Africa

A Community Health Worker in a door-to-door campaign to vaccinate people in communities in Nanyamba village, Mtwara Region, in southeastern Tanzania. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct 28 2025 (IPS)

When COVID-19 hit Tanzania in 2020, Alfred Kisena’s life was torn apart. The 51-year-old teacher still remembers the night he learned that his wife, Maria, had succumbed to the virus at a hospital in Dar es Salaam. He wasn’t allowed to see her in her final moments.

“The doctors said it was too dangerous, and the virus was contagious,” Kisena said, gazing at a faded photo of her hanging on the wall.

Maria’s burial took place in eerie isolation. Municipal workers dressed in white protective gear lowered her body into a tomb at Ununio Cemetery on the city’s outskirts.

“Saying goodbye to a loved one is sacred, but I didn’t get a chance,” he said.

Across Tanzania, many families endured the same pain—losing loved ones and being denied the rituals that give meaning to loss. The government imposed strict measures: banning gatherings, restricting hospital visits, and prohibiting traditional burial rites. Schools shut down, and for three months, Kisena’s five children stayed home, their education abruptly halted.

“I was not working, so it was hard to meet the needs of my family,” he said. “We survived on the little savings I had.”

Five years later, as the scars of that crisis linger, Tanzania is charting a new path toward resilience. Earlier this month, the government launched its first-ever Pandemic Fund Project, aimed at strengthening the country’s capacity to prevent and respond to health crises.

Supported by a USD25 million grant from the global Pandemic Fund and USD13.7 million in co-financing, the initiative marks a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive preparedness. It unites local and international partners—including WHO, UNICEF, and FAO—under a “One Health” framework that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.

Learning from the Past

The memories of COVID-19 and the more recent Marburg outbreak remain vivid. When the pandemic first struck, Tanzania’s laboratories were under-equipped, surveillance systems were weak, and community health workers were overwhelmed.

Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister, Doto Biteko, said during the launch that the lessons from those crises shaped the country’s new determination.

“For the past 20 years, the world has battled multiple health emergencies, and Tanzania is no exception,” he said. “We have seen how pandemics disrupt lives and economies. Strengthening our capacity to prepare and respond is not optional—it is a necessity.”

That necessity has only grown as Tanzania faces rising risks of zoonotic diseases linked to deforestation, wildlife trade, and climate change. The new project aims to address these vulnerabilities by upgrading laboratories, expanding disease surveillance, and training health workers across the country.

The Human Frontlines

In southern Kisarawe District, 38-year-old community health worker Ana Msechu walks along dusty roads with a backpack containing medicine, gloves, and health records.

“Sometimes I walk for three hours just to reach one family,” Msechu said. “During the pandemic, people stopped trusting us. They thought we were bringing the disease.”

With no protective gear or transport allowance, Msechu faced villagers’ suspicion head-on. At the height of the pandemic, she lost a colleague to the virus. Yet she continued, delivering messages about hygiene and vaccination.

“Sometimes we didn’t even have masks—we used pieces of cloth instead,” she recalled.

The new initiative, she believes, could change that. Implementing partners plan to supply personal protective equipment (PPE), digital tools for data collection, and regular training sessions.

“If we get proper support and respect, we can save many lives before diseases spread,” she said.

“Community health workers are the backbone of resilience,” said Patricia Safi Lombo, UNICEF’s Deputy Representative to Tanzania. “They are the first point of contact for families and play a critical role in delivering life-saving information and services.”

UNICEF’s role will focus on risk communication and community engagement—ensuring that people in rural and urban areas understand preventive measures, recognize early symptoms, and trust the health system.

Between Fear and Duty

Hamisi Mjema, a health volunteer in Kilosa District, remembers how fear became his biggest enemy.

When the Marburg virus hit last year, his job was to trace suspected cases and educate families about isolation.

“I was insulted many times, and some families wouldn’t even let me into their homes,” he said.

Without transport or communication tools, Hamisi walked from one remote village to another with his bicycle, often relying on farmers to share their phone airtime so he could report cases to district health officials.

Under the new initiative, local health officers say community health workers will receive field kits, digital disease-reporting tools, and risk communication materials in local languages.

“It will make our work safer and faster,” he said. “When we detect something early, the whole country benefits.”

Fighting Misinformation

In a lakeside village in Kigoma, volunteer health educator Fatuma Mfaume recalls how rumors once spread faster than the virus itself.

“People were afraid,” she said. “They said vaccines would make women barren. Others believed doctors were poisoning us.”

Armed with a megaphone, Mfaume moved through villages trying to dispel falsehoods—often facing insults. But her persistence paid off. Slowly, women began bringing their children for immunization again.

With the new project, she hopes community workers like her will gain formal recognition and training in communication skills.

“Many of us work without pay,” Mfaume said. “If this project can train us properly and give us materials, we can fight not just disease but fear and lies too.”

Animal-Borne Threats

At the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is strengthening animal health systems, recognizing that most pandemics originate from animals.

“By improving coordination between veterinary and public health services, Tanzania is taking vital steps to prevent zoonotic diseases before they spill over to humans,” said Stella Kiambi, FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases Team Lead.

These measures include upgrading veterinary laboratories, improving disease surveillance in livestock markets, and training field officers to detect early signs of outbreaks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is also supporting efforts to strengthen human health systems—from expanding testing capacity to developing rapid response teams.

“This project marks a bold step forward in health security,” said Dr. Galbert Fedjo, WHO Health Systems Coordinator. “It advances a One Health approach that links human, animal, and environmental health.”

Rebuilding Trust and Hope

For Priya Basu, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund, Tanzania’s project represents “an important step in strengthening the country’s preparedness to prevent and respond to future health threats.”

Across Africa, the Fund—established in 2022—has supported 47 projects in 75 countries with USD 885 million in grants, catalyzing more than USD 6 billion in additional financing.

According to the World Bank, every USD 1 invested in pandemic preparedness can save up to USD 20 in economic losses during an outbreak.

For Tanzania—a nation that lost thousands of lives and suffered deep economic shocks during COVID-19—the stakes couldn’t be higher.

“Preparedness is about saving lives and livelihoods,” said Dr. Ali Mzige, a public health expert. “It’s about making sure families don’t suffer when a pandemic strikes.”

For Kisena, the government’s new initiative is a quiet promise that the lessons of loss have not been forgotten.

“Maria’s death taught me how precious life is,” he said. “If this project can protect even one family from that kind of pain, then it will mean her death was not in vain.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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This UNICEF-supported nutrition site focuses on delivering lifesaving interventions for the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition among children under five and pregnant and lactating women. Credit: UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 2025 (IPS)

In recent weeks, Sudan’s humanitarian crisis has deteriorated considerably, as escalating hostilities, mass displacement, disease outbreaks, and a widespread lack of access to basic, essential services continue to endanger civilians across the country. The situation has been further compounded by a sharp increase in attacks on healthcare facilities throughout October, which has severely weakened the country’s already fragile health system and deprived thousands of people of lifesaving care.

