Africa

Brumelda Zuma will represent the party led by her father in parliament after her half-sister resigned.

At IDOS, we are committed to the sustainable development of our organisation – ecologically, socially and economically – and we contribute to sustainable transformations worldwide through research, policy advice and training. For us, sustainability is not a one-off objective but an ongoing process that we aim to shape with responsibility and foresight. Acting sustainably in our day-to-day operations is a self-imposed obligation that we pursue with conviction and consistency. Our ambition is to act today in such a way that good working conditions and the responsible use of natural resources remain possible in the future. With this report, we are presenting for the first time an account of our greenhouse gas emissions for the period 2022 to 2023.

Ryanair kontra Bizottság
Állami támogatás
Ryanair’s action against a decision by the Commission to approve restructuring aid of €2.55 billion granted by Portugal to TAP is dismissed

Ryanair / Commission (TAP ; aide à la restructuration)
Aide d'État
Le recours de Ryanair contre la décision de la Commission approuvant une aide à la restructuration d’un montant de 2,55 milliards d’euros que le Portugal a accordée à TAP est rejeté

Intel Corporation kontra Bizottság
Verseny
Microprocessors market: the General Court upholds the Commission's 2023 decision against Intel but reduces the fine by approximately € 140 million

Intel Corporation / Commission
Concurrence
Marché des microprocesseurs : le Tribunal confirme la décision de 2023 de la Commission contre Intel mais réduit le montant de l'amende d’environ 140 millions d’euros

In many villages, people may not have smartphones or internet, but they always have a radio. When forecasts are delivered in the local language, through voices they know, communities understand faster and act immediately. —John Mbise, a senior TMA climatologist

BBC Sport explores Mohamed Salah's personality with help from the people who know him best.

The organisation behind the LGBTQ+ "Pride Match" at the 2026 World Cup say they intend to push forward with their plans despite one of the teams involved objecting to Fifa.

The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City. Credit: UN News/Vibhu Mishra

By Kul C Gautam
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec 10 2025 (IPS)

The election of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations comes at a highly inopportune moment in 2026, when the UN is being bypassed, and multilateralism—with the UN at its core—is under increasing challenge from some of the world’s most powerful states and leaders.

The new Secretary-General, taking office in 2027, will inherit an unprecedented financial crisis and a pressing need for major institutional reorganization simply to keep the UN afloat. At first glance, this hardly seems like the right moment for a new SG to advance a bold vision—one capable of winning over powerful leaders who appear lukewarm toward strengthening genuine multilateralism and instead prefer a multipolar order where each can guard its own sphere of influence.

Yet history reminds us that some of the boldest ideas have emerged during periods of great upheaval—wars, revolutions, and global crises. It is therefore conceivable that a visionary new UN leader could break new ground, introduce innovative ideas, and help plant the seeds for a rejuvenated, rules-based world order.

Kul Gautam

While many of today’s most powerful leaders may be ambivalent about multilateralism, the world’s general public—especially the digitally savvy younger generation—has a strong sense of global interdependence.

They increasingly identify as global citizens, eager to thrive in a borderless world, and are more likely to embrace visionary proposals for UN reform that meet the realities of the 21st century.

A promising starting point would be the election of the first-ever female Secretary-General of the UN. Another essential reform would be restructuring the UN’s financing system to make it more broad-based and less dependent on the whims of a few wealthy, powerful states.

Some consolidation of the UN’s sprawling architecture—much of it underfunded—is already underway through the current SG’s UN80 Initiative. A new SG could accelerate this effort, earning the support of both critics and cynics.

Still, even a dynamic and visionary new SG will require the backing of Member States. At present, leaders of the most powerful states, particularly the veto-wielding P5, seem disinclined to empower the world’s top diplomat as a true global leader.

While many enlightened global citizens—especially Gen Z—hope for a bold, inspiring figure at the helm, the major powers may prefer a more compliant “Secretary” rather than a strong, strategic “General.”

With the rise of the Global South and groupings such as BRICS+ and the G20, the balance of power—especially soft power—is shifting away from the states that founded the UN 80 years ago.

