Is the UN Facing its Biggest Single Crisis in 80 Years?

The United Nations, in its nearly 80-year-old history, is on the verge of fighting for its survival, as the Trump administration continues with its threats to drastically cut funding and pull out of several UN agencies which provide mostly humanitarian assistance worldwide. Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, who acts as a virtual Prime Minister to President Trump, has called on the U.S. to exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations.

COP16 Agrees to Raise Funds to Protect Biodiversity

The second round of the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP16, concluded in the early hours of Friday, February 28 in Rome, with an agreement to raise the funds needed to protect biodiversity.

African Leaders Challenged To Unite Against Energy Transition Mineral Oppressors

Renewable energy and climate change activists have challenged African heads of state to take a united stance to safeguard essential mineral resources, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other parts of the continent, which are selfishly exploited by foreign miners with disregard for poverty-stricken local communities.

Life-Changing Quarry Mining Shatters Lives in Zimbabwe

On Christmas Day in 2022, 27-year-old Thabani Dlodlo’s eight-year-old son drowned in a flooded pit dug up by quarry miners in the vicinity of Pumula North, a high-density suburb in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. As if that was not enough, just a week after New Year’s Day the following year, Dlodlo’s neighbor, 36-year-old Sethule Hlengiwe, also lost her six-year-old daughter after she drowned in another pit flooded with rainwater near her home in Bulawayo.

DAWN Calls on ICC to Investigate U.S. Officials for War Crimes in Gaza

On February 24, the human rights organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate former U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, among other U.S. government officials, for aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes that deliberately infringed on human rights in the Gaza Strip. This poses significant implications for the future of U.S. foreign policy and the role of impunity in world conflicts.

Mussel Divers in Kerala Face Livelihood Loss, with Species Habitat Under Threat

Ibrahim Basheer plunges into the sea and disappears. He remains gone for a couple of minutes before resurfacing for a deep breath of air, repeating this for the next half an hour. When he finally climbs aboard his boat, the net sack around his neck is filled with mussels—his catch for that diving trip. He rests for a short while before diving into the sea again—needing one more such trip to fill the basket he has brought along.

CARICOM Leaders Take Steps to Tackle Crime, Climate, Trade and Food Crises

CARICOM leaders wrapped up a crucial meeting on February 21, reaffirming their commitment to tackling pressing regional challenges with unity and resolve. From crime and security to education, trade and climate change, the leaders highlighted the need for decisive action amid global uncertainties.

Is the UN’s Human Rights Agenda in Jeopardy?

The UN’s human rights agenda is in danger of faltering since the Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) is planning to “restructure” the office, under the moniker OHCHR 2.0. But this proposal, if implemented, would result in the abolition of the Special Procedures Branch, established by the Human Rights Council (HRC), to report and advise on human rights from thematic and country-specific perspectives.

Humanitarian Groups Face Challenges in Reaching the Sudanese Displaced Population

In the final quarter of 2024 ,there has been an escalation in the Sudanese civil war, with armed clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) having grown in brutality. Heightened insecurity has pushed millions of people into displacement, hunger, and poverty. Additionally, the continued hostilities have made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to scale their responses up.

How Tanzania’s Farmers, Pastoralists Paid the Price for a World Bank Project

A hush had fallen over Mbarali District, but it was not the quiet of peace—it was the silence of uncertainty. Just months ago, the rolling plains were gripped by fear as government-backed rangers, dressed in olive green fatigues, roamed through villages, seizing cattle, torching homes, and forcing entire communities to the wobbly edge of survival. The REGROW project, a USD 150 million initiative funded by the World Bank to expand Ruaha National Park (RUNAPA), had promised tourism growth and environmental conservation. What it delivered was a brutal campaign of state-sanctioned land grabbing under the guise of protecting nature.

Blamed for ‘Causing’ Droughts: Zimbabwe’s LGBTQI Community Faces Climate Crisis Head-on

Takudzwa Saruwaka is hoeing weeds in a cowpea field in eastern Zimbabwe one morning in February, trying to beat torrential rains threatening from the gray clouds above.

Social Media in the Global South Needs More Protections

In the western world, numerous studies over the past two decades have shown that the rise of social media in popularity has been linked to negative mental health symptoms, especially among young people. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), and TikTok have been criticized for fostering competitive and toxic environments, which contribute to higher rates of anxiety, cyber-bullying, depression, disordered eating, and low self-esteem. While the use of social media in the Global South has skyrocketed in the late 2010s, the ramifications on people in those regions has received much less coverage in mainstream media.

Food, Water, Crime, Climate Change: CARICOM Leaders Begin 48th Conference with Commitment to Joint Action on Critical, Common Concerns

Leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are meeting in Bridgetown from Feb. 19-21, as the world grapples with multiple crises, including escalating geopolitical conflicts, climate change and rising food insecurity.

Trump’s Proposed Gaza Takeover Denounced as “Mad Ethnic Cleansing Plan”

President Trump—whose rash and ill-conceived proposals continue unabated—has threatened to “seize Gaza,” turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” and move Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, two longstanding American allies who depend heavily on US support for their survival. The US President has also hinted that both countries would suffer either cutbacks or elimination of billions of dollars in economic and military aid —if they refuse to cooperate with him.

World’s Largest Religious Gathering Becomes Trans-Inclusive Despite Controversies

Despite a blazing sun and growing heat, Pavitra Nandagiri sits on a cot smiling. Clad in a saffron robe and headgear with her forehead painted with turmeric and vermillion, Nandagiri is a Mahamandaleshwar—one of the highest-ranking monks of the Kinnar Akhada (Transgender Arena) at the Maha Kumbh, the world’s largest religious gathering currently underway in northern India.

A Full Implementation of the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire is Uncertain

On January 19, Israel and Hamas implemented a ceasefire agreement that would end the fighting in Israel and Palestine, see the return of hostages and prisoners, and begin a period of recovery and reconstruction for Palestine. Although the past several weeks have seen a relatively smooth transition and a cessation of hostilities, the prospect of a long-term implementation of the ceasefire remains fragile and there is significant risk of a return to warfare and heightened instability across the Middle East. With the humanitarian situation in Gaza improving for the first time in 16 months, it is imperative that the ceasefire remains in effect.

Human Rights, Healthcare Disrupted in Eastern Europe With USAID Funding Freeze

As the full effects of the US decision to freeze foreign aid funding begin to be felt across the world, organizations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) are warning years of work in everything from delivering life-saving healthcare to defending human rights and strengthening democracy could be undone.

Afghan Refugees, Among Others, Feel the Impact of USAID Funding Freeze

“I was shocked when told by a security guard that the clinic has been closed down. I, along with my relatives, used to visit the clinic for free checkups,” Jamila Begum, 22, an Afghan woman, told IPS.

Bangladesh: UN Human Rights Denounces Former Government’s Violations Against Protestors

A new report from the UN Human Rights Office confirms that Bangladesh’s former government coordinated and committed human rights violations against its civilians to suppress the protest movement in July last year, with the high commissioner calling for justice and serious reform to end the cycle of violence and retribution.

US Pullout Gives Upper Hand to Human Rights Abusers Worldwide

When some of the world’s “authoritarian and repressive regimes” were elected as members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) --including Cuba, China, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -- a US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher infamously remarked: “The inmates have taken over the asylum, I don’t plan to give the lunatics any more American tax dollars to play with.”

Shutting Down USAID Threatens to Endanger World’s Poorer Nations

The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government’s primary channel for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, is expected to have a devastating impact on the world’s developing nations. The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering $58.8 billion in US foreign aid for this year.