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Fishermen gliding on a canoe off the coast of Dar es Salaam. Photo by Kizito Makoye

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 17 2025 (IPS)

With less than six harvest seasons left to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the urgency to find transformative solutions to end hunger, protect the oceans, and build climate resilience dominated the ninth panel session at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France.

In a moment emblematic of growing African leadership in ocean sustainability, Tanzania took center stage during the panel titled “Promoting the Role of Sustainable Food from the Ocean for Poverty Eradication and Food Security.” The panel offered not only a scientific and policy-rich exchange of ideas but also a rare glimpse into how countries like Tanzania are positioning aquatic foods as engines of economic recovery, public health, and ecological sustainability.

A Defining Voice From the Swahili Coast

Co-chairing the session, Shaaban Ali Othman, Minister for Blue Economy and Fisheries of Zanzibar, part of the United Republic of Tanzania, laid out his country’s blueprint for harnessing ocean resources without compromising marine ecosystems.

“Our survival is intimately tied to the ocean. It feeds us, it employs our people, and it holds the promise to lift millions out of poverty,” Othman said, advocating for a redefinition of how the world views aquatic food systems. “But this can only happen if we manage them responsibly.”

He emphasized that for Tanzania, the blue economy is not a buzzword—it is a foundational strategy woven into national development planning. As climate change intensifies and traditional farming struggles under erratic rainfall, coastal and inland aquatic foods offer a viable, nutrient-dense alternative for the country’s growing population.

“Communities in Zanzibar and along the Tanzanian coastline have fished for generations, but now we must ensure those practices are not just traditional, but also sustainable and inclusive,” Othman said.

He pointed to Zanzibar’s push to increase seaweed farming, particularly among women, as a double dividend for nutrition and gender equity. He also highlighted new investments in cold storage and fish processing facilities aimed at reducing post-harvest losses—currently among the highest in the region.

The Global Science Backs Tanzania’s Approach

His remarks resonated with the scientific panelists, particularly Jörn Schmidt, Science Director for Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems at WorldFish, who urged countries to bring aquatic foods “from the margins to the mainstream.”

“Aquatic foods are one of the few tools that can simultaneously tackle poverty, hunger, and climate risk,” said Schmidt. “But they are often left off the table—both literally and figuratively.”

Schmidt called for urgent action on three fronts: nutrition, production, and equity. He cited research showing that even modest increases in aquatic food consumption in the first 1,000 days of life could significantly reduce stunting and improve cognitive development. For production, he recommended low-impact, high-return systems such as seaweed and bivalves. On equity, he urged secure tenure for small-scale fishers, gender inclusion, and expanded social protections.

Barange noted that in 2023 alone, global fish production hit 189 million tons, delivering about 21 kilograms of aquatic animal protein per capita. However, an alarming 23.8 million tons—almost 15 percent—was lost or wasted due to poor handling and inefficient distribution systems.

“These losses are not just about food—they are lost nutrition, lost income, and lost opportunity,” said Barange, adding that if properly managed, aquatic foods could be the backbone of a global “blue transformation.”

Tanzania’s Call for Equity and Innovation

Othman used the opportunity to underline that the success of aquatic food systems must also address inequality—particularly the role of women and youth in the sector.

“Across Tanzania, from Kigamboni to Kilwa, women are drying fish, farming seaweed, and selling aquatic produce in markets. But they need access to capital, to better technology, and most importantly, to decision-making spaces,” he said.

To that end, Tanzania has begun piloting aquatic food training centres aimed at equipping youth with climate-smart aquaculture skills, including sustainable pond farming and low-carbon feed techniques.

“This is how we move from potential to prosperity,” Othman said.

A Blueprint for Global Action

The panel also featured a range of high-level contributions aimed at linking aquatic foods to broader development frameworks. Rhea Moss-Christian, Executive Director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, underscored the economic lifeline that tuna fisheries represent for small island developing states. She emphasized that tuna is not just a food source, but a pillar of public finance, especially in the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

“Let’s be clear,” she said. “In some Pacific nations, tuna revenue funds schools, hospitals and roads. A healthy tuna fishery is existential.”

Her message echoed Tanzania’s own struggle to balance economic imperatives with conservation, especially in the face of illegal fishing and weak monitoring infrastructure. Minister Othman called for stronger regional cooperation in fighting these threats, including shared surveillance and satellite-based monitoring systems.

CGIAR and the Seaweed Solution

Adding another layer of urgency, Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted of CGIAR warned that the world is “falling behind on SDG 2 and SDG 14.” She championed seaweed as a sustainable aquatic superfood with enormous potential, particularly for South Asia and Africa.

“Tanzania, with its long coastline and established seaweed culture, is ideally placed to lead in this domain,” she said.

She called for more public and private investment to scale innovations, support local entrepreneurs, and integrate aquatic foods into school feeding and public procurement programmes.

“Let us not miss this opportunity,” she added. “The sea can feed us—if we let it.”

Resilience in the Face of Crisis

Ciyong Zou, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), highlighted the broader resilience benefits of aquatic food systems. He noted that aquatic foods support over 3 billion people globally, yet post-harvest losses—up to 30 percent in developing countries—undermine their potential.

He offered case studies from Cambodia and Sudan, where targeted investments in processing and training led to higher incomes and improved child nutrition. He announced UNIDO’s voluntary commitment to expand technical support to 10 additional coastal nations by 2030.

“For countries like Tanzania, this could mean new tools, cleaner production methods, and more resilient livelihoods,” Zou said.

Call to Action

As the panel drew to a close, one theme stood out: aquatic food systems are not merely about fish or seaweed—they are about dignity, sovereignty, and survival.

“We need to democratize access to data, empower communities, and ensure that small-scale fishers, especially women, are not left behind,” Othman insisted.

Back in Tanzania, the ripple effects of such commitments are already being felt. In Kisiwa Panza, a small island in Pemba, a women-led seaweed cooperative recently began exporting to Europe, thanks to technical support from local NGOs and government backing. “It’s a new life,” said Asha Mzee, one of the cooperative’s founders. “Before, we fished only what we needed. Now, we grow for the world.”

With nations like Tanzania stepping forward, the ocean—so long exploited—is being reimagined as a source of renewal. But the clock is ticking.

“In 2030, we’ll be asked what we did with these six remaining harvests,” Othman said in his final remarks. “Let’s ensure our answer is-we used them to feed people, protect our planet, and leave no one behind.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Taryn Schulz / UN News
 
Last week’s UN conference on ocean (June 9-13) was aimed at supporting and taking urgent action to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, UNOC3 brought 15,000 participants, including more than 60 Heads of State and Government, to France’s Mediterranean coast, in Nice.

By Iván Duque Márquez
BOGOTA, Colombia, Jun 17 2025 (IPS)

The services the ocean provides are the backbone of our collective health, wealth and food security, yet today just 2.7% of the ocean has been assessed and deemed to be effectively protected. In failing to establish adequate safeguards, not only are we condemning communities and ecosystems across the world to decline and collapse, we are also overlooking a significant economic opportunity.

By investing in protecting just 30% of the ocean globally, we stand to unlock around $85 billion per year in annual returns and avoided costs by 2050. That’s the return from three key benefits alone – preserving natural coastal defences to prevent escalating property damages; avoiding the costs of carbon emissions from seagrass loss; and reducing profit losses from declining, overexploited fisheries. These are conservative estimates – additional benefits from spillover effects on tourism, fishery yields, and job creation could raise returns even further.

Iván Duque Márquez

Currently $15.8 billion is needed annually to meet the global target to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. Just $1.2 billion currently flows to marine protection annually. That’s a finance gap of $14.6 billion – a miniscule fraction of what the global community funnels into defence spending every year. Why are we repeatedly missing the mark on this critical goal when it represents such an opportunity?

This is a question of global equity and responsibility. Fewer than one-third of coastal countries have established quantified, timebound targets aligned with 30×30. Without stronger leadership from these countries, global efforts risk stalling further.

Wealthy nations can and must deliver on the pledges made in their revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and continue to embed targets in national plans, regional action plans, and national biodiversity financing plans. Given the financial returns and ecological imperative, this should be an easy decision.

Luckily, there is no shortage of examples to learn from. There are already nations demonstrating the level of ambition needed to reach the 30×30 target, using innovative policy and finance models to secure the protection of their marine ecosystems – and empower the communities that rely on them.

In my home country of Colombia, a commitment to protect 34% of the country’s ocean areas by 2030 has already been exceeded, with 37.6% of marine areas currently under protection. This achievement reflects a whole-of-government approach, incorporating mechanisms to secure legal land ownership and ensure inclusive decision-making.

Meanwhile our neighbor Ecuador’s debt for nature swaps are generating proceeds for the protection of critically important Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) – including a newly-created trans-national MPA corridor – for a number of years to come.

To succeed in reaching the 30×30 goal, and unlocking the financial returns associated with this milestone, we will need to look beyond national borders and focus attention on the high seas – just 1.5% of which is currently protected.

The impending ratification of the High Seas Treaty – focused on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction – is expected to catalyse action in this area, with countries already developing proposals for the first wave of high seas MPAs. This represents a generational opportunity for cooperation on global commons.

Chile is demonstrating strong leadership in this area, proposing the creation of a high seas MPA covering the international waters portion of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges – a 3,000km long biodiversity hotspot and vital migratory corridor for whales, sharks, and turtles.

Chile’s plans connect existing national MPAs with proposed protections in international waters, aiming to create a continuous network of conservation areas to maintain ecological connectivity for migratory species. This is exactly the kind of multilateral coordination we need to scale.

We are at a critical juncture for ocean protection. If we act now, we can deliver long-term health, food security and economic stability for coastal communities across the globe, reaping the associated economic and environmental returns.

As a former head of government, I understand what it means to make difficult budgetary decisions. But it is clear that some investments pay back many times over – for people, for the planet, and for future generations. The time to close the ocean finance gap is now. The question is no longer whether we can afford to protect the ocean – but whether we can afford not to.

Iván Duque Márquez, the youngest elected President in Colombia’s history at the age of 41, is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Transformational Distinguished Fellow at Oxford University, a Distinguished Fellow at WRI, a Leadership Fellow at FIU, a Distinguished Fellow at the Bezos Earth Fund, and a member of the Campaign for Nature Global Steering Committee. He is a global expert in sustainability, conservation, green finance, and energy transition.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Iván Duque Márquez is a Former President of Colombia (2018-2022)

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Nadia Malyanah Azman
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jun 17 2025 (IPS)

Wars, economic shocks, planetary heating and aid cuts have worsened food crises in recent years, with almost 300 million people now threatened by starvation.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Why hunger?
World food production has increased almost fourfold since 1960. FAO statistics indicate enough output to feed the world’s eight billion plus another three billion!

Clearly, inadequate food due to population growth cannot explain persistent hunger. Yet, the number of hungry people has been rising for more than a decade. So, why are so many hungry if there is more than enough food for all?

The multi-stakeholder 2025 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) notes 2024 was the sixth consecutive year of high and growing acute food insecurity, with 295.3 million people starving!

In 2023, 733 million people experienced chronic hunger. Over a fifth (22.6%) of the 53 countries/territories assessed in this year’s GRFC were especially vulnerable.

Food output in 2024 continued to rise. In 2022, the world produced 11 billion metric tonnes of food, including 9.6 billion tonnes of cereal crops, such as maize, rice and wheat.

Most hungry people are poor. The poverty line is supposed to reflect the poor’s ability to afford basic needs, mainly food. But the discrepancy between poverty and hunger trends implies inconsistent data and definitions.

Nadia Malyanah Azman

Over 700 million worldwide survive on less than $2.15 daily without enough food. Presumably, the 3.4 billion with less than $5.50 daily can barely afford enough nutrition.

