Africa

World Press Freedom Day 2025
 

By Farhana Haque Rahman
NEW YORK, May 2 2025 (IPS)

Pressures on the press are piling up. Like an avalanche gaining speed yet unnoticed by most people in the valley below, freedom of the press is being relentlessly trampled over – despite the valiant efforts of a few.

Farhana Haque Rahman

For as long as we can remember, authoritarian regimes have harassed, jailed, ‘disappeared’ and killed troubling journalists. The numbers keep rising. Now under the fog of war, media workers are losing their lives to the bombs and bullets dispatched by even elected leaders, while around the world journalists are intimidated through lawsuits, or silenced by government budget cuts.

On top of all this, marking World Press Freedom Day on May 3, UNESCO is aiming this year to focus thoughts on what it diplomatically calls the substantial ‘new risks’ as well as the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI), already widely deployed in newsrooms, and by fraudsters.

For incisive information on journalists targeted worldwide, organizations like Reporters Without Borders (RSF) not only collate the data and keep detailed records but also campaign on our behalf, as in lobbying the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against journalists in Palestine.

In its 2024 roundup, RSF notes: “In Gaza, the scale of the tragedy is incomprehensible… In 2024, Gaza became the most dangerous region in the world for journalists, a place where journalism itself is threatened with extinction.”

RSF counts over 155 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza and Lebanon and two killed in Israel since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023. This number includes at least 35 who were “very likely” targeted or killed while working, many clearly identifiable as journalists but shot or killed in Israeli strikes. “This was compounded by a deliberate media blackout and a block on foreign journalists entering the Strip.”

Sudan is described as a “death trap” for journalists caught between military and paramilitary factions. And outside war zones, seven journalists were killed in Pakistan in 2024, five assassinated in Mexico, and five killed in a violent crackdown on the July/August 2024 protests in Bangladesh.

Of the 550 reporters behind bars around the world by the end of the year, 124 were in China (including 11 in Hong Kong), 61 in Myanmar, 41 in Israel and 40 in Belarus.

Of the 38 media professionals jailed in Russia, 18 are Ukrainian. RSF dedicated its report to Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna, whose family were informed that she died in captivity in Russia on 19 September. No explanation was given.

Just last month (April), a Russian court sentenced four journalists to 5-1/2 years each in prison, accusing them of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in captivity in February 2024.

What’s more, all these regimes are giving a thumbs-up to the March 15 gutting of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, as well as the dismantling of USAid which, for example, helped support independent journalists in Myanmar.

China applauded, calling VOA “a dirty rag” and “lie factory”. Cambodian strongman Hun Sen cheered the cuts of “fake news” RFA.

RFS says press freedom deteriorated in the Asia-Pacific region, where 26 of the 32 countries and territories saw their scores fall in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

“The region’s dictatorial governments have been tightening their hold over news and information with increasing vigour,” RFS said, while commending regional democracies, such as Timor-Leste, Samoa and Taiwan, for retaining “their roles as press freedom models”.

But what is perhaps most alarming about the insidious deterioration of press freedom around the world is that autocratic regimes are very successfully mastering the dark arts of propaganda, while mainstream traditional media in more open societies are losing people’s trust.

The 2025 Trust Barometer compiled by Edelman, a big American PR firm, found of the 28 major countries it surveyed that China ranked highest in the “trust of media” category with a 75 percent rating, while the UK came next to last with 36 percent. This contrasts with RSF’s press freedom index which ranks China 172 out of 180 countries and territories, and the UK 23rd.

Reflecting on 25 years of surveys and referring broadly to the West, CEO Richard Edelman said media became the “least trusted” institution in 2020 as “information became a bitter and contested battleground used to manipulate, drive societal wedges, and fuel political polarization”.

Which brings us to Unesco’s words of warning over the AI revolution on World Press Freedom Day.

Yes it enhances access to and processing of information, enables journalists to handle vast amounts of data efficiently and create content, improves fact checking etc.

But, the UN agency adds: “AI also… can be used to reproduce misinformation, spread disinformation, amplify online hate speech, and enable new forms of censorship. Some actors use AI for mass surveillance of journalists and citizens, creating a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”

AI-generated fake videos posted on social media, such as images of firefighters rescuing animals in the recent Los Angeles wildfires, have already gained tens of millions of clicks.

