Toward Enhanced Synergies among Biodiversity Related MEAs: Addressing Fragmentation with Strategic Coordination

The governance of nature and biodiversity has evolved from early 20th-century treaties on hunting and migratory species to today’s complex web of multilateral environmental agreements.

Youth Lead Global Call to Support Hibakusha on UN Day Against Nuclear Test

Marking the United Nations’ International Day Against Nuclear Tests, young activists and experts gathered at the UN University in Tokyo for an event titled “The Role of Youth in Supporting Global Hibakusha.” The forum underscored how youth solidarity can amplify the voices of survivors of nuclear testing and bombings, known collectively as the “Global Hibakusha” — communities scarred by the use, production, and testing of nuclear weapons, from Hiroshima to the Marshall Islands — and strengthen global momentum toward nuclear abolition.

African Debt & Climate Change: How the ICJ’s Vanuatu Ruling Could be Used for Broader Justice

African sovereign debtors in distress face terrible choices. They are often forced to choose between fully paying their creditors and financing the needs of their populations – health, education, renewable energy, water.

‘Who Will Take the Mic at the United Nations When Doing so Might Cost Them Their Freedom?’

 
CIVICUS discusses civil society’s challenges in engaging with United Nations (UN) processes with an activist from a Salvadoran queer-led organisation who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

UN General Assembly Urged to Temporarily Move to Geneva to Circumvent US Visa Denials

When Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was denied a US visa to visit New York to address the United Nations back in 1988-- under the Ronald Reagan administration-- the General Assembly defied the United States by temporarily moving the UN’s highest policy making body to Geneva– for the first time in UN history– providing a less-hostile political environment for the PLO leader.

E3, US Need a More Effective Diplomatic Strategy for Iran Post-Snapback

The decision early this week by the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) to initiate the process to snap back UN sanctions on Iran that were modified as part of the 2015 nuclear deal must be paired with an effective diplomatic strategy that restarts talks between the United States and Iran.

UN Reforms Include “Painful Staff Reductions”—and Forcible Return to Home Countries

The 193-member General Assembly, the UN’s highest policy-making body, will make the ultimate decision on the proposed UN restructuring, which will include staff cutbacks, merging or eliminating of departments and relocating UN agencies from high-cost to low-cost locations.

DRC: Reforesting Sites Once Used by War Displaced People

The Youth Circle for Nature Conservation and Community Development is working toward the reforestation of sites where displaced people lived near the town of Goma.

Soka Gakkai President Issues Statement on Creating a World Without War to Mark 80 Years Since End of World War II

Minoru Harada, president of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist organization, has today issued a statement marking 80 years since the end of World War II, titled “Creating a Wave of Change Toward a Century Without War,” clarifying its ongoing commitment to peace.

‘Israeli Offensive in Gaza City an Existential Threat to the Two-State Solution’

Ahead of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to the press on the “unfolding tragedy that is Gaza,” calling Israel’s new plans to take over Gaza City with the military a “deadly escalation” and an “existential threat to the two-state solution.”

Afghan Journalism Under Siege: Arrests, Censorship, and Collapse

Ahmad Siyar works in road construction in Balkh province. He wears a safety helmet to protect himself from debris constantly falling from the mountain where the road is being built. Once, he wore the same type of helmet for a very different reason. He was reporting from various parts of northern Afghanistan. Back then, his helmet bore the word “Journalist” in both Dari and English.

The Right to Care: A Feminist Legal Victory That Could Change the Americas

On 7 August, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights delivered a groundbreaking decision that could transform women’s lives across the Americas. For the first time in international law, an international tribunal recognised care as an autonomous human right. Advisory Opinion 31/25, issued in response to a request from Argentina, elevates care – long invisible and relegated to the private sphere – to the level of a universal enforceable entitlement.

Can the Asia-Pacific Region Deliver Clean, Affordable Energy by 2030?

The future of the global energy landscape will be shaped by Asia and the Pacific. Over the past two decades, our region has been the principal driver of global energy demand and emissions. Energy has powered prosperity, lifted millions out of poverty and transformed societies.

Intensified Legal, Political, and Grassroots Battles Over Amazon Oil Expansion

A report has warned about the risks of expanding oil and gas exploration in the Colombian Amazon, which may undermine environmental goals, Indigenous rights, and long-term economic stability, unless the government pivots toward sustainable development pathways.

Rare Earths, a New Technological and Industrial Dream in Brazil

Brazil, which stands out for exporting basic products such as iron ore, oil, coffee, and soybeans, rather than industrialized goods with higher added value, now intends to make a shift regarding rare earths, a key component in new technologies that it has in abundance.

From Endurance to Resilience: The Future of Development in Latin America & the Caribbean

The development trajectory of Latin America and the Caribbean is going through a period of unprecedented vulnerability and uncertainty. The significant achievements of past decades, as well as the possibility of continuing to make progress, are under threat from the impact of growing geopolitical tensions, unresolved structural challenges, and an increase in crises of various kinds—environmental, political, health, technological, and social.

Hypertension and Diabetes Grows Among India’s Poor Communities

Generally thought to be diseases of the wealthier classes, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes are on the rise among India’s underprivileged working classes in semi-urban and rural sprawls.

UN Report Warns that Sri Lankan Government Fails to Address Entrenched Impunity and Human Rights Violations

Before his election, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and amend the Online Safety Act in an effort to strengthen accountability, ethical justice, and freedom of expression. However, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the government has not followed through on these commitments and continues to exploit systemic gaps that enable impunity and facilitate new abuses.

President Trump: You Must Stop Netanyahu’s Second Genocide in Gaza

President Trump, you are the only leader who can stop Netanyahu from committing another genocide in Gaza. The whole world is watching. Do not allow yourself to become an accessory to the murder of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children and the utter destruction of what’s left of Gaza

When Disasters Strike, Homes are Destroyed, Livestock Lost, Crops Fail or Local Economies Collapse

As climate change intensifies, disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires are becoming more frequent and devastating. Rising sea levels are further threatening coastal communities, putting millions at risk. Strengthening disaster preparedness and resilience is now essential to protect lives and mitigate long-term climate impacts.

A New Non-Alignment for the Global South

The Global South had little voice, let alone influence, in shaping the economically ‘neoliberal’ and politically ‘neoconservative’ globalisation leading to contemporary geopolitical economic conflicts. Pacifist non-aligned cooperation for sustainable development offers the best way forward.