New World Bank data estimates 838 million, 10.5% of the world’s population, were in extreme poverty in 2022, 125 million more than previously estimated. It expects one in ten (9.9%) to be in extreme poverty in 2025, with about 750 million hungry.

The extreme poverty line is now $3/day instead of $2.15/day. The poor comprised almost half (48%) the world’s population in 2022. With bleak medium-term growth prospects and inequality still growing, their prospects look especially dismal.

While dietary or caloric energy is essential for human activity, adequate dietary diversity is crucial for human nutrition. Hence, the poor typically cannot afford to eat enough, let alone healthily.

Women and girls are generally more likely to go hungry than men, with hunger rates in women-headed households usually higher. UN-recognized ‘indigenous peoples’ are under 5% of the world’s population but account for 15% of the extreme poor, suffering more hunger than others.

Why food crises?
The multi-stakeholder 2025 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) notes 2024 was the sixth consecutive year of high and growing acute food insecurity, with 295.3 million people starving!

Worsening conflicts, economic crises, deep funding cuts and less humanitarian assistance all threaten food security. As planetary heating worsens, those experiencing acute food insecurity will likely increase again this year.

Food insecurity has worsened in 19 countries/territories, mainly due to internal conflicts, as in Myanmar, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Even before the aid cuts, half the countries/territories featured in GRFC 2025 faced food crises. Despite La Niña rains, droughts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to worsen.

USAID and other recent aid cuts have defunded food programmes for over 14 million children in Sudan, Yemen and Haiti alone. G7 countries are expected to cut aid by 28% in 2026 from 2024. Meanwhile, the GRFC 2025 reported humanitarian food assistance “declined by 30 percent in 2023, and again in 2024”!

In 2024, 65.9 million in Asia were food insecure, the worst in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Food crises threatened 33.5 million, or 44% of those in the eight MENA territories assessed in GRFC 2025.

Starvation as weapon
The number of starving people more than doubled in 2024! Over 95% of this increase was in the Gaza Strip or Sudan. Wars destroy and disrupt food production and distribution. A famine was declared in Sudan in December 2024, with more than 24 million starving due to the civil war.

Sudan has the largest land area for farming in Africa. Two-thirds of Sudan’s population relies on agriculture, but the ongoing conflict has caused the destruction and abandonment of much farmland and infrastructure.

Despite the Sudanese military’s devastating factional war, the country remains the world’s largest exporter of oily seeds (groundnuts, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower), reflecting its agronomic potential.

Many more are starving in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan. The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) deems such starvation, death, destitution and severe acute malnutrition “catastrophic”.

Food deprivation has become the primary Israeli weapon against the people of Gaza. Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians have been at “critical risk” of famine due to the Israeli blockade on food and humanitarian aid since October 2023!

Despite official Israeli denial of mass starvation, growing international outrage, including from some of its staunchest allies, has forced the Netanyahu government to gloss over its actions. In May, it set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to “calibrate” calorie rations to continue starvation but not to death.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Jun 16 2025 (IPS-Partners)

As we commemorate International Day of the African Child, we honor the courage, resilience and dreams of millions of children and youth across Africa. Their potential is limitless, their right to a quality education is non-negotiable.

There is clear evidence highlighting the value of education in building strong economies and ensuring peace and stability across the continent. Foundational learning has the potential to double the GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050, according to the World Bank. Additional analysis indicates that every US$1 invested in tripling pre-primary education enrolment in sub-Saharan Africa can generate up to US$33 in returns.

With just a small investment in education for all of Africa’s children, we could transform a continent, open vast untapped markets, and deliver on the promises outlined in the Pact for the Future and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Yet, too many children are being left behind. About half of the world’s 234 million crisis-impacted school-aged children reside in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Education Cannot Wait (ECW). Learning poverty is further exacerbating cycles of poverty, displacement and crises. Did you know that four out of five African children cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10?

To address these challenges, we must invest in quality education for the youngest and fastest-growing continent in the world. Across Africa, ECW investments have already reached over 7.4 million girls and boys, with a focus on foundational learning, gender equality, teacher training and psychosocial support – a whole-of-child learning approach.

Today – expanding on the African Union’s ‘Year of Education 2024’ efforts to build resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa – we call on world leaders, donors and the private sector to fund education in emergencies through proven multilateral funds like Education Cannot Wait.

We can and we must keep hope alive for the children of Africa.

 

Excerpt:

International Day of the African Child Statement by ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

A displaced mother from Khartoum brings her child for treatment at the UNICEF-supported Alkarama clinic in Kassala state. Credit: UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 16 2025 (IPS)

Over the course of 2025, the food security situation in Sudan has taken a considerable turn for the worst. Compounded by the Sudanese Civil War, millions of civilians face alarming levels of food insecurity and are at risk of experiencing famine. Humanitarian experts have described the situation in Sudan as being the worst hunger crisis in the world today.

Over two years of warfare has decimated critical infrastructures and countless livelihoods in Sudan, leaving many unable to access basic services. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that roughly 24.6 million people, or half of the population, is acutely food insecure. Additionally, about 638,000 people are estimated to be facing the most severe levels of hunger, the highest of anywhere in the world.

On June 12, the WFP, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a joint press release detailing the food security situation in the Upper Nile State. With armed conflict intensifying in this area, humanitarian aid deliveries have been hampered and food sources have been decimated. According to the latest findings from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), roughly 11 in 13 people in Upper Nile State counties are now facing emergency levels of hunger.

The two most vulnerable counties in the Upper Nile State are Nasir and Ulang, which have been ravaged by armed clashes and airstrikes since March. Rates of displacement have soared in these areas and experts have projected that famine is imminent. Approximately 32,000 people in these counties are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5), marking a threefold increase from previous projections.

“Once again, we are seeing the devastating impact conflict has on food security in South Sudan,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, Country Director and Representative for WFP in South Sudan. “Conflict doesn’t just destroy homes and livelihoods, it tears communities apart, cuts off access to markets, and sends food prices spiraling upward. Long-term peace is essential, but right now, it is critical that our teams are able to access and safely distribute food to families caught in conflict in Upper Nile, to bring them back from the brink and prevent famine.”

In addition to worsening levels of hunger in Upper Nile counties, the food security situation has deteriorated significantly in the areas surrounding Khartoum State, where the fighting has been concentrated over the course of the war. According to WFP’s Country Director in Sudan, Laurent Bukera, Khartoum and its surrounding areas have experienced “widespread destruction”, with several areas at high risks of famine.

“The needs are immense,” said Bukera. He underscored the prevalence of a particularly virulent outbreak of cholera, as well as a lack of access to water, healthcare, and electricity. Jabal Awliya, which is roughly 25 miles south of Khartoum, has been described by Bukera as having an intense “level(s) of hunger, destitution, and desperation”.

Bukera has also expressed concern over the possibility of displaced civilians returning to highly damaged and dangerous areas such as Khartoum, which would further complicate relief efforts. “We have rapidly scaled up our operation to meet increasing needs,” Mr. Bukera said. “We are aiming to reach seven million people on a monthly basis, prioritizing those facing famine or other areas at extreme risk.”

Shortfalls in funding have greatly exacerbated the food security situation, with lifesaving nutritional supplies being pushed out of reach for millions, including many young children as well as pregnant or nursing women. The number of children in South Sudan facing the risk of acute malnutrition has risen to 2.3 million in the past few months, marking an increase of over 200,000 people.

“The ongoing challenges with access in some of the most affected areas, as well as health and nutrition site closures reduce the chances of early intervention and treatment. In addition, the cholera outbreak has added to an already difficult situation, putting young lives in a precarious fight for survival,” said Noala Skinner, UNICEF’s country representative in South Sudan. “Now more than ever we need continuity and scale-up of services for prevention and treatment of malnutrition,” added McGroarty.

Despite hostilities presenting numerous accessibility challenges throughout Sudan, the United Nations (UN) is currently assisting over 4 million people a month, marking a four-fold increase from the start of 2024. Additionally, previously unreachable areas, such as Khartoum, have experienced an easing of restrictions, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid. WFP is aiming to reach 7 million people as restrictions continue to loosen.

However, the stability of relief efforts remain fragile. According to Bukera, WFP urgently requires $500 million for “emergency food and cash assistance” for the next six months of operations. Additionally, the upcoming rainy season is projected to stretch resources, with flooding compounding risks of disease transmission and damage to critical infrastructures.

Furthermore, the security situation has become increasingly volatile for aid personnel, which threatens to disrupt humanitarian efforts. “Indiscriminate and unacceptable attacks on humanitarian personnel and operations are escalating – including last week’s strike on a WFP-UNICEF convoy when it was just hours from reaching besieged El Fasher in North Darfur,” said Bukera. “In April, aid workers were killed during a major escalation of fighting in Zamzam camp also near El Fasher.”

For a sustainable end to this crisis, it is imperative that there is a lasting cessation of hostilities. The joint report from WFP, FAO, and UNICEF states that areas that have lower volumes of violence have seen improvements in food security. These areas have been linked to better rates of crop production and smoother humanitarian operations, underscoring the positive outcomes that are possible if peace is established.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Plow moving rubble in Hatay Turkey after earthquake. Credit: Çağlar Oskay, Unsplash

By Maximilian Malawista
NEW YORK, Jun 16 2025 (IPS)

Floods, earthquakes, and droughts are striking the wallets of the world harder than any other time in history. According to the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, the cost of disasters is only growing, with annual expenditures exceeding 2.3$ trillion; accounting for over 2% of global GDP, and if represented as a nation, it would have the seventh largest GDP.

The $2.3 trillion expenditure accounts for indirect and ecosystem impacts. While direct costs are $180 – 200 billion on average annually during 2001 to 2020, which represents a 153% increase from the $70 – 80 billion between 1970 and 2000.

The report mentioned that “a national debt of just $300 billion was enough to trigger the European sovereign debt crisis.” displaying a financial threat on global stability, if left unchecked.

In the report, regions with higher economic stability directly transferred to a nation’s ability to be resilient to disasters, as when North America incurred $69.57 billion in losses during 2023, it only had an impact of .23% on its GDP. On the other hand, Micronesia, a subregion of oceania made up of 2,000 small islands, incurred a loss of $4.3 billion, which represented a 46.1% impact on its nominal $1.43 billion GDP.

Developed nations have the ability to bounce back, but developing nations with less capital have to choose between continuing economic expansion, or rebuilding from the rubble. Now there seems to be a solution.

In Pakistan, floods and storms have posed a continuing threat to the development of further economic growth, among sustainable infrastructure. To smartly invest, Pakistan looked at mangroves, an industry which brings economic stability but also storm protection. This protection ensures safety for their new industries, as the industries surround the mangroves, the mangroves become Pakistan’s insurance against disasters.

According to the IUCN, Pakistan made a “20 fold return”, revealing that mangroves were not only a defence mechanism, but also a foster for large economic returns bringing sustainable development among stability through offering habitats for fish and animals, protecting coasts against storms, and even storing “3 to 4 times more carbon then tropical forests”.

Makkio Yashiro, regional ecosystems coordinator for UNEP, says “Mangroves are an important tool in the fight against climate change. They reduce carbon in the atmosphere and they also make financial sense. Restoring mangroves is five times more cost effective than building ‘grey infrastructure’ such as flood walls, which also don’t help with climate change,”

UNEP also found that “for every dollar invested in mangrove restoration there is a benefit of four dollars” evaluating it as an investment with no cons.

The Three Harmful Cycles

Structural engineers in disaster relief training in earthquake ruins. Credit:This is engineering, Unsplash

Aromar Revi, Director of the Indian Institute for Human settlements (IIHS), identified three spirals commonly associated with the risk of disasters.