Recent BBC research into four publically available AI assistants found 51percent of all AI answers to questions about the news were judged to have significant issues of some form. This included 19 percent of AI answers which cited BBC content introduced factual errors, while 13 percent of the quotes sourced from BBC articles were either altered or didn’t actually exist in that article.

We have been warned. And that is before the boffins perhaps succeed in birthing Artificial General Intelligence with the goal of creating machines as intelligent and versatile as humans. The very concept then of Press Freedom may no longer exist.

Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service and Executive Director IPS Noram; she served as the elected Director General of IPS from 2015-2019. A journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2025
 

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

By CIVICUS
May 1 2025 (IPS)

CIVICUS speaks with Ukrainian gender rights activist Maryna Rudenko about the gendered impacts of the war in Ukraine and the importance of including women in peacebuilding efforts.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has profoundly impacted on women and girls. Many have been displaced and are struggling with poverty and unemployment. Those who’ve stayed endure daily missile attacks, damaged infrastructure, lack of basic services and sexual violence from Russian forces if they live in occupied territories. Women activists, caregivers and journalists are particularly vulnerable. The international community must increase support to ensure justice for victims and women’s inclusion in peace efforts.

Maryna Rudenko

What have been the impacts of the war in Ukraine, particularly on women and girls?

The war began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, with Indigenous women, particularly Crimean Tatars, immediately and severely affected. They risked losing their property and livelihoods, and to continue working they were forced to change their citizenship. Pro-Ukraine activists had to flee and those who stayed faced arrest. This placed a heavier burden on many women who were left in charge of their families.

At the same time in 2014, Russia began supporting separatist movements in eastern Ukraine, leading to the occupation of territories such as Donetsk and Luhansk and the displacement of over a million people. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, many lost their homes again. Nearly seven million fled to European countries. This population loss poses a significant demographic challenge to Ukraine’s post-war development.

Since 2015, conflict-related sexual violence has been a major issue. Around 342 cases have been documented. The International Criminal Court recognised that conflict-related sexual violence has been committed in the temporarily occupied territories since 2014.

Ukraine also experienced the largest campaign of child abduction in recent history: Russia took close to 20,000 Ukrainian children from occupied territories and sent then to ‘camps’ in Crimea or Russia, where the authorities changed their names and nationalities and gave them to Russian families. Ukrainian children were forced to change their national identity. This is evidence of genocidal approach in Russia’s war activities.

The war has also devastated infrastructure and the economy. In my town, 30 km from Kyiv, the heating station was hit by 11 ballistic missiles, leaving us without electricity or water for a long time. It was very scary to stay at the apartment with my daughter and know that Russian ballistic missiles were flying over our house. Roughly 40 per cent of the economy was destroyed in 2022 alone, causing job losses at a time when the government spends over half its budget on the military. Civilians, including a record 70,000 women, have taken up arms.

Beyond the immediate human cost, the war is causing serious environmental damage, with weapons and missile debris polluting soil and water beyond national borders. Russia’s occupation of Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, poses a very real risk of a nuclear disaster for Ukraine and Europe as a whole.

How have Ukrainian women’s organisations responded?

Starting in 2014, we focused on advocacy, championing United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1,325, which reaffirms the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution. The government adopted its National Action Plan on the implementation of the resolution in 2016. We formed local coalitions to implement this agenda, leading to reforms such as opening military roles to women, establishing policies to prevent sexual harassment, integrating gender equality in the training curriculum and gender mainstreaming as part of police reform.

Following the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian women’s civil society organisations (CSOs) shifted to providing immediate humanitarian relief, as survival became the top priority. Women’s CSOs began helping people, particularly those with disabilities, relocate to western Ukraine and providing direct aid to those who remained. As schools, hospitals and shelters for survivors of domestic violence were destroyed, women’s CSOs tried to fill the gap, providing food, hygiene packages and cash and improvising school lessons in metro tunnels.

People stood up and helped. In Kharkiv, which is located 30 km from the boarder with Russia, the local government created underground schools. It’s unbelievable that this happened in the 21st century and because of the aggression of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Our children, women and men can’t sleep normally because every night there are missile and drone attacks.

