Global Economy Endures War Shock—So Far

More than three months into the war in the Middle East, the global economy appears to be holding up. Commodity prices, inflation and expectations for it, and financial conditions have all been impacted—but not yet in ways that signal a global slowdown. And we have seen strong economic momentum in the world’s biggest economies, the United States and China.

GLOBAL TAX TREATY: ‘Without Sustained Pressure from Organised Movements, the Political Space to Win Simply Doesn’t Open’

 
CIVICUS discusses a proposed United Nations (UN) tax treaty with Jenny Ricks, General Secretary of Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that organises to counter the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a small elite.

New Caledonia’s Election to Set the Stage for New Talks With France on Its Political Future

The French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific will hold elections on 28 June in the wake of the latest agreement on its political status with France being rejected. The representatives elected in the three provincial assemblies and territorial congress will then determine a new round of negotiations as the mission of achieving consensus on New Caledonia’s future continues.

Fiscal Reform Needs More Than Strong Finance Ministries

In the human body, connective tissue rarely gets the attention given to the heart, lungs or brain. But without it, even the strongest organs cannot function as a system. It binds, supports and connects a healthy body. Fiscal systems work in a similar way.

UNICEF: Overlapping Climate Hazards Threaten Children’s Quality of Life

A new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) highlights the vast, overlapping climate threats affecting children worldwide, which is leaving them increasingly vulnerable to escalating risks across health, security, and education.

Systematic Vilification of Russian LGBTQ+ Community Pushes Them Underground

LGBTQ+ people in Russia are being forced to increasingly use self-censoring strategies in their daily lives as they struggle with systemic vulnerability, one of the largest surveys of the LGBTQ+ community in the country has shown.

This Is Not Just Ukraine: The Global Danger of Normalising Russia’s Occupation Crimes

People often discuss Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine in terms of drones, missiles, shifting front lines, and territorial borders. But this war has another dimension — the human one.

The Last Bottle of Halothane: Why Africa Cannot Wait

Global health has a habit of mobilizing around the visible and the dramatic. Ebola, malaria, and Mpox have all dominated headlines related to Africa in recent years, and understandably so. But nobody is talking about one of the most consequential regional health crises waiting to happen.

From Victoria to Mombasa: Will Africa’s Ocean Voice Be Heard?

Tomorrow, Africa hosts the Our Ocean Conference on its own shores for the first time, in Mombasa. This is more than a diplomatic milestone. It is a test of whether we, as Africans, are prepared to safeguard our ocean as a shared heritage and a pillar of our future prosperity.

Erdoğan’s Race to Avoid Orbán’s Fate

When Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lost by a landslide to a unified opposition in April, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was watching. The lesson he drew was not that he should be more moderate; it was that he needed to crack down harder. He had already arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s leading presidential contender, in March 2025. After Orbán’s defeat, he has accelerated his campaign to fracture the opposition and rewrite the rules before the next election in 2028.

Nuclear Nonproliferation Outcomes Stall in Backdrop of Geopolitical Strife

On principle, the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons is an issue that unites the international community. But for a select few states, these principles came with conditions and a refusal to compromise on their security strategy.

The End of the Gulf Model?

The German government, along with a number of other countries, are currently organising flights to evacuate travellers and influencers stranded in the Gulf states. For many citizens of other nationalities, however, there is no such assistance. They remain stuck in precarious situations, marked by exploitation and insecurity.

Health Emerges as a Strategic Frontline for Africa Ahead of Bonn Climate Conference

Africa contributes the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it faces some of the world's most severe climate-related health impacts. Several realities define the continent's climate and health landscape – increased infectious diseases, air pollution, death, disruption and pressure on health systems through heatwaves, floods, droughts and storms.

Africa Needs a Radical Plan to Tackle 15M Youth Job Crisis

Africa has no problem with ideas, but the struggle is in how to  implement them, leaders said at an inaugural forum convened to promote action on development.

BOTSWANA: ‘Court Rulings Matter, but It’s Sustained Civic Action That Turns Them into Real Protection’

 
CIVICUS discusses Botswana’s decriminalisation of same-sex relations with Faith Gunda, a Botswana-based law student and human rights defender, a member of the CIVICUS Protest Lab and co-founder of Sisterhood Chain International, a solidarity initiative that supports grassroots groups and amplifies young women’s voices.

Ocean Economy Reaches $2.5 Trillion as Services Become the Largest Share of Ocean Trade

The global ocean economy continues its expansion, with ocean-related trade reaching USD 2.5 trillion as of 2025. Ocean services now make up the majority of the ocean trade, accounting for 58.9 percent of the composition, up from 47.8 percent in 2020.

Africa Pushes for Data Sovereignty and Digital Independence

African leaders are sharpening their focus on digital sovereignty, warning that the continent’s economic future will depend not just on connectivity, but on who controls its data—and where it is stored.

Papua New Guinea Bets on Indigenous Communities to Protect 700,000 Hectares of Highlands

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved USD 6.4 million for a new conservation initiative in Papua New Guinea that seeks to protect 700,000 hectares of critical highland ecosystems by placing Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the centre of conserving and managing their ancestral lands.

The World Cup of Human Rights

This planet’s biggest sporting event—the FIFA Men’s World Cup—will soon kick off. Millions of people around the world will sit up, bleary eyed, watching matches at unreasonable hours and inventing feeble excuses for why we won’t be at work in the morning. More than one billion are expected to watch the finale on TV in mid-July. That’s a bigger audience than any Olympic sporting event and more than the number of people who have viewed Squid Game on Netflix.

Fossil Fuel Wealth Fails to Deliver Development in Africa – Report

A new report examining the economic impact of oil and gas production in Africa has found that fossil fuels have failed to deliver sustained or inclusive economic development, observing that the resources have contributed to economic vulnerability and inequality and have constrained growth through prohibitive commodity prices, inflation, and weak local currencies.

Central Asia Bets on a New Water–Land Pact to Survive Environmental Degradation

As ministers, diplomats and development officials assembled in Samarkand Congress Centre for a ceremonial family photograph, the mood carried unusual symbolism. Behind the smiles and formalities stood a region confronting a harder reality: rivers are shrinking, soils are tiring, temperatures are rising, and the old ways of managing land and water are no longer working.