First, he said the rise in debt along with falling income. Adding that “Many companies carry hidden disaster risks because they are underinsured,” this underinsurance makes companies “vulnerable to disasters facing not only supply chain disruptions, but also wider financial instability”

Second, according to Theodora Antonakaki, Director of Bank of Greece’s Climate Change and Sustainability Centre (CCSC), is “a decrease in insurability.” adding that “traditional risk transfer methods are failing to keep up.”

For the third cycle, Ronald Jackson, Head of Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery and Resilience Building Team, UNDP, noted an over reliance on costly humanitarian aid. He argued this reliance “weakens resilience” and underscores the crucial need for “disaster financing strategies,” specifically “budget tracking systems” to address regionally specific risks.

While many countries remain stuck in these harmful cycles, Japan, like Pakistan, has taken steps towards a proactive future through disaster risk reduction (DRR). Through investing in mitigation strategies, identifying key risks, and implementing sustainable devices, they have protected their economies and infrastructure, reducing all three cycles.

Japan, which frequently faces tsunamis and earthquakes, has adapted to disasters by using “seismic safety” measures. One of these technologies has been seismic isolation bearings, which allow buildings to have horizontal movement during earthquakes, minimizing any possible damage. For Tsunamis, Japan has employed seawalls and coastal forests, which either block or displace water, both strategies which have been effective in reducing damage.

The report argues that disasters themselves are not necessarily becoming more frequent or stronger, but rather things are getting more expensive to replace, raising economic tolls. A major reason for this is the lack of safe and resilient housing catered to regional risks. With estimates of “Approximately 1.2 billion people are expected to be living in cities by 2050 compared to 2020.”, urban densities must be built with DRR methods at the forefront of construction. Without such measures, infrastructure investments would risk being entirely lost. Research has consistently displayed that “disaster losses are already considerably larger than mitigation costs,” making preventionary DRR measures not only proactive and wise, but economically necessary.

United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres stated “This report clearly shows that investing in disaster risk reduction saves money, saves lives, and lays the foundation for a safe and prosperous future for us all. I urge all leaders to heed that call.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Protestors march down Valletta's Republic Street on the first anniversary of Daphne's assassination. Credit: Miguela Xuereb/Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Jun 16 2025 (IPS)

“We didn’t want revenge. We want justice—justice for Daphne and for the [crimes exposed in] her stories.”

Corinne Vella, sister of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is speaking to IPS soon after the sentencing of two men to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killing.

She explains that while the long sentences are an important step forward in her family’s pursuit of justice for her sister, they have wider ramifications for press freedom too.

“These sentences are a step towards that justice, but also a step towards making a safer world for journalists,” she says.

Caruana Galizia, Malta’s most prominent investigative journalist, was killed by a car bomb in October 2017 outside her home in the village of Bidnija.

Her murder made headlines around the world, focusing attention on the rule of law in Malta, as well as highlighting the murky links between Maltese politicians and big business—her investigations had exposed high-level government corruption linked to companies.

It also highlighted issues around the safety of journalists. A public inquiry held in the wake of the killing delivered a damning verdict of the state’s role in her murder and pointed to institutional failures to protect Caruana Galizia.

The inquiry’s findings, released in a 457-page report in 2021, were that her death had been preventable and that responsibility lay with the state for creating “an atmosphere of impunity… which led to the collapse of the rule of law.”

The report said, “…acts, certainly illicit if not illegal, were committed by persons within State entities that created an environment that facilitated the assassination. This even by failing to do their duty to act promptly and effectively to give proper protection to the journalist.”

Four years on from the publication of that report, Caruana Galizia’s family believes that the life sentences handed down on June 10 to local crime gang members Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, who were found guilty of complicity in the murder by supplying the bomb that killed her, have sent a powerful message.

“We believe the sentences will have a deterrent effect, telling potential killers that there are serious consequences when a journalist is murdered. The sentences have sent out shockwaves already. People literally thought they could get away with murder, and this has shown that they can’t,” Corinne Vella says.

She points out that the significance of the sentences for press freedom reaches well beyond just Malta.

Since the death of Caruana Galizia, other journalists investigating alleged corruption linked to high-level political figures have been killed in Europe, and press freedom groups have said it is imperative state institutions, including the judiciary, are seen as being able to not just protect journalists but bring to justice those behind killings to show they cannot act with impunity.

“The fight against impunity for the murder of journalists in Europe and around the world is fundamental to the wider climate for the safety of journalists,” Jamie Wiseman, Europe Advocacy Officer at the United International Press Institute (IPI), told IPS.

“Convictions like these send an important signal that those who carry out such assassinations will not escape accountability. So these sentences are another big step forward in the push towards full justice and emblematic of media freedom in Europe more widely,” he added.

However, despite the sentences, both Corinne Vella and press freedom groups remain concerned that the failings they say led to Caruana Galizia’s death have not been dealt with.

“Daphne’s murder did not take place in a vacuum. The murder of a journalist for their work happens because of failures in the system that happen before that person has been murdered. And the circumstances that led to Daphne’s murder have not been addressed. The whole post-inquiry history has been one of a lack of urgency and reluctance to respond to the problems identified in that inquiry,” said Corinne Vella.

Media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the convictions of Agius and Vella mark progress in the quest for justice for Caruana Galizia.

But they pointed out the alleged mastermind behind the killing has yet to be brought to trial, and the majority of recommendations on journalist safety and press freedom that emerged from the public inquiry—including, among others, detailed legal and procedural proposals to bolster protection of journalists and journalism’s role in protecting democracy and helping ensure the rule of law—have yet to be implemented.

RSF says it is now essential that Maltese authorities ramp up efforts to do both.

Pavol Szalai, Head of the European Union-Balkans Desk at RSF, told IPS the sentences of Agius and Vella would act as a deterrent to other potential journalist killers but that “the biggest deterrent would be a timely conviction and long sentence for the mastermind of the killings.”

“Globally there is a clear pattern of the masterminds of such killings escaping justice while the middleman and hitmen are convicted. So it’s vital that we keep pushing and ensure the mastermind behind Daphne’s assassination is put behind bars. The Maltese government must also fully implement the recommendations of the Public Inquiry into Daphne’s murder, which would help tackle the culture of impunity in Malta that created an environment in which a leading journalist could be murdered in an EU member state,” added Wiseman.

Meanwhile, Caruana Galizia’s family continues to pursue justice for her.

Prior to the convictions of Agius and Vella, three other men were already serving sentences for installing and detonating the bomb in Caruana Galizia’s vehicle: brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, sentenced to 40 years in prison, and Vincent Muscat, who negotiated a reduced sentence of 15 years in exchange for testimony, which was seen as key in the trial of Agius and Vella.

Another man, Melvin Theuma, the middleman in the murder, was granted a pardon in exchange for information on the suspected mastermind, businessman Yorgen Fenech.

Fenech, who was charged with complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder in 2019 but released on bail in February this year, is awaiting trial.

“The convictions and sentencing [of Agius and Vella] are a step closer to justice for Daphne. But it’s not over yet,” said Vella.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 16 2025 (IPS)

At a White House meeting, presidents Nayib Bukele and Donald Trump exchanged praises and joked about mass incarceration while discussing an unprecedented agreement: the USA would pay El Salvador US$6 million a year to house deportees – of any nationality, potentially including US citizens – in its Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), a notorious mega-prison. This agreement marked the evolution of Bukele’s authoritarian model from a domestic experiment to an exportable commodity for strongmen worldwide.

Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Bukele had tweeted an offer to help the US outsource its incarceration system. Less than six weeks later, hundreds of Venezuelan deportees were sent to CECOT under the 1798Alien Enemies Act. Among them was Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man who’d lived in Maryland for 15 years and was deported despite being granted protections by a US immigration judge. When the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, Bukele refused on the grounds that he wouldn’t ‘smuggle a terrorist into the United States’. For Trump, this was one of the perks of having an ally who disregards the rule of law as much as he does.

Bukele’s path to authoritarianism

Bukele’s systematic assault on democracy began after his 2019 election victory, when he broke from El Salvador’s traditional two-party system and secured 53.4 per cent of the vote. The first significant sign of his willingness to ignore democratic norms came when the opposition-controlled Legislative Assembly refused to approve a multi-million-dollar loan for his security and anti-gang programme. Bukele called on supporters, police and the army to pressure legislators.

In the 2021 legislative election his party won a supermajority, enabling him to pass any laws and dismiss the judges who’d declared policies unconstitutional, appointing compliant replacements who gave him the green light to run for an unconstitutional second term.

The cornerstone of Bukele’s authoritarian project was his March 2022 declaration of a state of emergency following a spike in gang killings. Initially presented as temporary, the state of emergency has been repeatedly renewed and expanded into a new normal where constitutional rights, including due process, legal defence and freedom of assembly, no longer exist.

Bukele’s security policy involves massive deployment of security forces to ‘extract’ suspected gang members and jail them for life in extremely overcrowded conditions with no visits or rehabilitation programmes. This approach has led to the warrantless detention of over 80,000 people, giving El Salvador the world’s highest incarceration rate. Visible gang activity has dramatically fallen and the homicide rate plummeted from 105 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 1.9 in 2024, earning Bukele high approval ratings and re-election with 85 per cent of the vote. But the human rights cost has been devastating.

Since his unconstitutional re-election, Bukele has accelerated his institutional dismantling. On 29 January, the Legislative Assembly ratified a constitutional amendment eliminating the previous requirement that constitutional amendments be ratified by two successive legislatures. Bukele can now change the constitution without proper consultation and debate. Safeguards protecting key constitutional norms, including those prohibiting presidential re-election, have been removed.

Constitutional manipulation has been accompanied by judicial capture. In September 2024, the Legislative Assembly elected seven new Supreme Court judges, despite civil society criticism of the lack of procedural transparency and concerns about the candidates’ lack of independence.

Civic space under assault

The deterioration of civic space has been equally systematic, with the state intensifying its criminalisation of activists. In March 2024, Verónica Delgado was arbitrarily detained and charged with ‘unlawful association’ for her work as a member of the Search Block group, which searches for relatives who’ve disappeared under the state of emergency. In February 2025, at least 21 activists and civil society leaders were arbitrarily detained in coordinated operations. Among them was Fidel Zavala, spokesperson for the human rights organisation Unit for the Defence of Human and Community Rights, who’d recently filed a complaint against prison authorities citing cases of torture.

Bukele’s assault on press freedom has reached unprecedented levels. The Association of Journalists of El Salvador recorded 466 cases of attacks against journalists in 2024. Bukele has directly targeted independent media, using his Twitter/X account to discredit El Faro, a digital news outlet that investigated COVID-19 procurement contracts. Physical intimidation has escalated, with police raiding journalist Mónica Rodríguez’s home in December 2024, seizing hard drives and USB devices without a search warrant or any legal explanation.

State surveillance has become systematic and brazen. In November 2024, the Legislative Assembly adopted two laws on cybersecurity and data protection that grant authorities broad powers to remove online content and demand deletion of material deemed ‘inaccurate’, paving the way for systematic censorship.

The latest civic space attack is a Russian-inspired Foreign Agents Law passed in May, requiring anyone receiving foreign funding to register with a Registry of Foreign Agents. It imposes a punitive 30 per cent tax on all foreign payments and grants the authorities sweeping powers to approve, deny or revoke registrations. This is a devastating blow because most Salvadoran organisations depend on foreign donations and many have been critical of Bukele’s human rights violations, making them vulnerable to being labelled political threats.

Authoritarianism for export

Bukele’s model has attracted admirers worldwide. His re-election was hailed by many who seek to emulate him, and he receives sky-high approval ratings in other countries in the region, particularly those enduring rising crime.