In the second half of 2022, women’s CSOs and the government tried to refocus on long-term development. One of the first initiatives was to amend the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to better address conflict-related sexual violence in both occupied and liberated areas. This was a much-needed response given the many reported cases of killing, rape and torture. This involved training law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other officials on how to document these crimes and properly communicate with survivors, who often blame themselves due to stigma surrounding the violence.

We have also reported Russia’s violations of the Geneva Conventions, particularly those concerning women, to UN human rights bodies.

Women’s groups are pushing for more donor support for psychological services to address trauma and helping plan for long-term recovery, aiming to rebuild damaged infrastructure and improve services to meet the needs of excluded groups. Some donors, like the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, have agreed to support the costs of mental recovery for women activists to help them restore their strength and support others.

How should women’s voices be integrated into recovery and peacebuilding efforts?

Women must have a real seat at the negotiation table. Genuine participation means not just counting the number of women involved but ensuring their voices are heard and their needs addressed. Unfortunately, the gender impacts of the war remain a secondary concern.

We have outlined at least 10 key areas where the gender impacts of the war should be discussed and prioritised in negotiations. However, it looks like these are being largely ignored in the current high-level negotiations between Russia and the USA. We heard that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the importance of returning Ukrainian children when he met with Donald Trump. It’s highly important for the mothers and fathers of these children and for all Ukrainians.

Women’s CSOs are working to ensure all survivors can access justice and fair reparations, and that nobody forgets and excuses the war crimes committed. We urgently need accountability; peace cannot be achieved at the expense of truth. This is particularly important because the Council of Europe’s Register of Damage for Ukraine only accepts testimonies of war crimes that happened after the 2022 invasion, leaving out many survivors from crimes committed since 2014. We are working to amend this rule.

The international response should follow the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us’. International partners should collaborate directly with women-led CSOs, using trauma-informed approaches. For women affected by combat, loss or abduction, recovery must start with psychological support, and civil society can play a vital role in this process.

The effective implementation of Resolution 1,325 also requires reconstruction funds that incorporate a gender perspective throughout. Ukrainian women’s CSOs prepared a statement to highlight the importance of analysing the war’s impact on the implementation of the UN’s Beijing Platform for Action on gender equality and we used this as common message during the recent meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Additionally, we believe it’s time to consider the successes and failures in implementation of Resolution 1,325 and its sister resolutions, because it’s 25 years since its adoption and the world is not safer.

We appreciate any platforms where we can speak about the experience of Ukraine and call for action to support Ukraine to help make a just and sustain peace in Europe and the world.

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SEE ALSO
Ukraine: ‘Civil society remains resilient and responsive, but financial constraints now hamper its efforts’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Mykhailo Savva 25.Feb.2025
Russia: Further tightening of restrictions on ‘undesirable’ organisations CIVICUS Monitor 30.Jul.2024
Russia and Ukraine: a tale of two civil societies CIVICUS Lens 24.Feb.2024

 

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The attack on a Catholic priest comes amid rising political tensions ahead of October's elections.

He is accused of backing M23 rebels in the east but he has previously denied links to the group.

Credit: Chris McGrath, Getty Images
The United Nations will be commemorating World Press Freedom Day on May 3 reminding governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.

By Committee to Protect Journalists
NEW YORK, May 1 2025 (IPS)

Press freedom is no longer a given in the United States 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term as journalists and newsrooms face mounting pressures that threaten their ability to report freely and the public’s right to know.

A new report released April 30 by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)– “Alarm bells: Trump’s first 100 days ramp up fear for the press, democracy,” noted that the administration has scaled up its rhetorical attacks and launched a startling number of actions using regulatory bodies and powerful allies that, taken together, may cause irreparable harm to press freedom in the U.S. and will likely take decades to repair.

The level of trepidation among U.S. journalists is such that CPJ has provided more security training since the November election than at any other period.

“This is a definitive moment for U.S. media and the public’s right to be informed. CPJ is providing journalists with resources at record rates so they can report safely and without fear or favor, but we need everyone to understand that protecting the First Amendment is not a choice, it’s a necessity. All our freedoms depend on it,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

Emerging challenges to a free press in the United States fall under three main categories:
1) The restriction of access for some news organizations; 2) The increasing use of government and regulatory bodies against news organizations; and 3) Targeted attacks against journalists and newsrooms.