One hopes this evolving landscape will help strengthen the UN and reinvigorate multilateralism, which remains the only viable way to confront such transcendental issues as climate change, war and peace, pandemics, widening inequalities, and the profound opportunities and risks of the AI revolution.

The world urgently needs a more effective UN to address these pressing global challenges—none of which any nation, however rich or powerful, can tackle alone. It is to be hoped that world leaders, attuned to their peoples’ aspirations, will choose a highly capable new Secretary-General and empower her to help build a more peaceful and prosperous world for present and future generations.

Kul Gautam is a former UN Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and author of Global Citizen from Gulmi: My Journey from the Hills of Nepal to the Halls of the United Nations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

His groundbreaking field research was instrumental in banning the international ivory trade and protecting elephants from poachers.

Poverty in Sierra Leone is pushing more students into risky work, which proved deadly for two boys.

Lizenzentzug mitten in der Saison: Die AC Bellinzona steht vor dem Aus in der Challenge League. Der Klub spielt die Situation herunter, doch die Chancen auf eine Rettung stehen schlecht.

Der Gotthard wird regelmässig zum Nadelöhr: Am Montag versuchten mehrere Autofahrer, den Stau mit einem gefährlichen Manöver zu umgehen. Blick zeigt, wie man legal und stressfrei ans Ziel kommt – inklusive Faktencheck zu den hartnäckigsten Mythen rund um den Gotthard.

Vier Jugendliche aus der Schweiz haben bei einem schrecklichen Unfall in Collonges (F) am Freitag ihr Leben gelassen. Familie und Freunde trauern auch auf Social Media. Am Wochenende gibt es die Chance, sich von den zwei Frauen und zwei jungen Männern zu verabschieden.

Gianni Infantino gerät nach der Verleihung eines Friedenspreises an Donald Trump unter Druck. Eine Menschenrechtsorganisation wirft ihm Machtmissbrauch sowie die Verletzung der Neutralität vor. Sie fordert eine Untersuchung.

Eine Antonow An-22 ist in Zentralrussland abgestürzt. Es soll sich um den letzten verbliebenen Turbogiganten gehandelt haben. Die Flotte ist über Jahrzehnte kontinuierlich geschrumpft.

H.E. Abdulla Shahid (left), former President of the UN General Assembly, and Collen Kelapile (center), former UN ambassador to Botswana and former vice-president of the UN Economic and Social Council, speak as panelists at the launch event of ICO's flagship report. Credit: John Okyo Nyaku/UN

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9 2025 (IPS)

More than one year since its adoption, the UN Pact for the Future is held up as a critical framework for countries to address today’s issues through global cooperation. Its agenda for global governance and sustainable development is ambitious, and it is for this reason the Pact poses implementation challenges when it comes to the direct impact on local communities. It will require the joint efforts of governments, civil society and international organizations to achieve the goals laid out in the Pact.

The efforts of the International Communities Organisation (ICO), a UK-based international NGO, demonstrate what implementing the Pact would look like. Since 2016, ICO has worked to empower minority communities in conflict-affected areas through education and capacity-building opportunities. ICO focuses on directly supporting efforts to build up underrepresented groups’ involvement in community initiatives and diplomatic dialogue and address systemic, societal inequalities.

On December 3, ICO launched its flagship report, For Our Future: Best Practice for the Implementation of the UN Pact for the Future, at the UN Headquarters in New York, presenting a practical framework to support UN member states in advancing the objectives outlined in the Pact for the Future. Several Permanent Missions to the UN, including Bahrain, Guyana, Hungary, Kuwait, Samoa, Singapore, Tajikistan, and Uganda, co-sponsored the event.

The UN Pact for the Future represents a shared set of global commitments to sustainable development, peace and security, and redefining global governance for member states. While its adoption marks a decisive moment of global consensus, there remains the challenge of translating the Pact’s guiding principles into meaningful action at the national and regional levels.  Through its ‘Best Practices’ blueprint, the ICO report distills their findings into an adaptable methodology designed to equip policymakers with the tools they need to implement the Pact’s goals effectively.