The Trump-Bukele deportation agreement is the most visible manifestation of authoritarian collaboration, but the partnership extends beyond immigration policy. Trump has expressed admiration for Bukele’s methods, recently announcing plans to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz Island, arguing the notorious prison would help circumvent judges that fail to do his bidding. Bukele has encouraged Trump’s defiance of judges, calling legal challenges to Trump’s policies ‘a judicial coup’ and urging Republicans to remove what he calls ‘corrupt judges’. Trump must find Bukele’s systematic dismantling of civil society inspiring, viewing his criminalisation of activists and silencing of independent media as effective tools for consolidating power.

The international community’s response has been muted, reflecting the dilemma posed by Bukele’s genuine popularity and security achievements. The enthusiasm with which international observers have embraced what they see as Bukele’s success story demonstrates the dangerous appeal of authoritarian responses to complex social problems. His ability to achieve genuine, if not necessarily long-lasting, security improvements while systematically dismantling democratic institutions offers a seductive blueprint for other leaders frustrated by the constraints of democratic governance.

Bukele’s transformation of El Salvador from a fragile democracy into an authoritarian state is one of the most dramatic examples of democratic backsliding in contemporary Latin America, serving as a warning about the fragility of democratic institutions and an indication of how authoritarianism can adapt and spread. When Salvadorans eventually seek alternatives to Bukele’s increasingly repressive rule, they’ll face the struggle of having to repair the democratic machinery necessary for peaceful political change.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

The following piece explores the urgent need to mobilize private capital in support of sustainable development – particularly in advance of the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), taking place in Sevilla, Spain from June 30 to July 3.
 
Meanwhile the International Business Forum will be held alongside FFD4. Organized by the FFD4 Business Steering Committee, it will bring together Heads of State, Ministers, CEOs, and prominent global business leaders to drive solutions that unlock private finance and investments for sustainable development.

By John W.H. Denton AO, José Viñals and Shinta Kamdani
NEW YORK, Jun 16 2025 (IPS)

Geopolitical tensions – from deepening rivalries between major powers to regional conflicts – have placed acute pressure on the international development agenda. Development assistance from major funders has been on the decline. The world is becoming more unpredictable.

Today, capital is not flowing to where sustainable and development finance is most needed. In developing markets, the sustainable development financial shortfall is estimated to be around USD 4 trillion annually, with investment lacking in areas including critical basic infrastructure and access to water.

To address this funding gap, every stakeholder must come to the table in recognition of the fact that global challenges, including poverty, pandemics and social inequality don’t respect borders. Collaboration is needed now more than ever, and of all the convenings taking place this year, the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development(FFD4) in Sevilla, Spain from June 30-July 3 will facilitate the collaboration needed at the highest levels across the public and private sectors.

The private sector has an indispensable role to play in helping to deliver capital to solutions at scale. Public-private partnerships can multiply the impact of development spending, whether co-investing in clean infrastructure or delivering essential services in hard-to reach areas. Yet, private capital all too often remains on the sidelines of global development funding.

The reason for this is well known. As World Bank President Ajay Banga recently noted, “Private investment flows only where the right conditions exist and where there’s a clear probability of return.” So, we need to urgently create these conditions, putting in place the reforms necessary and creating investable opportunities that will allow capital to flow.

On the demand side, more must be done to translate high level national ambitions and transnational agendas into investable opportunities that align and channel private capital into developing markets.

Solutions, such as funds that invest in the development of project pipelines and platforms that pool investment capital across a range of projects, will help scale the mobilization of private capital by making more projects bankable and providing institutional investors with predictable returns.

We should also embrace innovative approaches to finance, such as Indonesia’s green sukuk bonds and the Barbados debt-for-climate swaps.

On the policy side, regulatory fixes are necessary to address prudential regulations that misprice the benefits of guarantees and the risk of infrastructure investment in emerging markets, creating artificial and unnecessary barriers to investment.

More can also be done to mitigate local currency exchange risk – the mismatch between investments made in hard currencies for projects that operate in more volatile local currencies.

These reforms, supported by the greater use and enablement of technology to overcome the financing gap for small and medium enterprises in emerging markets, will create a pathway to de-risk and unlock the investment opportunities, facilitating the flow of capital at scale.

The International Business Forum at FFD4, of which we three serve as the co-chairs, will provide this year’s – if not this decade’s – best opportunity for stakeholders to come together to set out and deliver a new path for public-private partnerships, one that supports these and other common-sense solutions to unlock investment for developing markets.

We ask you to join us alongside heads of government in Seville at FFD4, to inform negotiations and advance practical solutions. The private sector has both the means and motive to act – and if it does, can shape a path for sustainable and enduring global growth.

Now is the time to join us, to build an equitable and resilient future for all.

The authors serve as the Co-Chairs of the FFD4 Business Steering Committee. Mr. Denton is the Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce and a board member of IFM Investors. Mr. Viñals and Ms. Kamdani serve as Co-chairs of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, and Mr. Viñals also served as the Group Chairman of Standard Chartered and Ms. Kamdani is the CEO of Sintesa Group.

More information about the FFD4 International Business Forum can be found here.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Inside the studio of Women’s Voice Radio in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
KABUL, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

Mehrangiz is a sixteen-year-old girl from Badakhshan, a province in the northeastern Afghanistan famed for its rubies, jewels, and a land of love and beauty.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, strict restrictions have been imposed on women’s freedoms, driving women into a dead-end life of no prospects, resulting in a rise in mental health crisis and suicides amongst them.

Mehrangiz credits her recovery to Women’s Voice Radio. She narrates her life story as follows:

When I was in the 10th grade, I had dreams and aspirations. Every day, I worked harder than the day before to reach goals that I wished to achieve in the future. There was no electricity in my village, so I would study at night next to a kerosene lamp, clinging to the hope that one day my dreams would be fulfilled.

One day, as I sat in the garden writing, I heard the cries of one of my classmates that we could no longer go to school or study. It stunned me into silence.

Days passed. I thought the situation would be temporary, and I continued to study, hoping not to fall behind and achieve success in life like girls in other parts of the world.

But eventually I could no longer endure the suffocating silence. When would girls be allowed to go back to school? That question appeared to have no answer – indefinitely. I began to lose the fighting spirit to continue. Sleeplessness and loss of appetite overwhelmed me, and the world of my dreams had turned to only one color—black!

Life became increasingly difficult with each passing day, and I felt I could not stand it any longer. The despair was so overwhelming that one day, at the height of my anger and frustration, I burnt all my textbooks.

The darkness of life numbed me and I decided never to try to study any more. I kept myself busy with household chores and physical activities at home, trying to avoid thinking about the future.

However, a ray of light illuminated my path one day when I went out shopping with my mother. The change began as a small event but carried a very big outcome.

When we became tired after shopping around, we decided to take a rest at Kedbanu – a women’s-only restaurant – for lunch. A doctor was on air at Sadee Banowan radio, one of the most popular radio stations in Badakhshan. She was talking about depression.

I became captivated by the doctor’s inspiring and soothing words, I even had to slow down my eating to listen properly.

When my mother glanced at me, I gestured to her about what was coming over the radio and she, too, began to listen. Our ears remained pricked up to the radio to the very end.

The doctor’s words were captivating, equally so was the talent of the radio host, who asked questions as if he was deeply familiar with the deep problems facing countless Afghan girls.

The situation of women and girls in Afghanistan went into rapid decline after the Taliban regained power four years ago. Under strict Islamist laws, they were barred from further education, forced out of paid unemployment and largely confined to the home. They were not allowed to sit in parks or even raise their voices when talking. Forced marriages became their lot.

The severe restrictions took a heavy mental toll on women, many of who committed suicide because of depression and other mental illnesses.

At the end of the doctor’s broadcast, I made a telephone call to the radio for further information and to my delight, was informed that I could also discuss my personal problems with the doctor.

 

Counseling and a New Outlook on Life

The following day I was at the gates of the radio station with a mix feeling of enthusiasm and trepidation.

I was not certain I would actually be able to share my problems with them, since in light of the situation of Afghanistan in the past four years, everyone appeared focused on finding solutions to their individual problems with no time for others.

But eventually, when I sat before the very same doctor whose words had held me captive on the radio the previous day, I could not even describe anything comparably more uplifting.

The doctor provided me with useful guidelines about how to cope in life. “Let us try to find an alternative way to life rather than ruining our souls and tormenting our families. Let us trust in God”, she advised.

It motivated me to live better and fight against difficulties that pressed me, giving me the strength to grow and become stronger.

She advised me to go out occasionally and enjoy myself, meet friends, wear bright colors such as orange, red, and yellow, and focus on being happy.

I have had four free psychotherapy sessions and about 30 percent of my problems have been resolved. My mental state has improved. Life is smiling upon me once again. I now see life as beautiful, full of only vibrant colors without any hint of black, unlike previously.

 

Women’s Voice Radio: A Beacon Amidst Restriction

Women’s Voice Radio has been on air since 2010. It is one of the most popular and cherished radio stations among women in Badakhshan. In the course of its existence, its popularity has soared so much that it broadcasts 24 hours a day, attracting both men and women to its informative programs.

However, Women’s Voice Radio station, which is dedicated specifically to women, has faced increasing restrictions following the rise of the new regime in Afghanistan in 2021. In the early days of the Taliban regime, the radio station was shut down for 23 days for merely broadcasting a few seconds of music included in a commercial advertisement. It has since resumed broadcasting.

Since then, Women’s Voice Radio has developed several new programs, such as the “Maktab” (School) program, dedicated to girls in grades seven to twelve. The programme provides curriculum materials by teachers and other professionals via radio to girls who are not allowed to go to school.

“Psychotherapy” is another program that supports women confined to their homes, a high percentage of whom experience depression and stress. The program is hosted by a psychotherapist who provides effective advice and guidance to women and girls, introducing them to various healthy activities and ways to cope with life’s challenges. Indeed, officials of the radio plan to establish a large psychotherapy center in Badakhshan to meet the increasing demand for psychotherapy by vulnerable women and girls.

“Art in the Embrace of Women” is another inspirational program for women that highlights innovative and creative women who have demonstrated initiatives across various fields, particularly in business, entrepreneurship, and investment, serving as models to other women to look up to.

 

A New Chapter

To cap it all, I have had good luck and have been offered a job at the radio station, where I have been working for the past three months. I have had the pleasure of working alongside wonderful and friendly women, those who greeted me with smiles and warm hugs on my first visit to the radio station.

I am learning valuable life lessons—the lessons of overcoming challenges and helping others to the same. To everyone else, Women’s Voice Radio may be a broadcasting station but to me, I consider it a university of life where I learn lessons in how to lead a good life.

I am now a member of a small but powerful family.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

A recycling, biodigestion and composting complex is being installed next to the landfill of the Intermunicipal Consortium of the Middle Valley of the Itajaí River (Cimvi), to take advantage of all the solid waste from 19 municipalities in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

By Mario Osava
TIMBO / FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil , Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

In 2014, Santa Catarina became the first and only state free of open-air garbage dumps in Brazil. Now, 14 of its municipalities are seeking to also free themselves from landfills and make use of nearly all urban solid waste.

The Intermunicipal Consortium of the Middle Itajaí Valley (Cimvi) expects to process in recycling, biodigestion and composting more than 90% of the garbage, surpassing the 65% benchmark reached by the Nordic countries of Europe, emphasized its executive director, Fernando Tomaselli.“We have 36 landfills in the state, only three public, the rest are private and there is little interest in changing the system, because whoever dominates the landfill also dominates the garbage collection service”: Fernando Tomaselli.

“It is a utopia,” said the executive president of the Brazilian Association of Energy from Waste (Abren), Yuri Schmitke.

“The unrealistic goal compromises the project,” he warned. Several European countries, Japan and South Korea have already eliminated sanitary landfills – the areas for the final disposal of solid waste – but resort to incineration to generate energy with non-recyclable garbage, he added.