While The Associated Press (AP), a global newswire agency serving thousands of newsrooms in the U.S. and across the world, has faced retaliation for not adhering to state-mandated language, the Federal Communications Commission is mounting investigations against three major broadcasters – CBS, ABC, and NBC – along with the country’s two public broadcasters – NPR and PBS – in moves widely viewed as politically motivated.

“The rising tide of threats facing U.S. journalists and newsrooms are a direct threat to the American public,” said Ginsberg. “Whether at the federal or state level, the investigations, hearings, and verbal attacks amount to an environment where the media’s ability to bear witness to government action is already curtailed.”

Journalists who reached out to CPJ in recent months are worried about online harassment and digital and physical safety. Newsrooms have also shared with us worries about the possibility of punitive regulatory actions.

Since the presidential election last November until March 7 of this year, CPJ has provided safety consultations to more than 530 journalists working in the country. This figure was only 20 in all of 2022, marking an exponential increase in the need for safety information.

Globally, the gutting of the U.S. Agency for Global Media resulted in the effective termination of thousands of journalist positions, and the elimination of USAID independent media support impoverished the news landscape in many regions across the globe where the news ecosystem is underdeveloped or information is severely restricted.

As the executive branch of the U.S. government is taking unprecedented steps to permanently undermine press freedom, CPJ is calling on the public, news organizations, civil society, and all branches, levels, and institutions of government – from municipalities to the U.S. Supreme Court – to safeguard press freedom to help secure the future of American democracy.

In particular, Congress must prioritize passage of the PRESS Act and The Free Speech Protection Act, both bipartisan bills that can strengthen and protect press freedom throughout the United States.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2025
 

USAID and UNICEF sign a partnership in 2024 to improve water and sanitation services across Iraq. But USAID has since been dismantled by the US. Credit: UNICEF/Anmar Anmar

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 2025 (IPS)

The Trump administration’s on-again-off-again threats against the United Nations, and US withdrawals from several UN agencies aggravated further by financial cutbacks, have left most staffers with growing apprehension and uncertainty about their future— and their mental health.

Will the UN’s liquidity crisis result in downsizing of staff or trigger a round of salary cuts? Will there be a freeze on promotions and on salary increases? And will non-American staffers be deprived of permanent residencies in the US—and forced to return, along with their families, to their home countries, on retirement?

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN’s humanitarian agency, is facing significant budget cuts due to a funding gap, primarily stemming from a reduction in US funding. This has led to plans for a 20% reduction in staff and a scaled-back presence in several countries, according to OCHA.

Besides OCHA, the budget cuts have also impacted on the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF and the UN High Commission for Refugees, who are either closing offices, reducing staff or ending programs due to a sharp decrease in US funding.

In a memo to staffers last week, the UN Staff Union (UNSU) in New York acknowledged “the significant concern and potential uncertainty caused by the current financial situation of the Organization.”

“We believe that prioritizing mental health and well-being is essential during these uncertain times. As such, the Union is preparing a series of Mental Health Sessions to offer practical tips and techniques for managing what may lie ahead.”

“Be assured that your Union remains steadfast in defending your rights to fair and equitable treatment and stands ready to navigate the anticipated challenges ahead together,” says the memo from Narda Cupidore, President of UNSU.

Meanwhile, the Staff Management Committee (SMC), which was convened in Vienna, April 7-12, addressed critical issues impacting staff welfare and conditions of service.

The agenda was dominated by three topics: I) UN80 Initiative; ii) the financial crisis; and iii) the downsizing policy. These deeply interconnected topics and their combined impact on staff were the central focus over several days of deliberations.

The Secretary-General has requested “the UN80 Initiative Task Force and Working Groups to develop proposals to i) rapidly identify efficiencies and improvements in the way we work; ii) review the implementation of the mandates received from Member States; and iii) conduct a programmatic realignment within the UN system, while rationalizing resources.”

Dr Purnima Mane, former President and CEO of Pathfinder International and one-time Deputy Executive Director (Programme) and UN Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS the US government’s threats of financial cutbacks and withdrawals from many UN agencies is a matter of special concern not only for Member States but also the UN staff themselves, affecting their mental health and ability to bring their best to their already challenging work.

“With multiple global upheavals all over the world, the UN clearly is an institution from which much is expected at this time. But financial cutbacks seriously threaten the UN’s ability to deliver and its staff members’ ability to do their job”.