On October 23, several United Nations (UN) agencies—including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP)—issued a joint statement highlighting the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan and calling for urgent, coordinated international action. According to the organizations, over 900 days of protracted conflict and the collapse of lifesaving services have “pushed millions to the brink of survival”, with women and children being disproportionately affected.

“This is one of the worst protection crises we’ve seen in decades,” said Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner at UNHCR. “Millions are displaced inside and outside of the country and returning families have little support with the absence of other options. I spoke with families who recently fled El Fasher with horrific stories of being forced to leave everything behind, taking treacherous routes at great risk. It’s a dynamic environment and support is needed everywhere.”

An estimated 30 million people in Sudan are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, including nearly 15 million children. The conflict has forced more than 9.6 million people to flee their homes, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. At the same time, approximately 2.6 million people have returned to areas of active conflict—such as Khartoum, where around one million have returned—only to find their homes and livelihood destroyed and essential services virtually wiped out.

According to IOM, Khartoum currently hosts nearly 900,000 refugees, while Tawila shelters more than 600,000—many of whom lack adequate housing or access to protection services. Aid organizations have expressed growing concern over rising anti-foreigner sentiment, stressing that protection assistance remains “lifesaving for hundreds of thousands” of displaced individuals facing heightened risks of violence and discrimination.

“This scale of return to Khartoum is both a sign of resilience and a warning,” said Ugochi Daniels, IOM’s Deputy Director General for Operations. “I met people coming back to a city still scarred by conflict, where homes are damaged and basic services are barely functioning. Their determination to rebuild is remarkable, but life remains incredibly fragile.”

After three years of conflict, Sudan’s education system has been among the hardest hit, with an estimated 14 out of 17 million school-aged children without access to schooling. Additionally, hunger levels remain catastrophic, with famine having been confirmed in parts of Sudan last year. Children continue to face heightened risks of malnutrition and thousands are projected to be at an “imminent risk of death” if nutritional support is not secured soon.

“It was a really grave moment when famine was first confirmed in parts of Sudan, and given the scale and growing intensity of the crisis, we have all been investing significant effort in enhancing our operational capacity to meet the huge and growing needs,” said WFP Assistant Executive Director Valerie Guarnieri. About 25 million people in Sudan, or half its population, face acute food insecurity. WFP has been able to support 4 million people in recent months, including 85 percent of the population living in famine or famine-risk areas. Yet Guarnieri warned on Friday that they have “reached the limits, not of our capacity, but of our resources.”

For over 16 months, El Fasher has experienced heightened levels of insecurity, with over 260,000 civilians, including roughly 130,000 children, trapped under siege and cut off from food, water, and healthcare. On October 20, UN sources reported that a siege in one of the most densely populated areas of El Fasher led to intense shelling and the displacement of more than 109,000 people across 127 sites. The UN has also received numerous reports of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and forced recruitment.

October has been particularly volatile for Sudan’s already fragile healthcare system, with a surge in attacks targeting medical facilities in the Kordofan and Darfur states. On October 5, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out two drone strikes on hospitals in El Obeid City, North Kordofan.

Two days later, the RSF conducted an artillery shelling in the maternity ward of the Saudi Hospital for Women and Maternity in El Fasher’s Al Daraja neighborhood—the last functioning medical facility in the city. Thirteen civilians, including several children, were killed, and sixteen others were injured, among them a female doctor and a nurse. The hospital sustained significant damage to much of its medical equipment.

Additionally, Sudanese families continue to struggle with aggressive outbreaks of cholera, dengue, malaria, and measles, which have been exacerbated by non-functional healthcare systems and destroyed water systems. According to updated figures from UNHCR, the Darfur and Kordofan regions have been among the hardest hit by cholera. In North Darfur’s Tawila locality alone, more than 6,000 infections and 11 deaths have been recorded since May—most within displacement shelters. In South Darfur, UNHCR has documented 3,229 confirmed cases and 177 deaths since late August.

“What I witnessed in Darfur and elsewhere this week is a stark reminder of what is at stake: children facing hunger, disease, and the collapse of essential services,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director. “Entire communities are surviving in conditions that defy dignity. Children are malnourished, exposed to violence, and at risk of dying from preventable diseases. Families are doing everything they can to survive, showing extraordinary resolve in the face of unimaginable hardship.”

The 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan calls for USD 4.2 billion, but remains severely underfunded, with only 25 percent of the required amount secured so far. Despite these gaps, aid groups have been able to reach over 13.5 million people this year, including those in the most crisis-afflicted regions, such as Darfur, Khartoum, and Al Jazira. The UN stresses the need for continued humanitarian cooperation and increased donor support, as funding shortfalls are projected to force several key humanitarian agencies to scale back or suspend critical operations, putting millions of lives at risk.

UN officials also made the call for development investment to rebuild critical infrastructure and services in health, sanitation and energy. “Sudan urgently needs to rebuild and rehabilitate its key infrastructure, restore access to public services, and provide direct support to vulnerable returnees, IDPs, and the communities that host them,” Daniels said on October 24.

“We can’t wait for longstanding peace to take hold. Development actors are needed now to come in for bigger rehabilitation and construction and investment, so that people can rebuild their lives with dignity,” Clements said. She remarked that development actors would be critical in devastated areas like Khartoum where at present, more than a million people have returned and require basic services. “It’s that kind of reconstruction, rehabilitation, bringing back basic services, where development actors have a much larger role to play than humanitarian actors like ourselves.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 28 2025 (IPS)

Opposition to data centres (DCs) has been rapidly spreading internationally due to their fast-growing resource demands. DCs have been proliferating quickly, driven by the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI).

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Who are data centres for?
Already, the AI boom has overwhelmed other ‘cloud’ uses and drives the rapid growth of DCs, imposing fast-expanding resource demands. This has triggered a bipartisan public backlash in the US due to higher energy, water, and land use, as well as rising prices.

In October 2024, McKinsey projected that global energy demand by DCs would rise between 19% and 22% annually through 2030, reaching an annual demand between 171 and 219 gigawatts.

This greatly exceeds the “current demand of 60 GW”. “To avoid a [supply] deficit, at least twice the [DC] capacity built since 2000 would have to be built in less than a quarter of the time”!

As tech companies are not paying for the additional energy generation capacity, consumers and host governments are, whether they benefit from AI or not.

As DCs increasingly faced growing pushback in the North, developers have turned to developing countries, outsourcing problems to poorer nations with limited resources.