Cimvi rules out that alternative. Its goal is to expand recycling and the circular economy of waste to an unprecedented proportion. “Our obsession is to take advantage of everything, to prove that garbage does not exist,” said Tomaselli.

But recycling has limits. Europe, after many attempts and advances, covers 25 % of waste on average and 32 % in the exceptional case of Germany. In addition, 19% of the waste still goes to landfills, according to data from Abren, which had its sixth annual congress in Florianopolis, capital of Santa Catarina, on June 5 and 6.

Cimvi was created in 1998, with only five participating municipalities, to jointly manage several issues, but not yet garbage. It reached its current composition of 14 municipalities in 2017 after taking over the management of the sanitary landfill in 2016, previously in charge of the water and sewage authorities.

Its headquarters was installed in Timbo, a town of 46 099 people, according to the 2022 national census. The 14 municipalities had 283 594 residents that year, the most populous being Indaial, with 71 549.

Fernando Tomaselli, director of Cimvi, an intermunicipal initiative that promotes circular waste management in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Landfill and recycling

The landfill receives garbage from five other “partner” cities, in addition to the 14 in the consortium, with a total of between 5,000 and 7,000 tons per month. Environmental education campaigns in schools, businesses and the streets have gradually expanded selective waste collection.

Yellow sacks were popularized and disseminated where the population put recyclable waste which, collected by the municipalities, are taken to the Waste Assessment Center (CVR I) at the Cimvi headquarters, on the outskirts of Timbo.

“Today we recover 20 to 22% of recyclable waste, against a Brazilian average of 2%. We want to reach 27%,” Tomaselli told IPS.

“We receive an average of 60 tons a day, 24 hours a day, in three shifts, Monday to Monday,” said Rosane Valério, president of the Medio Vale Cooperative, hired to separate and send the waste to purchasing companies, at CVR I, where 87 recyclers are employed.

The cooperative has another unit to process waste from two other nearby cities, Ituporanga and Aurora, with a total of 33 300 people.

“Of the material received, we still discard 30% that comes mixed or dirty with food remains, sometimes blood that attracts mosquitoes, glass and other dangerous objects such as syringes and medicines, which generate major difficulties for recycling,” explained Valério.

A bench at the entrance of Cimvi’s headquarters, made of thermoplastic produced from waste that was previously considered non-recyclable and destined for landfills. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Thermoplastic

She regretted that “we do not know the origin, there is a lack of awareness of the population in the correct disposal”. In any case, half of that 30% of discarded waste can be used for the production of thermoplastic, a hard material like concrete, which is used to make benches for squares, sidewalks, pavements and walls.

The cooperative already operates a pilot plant, with experimental production that has not yet been sold externally. “The municipalities are the initial market for the thermoplastic plates, as well as for the compost from the composting,” says Tomaselli.

Abren’s president, Schmitke, is skeptical. The consortium municipalities have a limited, insufficient demand, and the population does not trust products made from garbage, he argued.

Jaqueline Wagenknetht and Maria Eduarda Pegoretti, Cimvi’s environmental education and communication advisors, promote environmental education in the so-called European Valley to improve selective garbage collection and promote tourism and sustainable living. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

But thermoplastic has been around for four decades and now there is equipment that facilitates its production at a high temperature, 160 degrees Celsius, and as an input, half of the plastic that is added to other waste, such as textiles, is enough, countered the director of Cimvi.

The use of local waste will take a leap forward with the inauguration of CVR II, which is expected in early 2026 and will use a large part of the organic waste for the production of biogas and biofertilizers. Another part will go to composting.

“The goal is to take advantage of 100% or 98%,” for which alternatives must be sought for waste, the “common garbage” for which there are still no ways to recycle, he said.

Cimvi headquarters, in the Sunflower Park, which combines ecotourism, sanitary landfill and urban waste utilization plants for biogas generation, recycling and composting. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Bottlenecks

One stumbling block is selective collection, which needs to be perfected. “In Milan, Italy, five types of garbage are separated at the source, be it food, plastics, paper, metals or glass. Here, it’s harder because everything is mixed together,” said Tomaselli.

That is why Cimvi gives priority to environmental education, through several campaigns such as “Vale reciclar”, and sustainable tourism, which highlights the beauties of the so-called European Valley, which includes other municipalities in addition to the 14 consortium members.

The Girasol Park was also created for this purpose, a tourist complex that includes the landfill, the Cimvi facilities and the surrounding forest, with trails for walks, said Jaqueline Wagenknetht, environmental education advisor.

Design and poetry contests among local students seek to promote the valley, which is called European because its population includes many immigrants, especially Germans, Italians and Poles.

The name Sunflower was chosen for the park because, in addition to its beauty, the flower symbolizes sustainability, as a source of oil and biofuel, the advisor explained.

Design of the future Sunflower Park, in which the green buildings, in the center, are intended for recycling and energy biodigestion. In the background on the left is the landfill already covered, able to receive solar energy panels. Credit: Courtesy of Cimvi

Cimvi benefits from the experiences of São Bento do Sul, a municipality of 83 277 people, 120 kilometers north of Timbo, which has a similar program that seeks to use up to 100% of the waste.

A process of dehydration of the organic part allows a better use of the waste, explained Jacó Phoren, consultant of the company 100lixo, which is involved in the project, during his speech at the Abren congress on June 6.

Fostering new companies that generate solutions for the waste industry is another focus of Cimvi, said Tomaselli.

In Curitibanos, a city 185 kilometers southwest of Timbo, with 40 045 people, the company Inventus Ambiental claims to have invented equipment that will facilitate the separation of garbage for better energy recovery or recycling, reducing the waste that makes landfills bigger.

Its pilot project will be inaugurated in a few months and is based on the use of 90-degree heat to treat organic material, informed Dirnei Ferri, director of the company.

Santa Catarina has already eliminated open dumps, although it is ignored if all of them have been cleaned up. Now it is a matter of “breaking the landfill trench”, said Tomaselli.

“We have 36 landfills in the state, only three public, the rest are private and there is little interest in changing the system, because whoever dominates the landfill also dominates the garbage collection service,” he concluded.

Li Junhua, Conference Secretary-General, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Arnoldo Andre Tinoco, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Costa Rica and Olivier Poivre D'Arvor, Special Envoy of the French Republic for UN Ocean Conference address the final press briefing of UNOC3. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

With the future of the world’s oceans hanging in the balance, global leaders, scientists, and activists gathered in the French Riviera city of Nice this week for the historic UN Ocean Conference, where France declared a new era of high seas governance and marine protection.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, France’s Special Envoy for the UN Ocean Conference, said the global gathering marks a turning point for ocean conservation, with 174 delegations and 64 heads of state rallying behind a common goal—to transform the world’s oceans from a lawless expanse into a protected global commons governed by science, cooperation, and binding treaties.

“The high seas are no longer a playground. They are now a protected space,” d’Arvor told reporters, announcing that the UN’s landmark treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) will officially enter into force by early January 2026.

Dubbed the “Treaty of Nice,” the pact seeks to place nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean under international governance, a move hailed by conservationists as the biggest step forward for marine protection in decades. With 56 countries having ratified the treaty and 14 more expected to follow before the ceremonial launch in New York on September 23, the agreement meets the 60-country threshold required for it to become law.

“This is a foundational moment,” said d’Arvor. “Nice could become for ocean governance what Rio was for climate and biodiversity.”

The treaty, negotiated over 15 years, aims to regulate the high seas—areas beyond national jurisdiction that have long been vulnerable to overfishing, pollution, and unregulated extraction. It also lays the groundwork for the first-ever Ocean COP, expected by the end of 2026, where signatory countries will finalize implementation protocols, establish a permanent secretariat, and begin real enforcement through satellites, naval fleets, and drones.

Despite tensions in multilateral diplomacy, France—with co-host Costa Rica and the UN—has managed to galvanize widespread support. In a strong show of unity, even geopolitical rivals such as China, India, and the European Union endorsed the treaty, while Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Indonesia ratified it during the summit.

D’Arvor also used the occasion to caution against a renewed push for deep-sea mining, particularly in light of a recent U.S. executive order authorizing a preliminary exploration mission. “The deep sea is not for sale—no more than Antarctica or Greenland,” he warned, pledging that a coalition of 40 countries would continue to block any attempt to adopt a mining code without consensus under the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

“Those who hoped the code would be adopted at Kingston this July have lost the battle. I hope they’ve lost the war,” he added.

In parallel with the treaty’s legal strides, the conference saw the launch of the European Ocean Pact, a collaborative ocean exploration initiative unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The pact, backed by countries including India and China, aims to correct the stark imbalance in research funding—currently, ocean exploration receives 250 times less funding than space programs.

By bringing together oceanographic institutes, space agencies, and private sector players, the initiative promises to generate a shared global database to help map and understand the ocean in unprecedented detail. “In 15 years, we aim to fully understand the ocean—or at least enough to truly protect it,” said d’Arvor.

He stressed that science—not political posturing—will be the new compass for ocean policy. “This is the victory of science. The ocean has long been a victim of exploitation and ignorance. But now, it can become a platform for cooperation and peace.”

Yet challenges remain. While Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) are relatively well managed, questions linger about compliance and enforcement. The true test, observers say, will be translating high-level pledges into measurable progress.

Still, the momentum in Nice has brought renewed hope for ocean defenders around the globe. “We are not there yet,” said d’Arvor. “But for the first time, we are truly moving forward—and there is no turning back.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Greenpeace banner sign against deep sea mining at UNOC3 in Nice on June 11, 2025. Credit: Greenpeace

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) concluded today in Nice with an urgent call for governments to translate bold words into concrete action to protect the world’s oceans. Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the summit brought together more than 15,000 participants, including 50 heads of state and government, civil society leaders, scientists, youth, and Indigenous communities in an 11-day event hailed as both a milestone for ocean diplomacy and a test of global resolve.

“This conference has been a resounding success,” said Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, France’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. “We close not just with hope, but with concrete commitments, clear direction, and undeniable momentum.”

Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco emphasized the breadth of participation and the centrality of science in shaping decisions. “Together with France, we worked toward an action-oriented conference where all actors are represented and where finance and science go hand in hand,” he said.

Under-Secretary-General Li Chunhua, the Secretary-General of the conference, stressed the need for implementation: “The real test is not what we said here but what we do next. The wave of change has formed. Now, it is our collective responsibility to propel it forward.”

Key Outcomes and Announcements

One of the most anticipated achievements of the conference was progress on the High Seas Treaty—officially known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. With 51 ratifications confirmed and 60 needed for entry into force, the treaty promises to enable the creation of marine protected areas in international waters, a crucial tool to achieving the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030.

Additionally, 800 new voluntary commitments were registered across the 10 multi-stakeholder Ocean Action Panels, addressing issues from marine pollution and deep-sea ecosystems to ocean finance and the role of Indigenous peoples.

New and strengthened initiatives launched at UNOC3 include:

The One Ocean Finance Facility is aimed at closing the multi-billion-dollar funding gap for ocean conservation.

The European Ocean Pact, which reinforces regional cooperation for sustainable ocean management.

The Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Coalition, supporting vulnerable communities on the frontlines of sea-level rise.

The conference also saw mounting support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, with four more nations joining the call, bringing the total to 37. “More and more countries are listening to science and the demands of youth for their common heritage over commercial interests,” Tinoco noted.

Civil Society: ‘Fine Words Must Now Translate into Action’

Despite these commitments, environmental groups expressed frustration that the conference stopped short of stronger legally binding decisions, especially on deep-sea mining.

“We’ve heard lots of fine words here in Nice, but these need to turn into tangible action,” said Megan Randles, head of Greenpeace’s delegation. “Countries must be brave and make history by committing to a moratorium on deep-sea mining at next month’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting.”

