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.

Prostitution an ‘Egregious Violation of Human Rights’—UN Special Rapporteur

Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, calls prostitution a “system of violence” that does not benefit society at all, especially the women and girls forced into this system.

BRICS+ Prioritising Expansion to Fight Western Hegemony

In an interview with Sky News Arabia on September 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed scepticism but was straight to the point about the strategic expansion of BRICS, an association comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Under Russia's BRICS presidency which began in January 2024.

Nuclear Annihilation Threatened by Revival of 20h Century McCarthy Era Cold War & Red Scare

The world may have dodged an immediate bullet when the US intelligence agencies warned, this week, that by giving in to Ukraine’s pleading for long range missiles that could attack targets deep into Russia, we would be poking the Russian bear beyond its patience without even influencing the outcome of the war in Ukraine’s favor.

How the Geneva Consensus Declaration Threatens International Cooperation and Development

Last week, UN member states adopted the Pact of the Future – and its two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations. These action-oriented documents are envisaged to counter emerging threats to development and acceleration of progress on Agenda 2030. Nonetheless, there remains little political prioritization of reproductive justice on this agenda.

Will the UN’s Pact of The Future Modernize the World’s Outdated Multilateral Systems?

While most world leaders who attended the United Nations inaugural Summit of the Future—a two-day high-level event at UN headquarters in New York meant to address the most pressing global challenges of the 21st century—agree that the world's aging multilateral system needs modernizing, not all agree on how to get there.

TikTok and WHO Join Efforts to Combat Misinformation

Today’s digital age is centered around TikTok, the short-form social media platform that hosts around 1 billion global users. Sensationalized or reductive videos often get the most engagement with young audiences, leading to the spread of misinformation on a global level.

Uptick in Mpox Cases Raises Concern Among Health Officials

Yesterday, India’s Federal Health Ministry reported the nation’s first documented case of mpox. The infected individual was reported to have contracted the clade Ib strain of the virus, which is a far deadlier variant than the more common clade II. This development has raised considerable concern among health officials around the world as the mpox epidemic had been contained in the Democratic Republic of Congo until recently.

Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Addresses UNGA Calling for International Cooperation, Freedom and Rights

In his first major address at the United Nations, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, appealed to the international community to engage with a ‘new Bangladesh’ in the shared efforts to cooperate on global issues. Yunus arrived earlier in the week to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. In the four days he was here, Yunus held meetings with a range of world leaders, notably UN Secretary-General António Guterres and US President Joe Biden. This would indicate there is good support for him and what he represents. On Friday, Yunus addressed the General Assembly, speaking in his native language, Bangla.

Activists Call on World to ‘Imagine’ Peace, End Nuclear Arms

In any discussion of world peace and the future of humanity, the issue of nuclear arms must be addressed, and now. That was the message from a range of delegates at the “Imaginer la Paix / Imagine Peace” conference, held in Paris September 22 to 24, and organized by the Sant’Egidio Community, a Christian organization founded in Rome in 1968 and now based in 70 countries.

‘We Need Competitive Elections so Only Truly Committed States Are Elected to the UN Human Rights Council’

 
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming election of new members of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council with Madeleine Sinclair, New York Office Director and Legal Counsel at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR).

World Governments, NGOs Announce $350m Investments in Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

On the heels of the Summit of the Future and the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting Week, governments and philanthropies pledged to commit at least USD 350 million to boost family planning, sexual and reproductive health and supplies on the national and global level. As enshrined in the newly-adopted Pact for the Future, seeking new international finance models is critical to solving the issues that the world faces today. The decision to pledge forward is a demonstration of commitment to ongoing health issues.

Cultivating a Culture of Peace

As global peace hits its lowest point since the Second World War, the International Day of Peace on September 21 offered a critical moment to reflect on and strengthen our peacebuilding efforts.

Tripling Renewables Powered by State-Owned Power Companies and Utilities

The climate community, meeting this week once again on the margins of the UN General Assembly, is continuing to explore ways to triple the world’s installed renewable generation capacity by 2030, a target agreed at last year’s COP 28 international climate negotiations. Much of this discussion has been about mobilizing finance and otherwise getting the private sector, with its massive resources and competence, to step up to the challenge … and what government policies and incentives are needed to spur more investment.

The Crucial Connection Between Climate Change and Mental Health

“Young people today are growing up with enormous uncertainty about their future. Climate change is a major driver of that uncertainty, but we weren’t talking enough about how the climate crisis impacts mental health,” researcher Dr. Emma Lawrance told IPS from her family home in Australia.

The UN Needs a Summit for the Present

The Summit of the Future has now ended, but the real and present world is still on fire. As the General Assembly, an annual ritual where dozens of heads of state descend on New York, kicks off, key questions about the role and future of the United Nations, a body that was created to maintain international peace and security almost 80 years ago, remain unanswered.

UN Charter: the Final Hurdle for Reform of the Security Council

When the "founding fathers" –regrettably, no "founding mothers"—created the United Nations 79 years ago, one of the biggest anomalies was bestowing the power of the veto to the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council (UNSC): the US, UK, France, Russia and the Republic of China (later the People’s Republic of China).

Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto are Surging– and Tax Policy Can Help

What do crypto assets and artificial intelligence have in common? Both are power hungry. Because of the electricity used by high-powered equipment to “mine” crypto assets, one Bitcoin transaction requires roughly the same amount of electricity as the average person in Ghana or Pakistan consumes in three years. ChatGPT queries require 10 times more electricity than a Google search, due to the electricity consumed by AI data centers.

Net Zero by 2050 Delays Needed Urgent Climate Action

Net zero emissions by 2050 prioritise mitigation for climate stabilisation. Pledges to achieve this still distant target have grown but inadvertently delay urgently needed climate action in the near term.

Summit of the Future: Youth Driven Action Needed to Tackle Nuclear and Climate Crises

Driving the Summit of the Future’s core messages of international solidarity and decisive action are young people who are determined to address the intersecting issues that the world contends with today.

It Is Time to Save The Deep Sea

This week’s United Nations General Assembly marks nearly 20 years since the body first resolved to restrict bottom trawling on the world’s seamounts, submarine mountains that rise thousands of feet above the sea floor and comprise some of the most biologically rich marine ecosystems on the planet.