It is therefore reassuring, she said, that the concerned bodies affiliated to the UN, which focus on staff welfare, are honing in on the mental health of the staff who are working in this current environment of extreme uncertainty. .

It is encouraging to note that the UN Staff Union is preparing a series of mental health sessions for staff to have access to practical tips for managing what may lie ahead.

The Staff Management Committee XIII which met early April in Vienna also focused on critical issues impacting staff welfare and conditions of service, and not surprisingly, the financial crises that the UN is threatened with and the downsizing policy were two of the major topics that the SMC focused on.

“Uncertainty of course makes matters even tougher since the US administration has announced cutbacks to institutions where the US is a sole or major contributor and then reversed its decision in the case of some,” she pointed out.

If the UN is not seen as a sound investment by the US, and its position on cutbacks and withdrawals remain without any alteration, the paralysis, in terms of action, will be severe and will take a high toll in terms of staff mental health and subsequently, their ability to perform already formidable tasks, declared Dr Mane.

The World Food Program, UNICEF and the UN High Commission for Refugees are among UN agencies that are cutting jobs, closing offices, ending programs and taking other cost-cutting measures due to a sharp decrease in US funding.

In 2024, the UN Secretariat employed over 35,000 staff members across 467 duty stations worldwide. This includes staff from over 190 nationalities, as part of the wider UN family with over 100 bodies and organizations, including some 30 agencies, funds and programmes.

The cash crisis has been aggravated by non-payment or late payment of dues by member states. As of April 30, only 101 out of 193 member states, have paid their assessed contributions in full.

Asked about the budgetary cuts by UN agencies, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters April 28, there are different kinds of cuts.

“The most violent that we have seen really hit our humanitarian and development partners because the cuts are immediate. The way they’re funded are through voluntary contribution. The money is allotted for specific programmes, so the money is not there. The work’s not getting done”.

“So, I think the Secretary-General has said that we are, right now facing a liquidity crisis. We’re managing that. We’re obviously, and he always has been looking to be the most possibly responsible caretaker of the money that is entrusted to us”.

Dujarric said the strategy is also to ensure that Member States understand the quick and real impact of these cuts.

Currently, the biggest single defaulter is the US, which, as the largest contributor, pays 22% of the UN’s regular budget and 27% of the peacekeeping budget.

The US owes $1.5 billion to the UN’s regular budget. And, between the regular budget, the peacekeeping budget, and international tribunals, the total amount the US owes is a hefty $2.8 billion.

The top 10 contributors to the UN’s regular budget, based on assessed contributions, are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and Russia.

The regular budget for 2025 is $3.72 billion—around $120 million more than the $3.6 billion figure unveiled by Secretary-General António Guterres in October 2024—and $130 million greater than the Organisation’s 2024 budget.

The total budget appropriation for 2025 amounts to $3,717,379,600. After the US, China is the second-largest contributor, assessed at 18.7% of the regular budget.

In its appeal to staffers, the Staff Union says the Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative “may bring substantial changes to our organization and have significant impact on our conditions of service”.

“While the full extent of these changes is still unknown, we recognize the underlying stress and anxiety it might cause, especially against the backdrop of constant media coverage of similar challenges occurring across the Common System.”

Towards this effort, the UN80 Initiative has created a suggestion box to submit support and ideas.

“As we believe the most effective solution sets can come from those directly involved in the day-to-day work of the organization and with an upcoming deadline of 1 May 2025, we encourage you to share your innovative and creative proposals not only with the UN80 Initiative but with your Union as well”.

By sending your suggestions to newyorkstaffunion@un.org, says the memo, “ we shall be able to record the dynamic contributions of Staff Members and re-emphasize the critical importance of an inclusive, Secretariat wide decision-making process within the three pillars of efficiencies and improvements, mandate implementation, and programme realignment.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The opposition legislator had just left parliament when he was attacked by gunmen on a motorcycle, police say.

One man's struggle to save Uganda's once-profitable trees that produce shea butter.

One man's struggle to save Uganda's once-profitable trees that produce shea butter.

One man's struggle to save Uganda's once-profitable trees that produce shea butter.