Randles welcomed the ratification progress of the High Seas Treaty but said governments “missed the moment” to take firmer steps against industries threatening marine ecosystems. “The deep sea should not become the wild west,” she added, referencing UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent remarks.

Activists also stressed the importance of upcoming negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, resuming in Geneva this August. Ninety-five governments signed the “Nice Call for an Ambitious Plastics Treaty,” but concerns remain that lobbying from oil and petrochemical interests could water down the deal.

“The world cannot afford a weak treaty dictated by oil-soaked obstructionists,” said John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director at Greenpeace USA. “Governments need to show that multilateralism still works for people and the planet, not the profits of a greedy few.”

Indigenous Voices and Ocean Justice

Coastal and Indigenous communities were visibly present throughout the conference, particularly in the “Green Zone” in La Valette, which welcomed more than 100,000 visitors and hosted grassroots events, youth forums, and artistic exhibitions.

Nichanan Thantanwit, Project Leader at the Ocean Justice Project, highlighted the continued marginalization of traditional ocean custodians: “There is no ocean protection without the people who have protected it all along. Governments must recognize small-scale fishers and Indigenous peoples as rights-holders and secure their role in ocean governance.”

She also called for an end to destructive industrial practices like bottom trawling and harmful aquaculture, which she said “drive ecological collapse and human rights violations.”

Mixed Reviews for France’s Leadership

While French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his call for a deep-sea mining moratorium—calling it “an international necessity”—some ”conservationists argued that France failed to fully lead by example.

“This was France’s moment, but instead of making a splash, its impact was more of a ripple,” said Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and founder of Pristine Seas. “We heard many policymakers speak about what needs to be done—yet few took the bold steps necessary to protect the ocean.”

Sala did praise governments that announced new fully protected marine areas but said the conference was “heavy on rhetoric, light on resolve.”

What to expect

The anticipated “Nice Ocean Action Plan,” a political declaration accompanied by voluntary commitments, will be released later today. Although non-binding, it is expected to influence key decisions at the ISA meeting in July and the Global Plastics Treaty talks in August.

Chunhua announced that South Korea and Chile have expressed readiness to host the next UN Ocean Conference. “We want the positive momentum generated in Nice to amplify even further in UNOC4,” he said.

As UNOC3 closes, the spirit of the event remains optimistic—but its legacy will depend on what happens next.

As Greenpeace’s Randles put it, “This must not be where it ends. It must be where it truly begins.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• Reviving Mangroves at the Edge of Mozambique Channel
• Ocean Action Boosted in Africa as Biodiversity Leaders Call for Urgent Synergy, Funding Reform

Amina Langa planting mangrove seedling on the Indian Ocean's coast. Credit: WWF

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

Just before dawn, a flotilla of wooden canoes drifts silently  through mangrove-tangled channels where roots sprout from the black mud of the lagoon. Here, at the edge between sea and forest, lies a story of restoration.

The Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC) is a stretch of water and a rich biological hotspot. Stretching along the coasts of Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Madagascar, and the Seychelles, the channel holds 35 percent of the Indian Ocean’s coral reefs, tracts of mangroves, seagrass meadows, and deep-sea habitats. It is home to over 10 million coastal people whose livelihoods rely on the ecosystems.

Yet, this marvel is under siege. Climate change, land-based runoff, overfishing, coastal development, offshore drilling, and shipping traffic have degraded its vital systems. In response, the UN designated 2021–2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, launching the World Restoration Flagships—large-scale restoration efforts that follow a shared global framework. In early June 2025, the NMC joined two other sites as a flagship region in this global initiative—a recognition of the deep, sustained conservation effort led by WWF, UNEP, FAO, governments, and local communities.

‘Such a Special Place’

On a recent call, Dr. Samantha Petersen, WWF’s leader for the Southwest Indian Ocean regional program, said, “It’s really such a special place. Highly, highly, highly connected… incredible biodiversity hotspot, with massive… human dependency from the coastal communities.”

Petersen said any restoration plan “needs to be balanced in an integrated way to deliver outcomes for people, nature, and climate.” In practice, that means blending scientific rigor with traditional knowledge—a partnership where nurseries, seedling cultivation, and local stewardship are as essential as policy frameworks and funding streams.

Mangroves at the Core

Among the most urgent work is bringing back the mangroves. These coastal forests are nursery grounds for fish that small-scale fishers depend on.

Petersen explained, “By restoring and securing those nursery grounds… we are securing food security… and livelihoods of small-scale fishers in the region.”

WWF is partnering with community organizations to actively restore approximately 15,000 hectares of mangroves, about 25–30 percent of the restorable area in the NMC—primarily through coastal community-led initiatives. Another 180,000 hectares fall under community-based stewardship, a proof of scale and ambition.

Communities dig planting holes, tend seedlings in nurseries, and monitor growth. WWF provides support: site selection guidance, technical training, materials, and help tracking success over long periods. With coherent management and investment, the project aims to restore 4.85 million hectares of paired land and seascapes by 2030 across participating nations, bringing environmental and social returns in equal measure.

Impressive Story

In ankle-deep water, where the Indian Ocean laps gently at the crumbling edge of Mozambique’s northern coast, 38-year-old Amina Langa bends low in the warm, silty water, pressing red mangrove saplings into the earth like offerings, her hands caked in mud, her expression calm but focused. The tide was creeping in, but she barely noticed. The sun was already sharp, casting long shadows on the salt-bleached sand, yet she moved with the quiet persistence of someone who has learned to listen to the rhythms of the sea.

Langa’s memories are vivid. She speaks of a childhood where the ocean sparkled with promise.

“Back then,” she says, “the nets came back heavy every time.” Her eyes drift out toward the horizon. “The water was alive.”

But that was before the years of cut mangroves, the rise of commercial shrimp farms, the oil stains, and the plastic waste that drifted in with the waves. The forest that once anchored this coastline had thinned to almost nothing, and with it, the fish.

She looked down at the rows of saplings poking from the tidal muck. “These,” she said, her voice soft but certain, “these are hope.” Last year, her nursery nursed 10,000 mangrove seedlings to life. This year, she’s on pace for triple that. What began as one woman’s stubborn vision has now spread—30 fishers from neighboring villages have joined her, their own hands learning the rituals of restoration. In just six months, they built four community nurseries that now supply reforestation efforts up and down the coast.

There’s pride in her every word, but no boast. “I tell them,” she said, “just sit by the water tomorrow morning. Watch. It’s already changing.” She describes schools of tiny fish flickering through the roots, crabs clicking back into burrows, and the way the mud, once dry and cracked, now rests beneath a canopy of green. “I am part of the change,” she says, almost to herself, like a quiet promise whispered to the sea.

A Regional Movement

Langa’s story is repeated across the NMC. In Comoros and Madagascar, similar efforts are under way. In Tanzania, coastal stewardship committees manage restoration areas. In the Seychelles, nurseries trained in grafting speculative coral strains grow fragile fragments for reef rehabilitation.

This  community‑led network stems from regional cooperation. Over two years, WWF and the Nairobi Convention helped frame a roadmap for the region: marine spatial planning, integrated ocean management, poverty alleviation, and capacity building for community entrepreneurs.

A recent Natural Capital Assessment estimated that the region’s natural assets—goods and services from fisheries, tourism, shoreline protection, and carbon sequestration—are valued at USD 160 billion, generating USD 5.5 billion annually, nearly half of GDP. A staggering figure: the informal sector—unmonitored coastal fisheries, wood collection—contributes around USD 5 billion uncounted in national accounts.

World Restoration Flagship Honour

On the announcement, delegates from five nations gathered online. The NMC’s inclusion as a World Restoration Flagship was proof that community-led initiatives can scale to regional impact. It locks in transparency through monitoring, aligns the region with global standards, and increases its appeal to investors.

Petersen reflected afterwards, “This honor can largely be accredited to the extraordinary collaborative work done… to safeguard marine biodiversity and support coastal communities.”

An Unexpected Return

Standing again among the mangroves, Langa watched the early morning mist lift. Fish darted in the submerged root zone. A small boat, headed out to the reef, cut through calm water. The mangroves absorbed the wake and stirred the sediment but firmed the mud, holding it in place.

A tiny crab, bright blue, scuttled across a root. It stopped. Then, like an outtake from a nature film, a juvenile fish fled into the maze of roots. Life was returning—subtle, tenacious, and profound.

Scaling Green Finance

The NMC roadmap estimates a need for USD 18 million per year to implement restoration and institutional strengthening—USD 5 million for in-country governance and USD 13 million to fund a Blue Economy Technical & Investment Hub for the region. The call goes out for public and private investors.

Already, several domestic banks and philanthropic funds are evaluating climate-smart financing. Impact investors are drawn by the anticipated 30 percent rise in household incomes, 2,000 new jobs, and 12 community-based enterprises forecasted by 2030. Carbon finance is another frontier—Madagascar’s mangroves already sequester more than 300 million tons of CO₂ equivalent, comparable to U.S. household electricity.

Under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, led by UNEP and FAO, countries worldwide aim to restore over a billion hectares, aligning with the commitments of the Paris Agreement, Bonn Challenge, and Kunming-Montreal framework.

The World Restoration Flagships are a cornerstone: scaled, monitored, integrated efforts that follow ten restoration principles—community inclusion, equity, sustainability, evidence, resilience, biodiversity, and more.

In the villages lining the Channel, the visible signs of this transformation—seedlings sprouting, fisheries rebounding—are met with pride. But as Petersen stresses, “The work in this region is only just beginning.” Over the next five years, the challenge will be to keep the momentum flowing, secure consistent funding, and build regional coordination so the restored mangroves don’t merely survive but thrive.

Why This Matters

The NMC story speaks directly to that mission: vibrant, coastal communities working in tandem with nature to heal the world. It embodies a simple but profound truth: restoration is not only about trees, fish, or reefs—it’s about people, too.

Several days later, Langa joined the community for a morning ritual on the beach: a small blessing ceremony for the restored trees. She stood barefoot, clutching a bundle of saplings. Villagers circled. A fisherman recited a soulful song; others placed handfuls of sand at the roots.

As the sun peeked over the horizon, a breeze carried the scent of salt and new life. Langa looked down at the young mangroves and whispered, “For my daughter—and for this Channel—we’re bringing back what we lost.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• UNOC3: A Cry for Global Action to Save Small-Scale Fisheries
• Waves of Change: From the Glittering Shores of Nice to Struggling Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar

At the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Credit: Maximilian Malawista

By Maximilian Malawista
NEW YORK, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

Victims of Japan’s costly Eugenic Protection Law took to the stage sharing their life stories, offering their tragedies of sterilization and mutilation, in return for the hopes of “a society without discrimination”. At a side event on International Sharing of the Experiences and Lessons of Japan’s Former Eugenic Protection Law held on June 10th, The Conference of Parties on the Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities Discussed the struggle for Anti eugenic ideology. Hosted by the Japan Disability Forum along with several legal defence teams for the victims, an outline of ideology, policy, and retribution was displayed, in an attempt to fight against “eugenics-based discrimination”.

Japan’s Eugenic Protection Law was enacted in 1948, 3 years after the surrender of the Japanese axis forces to the American allies during WWII. While repealed in 1996, the damage was already done, and no one knew the true cost.

Twenty five thousand people, either having a disability or thought to have a disability were forcefully sterilized, without an apology or compensation.

The side event discussion was opened by Hiroshi Tamon, a lawyer part of the defence team for Eugenic Protection Law. Tamon, who is fully deaf, conveyed his message through sign language, explaining that the side event is to “share the experience of Japanese victims with disabilities and disability organizations who have fought a long and difficult struggle to change Japanese society by eliminating eugenic ideology in Japan”.