James Holmes, ICO founder and Secretary General, said, “The Pact reminds us that the strength of nations is measured not only by the power of their armies or the size of their economies, but also by the inclusiveness of their societies and the recognition of all who live within.” “How we treat minority peoples, those who are few in number, vulnerable, or historically marginal, is the true test of our progress and the true test of whether the fact for the future is being successful.”

H.E. Abdulla Shahid, ICO International Ambassador and former President of the 76th United Nations General Assembly, said it was crucial for the world to unite.

“The UN Pact for the Future calls for renewed unity in tackling humanity’s greatest challenges. This report demonstrates that lasting peace is built not only at negotiation tables but also through empowering communities themselves, ensuring that no group is left behind.”

“As UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted at the opening of the ‘Summit of the Future’ in September 2024, ‘21st-century challenges require 21st-century solutions: frameworks that are networked and inclusive and that draw on the expertise of all humanity.’

He added that the ICO’s report embodies this principle, showing how global aspirations can intersect with local action.

Prominent UN diplomats and civil society members were present at the launch event, demonstrating and remarking on their commitment to the Pact for the Future, and specifically to ICO’s work on the ground. Current and former high-ranking UN officials were also in attendance.

“One year after the adoption of the Pact, this discussion is timely,” said Themba Kalua, the UN Director, Pact for the Future Implementation Kalua remarked during the event. “While the world has grown more complex since the adoption of the Pact for the Future, the Pact continues to be central in realizing multilateralism, navigating the current geopolitical complexities and shaping our collective action on the global agenda.”

Kalua noted the efforts made by the UN system towards the Pact, including global panels on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) and the political declarations that emerged from UN conferences on social development in Qatar and financing for development in Spain. He expressed that the Pact was a “strategic priority” for the UN and its Secretary-General, António Guterres.

“From our side in the UN system and the Secretariat, we are committed to doing our part in supporting the implementation of the Pact,” Kalua told IPS.

Presenting the report, ICO’s UN Programme Manager Mia Sawjani broke down its findings and recommendations. She emphasized that countries would need to empower and promote the agency of local actors. This includes building up their capacity and skills to enact positive change in their communities. Countries must recognize adaptability in assessing situations on the ground, particularly in conflict settings that transform institutions and structures.

“The implementation of the Pact can be tangibly realized for all, but particularly to serve marginalized communities. It’s a transformative opportunity and it is our collective responsibility to follow through,” said Sawjani.

After the event, Holmes was heartened by the outpouring of support for ICO’s work, noting that many more countries had agreed to partner with them for future projects. By maintaining their focus on working with minority communities, ICO can “play a major global role” in implementing the Pact for Future.

“I have a big vision, and I have a lot of ambition for ICO,” Holmes told IPS. “We already have a global team, and I see that growing, and I see us having a bigger and bigger role in helping to implement the Pact.”

The launch event of ICO’s flagship report on the UN Pact for the Future at UNHQ in New York. The event was attended by high-ranking UN diplomats. Credit: John Okyo Nyaku/UN

Local actors and stakeholders, namely governments, academia, the private sector and civil society, would play a key role in implementing the Pact’s agenda. Organizations like ICO could serve as a bridge to translate the issues to the national context.

“The more we are able to bridge communities, the more successful it will be for states to deal with Track I diplomacy,” Shahid said to IPS, referencing the formal channel of diplomacy between governments on international issues.

Implementing the Pact for the Future must also mean recognizing the specific needs and challenges that these countries face. Island states like Samoa and Tonga, for example, are uniquely impacted by climate change, energy, and the global financial structures that need to better serve developing countries.

“For us in the Pacific, progress is measured not by rhetoric, but by real improvements that are felt in our villages, outer islands and vulnerable communities,” said Viliami Va’inga Tōnē, the Permanent Representative of Tonga.

Accountability and transparency will also be crucial to ensure countries follow through on the promises of the Pact. This must be present at all levels. Participants at the event emphasized the need for monitoring mechanisms that would measure progress.

