Aid Funding Crisis Means Parliamentarians’ Visionary Leadership Even More Crucial

As funding for sexual and reproductive health rights was on a “cliff edge,” parliamentarians now needed to play a “visionary” leadership role because “financing strong, resilient health systems for all their people rests with governments,” said Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Zanzibar’s Blue Economy Offers Hope Amid Rising Seas and Gender Inequity

At dawn on the white-sand shores of Jambiani, 45-year-old Saada Juma braces herself against the pull of the tide, wrangling ropes laced with seaweed. Her hands, hardened by decades of labor, move instinctively as she secures her aquatic crop.

UNICEF to Deliver 1.4 million Cholera Vaccines to Sudan Amid Supply Chain Breakdowns

In Tawila, North Darfur State in Sudan, more than 1,180 cholera cases, including 300 cases in children, and at least 20 deaths have been reported since the first case was detected on June 21. Tawila has absorbed 500,000 internally displaced people who are escaping violence, many of them fleeing about seventy kilometers from the state capital of Al Fasher, making this rapid surge in cases a major health concern amidst worsening hygiene, medical, and food supply chain deteriorations.

2025 Is On Track To Mark The Deadliest Year for Humanitarian Aid Workers

World Humanitarian Day (August 19) honors humanitarian aid workers, raises public awareness for humanitarian crises, and advocate for strengthened international cooperation. Through this year’s theme, A Call to #ActForHumanity, the United Nations underscored the need for increased funding for lifesaving humanitarian missions, stronger protections for aid personnel, and accountability for violations of international law.

Sexual Exploitation & Abuse at UN Reveals “Significant Underreporting”

A system-wide UN survey of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), described as “grave violations of human rights”, has revealed that in 2024, there were 675 allegations reported. A UN message to staffers last week says this is “widely believed” to be “significant underreporting” because the real numbers may be much higher.

Human Rights Watch Warns of Surge in Executions in Saudi Arabia

Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the surge in unprecedented executions in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Humanitarian experts have underscored the Saudi Arabian monarchy’s use of the death penalty to silence peaceful dissent among civilians and impose justice for minor offenses, with little to no due process.

Plastic Talks Held Hostage by Petrochemical Lobby

On August 7, a tar-like slurry glistened on the roads leading up to the gate of the Palais Des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. For fear of sticky substances sticking to tires, no vehicles were allowed to go inside for a while, forcing officials arriving from different parts of the world to disembark and walk through a side entrance.

Climate Change Breaking the Journalists Who Tell its Story

My family lost six herds of cattle during the devastating El Niño-driven drought that swept Zimbabwe in 2024. The loss was as emotional as it was financial. Guilt gnawed at me.

Swept Away: Flash Floods, Failed Systems Bane of Pakistan’s North

Intense rainfall over small areas in Pakistan’s mountainous regions caused massive destruction, sweeping away entire villages. On August 15, the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province experienced a weather anomaly in which glacier melt and intense monsoon rains caused floods that buried villages under mud and rock.

Environmentalists Confident Case Against US Funding of Mozambique LNG Project Will Succeed

Environmental campaign groups are confident that a suit filed in the United States, seeking to stop the country’s Export-Import Bank (EXIM) from the ‘unlawful’ lending of nearly USD 5 billion to the controversial Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, will succeed.

UN Report Uncovers “Systematic Torture” in Myanmar

Myanmar’s security situation has deteriorated significantly, with the nation still reeling from the devastating earthquake in March last year, and continued military offensives driven by the ongoing civil war. In 2025, the humanitarian crisis reached a critical turning point, with the United Nations (UN) underscoring a litany of severe human rights abuses inflicted on civilians by the military and armed groups.

Green Jobs on the Rise in the Arab Region

In the Arab region, a thought-to-be oil oasis, green jobs constitute 29 percent of energy sector roles, and 23 percent of the oil and gas sector. These numbers signify a push towards sustainable business and practices, with the Arab region striving to get away from oil, in their advancement towards the completion of the SDGs on time for 2030.

UN Security Council Confronts South Sudan’s ‘Compounding Crises’

The UN Security Council convened today (August 18) to discuss South Sudan and the "interlinked challenges of climate change and conflict" affecting the region.

Sexual Health Rights: Contradictions in East African Laws, Policies

Sarah Namukisa nearly missed her final year exams earlier this year. She was subjected to a mandatory pregnancy test—the 25-year-old student at the Medical Laboratory Training School in Jinja was then expelled because she was pregnant.

Will the US Blacklist Bar Political Leaders & Delegates from UN’s 80th Anniversary Summit?

When the 193-member General Assembly commemorates the UN’s 80th anniversary during a high-level meeting in mid-September, how many political leaders and delegates will be barred from entering the United States --despite the 1947 US-UN Host Country Agreement?

Visualizing a Sustainable Future: The Intersection of Art and Climate Justice

In the 1900s, global discussions around climate change and fossil fuel usage reached new heights, leading to the emergence of climate change art. Since then, it has remained a key theme in contemporary art, with artists and corporations alike continuing to push messages of climate reform to instill a sense of urgency, fear, and shared responsibility in viewers.

World Leaders Take a Stand as Outrage Against Israel Increases

The world is becoming increasingly outraged at Israel for its actions in the ongoing war against Hamas, particularly amid the recent killings of Palestinian journalists and Israel’s announcement of its plan to seize complete military control of the Gaza Strip.

The Hidden Backbone of Maternal Health: Asia’s Midwifery Gap

Asia-Pacific’s midwives are a healthcare lifeline capable of delivering nearly 90 percent of essential maternal and newborn services. Yet the region grapples with severe shortages, underinvestment, and systemic neglect.

Southern Voices: Grief, Resilience, and Daily Life in Jnoub

"Special, targeted operations in southern Lebanon," a phrase that has echoed repeatedly over the past two years in Israeli Defence Force (IDF) statements. But behind these clinical military terms lies a human cost that statistics cannot capture.

Four Years Later, Still No Clarity: WHO Report Highlights Gaps in Global Cooperation

More than four years since Covid-19 upended the world, the question of how it began remains unanswered. Did SARS-CoV-2 originate from animals to humans naturally, or did it accidentally escape from a laboratory? The World Health Organization’s latest report offers little new clarity and raises serious concerns about international cooperation and scientific transparency.

Fiji’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Aims To Restore Trust and Peace After Decades of Political Crises

Fiji, a nation located west of Tonga in the central Pacific, is renowned for its natural beauty and beach resorts. But for 38 years it has endured a political rollercoaster of instability with four armed coups that overturned democratically elected governments and eroded human rights.