A healthcare worker vaccinates children in Barikotal Rezkan village, Argo district, Fayzabad, Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. Credit: UNICEF/Muzamel Azizi

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 30 2025 (IPS)

For 2025, the theme of World Health Immunization Week (24-30 April), “Immunization for All is Humanly Possible”, emphasizes the need to eradicate disparities in access to vaccines, particularly for children. By encouraging governments to implement vaccination programs at the local and national levels, the World Health Organization (WHO) seeks t0 ensure worldwide access to life-saving vaccines.

“Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease. With continued research, investment and collaboration, we can save millions more lives today and in the next 50 years.”

According to figures from the United Nations (UN), over the past 50 years global immunization efforts have saved roughly 154 million lives. Vaccines are also estimated to save around 4.2 million lives each year. More children live to see their first birthday and beyond than ever before in human history.

Health experts have estimated that immunization is one of the most cost-effective disease treatments, with every 1 dollar invested in vaccinations yielding a 54 dollar return in productivity. Additionally, vaccines are estimated to save the average infected person around 66 years of life, with roughly 20 million people having been spared of paralysis due to polio vaccinations.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, reported that in 2024, more than 5 million children who had not received a single dose of an essential vaccine were immunized in 20 vulnerable countries, many of which were in Africa. Gains in public health were most notably observed in Uganda, Chad, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, and Côte d’Ivoire.

In the past year alone, cases of polio type 1 have decreased in these regions by roughly 65 percent. Additionally, Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage has increased by 28 percent as a result of this campaign, making Africa the region with the second highest coverage rate for HPV vaccinations.

Despite recent improvements, rates of global immunization have begun to slip in recent years due to humanitarian crises, recent cuts in funding, and public doubt surrounding the efficacy and implications of child vaccinations. Humanitarian organizations have expressed concern due to the rise or re-emergence of several public health concerns. According to a study conducted by WHO, roughly 50 percent of people across 108 countries are experiencing moderate to severe disruptions to immunization services.

“The progress seen across African countries – bolstered by an unprecedented record of co-financing toward vaccine programmes in 2024 by African governments – demonstrates the tangible impact of sustained commitment,” said Thabani Maphosa, Chief Country Delivery Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “However, this momentum must not stall. Conflict, population growth, displacement, and natural disasters are creating ideal conditions for outbreaks to emerge and spread. Investing in immunization and securing sufficient funding for Gavi to carry out its mission over the next five years is essential to protect our collective future.”

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the recorded cases of measles reached a total of 10.3 million in 2023, marking a 20 percent increase from the previous year. It is projected that measles cases have risen sharply in 2024 and 2025.

Additionally, rates of meningitis infections have been on an upward trend in 2024 and 2025. Health experts have dubbed the recent rise in meningitis cases in sub-Saharan Africa as the “meningitis belt”, fearing that low and middle-income communities have been hit the hardest.

In 2024, there were nearly 26,000 cases of meningitis and 1,400 deaths across 24 countries. From January to March 2025, there have been approximately 5,500 suspected cases of meningitis and roughly 300 recorded deaths in 22 countries. Health experts also recorded re-emerging malaria and yellow fever epidemics.

In order to ensure global public health and maximize quality of life, it is imperative for governments to invest in health systems that benefit all walks of life, maximize disease surveillance, and tackle persisting cultural taboos surrounding immunization. However, recent cuts in funding threaten to undo decades of progress.

“The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Immunization services, disease surveillance, and the outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted – with setbacks at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable diseases.”

Although many local governments would consider allocating funds for vaccination services as financial losses, Gavi reports that investing in immunization campaigns and programs nets significant financial gains. In recognition of World Immunization Week, UNICEF, WHO, and Gavi released a joint report that detailed the results of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Bangladesh.

The report found that Bangladesh’s EPI has saved roughly 94,000 lives, prevented 5 million child cases of child infections, and yielded a 25 dollar return per 1 dollar of U.S. funding invested. Additionally, as a result of this model, Bangladesh has managed to increase the coverage of fully immunized children from 2 percent to over 81 percent since 1979.

“The need to maintain investments in immunization to improve health security and protect populations from vaccine-preventable diseases has never been more urgent if we are to sustain the progress and tangible impact seen across Bangladesh and South-East Asian countries,” said Sam Muller, Regional Head, Core Countries at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “It is important that Gavi is fully funded for its next strategic period from 2026 to 2030, and governments continue their remarkable commitment to the lifesaving power of vaccines.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: World Bank

By External Source
MANILA / LONDON, Apr 30 2025 (IPS)

The Rogun Dam in the mountains of Southern Tajikistan, if ever completed, would be the tallest dam in the world. Late last year, the World Bank committed almost $3 billion to finance its development, claiming the project would benefit locals.