Understanding these energy- and water-guzzling facilities is necessary to better protect economies, societies, communities, and their environments.

Energy needs
With growing corporate and consumer demand for AI, DC growth will continue, and even occasionally accelerate.

K Kuhaneetha Bai

Increased AI usage will significantly increase energy and water consumption, accelerating planetary heating both directly and indirectly.

As demand for AI and DCs increases, supporting computers will require significantly more electricity. This will generate heat, needing the use of water and energy for cooling. Much energy used by DCs, from 38% to 50%, is for cooling.

Electricity generation, whether from fossil fuels or nuclear fission, requires more cooling than renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar panels or wind turbines.

A small-scale DC with 500 to 2,000 servers consumes one to five megawatts (MW). For tech giants, a ‘hyperscale’ DC, hosting tens of thousands of servers, consumes 20 to over 100MW, like a small city!

Data centres not cool
As the popular focus is on DCs’ enormous energy requirements, their massive water needs to cool equipment tend to be ignored, understated and overlooked.

Locating new DCs in developing countries will further heat local microclimates and the planetary atmosphere. Worse still, heat is more environmentally threatening in the tropics, where ambient temperatures are higher.

Establishing more DCs will inevitably crowd out existing and other possible uses of freshwater supplies, besides reducing local groundwater aquifers.

Unsurprisingly, DC investors rarely warn host governments about the amount of locally supplied energy and water required.

DCs require much freshwater to cool servers and routers. In 2023, Google alone used almost 23 billion litres to cool DCs. In cooling systems using evaporation, cold water is used to absorb severe heat, releasing steam into the atmosphere.

Closed-loop cooling systems absorb heat using piped-in water, while air-cooled chillers cool down hot water. Cooled water recirculated for cooling requires less water but more energy to chill hot water.

Investors expect subsidies
Like other prospective investors, DCs have relocated to areas where host governments have been more generous and less demanding.

Led by US President Trump’s powerful ‘tech bros’, many foreign investors have profited from subsidised energy, cheap land and water, and other special incentives.

Prospective host governments compete to offer tax and other incentives, such as subsidised energy and water, to attract foreign direct investment in DCs.

The US pressured Malaysia and Thailand to stop Chinese firms from using them as an “export-control backdoor” for its AI chips. Washington alleges that DCs outside China buy chips to train its AI for military purposes. So far, only Malaysia has complied.

This limits Chinese firms’ access to such chips. Washington claims that Chinese substitutes for US-made chips are inferior and seeks to protect US technology from China.

High-tech DC jobs?
Data centres are emerging everywhere, but not many jobs will be created. Advocates claim DCs will provide high-tech jobs.

DCs are largely self-operating, requiring minimal human intervention, except for maintenance, which they determine independently. Thus, job creation is minimised.

Construction and installation work will be temporary, with most managerial functions being performed remotely from headquarters. A Georgetown University report estimates only 27% of DC jobs are ‘technical’.

While the DC discourse mainly focuses on foreign investments, there is little discussion on growing national desires for data sovereignty.

Acceding to so many foreign requests will inevitably block national capacity ambitions to develop end-to-end DC capabilities and not just host them.

Thus far, there is limited interest in the ‘afterlife’ of DCs, such as what happens after they have outlived their purpose, or the disposal of waste materials.

Higher energy and water costs, subsidies, tax incentives and other problems caused by DCs are hardly offset by their modest employment and other benefits.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Cameroon's Paul Biya has extended his 43-year rule by winning a heavily disputed election.

Cameroon's Paul Biya has extended his 43-year rule by winning a heavily disputed election.

Alexander Soros accepts the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma on behalf of his father, George. Credit: Gorden Welters

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Oct 27 2025 (IPS)

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been awarded the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma for his decades of work supporting Roma rights.

Through sustained philanthropic efforts, Soros, who founded the Open Society Foundations (OSF), has supported projects across the continent advancing the rights, dignity, and empowerment of Roma—Europe’s largest ethnic minority.

His son Alexander, who is chair of the board of directors of the OSF, accepted the prize, which was established in memory of Holocaust survivors and pioneers of the Roma civil rights movement, Oskar and Vinzenz Rose, in Berlin on October 23, on his father’s behalf.

He said, “My father’s partnership with Roma communities has always been grounded in a deep belief in justice, dignity, and self-determination. This prize is a powerful recognition of that shared journey—and a call to continue the fight against prejudice and exclusion.”

Soros’s philanthropy has supported Roma-led organizations to confront discrimination, expand access to education and justice, improve early childhood development and healthcare, and amplify Roma voices in public life.

Among some of the most significant projects have been the creation of the European Roma Rights Centre, the Roma Education Fund (REF), and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, which collectively helped more than 150,000 Roma students attend school, challenged segregation before the European Court of Human Rights, and elevated Roma voices in public discourse.

Meanwhile, the 2024 launch of the Roma Foundation for Europe (RFE)—an independent, Roma-led institution established with a 100 million EUR pledge from the Open Society Foundations—was a key moment in support for Roma across the continent.

Speaking after the prize was awarded, those involved in some of these institutions highlighted not just how these projects have changed the lives of Roma individuals and advanced Roma rights more widely, but also the impact Soros and his work have had on Roma communities in Europe.

“Over the past two decades, REF has supported thousands of young Roma across 16 countries to complete higher education and build successful professional careers,” Ciprian Necula, Executive President of the REF, told IPS.

“Today, there are Roma doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, IT specialists, economists, social workers, journalists, and artists whose professional journeys began with REF’s support. Our most meaningful contribution has been creating genuine pathways to education and employment, proving that talent exists in every community when access and opportunity are fair.

“The work of George Soros has been extremely important to Roma communities. No other individual or institution has supported Roma communities with such consistency and vision. His contribution went far beyond financial support; he helped us build institutions, nurture leadership, and develop long-term strategic perspectives.

“His legacy is one of trust, solidarity, and shared responsibility, a reminder that real progress happens when marginalized communities are not only supported but empowered to lead their own change.”

Zeljko Jovanovic, RFE President, told IPS, “Without the Open Society Foundations, the Roma movement as we know it simply wouldn’t exist.”

“George Soros put Roma issues on Europe’s agenda and helped build the first networks of activists, researchers and policymakers working together for change. Over time, his support helped cultivate a generation of Roma professionals and advocates able to design and run their own initiatives. That legacy made today’s Roma-led institutions possible, including the Roma Foundation for Europe,” he said.

