to fewer resources. This especially pertains to developing countries in which agriculture related work, usually delegated to females, depends on a variety of environmental factors and subsequently, significantly hurts their livelihoods.

Harris Is Best-Positioned to Lead the Way

Within the Democratic field, no potential candidate for president is better-positioned, at this juncture, to defeat Trump more skillfully and pointedly than Kamala Harris. She is writing a new chapter in American history that will chart a new national course impacting future generations.

Left with Few Options: Afghan Women Turn to Risky Online Jobs Amid Taliban Ban

The Taliban's total ban on women’s employment in Afghanistan leaves few options for earning a living. Nevertheless, Afghan women are carving out niches in online business with sheer determination and perseverance.

Sportwashing Allegations at Africa’s Top Football Tournament

Following the recent Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Ivory Coast, a continent-wide campaign has emerged on social media challenging the tournament's main sponsor, TotalEnergies, over its involvement in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

SUMMIT OF THE FUTURE: ‘The UN Secretary-General Underestimated the Difficulty of Reaching Consensus’

 
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming Summit of the Future with Renzo Pomi, who represents Amnesty International at the United Nations (UN) in New York.

Parliamentarians: Active Aging Enhanced By Using Artificial Intelligence

With projections that by 2060, over 1.2 billion people in Asia will be 65 or older, and by adopting technology, including artificial intelligence technologies, it is possible to plan for active and fulfilled aging, lawmakers attending a regional meeting on Aging Preparedness and Care Economy in Asia heard.

Paraguay: ‘Bureaucratic Criminalisation’, New Legislation Threatens NGOs and Democracy

In a move that has aroused national and international concern, the Paraguayan Senate has given preliminary approval to a controversial bill that imposes strict controls on NGOs in a case of ‘bureaucratic criminalisation’.

Zimbabwe Needs Awareness, Advanced Tech to Beat Cancer

Earlier this year, then 46-year-old Lydia Musundiwa, based in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, was diagnosed with colon cancer, which, already at an advanced stage, killed her in less than two months. Now, Landeni, her 49-year-old widower, has to contend with the burden of looking after their three children single-handedly.

Building Tomorrow Today

Around the world, young people are driving change to ensure our youngest learners get the best start in life. In rural Kenya, Aisha, a young female entrepreneur trained through a UNICEF-supported programme, has started her own Early Childhood Education (ECE) centre. This centre provides quality early learning to over 50 children and creates jobs for other young women as teachers and support staff.

Life or Energy: The Hydroelectric Dilemma in Amazonian Brazil

The decade-and-a-half-long battle for life in the so-called Volta Grande (Big Bend) of the Xingu river, a stretch of the river dewatered by the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant in the Brazilian Amazon, has a possible solution, albeit a partial one.

Government Indifferent to Invasion of Drug Traffickers in the Peruvian Amazon

The invasion of lands inhabited by Amazon indigenous communities is growing in Peru, due to drug trafficking mafias that are expanding coca crops to produce and export cocaine, while deforestation and insecurity for the native populations and their advocates are increasing

Emergency Response: Building Resilient Education Systems in Haiti Amid Multiple Crises

Haiti is witnessing unprecedented levels of lawlessness and brutality from armed gangs, which target schools and hospitals. The groups have plunged the country into a crisis and apart from the gun violence accusations, disturbing reports of ruthless sexual violence, including gang rape. Millions of children are in harm's way; many are out of school and it is estimated that between 30 and 50 percent of armed group members are children.

Eswatini: Jailing of Politicians the Latest Act of Repression

Two politicians have just been sentenced to long prison terms in Eswatini. Their crime? Calling for democracy. Mthandeni Dube and Bacede Mabuza, both members of parliament (MP) at the time, were arrested in July 2021 for taking part in a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the southern African country. A third MP, Mduduzi Simelane, remains subject to an arrest warrant after going into hiding.