World Told Act Now or Face 136 Years of Hunger, Report Warns

High levels of hunger will continue for another 136 years in many developing countries, according to a new report assessing global hunger.

Climate Justice Needs Recognition of Common, but Differentiated Responsibilities

Climate justice recognizes differential impacts of climate crisis between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized, “as is always the case, the poor and vulnerable are the first to suffer and the worst hit.” However, all people should have the agency to live life with dignity. Thus, climate justice looks at the climate crisis through a human rights lens.

Abortion is a Fundamental Human Rights Issue

The right to abortion is a human rights issue that no government agency, courts, local and state legislators, or anyone else has the right to violate or impede in any shape or form. It is a fundamental right that every woman must be free to exercise with impunity, in consultation with her doctor only, who acts based on his/her professional ethics and responsibility.

Stigmatization is the Entry Door for Repression and Violence

Information manipulation and misinformation are not new phenomena, but they have taken on exaggerated importance, especially with the massive use of social media.

Child Exploitation on the Internet Threatens the Next Generation

On October 11, the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated organizations hosted a conference discussing the increasingly dangerous and exploitative environment that plagues the internet and what can be done to protect children from being exposed to it. Speakers at this conference detailed the developing technologies that threaten children, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which often facilitates sexual abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. In a world that is centered around digitization and innovation, it is crucial to keep the internet a safe space for the most vulnerable population, children.

UN Goal to End World-Wide Hunger by 2030 is Destined to Miss the Target

A landmark report released last July by five UN agencies— the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN children’s agency UNICEF—outlined the setbacks in fighting global hunger and warned that the world has fallen behind by more than 15 years in its relentless battle against food scarcities, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

Building Resilience Against Climate Risks: The Transformative Role of Social Protection

While the impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine on food system disruptions was widely covered, underlying food system vulnerabilities across Asia and the Pacific had been steadily growing long before these crises unfolded.

When Will World Food Day be a Day to Actually Celebrate?

World Food Day seems like it should be a time to celebrate. A day to eat delicious meals and enjoy the rich traditions and cultures of food around the globe.

Guterres Congratulates Nihon Hidankyo For Nobel Prize For Efforts To Rid Humanity of Nuclear Weapons

The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres congratulated grassroots Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo on being awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

IPBES Calls for Holistic Solutions, Transformative Change in Tackling Biodiversity Loss

A holistic approach and transformative change of systems are needed to tackle biodiversity loss and to put the world on a sustainable path, an assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has recommended. The world is facing an interconnected crisis of unprecedented biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and environmental degradation that can no longer be tackled through fragmented and piecemeal solutions, a forthcoming assessment by IPBES will show, calling for holistic approaches instead. 

It’s High Time to Turn the “Right to Foods” for a Healthy, Nutritious & Affordable Diet into Reality

This year the theme for World Food Day is “Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future.” It’s a timely reminder that all people have the right to adequate foods. But how do we get from a right to a reality? And why is it so important to think about not just having sufficient food, but also the diversity of diets?

The Future of Civic Freedoms: Lessons from My Time at CIVICUS

When I joined CIVICUS in 2019, I came in with two decades of work on influencing and monitoring public policies through grassroots and global activism. Joining CIVICUS as Secretary-General felt familiar, like returning home after a period of separation. My first international role in 2006 – as Campaign Director of the Global Call to Action against Poverty – was initially hosted by CIVICUS. One of my most memorable campaign endeavours, The World We Want 2015, was conceptualised in the basement of CIVICUS House in 2011.

IPEF: Much Ado about Nothing

After 2.5 years, US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is increasingly irrelevant due to its own limitations and broader US foreign policy shifts.

Playing Nuclear Games: Tickling the Tail of the Promethean Nuclear Fire Dragon

In recent years, the rhetoric, strategy and practice of nuclear deterrence has grown riskier, more urgent, more dangerous, less stable, and increasingly in the hands of deficient leaders and policymakers.

Agroecology: The Game-Changing Solution to Global Food, Climate and Conflict Crises

Edward Mukiibi, President of Slow Food, champions agroecology as a transformative answer to the world's most pressing crises: food insecurity, climate change, and violent conflicts. In a world where these challenges intersect, Mukiibi called for an urgent rethink of our approach to food systems. 

‘The Focus Should Be on Holding Social Media Companies Accountable, Not Punishing Individual Users’

 
CIVICUS discusses the recent Twitter/X ban in Brazil with Iná Jost, lawyer and head of research at InternetLab, an independent Brazilian think tank focused on human rights and digital technologies.

A Growing New Battle: Nuclear Weapons vs Conventional Arms

The warnings from the United Nations and from anti-nuclear activists are increasingly ominous: the world is closer to a nuclear war—by design or by accident—more than ever before. The current conflicts—and the intense war of words—between nuclear and non-nuclear states—Russia vs. Ukraine, Israel vs. Palestine and North Korea vs. South Korea—are adding fuel to a slow-burning fire.

“Escalation Dominance” . . . and the Prospect of More Than 1,000 Holocausts

Everything is at stake. Everything is at stake with nuclear weapons. While working as a nuclear war planner for the Kennedy administration, Daniel Ellsberg was shown a document calculating that a U.S. nuclear attack on communist countries would result in 600 million dead. As he put it later: “A hundred Holocausts.”

May Teacher Voices Echo Around the Globe

We must build a new social contract for education – a contract based on equality, equity, and universal human rights. At the center of our global efforts to ensure education for all, we must put teachers first in everything we do. They are frontlines heroes who deliver every day to educate children, cultivate young talent, and build a strong society. They are the substitute parents, the mentors and the ones who contribute to shaping the identify of a child in war, in refuge or in climate change.

The UN Cybercrime Convention: A New Repressive Tool in Disguise?

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime hailed the recently agreed Cybercrime Convention as a ‘landmark step’ in cooperating to tackle online dangers. But human rights organisations aren’t so sure.

Will Ukraine Benefit if IMF Ends its Punitive Fees on Debt Burdened Countries?

Over the coming month, the United States has a window of opportunity to lift a multi-billion-dollar burden from Ukraine, and other countries in financial distress, without costing the US taxpayer a dime.