“The Roma Foundation for Europe is the most important step in building a Roma-led institution on a European scale in decades. It builds on the long tradition of support for Roma civil society that started with the Open Society Foundations but takes it further—focusing on leadership, education, economic participation, culture and political voice. There’s been a strong sense of ownership and hope [among Roma towards the Foundation]. Many Roma see the Foundation as something long overdue—a space where Roma lead, set the agenda and work with others as equals. It’s not just another organization that speaks about Roma but one that gives structure, power and voice to Roma-led ideas, from business and education to culture and politics,” he added.

Soros has said that he would be donating the 15,000 EUR endowment that comes with the award to the Roma Education Fund.

Necula said the money would be used to expand the Fund’s digital education program.

“This initiative will give Roma children and youth access to technology, digital skills training, and new learning opportunities. In essence, we will turn vision into action, transforming education into opportunity for our children. By investing in digital education now, we ensure that no child is left behind in the transformation shaping our economies and communities,” he said.

In comments after being awarded the prize, Soros spoke of his long-standing relationship with the Roma and highlighted the continued discrimination they face.

“The Roma have endured centuries of discrimination and marginalization, rooted in a long history of violence—from the Holocaust to forced sterilization, child removals, and evictions. These injustices continue to resurface, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, when Roma fleeing the war in Ukraine faced barriers to shelter and aid,” he said.

“I’ve always believed that open societies must protect the rights of all people—especially those who are excluded. Working alongside Roma leaders and communities has been one of the most meaningful parts of my life’s work,” he added.

Meanwhile, Alexander has pledged to continue his father’s fight for Roma rights, equality, and support for communities’ empowerment.

“As a child, I accompanied my parents on visits across Europe to meet Roma leaders and their families. Those experiences left a lasting impression on me and shaped my own commitment to human rights. Today, as chair of the Open Society Foundations, I am proud to carry forward this vital work and stand alongside Roma communities in their pursuit of equal rights and freedom. The discrimination that Roma experience is a threat to all of Europe. None of us is free until we are all free,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The Rock Islands, Palau. Credit: Island Conservation

By Penny Becker, Ralph Regenvanu and Safiya Sawney
GRENADA / VANUATU / USA , Oct 27 2025 (IPS)

As biodiversity loss including ocean degradation, pollution and climate change threaten our planet, islands, and particularly global small island nations, often don’t get the spotlight they deserve. Often labeled as vulnerable, the world’s small island nations are in fact powerful beacons of resilience.

Their urgent challenges are sparking bold innovation, deep collaboration, and some of the most remarkable ecological recoveries on Earth. That’s why we are calling for the United Nations to establish a Decade of Island Resilience for 2030-2040.

Stories of success on islands are as abundant as the islands themselves. Although small islands are ubiquitous, global small island nations who are independent sovereign states span the global oceans. In the Pacific and Caribbean region, independent small island nations continue to advocate to the international community for equity in recognizing their special circumstances as a case to increase financing and resources to combat the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.

These islands, often highly indebted, with small economies and remote geographies, are primarily dependent on their coastal assets to drive their main revenue generation – tourism and the blue economy.

Several of these island nations have leveraged the power of collective effort and have initiated innovative approaches at the domestic and regional scale to conserve and preserve their biodiversity and cultural identities.

Brown Booby in the Marshall Islands. Credit: Bren Ram/Island Conservation

Efforts like the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity inspired by the work of the Micronesia Challenge Initiative and the 30×30 OECS Transformation Program to advance progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework are providing a new pathway to building island resilience.

Thanks to holistic conservation action, thousands of new native seedlings are now carpeting the forest floor and seabirds populations are surging on Bikar Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The people of Ulithi Atoll in Yap State are enjoying increased food security and access to essential resources after successful restoration brought Loosiep Island back from the brink of ecological collapse.

Restored island biodiversity, in particular coastal and marine ecosystems, have been proven to trap tens of millions of metric tons of carbon, grow corals four times faster, regenerate native vegetation thousands of times faster, and support orders of magnitude more fish biomass. Healthy and well managed biodiversity also increases the resilience of islands to combat climate change.

Although islands continue to endure the harsh and often devastating everyday challenges of being on the front lines of the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, declining ocean health, and climate change, these stories show how islands are investing in their ability to fight back—driven by incredible optimism and their right to exist.

Because of their unique geography, islands are natural proving grounds for scalable conservation strategies, where science-based biodiversity restoration, ocean action, and climate resilience can be developed, perfected, and expanded globally driven by the needs to island communities. Their immense potential for impact means they deserve the world’s attention.

As representatives of global small island nations, conservation science, and community-led initiatives, we are united in support of the island led United Nations-sanctioned Decade of Island Resilience to help bring islands to the front of global priorities about climate resilience and the future of holistic restoration.

Island Conservation, an international NGO with more than 30 years of success working with island communities to restore their precious ecosystems, formally proposed this initiative in May of 2025 to help direct attention to the outsized role islands can play. And last month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature adopted this call as an official Resolution.

The Global Islands Partnership (GLISPA)—a long-time convenor and internationally recognized island led platform will work in partnership with Island Conservation to transition this resolution into a platform for catalyzing island progress thorough its Island Biodiversity Coalition.

If established, the proposed Decade of Island Resilience would serve multiple vital functions: coordinating scientific research, mobilizing financial resources, amplifying indigenous and local voices, integrating traditional and local knowledge into implementation and scaling successful approaches, such as enhancing the delivery of adequate and consistent financing and ensuring the retention of domestic capacity in the implementation of solutions across the world’s islands.

And in doing so, it would amplify existing efforts that direct the world’s attention to islands—the globe’s nature-based solution for the delivery of high-impact resilience, restoration, and revitalization.

The timing is critical. We are in the last five years of the 2030 Agenda. As we implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), advance the UN’s Global Biodiversity Framework including the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS, and recognize the special circumstances of small island developing states to drive ambition and action for a regenerative ocean future, and pursue the race to net zero emissions, global small islands are where we should look for integrated solutions.

A Decade of Island Resilience wouldn’t just benefit global small islands: it would help us develop environmental solutions for our entire planet. If we can succeed in a global small island context—where problems are contained and solutions tangible—we’ll have a blueprint for addressing our global environmental crisis.

A Decade of Island Resilience would create a global platform for ambitious partnerships to scale efforts globally between governments, scientific institutions, civil society, private sector innovators, and, most importantly, island communities.

The choice is clear: invest in island resilience now, or lose irreplaceable biodiversity, cultural heritage, and proven solutions to our most pressing global challenges. The world’s islands are ready to lead. Are we ready to support them?

Penny Becker, PhD., is CEO, Island Conservation; Honorable Ralph Regenvanu is Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Meteorology, Geohazards, Environment and Disaster Management for the Republic of Vanuatu; and Ambassador Safiya Sawney is Special Envoy and Ambassador for Climate Change, Government of Grenada and Board Chair for the Global Island Partnership

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Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 27 2025 (IPS)

The African continent has long been monopolized by European colonial rulers, with France having the largest number of colonies, ruling over 35 territories, followed by Britain with 32. A bygone era of colonial rule on the continent, “once carved up and ruled by European powers hungry for imperial glory,” has virtually ended—almost.

