Severe Floods in Nigeria Magnify The Dire Humanitarian Crisis

On Monday, the Alau dam in Maiduguri, Borno State, collapsed, causing flash floods to ravage neighbouring regions in Nigeria. This comes after weeks of torrential rain, which caused severe structural damage to the dam. The floods have changed the lives of thousands and caused high levels of damage to infrastructures. The impacts of the recent floods compound with Nigeria’s pre-existing humanitarian crisis, which includes armed conflict, widespread malnutrition, and a failing economy.

Rising Temperatures Threaten Our Oceans

Human practices, such as unsustainable fishing, pollution, coastal development, and fossil fuel use have pushed the Earth’s oceans to their limits. This has resulted in warmer, more acidic waters. As global temperatures rise yearly due to climate change, oceans continue to see significant losses in biodiversity, rising sea levels, and environmental damage.

60 Years After Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy Ad,” the Silence on Nuclear War Is Dangerous

One evening in early September 1964, a frightening commercial jolted 50 million Americans who were partway through watching “Monday Night at the Movies” on NBC. The ad began with an adorable three-year-old girl counting petals as she pulled them from a daisy. Then came a man’s somber voiceover, counting down from ten to zero. Then an ominous roar and a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb explosion.

A Cuban Town Improves Water Quality Through Desalination

Overnight, hundreds of people in the rural community of Las Mangas, located in Granma province in eastern Cuba, realised something they had already suspected: that the water they had been drinking for decades was not exactly crystal clear, but rather “salty”, as they say.

El Niño-Induced Water Crisis Drubbing Villagers in Zimbabwe

Side-by-side with fellow male villagers, Enia Tambo uses a white 25-liter plastic bucket to dig out mounds of sand in the Vhombozi River, in Mudzi district located in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East Province. The woman, in her late 50s, is digging to reach the water that is lying deep beneath the soil. 

The Time to End Nuclear Tests is Now

Today, the General Assembly convenes – for the fifteenth consecutive occasion – to observe the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which is commemorated annually on 29 August.

Pandemic’s Silver Lining—Africa Uses COVID-19 Technology for Agriculture

In this IPS podcast, Inter Press Service correspondent Jewel Fraser talks with a scientist from the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.

In Tonga the UN Secretary-General Declares a Global Climate Emergency

Three months ahead of the COP29 United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for an emergency response from the international community as new data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals a critical deterioration in the state of the climate.

Humanitarian Crisis As Floods, Prolonged Heavy Rains Impact Chad

Since June of this year, Chad has been facing an extended period of heavy rainfall. Major flooding has triggered the onset of a significant humanitarian crisis, as all aspects of Chadian life, including health, food production, and community, have been negatively impacted. Additionally, response plans are severely compromised due to high levels of hostility taking place in neighboring nations.

Enough is Enough: End Nuclear Testing Once and For All

In 2009 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 29 August the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. This date recalled the official closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons testing site in today’s Kazakhstan on 29 August 1991; that one site alone having seen 456 nuclear test explosions between 1949 and 1989.

UN Secretary General Warns of ‘Brutal’ Impacts of Climate Change for Pacific Islands

UN General Secretary General António Guterres warned of the wide-ranging impacts of climate change on a visit to the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga. "(Climate change) spells disaster: wide-ranging and brutal impacts, coming far thicker and faster than we can adapt to them—destroying entire coastal communities,” said Guterres, speaking at a meeting of Pacific Island leaders in Tonga.

Clean Energy Boosts Autonomy for Brazilian Women Farmers – VIDEO

A community bakery, family production of fruit pulp, and the recovery of water springs are some of the initiatives of the Energy of Women of the Earth, organised since 2017 in the state of Goiás, in central-western Brazil.

Fast-Acting Interventions Needed for Sudanese Refugee Children as Needs Outpace Response

As peace eludes war-torn Sudan, thousands of displaced people fleeing the deadly battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have found refuge in neighboring countries, including Egypt.

Rohingya Refugees Must Not Be Forgotten

Seven years ago, a brutal campaign of violence, rape and terror against the Rohingya people ignited in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Villages were burned to the ground, families were murdered, massive human rights violations were reported, and around 700,000 people – half of them children – fled their homes to seek refuge in Bangladesh.

In Samoa, Protecting the Ocean is Our Way of Life

In Samoa, we use a simple phrase to capture our way of life: Fa’asamoa. At the core of this concept is respect for others, devotion to family and a deep appreciation for the preservation of our natural resources. Importantly, Fa'asamoa has enabled us to sustainably fish our vibrant coral reefs for millennia, in a way that provides good health and prosperity for everyone in our communities.

Uganda Coffee Smallholders Grapple With EU Regulations on Imports

In Kubewo village in eastern Uganda, children often go to work with their parents in the coffee gardens. Earnings from Arabica coffee are used, their parents and grandparents say, to pay for children’s education and other expenses for the family. 

Transforming India’s Villages Through Innovative Water Harvesting Techniques

Brij Mohan, a 37-year-old farmer from Deoria, a modest village in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, has a story of resilience and transformation. Mohan, the lone breadwinner for his family, has two children, the eldest just 10 years old.

Kazakhstan Takes Lead in Global Push for Nuclear Disarmament Amid Heightened Tensions

In a world increasingly shadowed by the threat of nuclear conflict, Kazakhstan is stepping up its efforts in the global disarmament movement. On August 27-28, 2024, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), Kazakhstan will host a critical workshop in Astana. This gathering, the first of its kind in five years, is set to reinvigorate the five existing Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs) and enhance cooperation and consultation among them.

Micro-Dams, a Solution to Water Shortages in Rural Brazil

Water shortage is over, springs have emerged or become perennial, small ponds with fish have formed and pastures have become greener and more permanent, all thanks to the ‘barraginhas’, the Portuguese name given in Brazil to micro-dams that retain rainwater and infiltrate it into the soil.

Gender Equality Has Everything To Do with Climate Change

After years of reporting on the frontlines of climate change, I have witnessed the devastating impact extreme weather events have on women and girls. In Kenya’s pastoralist communities in far-flung areas of Northern Kenya, West Pokot, Samburu and Narok counties, droughts mean a resurgence in harmful cultural practices such as outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM), beading and child marriages.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini

 
On 18 March 2020, Philippe Lazzarini was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. He took up his post with UNRWA on 1 April 2020.