“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.”

Empowering Change & Resilience: Social Protection in the Age of Megatrends

Social protection systems are essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, social protection is insufficient across Asia and the Pacific, and the region is at risk from megatrends: climate change, demographic shifts and digitalization. Tens of millions of people have been pushed into extreme poverty since COVID-19, reversing past gains, and many millions more live precariously just above the poverty line.

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.

To Put a Stop to Siphoning off Money, Start with Data

The commonly used Bangla phrase for siphoning off money out of the country – “taka pachar” – is rather misleading. Because taka, the Bangladeshi currency, is never taken out of Bangladesh. It’s not useful anywhere else. What goes out is its equivalence in foreign currencies, especially, US dollars. The technical term for such criminal act is Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). Mistakenly, sometimes IFFs are referred to as money laundering – a processing of criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin.

Why Africa Should Embrace Territorial Markets to Withstand Climate Shocks and Crises

African policymakers, local leaders and the private sector have been asked to create an enabling environment that will help African traders and farmer folks build reliable systems for food security and resilience through territorial markets. During a week-long 2024 Africa Agroecological Entrepreneurship and Seed Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe, experts observed that persistent crises have shown the importance of resilient close-to-home ‘territorial’ markets that feed billions of people every day—from public markets and street vendors to cooperatives, from urban agriculture to online direct sales, and from food hubs to community kitchens. 

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.

Dominican Republic Orders the Expulsion of Thousands of Haitian Migrants

Over the past few months, the escalation of gang violence and mass displacement in Haiti have been of great concern for humanitarian organizations. Severe levels of armed violence have resulted in significant instability, with food insecurity, sexual violence, civilian casualities, and restricted freedom of movement plaguing the nation. Displacement cases have risen sharply, to the extent that the Dominican Republic has ordered the return of thousands of Haitian migrants.

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.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews UNICEF Representative in Egypt Jeremy Hopkins

 
Jeremy Hopkins is half Kenyan and half British and graduated with a MA in Arabic and Social Anthropology (Edinburgh) and a MSc in Development Studies (SOAS – University of London). He started his career with WFP in Somalia and then moved to UNICEF also in Somalia as a Child Protection specialist but with an overview on Youth, HIV and C4D portfolios. He worked again as a child protection specialist in Mozambique after which he was a Deputy Representative in Central African Republic, Yemen and Somalia (again!). He has been acting Representative in South Sudan for a short while, Representative in Burundi and is currently Representative in Egypt. Outside the professional realm Jeremy enjoys music, travelling, surfing and photography.

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.

Human Toll on Lebanon Under Threat of Israeli Invasion

On September 23, Israel began launching a barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, targeting the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah. According to statements from the Israeli Defense Force (IDP), approximately 3,600 sites have been struck, making this the deadliest aerial campaign on Lebanon in the last 20 years.

Nepal’s Deadly Flash Floods: What Went Wrong?

Nepal is trying to recover from recent flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall over the last weekend of September, which claimed at least 226 lives. The mid- and eastern parts of the country, including the capital, Kathmandu, experienced the heaviest monsoon rains in two decades from September 26-28, leaving many parts of Kathmandu underwater. Experts say this is one of the deadliest and worst flash floods that impacted thousands of people in decades.

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.

Cuba’s Coastal Dwellers Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change

Every time a hurricane clouds the skies over the city of Manzanillo, in the eastern Cuban province of Granma, the sea pounds the Litoral neighbourhood, forcing many of the 200 families who live there to evacuate inland because of flooding. When the weather is calm, the sea penetrates subtly and constantly, salinizing the water table and eroding the coast, affecting the foundations of houses and artesian wells.

UN, Lebanon Launch $426 Million Humanitarian Emergency Appeal

The escalating hostilities between Israel and Lebanon have already threatened the safety and security of more than 1 million civilians, urging Lebanon’s government and the United Nations to take swift humanitarian action and call for international support.

Rejuvenating Tradition To Help Save Ancient Engineering Marvel—Dhamapur Lake

Dhamapur is a small village in Malvan taluka of west Sindhudurg district, housing the famous Dhamapur Lake. The Vijayanagar kings constructed an earthfill dam in 1530 A.D., creating a man-made lake surrounded by hills on three sides. Canals connect it to the Karli river, irrigating lush paddies and farms that grow the red Sorti and Walay rice varieties typical to the region.

The Approaching Rainy Season Signals Trouble for Gaza

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to grow more dire as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, concerns of diminishing public health are growing due to prolonged flooding. Repeated airstrikes and forced evacuations in recent weeks have pushed many displaced citizens to flooding hotspots. An influx of torrential rain has greatly exacerbated the failing sanitation system, increasing the risk of contracting waterborne diseases. Health experts fear that conditions will continue to worsen in the coming winter months.

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.

‘Australia Must Turn Its Climate Rhetoric into Action’

 
CIVICUS discusses the recent Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in Tonga with Jacynta Fa’amau, Pacific Campaigner at 350.org, a global civil society organisation campaigning for climate action.

COP 29: High Stakes for Small Islands Fighting for Climate Finance

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change. When leaders of those islands met in Antigua and Barbuda in May, they let the world know that achieving climate justice hinges on comprehensive climate finance.

Nasrallah: Stronger Dead than Alive

There is no question that Hassan Nasrallah was a powerful orator. He could hold millions of followers in rapt attention—even adoration—through his deep voice, logic, passion, and wit.