Currently, they are all members of the 55-nation African Union (AU).

Described as a non-self-governing territory in northwestern Africa fighting for decolonization, Western Sahara is the last African colonial state yet to achieve independence and dubbed “Africa’s last colony.”

With an estimated population of around 600,000 inhabitants, it is the most sparsely populated territory in Africa and the second most sparsely populated territory in the world, consisting mainly of desert flatlands.

A former Spanish colony, it was annexed by Morocco in 1975. Since then, it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Sahrawi people, led by the POLISARIO Front.

On October 30, the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution on the future of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

According to a published report, the United States has circulated a draft resolution supporting Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan for Western Sahara as the basis for a mutually acceptable solution.

The draft, which supports extending the UN mission’s mandate, calls for negotiations to begin without preconditions based on Morocco’s proposal, framing it as the “most feasible solution” for a “genuine autonomy within the Moroccan state” and a lasting resolution.

Dr. Stephen Zunes, a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, and co-author of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution, told IPS the autonomy proposal is based on the assumption that Western Sahara is part of Morocco, a contention that has long been rejected by the United Nations, the World Court, the African Union and a broad consensus of international legal opinion.

Western Sahara, he pointed out, is a full member state of the African Union, and the United Nations recognizes it as a non-self-governing territory.

“To accept Morocco’s autonomy plan would mean that, for the first time since the founding of the United Nations and the ratification of the UN Charter eighty years ago, the international community would be endorsing the expansion of a country’s territory by military force, thereby establishing a very dangerous and destabilizing precedent, with serious implications for Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine as well as Israeli-occupied territories.”

If the people of Western Sahara accepted an autonomy agreement over independence, as a result of a free and fair referendum, he argued, it would constitute a legitimate act of self-determination.

However, Morocco has explicitly stated that its autonomy proposal “rules out, by definition, the possibility for the independence option to be submitted” to the people of Western Sahara, the vast majority of whom – according to knowledgeable international observers—favor outright independence.

On October 24, the Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar, sent a letter to Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia of Russia, current President of the UN Security Council, in which he stressed the position of the Frente POLISARIO on the US draft resolution.

“The Frente POLISARIO underscores that the draft resolution, which reflects the national position of the penholder, is a very dangerous, unprecedented departure not only from the principles of international law underpinning Western Sahara as a question of decolonization but also from the basis upon which the Security Council has addressed Western Sahara.”

“It also contains elements that strike at the heart of the foundations of the UN peace process in Western Sahara and constitute a grave violation of the international status of the Territory.”

Acting under the relevant Chapters of the UN Charter, the Security Council has firmly and consensually established the basis of the solution and the process leading to it, namely negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General without preconditions and in good faith with a view to achieving a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in the context of arrangements consistent with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, the letter said.

As confirmed by the International Court of Justice, sovereignty over Western Sahara belongs exclusively to the Sahrawi people who have an inalienable, non-negotiable, and imprescriptible right to self-determination to be exercised freely and democratically under the UN auspices.

Therefore, any approach that sets a prefixed framework for the negotiations or predetermines their outcome, circumscribes the free exercise by the Sahrawi people of their right to self-determination, or imposes a solution against their will is utterly unacceptable to the Frente POLISARIO, the letter said.

According to a Security Council report, October 2025, an immediate issue for the Council is to renew the mandate of MINURSO and consider what changes to the mission’s mandate, if any, are necessary.

The underlying issue remains how to facilitate a viable and lasting resolution to the long-standing deadlock over the status of Western Sahara.

Two fundamentally diverging positions have made a resolution to the conflict difficult.

On the one hand, the Polisario Front’s demand for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, which has been recognized by the International Court of Justice in its 16 October 1975 advisory opinion and supported by several member states.

And numerous UN General Assembly resolutions, such as resolution A/RES/34/37, have affirmed the “inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara” to self-determination and independence. The Council has also called for a “just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”

On the other hand, Morocco claims sovereignty over the territory, and its Autonomy Plan has received support from an increasing number of member states in recent years. In 2007, the Council adopted resolution 1754, which, in its preambular paragraphs, took note of Morocco’s proposal and welcomed Morocco’s efforts as serious and credible to move the process forward towards resolution.

Significant obstacles remain in the peace process. Hostilities have persisted at a low to medium intensity, falling short of large-scale confrontation. Moreover, Morocco controls over three-quarters of the Western Sahara territory and has made substantial investments in the region, including a $1.2 billion port project in Dakhla.

In addition, settlers of Moroccan origin account for nearly two-thirds of the approximately half-million residents of Western Sahara

Elaborating further, Dr Zunes said: “even if one takes a dismissive attitude toward international law, there are a number of practical concerns regarding the Moroccan proposal as well: One is that the history of respect for regional autonomy on the part of centralized authoritarian states is quite poor, as with Eritrea and Kosovo, which only gained independence after a long a bloody struggle, and more recently with Hong Kong.”

Based upon Morocco’s habit of breaking its promises to the international community regarding the UN-mandated referendum for Western Sahara and related obligations based on the ceasefire agreement in 1991, he said, there is little to inspire confidence that Morocco would live up to its promises to provide genuine autonomy for Western Sahara.

“A close reading of the proposal raises questions as to how much autonomy is even being offered. Important matters such as control of Western Sahara’s natural resources and law enforcement (beyond local jurisdictions) remain ambiguous.”

In addition, he pointed out, the proposal appears to indicate that all powers not specifically vested in the autonomous region would remain with the Kingdom.

Indeed, since the king of Morocco is ultimately invested with absolute authority under Article 19 of the Moroccan Constitution, the autonomy proposal’s insistence that the Moroccan state “will keep its powers in the royal domains, especially with respect to defense, external relations and the constitutional and religious prerogatives of His Majesty the King” appears to afford the autocratic monarch considerable latitude of interpretation.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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President Samia Suluhu Hassan faces no real competition at the polls amid a climate of self-censorship and fear.

The Jebel Marra area is neutral in the war but its produce cannot get out to feed a hungry nation.

The false belief that body parts of people with albinism bring wealth or luck have driven attacks.

By CIVICUS
Oct 24 2025 (IPS)

CIVICUS speaks about the disappearance of Turkmen activists Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov with human rights defender Diana Dadasheva from the civil movement DAYANÇ/Turkmenistan and with Gülala Hasanova, wife of Alisher Sahatov.