The timing of the report coincides with the ongoing reform negotiations under the UN80 Initiative introduced this year. Discussions around the Pact went hand in hand with recognizing the critical step toward reforming the UN system that will optimize its ability to live up to its founding principles and the Pact’s promises.

If the Pact represents ‘what’ the UN and member states need to achieve in the global agenda, then UN80 represents ‘how’ the UN can implement the agenda.

“The UN80 initiative is really part of the UN response to how it can deliver on the ground,” said Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr. Pa’olelei Luteru, the Permanent Representative of Samoa. He said to IPS, “When you look at all the individual actions that need to be taken, these are at the global level, the UN [level], regional level, and national level. They’re all important, because we can’t continue to work in silence. Everything is interconnected now. So we need to make those connections and work together, and you don’t want duplication.”

While New York hosts reform discussions around the UN and its mandates, the organization’s impact will ultimately be felt by local communities across the world.

Dr. Agnes Mary Chimbiri-Molande, Permanent Representative of Malawi, told IPS that the people who serve in multilateral systems like the UN need to “renew or even rebuild trust” with local communities. At a time when people are questioning the UN’s relevance, she said, these discussions must be held and all perspectives need to be respected.

“We need to hear the voices of the local people. Because here we are working for them. We are not working for ourselves,” Chimbiri-Molande said. “So in fact, to be hearing the voices of those peoples, it’s very, very important to inform our work here, whether we are making an impact or we are making differences in the lives of the people in the community.”

Shahid reiterated that the decisions made in the halls of UN Headquarters will affect local communities, adding that the UN’s success is also contingent on its partnerships with civil society and how important it is for civil society to recognize the UN’s relevance.

During his time as President of the General Assembly from 2021-2022, the world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. His ‘presidency of hope’ championed the progress made by the international system despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. He also made efforts to promote inclusivity by opening the General Assembly to more participants, including civil society groups.

Shahid invited young diplomats from underrepresented member states to the President’s office to witness international diplomacy firsthand.

Even after his presidency ended, he told IPS, he wanted to continue to deliver on the ideals that defined his tenure.

“I thought that there’s no need to end the presidency of hope after one year. Let us keep delivering the message of hope through other platforms. And ICO provides me the platform, because it is a platform through which I can actually reach out to communities at [the] household level and inspire them not to give up. Keep working, keep aiming to change the status.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Highlights from the Opening Plenary at the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Nairobi, Kenya. CREDIT: UNEP / Ahmed Nayim Yussuf

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Dec 9 2025 (IPS)

“There will never be a better time than now to invest in a stable climate, thriving ecosystems, and resilient lands, or in sustainable development that delivers for all,” said Amina J. Mohammed, the deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, during the opening plenary of the seventh meeting of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) taking place from December 8 to 12, 2025.

“Coming so soon after the conclusion of COP30, we must carry forward the momentum generated in Belém, demonstrating that when countries, civil society and youth come together, real progress is possible, from protecting forests to increasing climate finance to advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples and women.”

UNEA is the primary global forum for setting the agenda and making critical choices about the Planet’s health. Delegates heard that insufficient ambition has set the world on track to overshoot the 1.5°C red line set in the Paris Agreement to limit the Earth’s temperature and avoid the worst climate impacts. The overshoot will happen within the next decade and steer the world towards 2.3-2.5°C warming by century’s end.

Against this backdrop, Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri, President of UNEA and President of the Environment Authority of Oman, said, “This week, we are called upon to make decisions that will define our joint trajectory for the year ahead.”

But the current trajectory is more concerning and less promising.

UNEA-7 is exploring innovative solutions to meet complex challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Mohammed, who also chairs the UN’s Sustainable Development Group, said despite some notable progress, efforts to achieve the UN’s SDGs are significantly off track, with dangerous consequences, as “20 to 40 percent of the world’s land has been degraded, affecting over 3 billion people.”

“One million species are at risk of extinction. And 9 million people a year die prematurely due to pollution.”

She was speaking to nearly 6,000 participants from 170 Member States, including 79 ministers and 35 deputy ministers gathered at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting’s theme is Advancing Sustainable Solutions for a Resilient Planet.