What the World Bank has failed to highlight, however, is that the dam is also causing tremendous social and environmental damage, while driving up the country’s foreign debt obligations. When the dam goes online, 70% of the power it generates will be exported to neighbouring countries, as the project’s capacity far exceeds domestic needs.

Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are relevant to the extent that they respond to the development priorities of countries in the Global South.

The World Bank, the largest MDB, says its mission is to create a world free of poverty on a liveable planet. Yet its policy prescriptions—and those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—continue to restructure Global South economies in ways that de-prioritise production for domestic markets and disincentivise industrial policy.

The grandiose scale of the Rogun Dam—which far exceeds projected national energy needs at an unaffordable price tag—is a perfect example of this misguided approach.

Today, 80 years since the Bank and the IMF’s establishment, and amid widely recognised threats to the multilateral order, demand is growing for a UN intergovernmental process to review the governance, role and mandate of international finance institutions.

Today, 80 years since the Bank and the IMF’s establishment, and amid widely recognised threats to the multilateral order, demand is growing for a UN intergovernmental process to review the governance, role and mandate of international finance institutions

The pre-conference negotiations at the end of April for the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) later this year in Sevilla, Spain, are an ideal opportunity to move this agenda forward.

The World Bank was a product of the post-World War II order. The United States and its European allies grew in economic and political influence, and this power was and remains reflected in the Bank’s leadership, governance, and priorities.

Directed by the Global North, the Bank’s role evolved throughout the decades. Initially focused on infrastructure, it first embraced development policy; then narrowed its focus to eradicating extreme poverty and now incorporates climate and job creation.

While its initial support for infrastructure investment was better linked to national industrialisation efforts, the Bank has departed from that approach. Reflecting the ascendancy of neoliberal economics and policies in the Global North, the Bank increasingly relied on market-based solutions and prioritised private capital.

This bias deepened in 2015 with the Bank’s “billions to trillions” push— which claimed public finance must primarily serve to attract large-scale private investment.

But economic history casts serious doubt that private finance leads to economic transformation, rather than ‘bigger and better’ extraction. And enticing private capital into low-income countries and ‘emerging markets’ requires offloading risk—onto Global South countries.

The Global South has lost trillions in resources, as global norms supported by the Bank drive the private appropriation of wealth.

Worse, decades of Bank-supported deregulation, privatisation and focus on primary commodity exports has left Global South countries increasingly exposed to shocks, crises and market volatility. Even after the Bank’s Chief Economist admitted the “billions to trillions” agenda was a “fantasy,” the focus on ‘creating an enabling environment’ for foreign finance remains unchanged.

The Bank’s recent attempts to reform itself—its ‘Evolution Roadmap’—have so far failed to move the Bank beyond its private capital focus. This is unsurprising, given the Northern-led “one-dollar-one-vote” governance and Bank President Ajay Banga’s own statements that the Bank’s original purpose “was to forge a global economic landscape ripe for private sector investment.”

More than a year since Banga echoed the G20 in calling for a “bigger and better Bank,” the institution now finds itself having to defend its very existence.

The Bank needs to convince the US administration of its essential role in furthering the interests of the United States. And, as the establishment of the BRICS’ bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the expansion of the BRICS bloc demonstrate, Southern countries’ patience with the lack of governance reform is not without limits.

The negotiations in preparation for Sevilla could shift the norms of the current extractive financial architecture and set the stage for transformational development in the Global South.

We need economic transformation and industrial policy that allows states to escape debt and dependency, reduce exposure to external shocks, and increase capacity to safeguard human rights while supporting the aspirations of their people. We need development banks that support those goals.

The World Bank, in its current form, is not fit for this purpose. It is up to Global South countries, social movements, and civil society to raise their voices to change the terms of the conversation.

No dam, no matter how tall, can hold back the flood of change that’s coming. The world is not what it was 80 years ago. Development banks shouldn’t be either.

Rodolfo Lahoy Jr. is Deputy Director of IBON International, based in Manila, and Luiz Vieira is Coordinator of the Bretton Woods Project, based in the UK

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