On 24 July, Turkmen activists Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov were abducted in Edirne, Turkey, after being labelled a ‘threat to public order.’ Despite applying for international protection, they were unlawfully deported to Turkmenistan. Orusov and Sahatov, prominent voices in the diaspora through their YouTube channel Erkin Garaýyş, are now being detained, starved and denied a fair trial, while authorities are deliberately delaying proceedings to exclude them from an upcoming amnesty. Their cases highlight the growing risks faced abroad by Turkmen activists, who are being targeted beyond their country’s borders. The international community must push to secure their immediate release and end such abuses.

What happened to Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov?

Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov are Turkmen civil activists and bloggers who reported on human rights violations, corruption, migrant issues and social hardships faced by people in Turkmenistan. They were among the few who dared to speak when most were forced into silence.

Last April, Turkish police came to their home under the pretext of checking their documents. Acting on Turkmenistan’s request, they detained both men on false terrorism charges, claiming they posed a threat to Turkey’s national security. They were taken to a deportation centre in Sinop and later transferred to Edirne.

The Turkish Supreme Court ruled that returning them to Turkmenistan would put their lives in danger and ordered an end to the deportation process. But on 24 July, immediately after their release, they disappeared. Reliable sources told us they had been secretly flown to Turkmenistan on a cargo plane, under the supervision of Officer Amangeldiyev Amangeldy, who was later awarded a medal for the operation.

To this day, we don’t know where they are or in what condition. Their abduction is a serious crime and a blatant violation of international law.

Are there other examples of such human rights violations?

Over recent years, many Turkmen activists who were brave enough to speak up have disappeared in Turkey and Russia, including Malikberdy Allamyradov, Azat Isakov, Rovshen Klychev, Farhad Meymankuliev and Merdan Mukhammedov. Activist Umida Bekjanova is currently detained in a Turkish deportation centre and we fear she may face the same fate.

Turkmen authorities are carrying out a systematic campaign to eliminate independent civic voices. In today’s Turkmenistan, anyone who refuses to stay silent risks being branded a terrorist or enemy of the state. These labels have become tools of repression, used to justify abductions, fabricate criminal charges and force people to return to Turkmenistan.

What risks do Abdulla, Alisher and other activists face after being forcibly returned?

Their lives are in danger. We receive reports of torture, starvation, humiliation and psychological abuse. They are held in isolation, denied legal defence and a fair trial.

In Turkmenistan, there are no independent courts, lawyers or free media. People disappear into secret prisons for years, cut off from their families and the world. We don’t know where they are or if they are still alive. For their relatives and loved ones, this means endless waiting and despair, a slow, silent form of torture.

How has this affected your families?

Having my husband abducted has destroyed our lives. I am raising four children who ask every day when their father will return. We live in pain and fear, under constant surveillance and threats.

Being a Turkmen activist means facing harsh living conditions. Some, like Diana, live without documents or means of subsistence or social protection, caring for small children under the constant fear of being abducted.

Still, we refuse to stay silent; if we did, others would disappear too. Together with the DAYANÇ/Turkmenistan Human Rights Platform, we have declared a hunger strike until Abdullah and Alisher return home safely. We have also launched a campaign ‘If I Disappear – Don’t Stay Silent’ where we publicly name those who will be responsible if we too disappear. This is how we protect ourselves and our loved ones, because today it’s Abdulla and Alisher but tomorrow it could be any of us.

What do you expect from the international community?

The international community must act urgently to secure the release of Abdulla, Alisher and other disappeared activists. They must also demand Turkmenistan put an end to the criminal practice of labelling people as terrorists for simply speaking the truth.

But statements aren’t enough. We need real action. We call for an independent investigation into illegal deportations and abductions, and for those responsible for abductions, torture and repression, in Turkmenistan and Turkey, to be held accountable for their actions. We also demand the creation of a ‘Green Corridor’ for at-risk activists and families and the issuance of emergency documentation and financial support for migrants left without legal status and vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and recruitment by criminal networks or extremist groups.

The world has no right to remain silent or look away. The international community must stand with Turkmen activists deprived of their basic rights to identity, movement and freedom of expression. Their silence only empowers the perpetrators and fuels impunity. Every moment of inaction breaks another life. The international community must act now.

GET IN TOUCH
Twitter/Diana Dadasheva
Twitter/Gülala Hasanova

SEE ALSO
Forced loyalty, fear, and censorship: Turkmenistan’s relentless assault on civic freedoms CIVICUS Monitor 26.Jun.2025
Turkmenistan: tyranny mutates into dynasty CIVICUS Lens 18.Mar.2022
Turkmenistan: ‘There is nothing resembling real civil society – and no conditions for it to emerge’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Farid Tukhbatullin 10.Mar.2022

 

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Time2Graze will use Sentinel-2 satellite data to track pasture biomass and support farmers and land managers to make informed decisions about grazing management, resource allocation, and sustainable land use.

By Lindsey Sloat
LANCASTER, PA, Oct 24 2025 (IPS)

Thousands of years ago, we looked to the stars for guidance — constellations like Taurus and the Pleiades signalled the changing of the seasons and the best times to plant, harvest and move animals.

Today, we may soon turn skyward once again, but this time to satellites that reveal in near-real-time when and where grasses are most nutritious and digestible. Feeding livestock at these peak moments not only boosts growth but also cuts methane, since animals release the most methane during digestion, a process known as enteric fermentation.

Globally, enteric fermentation from livestock accounts for nearly one third of methane emissions generated from human activities. This matters because methane has 86 times the heat-trapping power of CO2 over a 20-year period; yet it breaks down much faster. This means that methane reduction is one of the fastest ways to slow down the rate of global temperature rise.

Smarter grazing is a major opportunity. Farmers already rotate herds so pastures can recover but often rely on guesswork. When cattle graze younger, more digestible grasses, they produce less methane per unit of milk or meat. Yet in many regions, farms capture only 40 to 60 percent of their pasture’s potential. Unlocking this potential would improve productivity and cut emissions.

Two thirds of all agricultural land worldwide is devoted to livestock grazing, so even small efficiency gains can have a big impact. A 10 percent improvement in feed digestibility, for example, can reduce methane emissions per unit of feed or product by 12 to 20 percent.

Closing this pasture productivity gap by optimizing grazing would not just significantly reduce methane emissions, but also improve livestock keepers’ livelihoods, because increases in livestock productivity translate into more milk and more meat per animal.

The newly launched Time2Graze project, funded by the Global Methane Hub and in partnership with Land & Carbon Lab’s Global Pasture Watch research consortium, will apply Sentinel-2 satellite data and modelling to track pasture biomass.

This near-real-time data, combined with rancher observations and digital decision support tools, will provide important information for farmers and land managers, helping them to make informed decisions about grazing management, resource allocation, and sustainable land use.