UNEA is the top global body for environmental decisions, bringing together all 193 UN Member States.

As the world’s highest-level environmental decision-making body, it unites all UN members to set global environmental policies and catalyze action against the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Importantly, it seeks to forge multilateralism or cooperation among many nations, backed by scientific evidence.

Inger Andersen, the executive director of UNEP, called on the assembly to consider the world at this unsettled time.

“This Assembly must delve deeply, given the world’s turbulent geopolitical waters, which intensify stress and strain on multilateral processes.”

Ali Al-Amri said UNEA was created to be the “conscience of the global environment.”

Overall, sessions dwelled on many diverse but interconnected issues, from driving compliance and enforcement against illegal traffic; protection of the High Seas and transboundary water cooperation; and rapid global reductions of deadly methane emissions to artificial intelligence.

Delegates heard about a new AI-driven tool developed by researchers at UC Berkeley in partnership with the UN that will help countries slash climate emissions by as much as 5 percent by 2040. Kigali Sim is an interactive, open-source tool that can also explore different policy interventions.

It simulates substances and equipment related to the Montreal Protocol (an international treaty to protect the earth’s ozone layer) and the Kigali Amendment, which amends the Montreal Protocol to combat climate change by reducing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse emissions that significantly worsen climate change.

HFCs are widely used in air conditioners, refrigerators, aerosols, and foam. Kigali Sim was built to support researchers and policymakers like those working on Kigali Implementation Plans. It is offered as a free, open-source project that prioritizes agency and privacy.

This software provides an easy-to-use interface where you can enter country-level modeling data and policies under consideration to quickly simulate potential impacts on emissions, energy, substance consumption, and equipment across multiple scenarios. It can also be used to explore various substances, such as HFCs, and sectors, including commercial refrigeration.

Global carbon markets featured prominently in the Assembly. These are trading systems where participants buy and sell carbon credits, which represent a reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. They are a tool to help achieve climate targets cost-effectively by putting a price on carbon emissions.

They can be compliance markets, where trading is a mandatory response to government-set limits, or voluntary markets, where companies and organizations voluntarily offset their emissions.

A session dubbed “High-Integrity Carbon Markets: Impact and Path to Accelerated Climate Action” brought together delegates, private sector partners, civil society representatives, and technical experts to discuss the latest developments in market integrity and pathways for scaling global carbon markets.

Earlier, Ali Al-Amri stressed that success throughout the week would depend not only on the outcomes adopted but also on how they are reached, pointing out the value of trust, transparency, the spirit of compromise, and inclusiveness and promising that every voice will be heard.

Martha Korere, from an Indigenous community in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, told IPS that while the representation of Indigenous people and communities at UNEA-7 is satisfactory, “the assembly must accelerate the momentum around their rights, and specifically land rights that started at COP30.”

She called for transparency and integrity where carbon markets intersect with Indigenous people.

Overall, she was also pleased with the representation of young people. UNEA-7 was preceded by the Youth Environment Assembly, which saw more than 1,000 youth delegates from across the world come together to agree and issue the Global Youth Declaration, which put forward youth priorities for UNEA.

In all, urgent action and cooperation are the connecting threads across all sessions in light of multiple, complex challenges. Expert representations that included insights from farmers, followed by discussions with the audience, explored responses to issues such as invasive species, encouraging the collaboration of a wider audience of stakeholders from science, governments, NGOs, universities, farmers, and conservationists.

Central to these discussions were the increasing and accelerating negative impacts and threats of invasive species and biological pollution on marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world, resulting in biodiversity loss, famine, pestilence, and pandemics in human, plant, animal, and microbial populations.

In the corridors of the Environmental Assembly, Newton Omunga from the Civil Society told IPS that they sought to bring these issues to the attention of UN systems and platforms for international discussion, cooperation, resolution, and coordinated action.

Since 2014, UNEA has held six sessions, during which 105 resolutions have spurred action on critically important issues, including air pollution, biodiversity, health, financing for development, plastic pollution, and climate change.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Plotters misjudged the national mood and Benin's neighbours learnt from past errors, says analyst Paul Melly.