Tamon concluded with a wish to “inspire and lead a global action to eliminate eugenics ideology and forced sterilization worldwide” making it clear that he envisions the actions of the Tokyo defence team to carry on to the world stage.

In 2018, one single victim Kita Saburo stood up. Defended by Naoto Sekiya, Kita was awarded 15 million yen (103K$). This led to a string of lawsuits in 2019, leading to the supreme court of Japan ruling the Eugenics Protection Law to be unconstitutional along with a compensation for all the victims marked at 3.2 million yen (22K$).

The new law was soon criticized, due to the low amount and reach, leading to another lawsuit in 2024. An apology from the Prime Minister of Japan followed, with a promise to “work towards doing away with all these discriminations and strengthen educational efforts to create a new structure”.

Two days later, an order for “no discrimination in society” was established, with the creation of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Measures toward the Realization of a Coexisting Society Free from Prejudice and Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities. This was followed by an action plan to “promote an inclusive society free from prejudice, discrimination” and ensure compensation for “all victims as well as their spouses”.

In January this year, anyone who went through forced sterilization was paid 15 million yen (103K$ USD). BY THE end of April, only 1,325 of the victims filed for their compensation, accounting for 1.5% of the total people affected.

To combat the law’s limited reach, under a report issued, the government and disability groups would work together to provide alternative communications methods in order to access more information.

The story of Kita Saburo

Kita reading his message at the side event at the UN. Credit: Maximilian Malawista

At the age of 14, while in a juvenile detention facility, Kita was subject to an unknown surgery carried out on him without his consent. Kita was only offered an explanation of “we will remove the bad part”. He did not have any clue what that meant. A month later a senior staff at the facility told him the surgery would prevent him from having children.

According to Kita , the Juvenile detention facility determined that his bad behavior was due to a mental disability, resulting in the decision.

Kita’s sister was aware of the surgery but was strictly ordered to remain quiet by their grandmother. Kita believed “ it was the facility and my parents who made me undergo the surgery”, resulting in resentment toward his parents. He went on to marry later but was unable to tell her of his surgery. The couple often had to hear “Still no children?” bringing immense pain to both Kita and his wife. Kita finally told his wife about the surgery when she was on her deathbed.

In 2018, Kita filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, realizing that he was not the only victim and that his parents were not responsible. His sister finally told him the details of the surgery, testifying in court just before she passed away during the trial.

Even though justice was done, Kitas says “no matter what verdict is handed down, it does not mean we can start our lives over. Eugenic surgery is a tragedy that cannot be undone.”

Kita stated “I want to reduce the number of people who suffered the way I did, even if it’s just by one. That’s why I have chosen to speak out today and share my story and feelings with the world. That’s why I stand here today to talk to you. I sincerely hope that Japan and the entire world will become a society where everyone can make decisions for themselves.”

Kitas story expands on the broad range of the Eugenic Protection Law, whereby the definition of not an intellectually disabled person was still subjected to the surgery.

Following Kita’s message, a couple Keiko Onoue and Takashi Onoue and Yumi Suzuki appeared through video letters to also narrate their stories.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Credit: United Nations
 
The 51st G7 summit is scheduled to take place 15-17 June 2025 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. The G7 consists of seven of the world's largest developed economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States plus the European Union (EU), a non-enumerated member.

By Oxfam
ALBERTA, Canada, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

Aid cuts could cost millions of lives and leave girls, boys, women and men without access to enough food, water, education, health treatment.

G7 countries are making deliberate and deadly choices by cutting life-saving aid, enabling atrocities, and reneging on their international commitments

Low and middle-income countries face reduced aid, rising debt, and trade barriers — a perfect storm that threatens development and recovery.

The Group of Seven (G7) countries, which together account for around three-quarters of all official development assistance, are set to slash their aid spending by 28 percent for 2026 compared to 2024 levels.

It would be the biggest cut in aid since the G7 was established in 1975, and indeed in aid records going back to 1960, reveals a new analysis by Oxfam ahead of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

“The G7’s retreat from the world is unprecedented and couldn’t come at a worse time, with hunger, poverty, and climate harm intensifying. The G7 cannot claim to build bridges on one hand while tearing them down with the other. It sends a shameful message to the Global South, that G7 ideals of collaboration mean nothing,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

2026 will mark the third consecutive year of decline in G7 aid spending – a trend not seen since the 1990s. If these cuts go ahead, G7 aid levels in 2026 will crash by $44 billion to just $112 billion. The cuts are being driven primarily by the US (down $33 billion), Germany (down $3.5 billion), the UK (down $5 billion) and France (down $3 billion).

“Rather than breaking from the Trump administration’s cruel dismantling of USAID and other US foreign assistance, G7 countries like the UK, Germany, and France are instead following the same path, slashing aid with brutal measures that will cost millions of lives,” said Behar.

“These cuts will starve the hungry, deny medicine to the sick, and block education for a generation of girls and boys. This is a catastrophic betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable and crippling to the G7’s credibility,” said Behar.

Economic projections show that aid cuts will mean 5.7 million more people across Africa will fall below extreme poverty levels in the coming year, a number expected to rocket to 19 million by 2030.

Cuts to aid are putting vital public services at risk in some of the world’s poorest countries. In countries like Liberia, Haiti, Malawi, and South Sudan, US aid had made up over 40 percent of health and education budgets, leaving them especially exposed. Combined with a growing debt crisis, this is undermining governments’ ability to care for their people.

Global aid for nutrition will fall by 44 percent in 2025 compared to 2022:
The end of just $128 million worth of US-funded child nutrition programs for a million children will result in an extra 163,500 child deaths a year.

At the same time, 2.3 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition – the most lethal form of undernutrition – are now at risk of losing their life-saving treatments.

One in five dollars of aid to poor countries’ health budgets are cut or under threat:
WHO reports that in almost three-quarters of its country offices are seeing serious disruptions to health services, and in about a quarter of the countries where it operates some health facilities have already been forced to shut down completely.

US aid cuts could lead to up to 3 million preventable deaths every year, with 95 million people losing access to healthcare. This includes children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, pregnant women losing access to care, and rising deaths from malaria, TB, and HIV.

G7 countries are not just reneging on commitments to global aid and solidarity, they are fuelling conflicts by allowing grave violations of international law, like in Gaza where people are facing starvation.

Whether in Ukraine, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or elsewhere, civilians must always be protected, and aid is often the first line of protection they get. G7 countries are illuminating a double standard that risks more global instability, conflict and atrocities.

While G7 countries cut aid, their citizen billionaires continue to see their wealth surge. Since the beginning of 2025, the G7 ultra-rich have made $126 billion, almost the same amount as the group’s 2025 aid commitment of $132 billion.

At this pace, it would take the world’s billionaires less than a month to generate the equivalent of the G7’s 2025 aid budget.

By taxing the super-rich, the G7 could easily meet their financial commitments to end poverty and climate breakdown, whilst also having billions in new revenue to fight inequality in their own countries.

“The world is not short of money. The problem is that it is in the hands of the super-rich instead of the public. Rather than fairly taxing billionaires to feed the hungry, we see billionaires joining government to slash aid to the poorest in order to fund tax cuts for themselves,” said Behar.

Oxfam is calling on the G7 to urgently reverse aid cuts and restore funding to address today’s global challenges. More than 50 years after the United Nations set the target of 0.7 percent for aid spending, most G7 countries remain well below this.

Oxfam is also urging the G7 to support global efforts led by Brazil and Spain to raise taxes on the super-rich, and to back the call from the African Union and The Vatican for a new UN body to help manage countries’ debt problems.

According to OECD Data Explorer, the combined annual aid expenditure of the G7 in 2024 was $156.694 billion. Canada spent $7.323 billion, the United States $61.821 billion, Japan $17.583 billion, France $15.047 billion, Germany $31.382 billion, Italy $6.534 billion, and the United Kingdom $17.005 billion.

Donor Tracker estimates that the decline in combined annual aid spending of the G7 countries for the period 2024 to 2026 will be -$44,488 billion.

In 2024, aid from G7 countries declined by 8 percent, and projections for 2025 point to a sharper drop of 19 percent.

Modelling using finds that 5.7 million more Africans would fall below the US$2.15 extreme poverty income level in the next year if Trump’s administration succeeds in its aid-reduction ambition. This assumes a 20 percent reduction of aid to Africa, considering that some US aid would be maintained as the US alone accounted for 26 percent of aid to Africa before the cuts.

The dismantling of USAID and major aid reductions announced by Western donors threaten to undo decades of progress on malnutrition. A 44 percent drop in funding from 2022 levels could lead to widespread hardship and death.

Up to 2.3 million children with severe acute malnutrition risk losing life-saving treatment, warns the Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium.

There are 2,968 billionaires in the world, and 1,346 live in G7 countries (45 percent).

IPS UN Bureau

 

Four-month-old albatross at its colony at Campo Bosque, Punta Sur on Guadalupe Island. Credit: UNEP/Todd Brown

By Naureen Hossain
NICE, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

At the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognized three countries and regions for their large-scale programs to restore their native ecosystems.

Mexico, Spain, and East Africa are the first three regions named as World Restoration Flagships. They have been recognized for their work tackling invasive species, pollution, and unsustainable exploitation. Altogether, these initiatives are restoring nearly five million hectares of marine ecosystems, which is nearly the size of Costa Rica, the co-host of UNOC3 along with France. They received the award on Thursday at a private event.

The World Restoration Flagships recognize national and regional ecosystem restoration efforts. This is part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration set for 2021-2030, co-led by UNEP and FAO. This programme aims to halt and reverse the degradation of global ecosystems. It is in line with the global commitment under the Paris Agreement to restore one billion hectares of ecosystems. Those recognized under this initiative receive additional UN support.

“After decades of taking the ocean for granted, we are witnessing a great shift towards restoration. But the challenge ahead of us is significant and we need everyone to play their part,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “These World Restoration Flagships show how biodiversity protection, climate action, and economic development are deeply interconnected. To deliver our restoration goals, our ambition must be as big as the ocean we must protect.”

Mafia Island, Tanzania. Sea turtle conservation with Sea Sense. Credit: UNEP / Duncan Moore

“The climate crisis, unsustainable exploitation practices, and nature resources shrinking are affecting our blue ecosystems, harming marine life and threatening the livelihoods of dependent communities,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “These new World Restoration Flagships show that halting and reversing degradation is not only possible, but also beneficial to planet and people.”

In the Northern Mozambique Channel by East Africa, climate change and overfishing are threatening their coral reef systems, which account for 35 percent of the coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. At present, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania are working together to manage, protect, and restore over 87,000 hectares of interconnected land and seascapes.

Actions undertaken today to maintain it include restoration of blue and green forests through creating interconnected restoration corridors, mangroves, and coral reef ecosystems, and improving fisheries management. The mangroves in Madagascar store more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is comparable to the annual electricity use in over 62 million households in the United States. This restoration is expected to increase the capacity of the four countries involved to absorb carbon dioxide and help tackle climate change.

With enough funding, 4.85 million hectares could be restored by 2030, which would likely improve socio-economic development and community well-being by creating over 2000 jobs and 12 community-based enterprises that also integrate indigenous practices.

The Mexican islands have been contending with invasive species that threaten the region’s biodiversity, particularly the seabird populations. Restoration efforts led by government agencies and civil society groups have seen the removal of over 60 populations of invasive species and the return of at least 85 percent of the seabird populations. Continuing efforts would see over 100,000 hectares restored by 2030, encompassing over 100 islands and securing the populations of 300 endemic mammals, birds, and reptiles in the islands. The continued programme also provides support to local island communities, without whom the restoration efforts would be more challenging. Based on this success, Mexico plans to go forward with a national environmental restoration program aimed at revitalizing the country’s ecosystems.