This new data will offer free, open, up-to-date information that will be available on Google Earth Engine and other platforms to guide when and where animals should graze to consume the most abundant and digestible forage. To ensure usefulness to livestock farming and pastoralism, Time2Graze partners will conduct on-farm trials at more than 100 sites across eight countries in Latin America and Africa.

Alongside other livestock sector advances — improved feed additives, manure management, and animal health and genetics included — digital and data-enabled livestock management is essential to delivering climate solutions at the necessary speed and scale. Within the food system, these advances sit alongside improvements to rice production, reducing food loss and waste, and shifting high-meat diets toward plants.

Livestock management data innovations arrive at a pivotal moment in the development of international policies around methane emissions. More than 150 countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge, committing to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Livestock enteric fermentation is the single largest source they must tackle. Likewise, the UN COP28 climate talks’ Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and many countries’ climate strategies, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), now emphasize methane mitigation and climate-smart agriculture as cornerstones of their strategies.

Yet, climate finance dedicated to global livestock systems languishes at just 0.01 percent of total spend, equivalent to a US$181 billion funding gap, lagging far behind the ambition demonstrated by these international initiatives.

Innovations in satellite-based grassland and forage monitoring are emerging as powerful tools to cut methane while improving productivity. Governments, climate finance institutions, and development banks should prioritize and expand support for these kinds of solutions to accelerate their impact across the livestock sector.

Redirecting a fraction of agricultural subsidies and climate finance toward such efficiency gains could not only unlock rapid, measurable methane reductions, but also additional co-benefits, such as reducing deforestation and ecosystem conversion, safeguarding future food security, and strengthening rural livelihoods. Realizing this potential will depend not only on data, but also on farmer adoption, political will, and the ability to scale solutions across diverse grazing systems.

For generations, the stars helped farmers decide when to move their animals. Today, satellites can do the same, but with far greater precision. With more investment and adoption, these new guides can help agriculture deliver on its climate promises.

Lindsey Sloat, Research Associate, Land & Carbon Lab and World Resources Institute

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Cameroon opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary is adamant that he's the winner of the presidential election.

Their neighbours, who raise livestock, told the family to get rid of the wild animal.

The expansion of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations is a "great boost" to teams that have never qualified for the finals, says Malawi captain Tabitha Chawinga.

In Hela Province, in the distant interior of the PNG mainland, rural women would need to travel considerable distances by road or air to reach a hospital that provides breast screening mammograms. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

By Catherine Wilson
SYDNEY, Australia , Oct 24 2025 (IPS)

The burden of breast cancer, the most common cancer among women, is global, and the projected increase in cases in the coming decades will affect women in high- and low-income countries in every region.

That includes the Pacific Islands, where it is the top cause of female cancer mortality. Now, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, islanders talk about tackling the disparities they face and reversing the trend.

“Breast cancer is a significant health concern in Madang Province,” Tabitha Waka of the Country Women’s Association in Madang Province on the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea told IPS. “Most of our women residing in urban centers have access to enough information and facts about cancer, but at least half who live in rural areas don’t.”

Current global trends indicate that new breast cancer cases could reach 3.2 million every year by 2050, reports the World Health Organization (WHO). In the Pacific Islands, which comprise 22 island nations and territories and 14 million people, more than 15,500 cases of cancer in general and 9,000 related deaths were recorded in 2022. But experts warn that the true numbers are unknown.

“It is currently not possible to accurately estimate the true burden of breast cancer in the Pacific Islands due to significant challenges in cancer data collection and the incomplete coverage of population-based cancer registries,” Dr. Berlin Kafoa, Director of the Pacific Community’s Public Health Division in Noumea, New Caledonia, told IPS, adding that it was an issue that countries were working to rectify.

Lack of cancer data is one sign of the funding and resource constraints experienced by national health services. And women are being affected, especially in rural communities where they have less access to knowledge about breast cancer and live far from urban-based health clinics and hospitals. These are major factors in global disparities, and while 83 percent of women in high-income countries are likely to survive following a breast cancer diagnosis, the likelihood of survival declines to 50 percent in low-income countries.

Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast change, multiply and form tumors. Symptoms can include unusual lumps or physical changes in the breasts. If the cancer is detected early, the chances of successful surgery and treatment are high. At a more advanced stage, it can spread to other parts of the body. Risk of breast cancer increases after 40 years and with a family history of the disease, as well as lifestyle factors, such as tobacco and alcohol use and lack of physical exercise. However, this is not prescriptive and about half of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women with no significant risk criteria, apart from their age.

Importantly, being diagnosed with breast cancer today is not fatal and many women can enjoy long and productive lives. The key to this outcome is early detection, but one of the hurdles for women in the Pacific is that specialist services are centralized in main cities. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), women can seek mammograms, the main method of breast screening, in hospitals in the capital, Port Moresby, and the cities of Lae and Kimbe on the northeast coast of the mainland. But most of the 5.6 million women, who make up 47 percent of the population, live in rural areas, whether densely forested mountains or far-flung islands. And it could entail a long and costly journey by road, air or boat for many to reach a hospital with a mammogram machine.

But it is also not uncommon for women to hold back from seeking medical advice or proceeding with treatment because of cultural and community taboos.

“There is evidence to suggest that cultural and community taboos, personal inhibitions and fears surrounding medical examinations are significant factors contributing to the low levels of early breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women in Pacific Island societies,” Kafoa said.

Modesty and privacy are important to many women in traditional Melanesian societies. In Palau, for example, a study published by Australia’s Griffith University in 2021 revealed that ‘low screening rates were, at least in part, explained as being due to women feeling uncomfortable during examinations due to its personal nature.’

There can also be pressure from families that may encourage or dissuade women from taking treatment. “If the family disagrees with the treatment, women might comply due to cultural norms,” and concerns about mastectomy and how it changes women’s bodies “can cause resistance to surgical procedures,” reports a breast cancer study in Fiji published last year.

Taking action now is imperative to save women’s lives across the region and, globally, achieve Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 of good health and well-being. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) predicts that breast cancer cases could increase globally by 38 percent and mortality by 68 percent by 2050. Experts project that cancer incidence in the Pacific Islands could rise by 84 percent between 2018 and 2040. Kafoa says that the “Pacific Island governments are not yet sufficiently prepared to confront the projected surge in breast cancer by mid-century.”

The PNG government’s national health plan includes strengthening health services to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality, but a population-wide breast screening program is yet to be rolled out. Waka says there is a need for more investment in breast cancer services. “One or two facilities is not enough to cater for the large numbers of women living with breast cancer,” she stressed.

But efforts to transform the quality and outreach of healthcare in the country, through the ‘glocal’ approach of combining global technology and local pathways to action, have begun. “This process is already underway,” Dr. Grant R. Muddle, ML, a global healthcare expert who has worked to assist health system transformation in Australia, the Pacific and other regions, told IPS. He is now working with health services in PNG.

Two years ago, a collaborative project was set up with an Australian health agency that “is providing PNG with proven cancer registry software and technical support, while local officials adapt it to PNG’s context. The result is a win-win: PNG quickly gains a modern data system and trained personnel, rather than building from scratch,” Muddle explained.

Mobile technology could also be used to help expand the recording of cancer cases. “Village health workers or clinic nurses, even in isolated areas, could be trained to input basic patient and tumor details into tablets or smartphones,” he continued.

A major step in improving rural health services occurred this year when a new public hospital opened in the remote Highlands province of Enga. It is expected to have an operational mammography unit by the end of this year. But there is also a need to “take the screening technology to women, rather than expecting women to travel to the technology,” Muddle emphasized. “Globally mobile mammography clinics in vans or portable units have been used to bring breast cancer screening to underserved communities…these could be truck-mounted clinics or portable equipment that can be flown by small plane or ferried by boat to regions with no road access.”

And telemedicine, another proven strategy, can link isolated clinics to specialist doctors at provincial hospitals via video consultations.

As PNG celebrates its 50th anniversary of Independence this year, these initiatives support better outcomes for women’s breast cancer survival and the long journey ahead of meeting the nation’s healthcare goals.

“What needs to be done, we must do. Let us not compromise basic healthcare but at the same time provide specialist care. Together, let us secure a functioning health system for the 10 million people of PNG,” Prime Minister James Marape advocated to the Medical Society of PNG in September.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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On 10 October 2025, thousands of Palestinian families are moving along the coastal road back to northern Gaza, amid the extreme devastation of infrastructure. Credit: UNICEF/Mohammed Nateel

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23 2025 (IPS)

Since the declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10, families in the Gaza Strip have begun returning to previously inaccessible areas, as humanitarian organizations work to scale up aid operations to meet growing needs on the ground even amid security risks, including unexploded ordnance.

Displacement shelters across the enclave continue to bear the brunt of the crisis, with most severely overcrowded and resources stretched to their limits after two years of conflict. Displacement has surged since the implementation of the ceasefire, with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recording roughly 13,800 displacements toward Gaza City and north Gaza, and approximately 4,100 movements toward the eastern region of the enclave.

As the winter season threatens to exacerbate already harsh living conditions, the United Nations (UN) and its partners are working to expand winterization support through the distribution of makeshift tents, warm clothing, hygiene kits, blankets, and other essential bedding materials. A spokesperson for OCHA stated that winterization support is currently limited by the number of humanitarian deliveries that have been authorized by Israeli authorities, with only a select few UN agencies and partner organizations receiving clearance.

“We need thousands of trucks getting in every day, we need all the crossings open, and we need the bureaucratic obstacles lifted,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Aid must never be a bargaining chip, we shouldn’t have to ask for access, we shouldn’t have to make deals to make aid go through.”

As of October 19, the UN and its partners have collected over 10,638 metric tons of essential humanitarian supplies from the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings through the UN2720 mechanism. Between October 17 and 19, humanitarian groups have offloaded over 6,455 pallets of aid—two-thirds of which being food and a fifth being water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies.

Concurrently, UN partners working on a food security assessment in the enclave reported that food parcels have been distributed across more than two dozen locations in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, reaching over 15,000 families. The parcels include essential items that Gazans have been deprived of for months—such as rice, lentils, beans, tomato paste, and sunflower oil.

Humanitarian groups have also prepared and distributed more than 944,000 meals through 178 community kitchens, marking an increase of over 286,000 daily meals compared to three weeks ago. The UN and its partners are now working to expand distribution points to improve accessibility and ensure that families can access food closer to their homes.

On October 20, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that it had transported four pallets of essential medical supplies from its southern warehouse to health facilities across the enclave, including medications for diabetes, chronic illnesses, infections, malnutrition, and pain management. Another UN partner agency also delivered reproductive health kits to patients in southern Gaza, assisting more than 8,300 people. Additionally, 1,500 postpartum kits were distributed to Al Awda Nuseirat Hospital to support maternal health services for the next three months.

That same day, Australian philanthropic organization Minderoo Foundation announced its pledge of AUD 10 million to humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Minderoo’s founder, Dr. Andrew Forrest, said that this pledge would have an “urgent focus on care environments for Palestinian children and the huge psycho-social needs caused by the war.”

“This is more than a donation: it’s a vote of confidence in the lifesaving work of the United Nations and our partners, and in humanity’s ability to act when it matters most,” said Fletcher. “Dr. Forrest and the Minderoo Foundation are helping us scale up in response to the ceasefire. We will match their commitment with every ounce of effort to get food, water, medicine, shelter and dignity to families in Gaza.”

Maternal and newborn health has suffered dramatically without essential food and health supplies, with 11,500 pregnant women facing catastrophic starvation conditions. Addressing this in the immediate sense, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has brought in aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing and distributed medical supplies, including incubators and fetal monitoring machines. UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Andrew Saberton told reporters on October 22 that much more assistance was waiting at the borders, such as supplies for safe births and hygiene items, and this would require all border crossings to be opened and for all impediments to be removed to bring aid into the north and south of Gaza.

“Looking ahead to recovery, we need to restore Gaza’s healthcare and protection services for women and girls. This means rebuilding maternity wards for the 130 births that happen every day,” said Saberton.

Despite ongoing humanitarian efforts, the security situation in Gaza remains highly volatile, with experts underscoring continued hostilities and vast amounts of explosives on the ground that pose daily threats to thousands of Palestinians. On October 21, Luke David Irving, Chief of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told reporters that the agency has identified more than 560 explosive remnants of war in areas now accessible to civilians, emphasizing that “the full extent of contamination in Gaza will not be known until a comprehensive survey can take place.”

As of October 21, UNMAS has recorded approximately 328 fatalities as a direct result of contact with explosive ordnance, noting that the true number is projected to be much higher. According to Irving, these risks are projected to exacerbate as recovery and reconstruction efforts begin, with increased movement setting off ordnance hidden in rubble.

It is estimated that 50 to 60 million tons of debris may have been contaminated with explosive ordnance over the past two years. Irving stated that UNMAS has reached over 460,000 people with risk-education services, including communities in displacement shelters and health facilities, and has produced over 400,000 informational materials, including flyers and stickers. Irving also stressed the need for increased funding for clearance efforts, estimating that over 14 million to 15 million USD will be needed to continue operations for the next six months.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Women's marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich is banned for three years after the Kenyan admits to anti-doping rule violations.