Isabel Rubio (activist) and Ramon (activist) monitoring pollution of runoff water near the Mar Menor, Spain. Credit: UNEP/Todd Brown

“Across Mexico’s precious islands, tangible restoration actions and results are breathing new life into vital ecosystems, directly bolstering rich insular and marine biodiversity of global relevance, saving species, and weaving firm threads into the livelihoods of local communities,” said Dr. Marina Robles García, Undersecretary of Biodiversity and Environmental Restoration, Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

The Mar Menor lagoon in the southwest of Spain is Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon, and its unique characteristics contribute to local tourism and a unique biodiversity. This has been threatened by nitrous discharge from agricultural activity, and other polluting land and marine activities, leading to the lagoon’s rapid degradation and significant losses in the fish population.

Through a citizen-led initiative, in 2022 Spain’s courts granted legal personhood to Mar Menor, the first ecosystem in Europe to be granted that status. A group of activists, scientists, and legal officials now represents the lagoon. Other actions include a government-led initiative to restore and recover Mar Menor through cleaning up abandoned and polluted mining sites, improving flood risk management and supporting sustainable agriculture, among other measures. This also includes a proposed green belt around the lagoon that is predicted to absorb more than 82,256 tons of CO₂ by 2040. Over 8700 hectares may be restored by 2030.

“Our work is grounded in listening, commitment, and innovation. We have listened to the Mar Menor and its people; participation drives the entire process, with a firm commitment to restoring this exceptional ecosystem and its values, with no possibility of turning back,” said Third Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen Muñoz. “We knew that our credibility as a society and the future of new generations were at stake. We could not let them down.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• Nia Tero: Indigenous Guardianship the ‘Only Time-Tested Approach’ To Healthy Ocean Ecosystems
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Fishers in Tanzania's Lake Victoria drag seized fishing nets to deter overfishing of dwindling nile perch stocks. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

As the curtains draw on the UN Ocean Conference, a flurry of voluntary commitments and political declarations has injected fresh impetus into global efforts to conserve marine biodiversity. With the world’s oceans facing unprecedented threats, high-level biodiversity officials and negotiators are sounding the alarm and calling for renewed momentum—and funding—to deliver on long-standing promises.

At a press briefing today, conservation leaders stressed that integrating marine biodiversity into broader biodiversity frameworks and aligning funding strategies with climate goals will be essential for African governments to turn the tide.

“It is a moment of reckoning,” declared Astrid Schomacher, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). “We are not on track to meet our 2030 biodiversity targets. Yet, the political energy here reminds us that progress is still possible—if we move together and fast.”

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out 23 urgent action targets to be achieved by 2030, aiming to halt biodiversity loss and safeguard nature’s contributions to people. These goals call for the protection and restoration of ecosystems, with at least 30 percent of land and sea areas conserved and degraded habitats restored. The framework urges halting species extinction, curbing pollution and invasive species, and mitigating climate impacts on biodiversity.

It also emphasizes sustainable use of wild species, greener urban spaces, and benefit-sharing from genetic resources. Crucially, it calls for integrating biodiversity into policies and business practices, redirecting harmful subsidies, boosting global finance for biodiversity to USD 200 billion annually, and strengthening capacity and cooperation, especially for developing nations. The roadmap recognizes the vital role of Indigenous peoples, equity, and inclusive governance in reversing nature loss, in line with the vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050.

African governments are lagging behind in meeting global biodiversity and sustainability targets, currently spending just 0.43 percent of their GDP on research and development—less than half the global average. With only five years left to meet key conservation goals, a new study by researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Johannesburg urges African policymakers to strengthen collaboration with biodiversity experts.

Schomacher drew attention to the pivotal role of the upcoming COP17 summit, to be hosted by Armenia in 2026, as a “global stocktaking moment” to assess progress halfway through the eight-year timeline for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in 2022.

“Every single target in our framework is ocean-related,” she said. “From coastal habitats to deep-sea ecosystems, the ocean is the heartbeat of biodiversity—and it must be protected as such.”

The Yerevan COP, Schomacher added, will also serve to reinforce linkages with the new High Seas Treaty, formally known as the BBNJ agreement (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction), which many see as a game-changing tool to protect vast, under-governed marine areas.

“CBD processes can kickstart BBNJ implementation,” she explained. “We’re talking about identifying ecologically significant areas, harmonizing spatial planning, and aligning national biodiversity strategies with climate and ocean action. The pieces are there—we just need to connect them.”

Funding Gaps and Harmful Subsidies

But ambition alone won’t be enough, speakers warned. The persistent lack of financial resources—especially for civil society, Indigenous groups, and developing countries—is threatening to unravel hard-won gains.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Robert Abhisohromonyan, was rather emphatic in his assertions: “Military expenditures reached USD 2.7 trillion last year. That’s a 9.4 percent increase—and money that could have gone toward the Sustainable Development Goals, climate resilience, or biodiversity protection.”

He also called for an inclusive COP17 that “puts transparency and participation at the center,” with Indigenous peoples, youth, and local communities having a seat at the decision-making table.

Echoing this, Schomacher warned that harmful subsidies—those that damage ecosystems or encourage overexploitation of natural resources—also account for USD 2.7 trillion annually, a figure matching global defense spending.

“This is why, under the global biodiversity framework, parties committed to identifying and eliminating USD 500 billion in harmful subsidies by 2030,” she said. “If we succeed, we not only close the funding gap—we make real gains for nature.”

Private Sector: From Philanthropy to Investment

In a candid exchange with journalists, speakers also grappled with how to better engage the private sector.

“We have to move beyond viewing biodiversity as a philanthropic cause,” Schomacher said. “Nature-based solutions are investable. But the knowledge and confidence to invest in biodiversity are still low compared to renewable energy or infrastructure.”

She cited the Cardi Fund, a new financing mechanism supporting fair benefit-sharing from digital genetic resources, as one example of innovation. The fund seeks contributions from companies using DNA sequence data to build commercial products—reversing the traditional imbalance between biotech profits and Indigenous stewardship.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a start,” she noted.

Ocean at the Center of Solutions

For Armenia, a landlocked country, hosting COP17 may seem an unlikely choice. Yet Abhisohromonyan made clear that Armenia sees the ocean as central to its environmental agenda.

“We are proof that ocean conservation is not the sole responsibility of coastal states,” he said. “By protecting inland ecosystems and water sources, we support the health of rivers that feed into the seas. It’s all connected.”

Armenia has signed the BBNJ agreement and is developing its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to reflect integrated ecosystem management.

But globally, uptake remains sluggish. Of 196 parties to the CBD, only 52 have submitted revised NBSAPs, with just 132 countries submitting national targets so far. Officials say this inertia could jeopardize the global review scheduled for Yerevan.

“We are urging all parties to submit their updated plans and reports by February 2026,” Abhisohromonyan said. “The clock is ticking, and our window for course correction is narrow.”

A Crisis—But Also a Chance

Wrapping up the discussion, Schomacher reflected on the legacy of previous ocean conferences and the urgency of acting on momentum now.

“UN Ocean Conference Two in Portugal gave us the energy to adopt the global biodiversity framework. UNOC3 must now galvanize the political will to implement it,” she said.

“We’re at a crisis point. But if we treat this as an opportunity—not just to protect what remains, but to restore what we’ve lost—we may just chart a new course for our ocean and for all life on Earth.”

As global leaders head into the final plenary, where a political declaration is expected to be adopted, conservationists are watching closely—hoping that the pledges made this week will translate into lasting action for the planet’s blue heart.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By CIVICUS
Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses struggles for historical justice with Graciela Montes de Oca, a member of Mothers and Relatives of Detained and Disappeared Uruguayans, a Uruguayan civil society organisation that seeks truth, justice and prevention of future crimes like those committed under dictatorship.

Graciela Montes de Oca

Since 1996, Uruguayan civil society has mobilised in a March of Silence every 20 May. This year, thousands of people took part in the march’s 30th edition along the main avenue of the capital, Montevideo, and other Uruguayan cities. They demanded truth, memory and justice for people detained and disappeared under dictatorship between 1973 and 1985. Organised by human rights groups and relatives of victims, this demonstration has become a powerful symbol of collective memory.

What’s commemorated on 20 May?

On 20 May 1976, one of the most brutal episodes of state terrorism in the Southern Cone took place. At that time, Uruguay was living under a civil-military dictatorship that participated in Operation Condor, a regional agreement between several countries ruled by dictatorships that coordinated the kidnapping, torture and murder of political opponents.

Four Uruguayans were murdered in Buenos Aires, Argentina that day: Congressman Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Senator Zelmar Michelini and two leftist activists, Rosario Barredo and William Whitelaw. Doctor Manuel Liberoff was also kidnapped at the same time and has been missing ever since.

The impact was devastating. Michelini and Gutiérrez Ruiz were prominent political figures and defenders of democracy who had sought asylum in Argentina after denouncing the crimes of the Uruguayan dictatorship. Their murder was an attempt to silence their critical voices forever.

How did the March of Silence come about?

The first March of Silence took place in 1996, on the 20th anniversary of the murders. Initially conceived as a one-off tribute, its profound impact meant the Mothers of the Disappeared decided to turn it into an annual event.

The march has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other demonstrations: it is completely silent, open to all citizens regardless of political affiliation and maintains a peaceful nature that enhances its symbolic power. Its persistence over three decades has made it much more than a protest: it’s a collective ritual of memory that keeps the demand for truth and justice alive.

Our demands remain unchanged: we want to know what happened to our missing relatives. We are not seeking revenge, but rather to prevent these crimes going unpunished and being repeated. The Uruguayan state must investigate and respond because these crimes were committed in its name. Justice is not only our right; it is the state’s obligation under international law.

How do civil society groups support this struggle?

Civil society groups have played a key role in keeping this cause alive. Through talks, artistic interventions, exhibitions, sporting events and other activities, they constantly reinforce collective memory. Civil society also promotes the restoration of historical sites and memorials and highlights cases that remain unresolved.

All of these efforts converge towards a shared goal: ensuring there will never again be state terrorism in Uruguay.

What obstacles remain to uncovering the truth?

The main obstacle is the pact of silence maintained by the military and civilians responsible for the crimes. This mafia code keeps the truth hidden.

The consequences are tangible and painful: without information on the location of the remains of those allegedly murdered, forensic teams are working in the dark. We know there are files containing vital information that are either hidden or inaccessible. That is why we demand the state actively searches for these files, locates them and hands them over.

The international community also has responsibilities. It must pressure the Uruguayan state to fulfil its obligations under international human rights law, including full compliance with existing international rulings.

In 2011, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Uruguayan state was responsible for the enforced disappearance of two activists – María Claudia García Iruretagoyena de Gelman and her husband, Marcelo Ariel Gelman Schubaroff – and for appropriating and removing the identity of their daughter, who was born in captivity. This judgment has been the subject of multiple resolutions, most recently in 2020, which continue to monitor compliance with the reparations ordered.

Meanwhile, after examining Uruguay in 2013 and 2022, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances issued binding concluding observations expressing concern about the slow pace of investigations and calling for judicial processes to be accelerated. These two international pronouncements clearly establish the state’s obligation to guarantee truth, justice and reparation for victims. Truth and justice have no statute of limitations.

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SEE ALSO
Uruguay: Concerns over anti-union allegations; Suspension of Media Decree signals positive development CIVICUS Monitor 22.Apr.2025
Uruguay: ‘The far right is still marginal; there’s a majority commitment to democracy’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Alicia Lissidini 09.Jan.2025
Uruguay: ‘We don’t need a new media law, but proper implementation of the existing one’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Fabián Werner 04.Jun.2024

 

Delegates discuss preparations for the high-level conference at UN Headquarters in New York. May 2025. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)

The United States, a longstanding and unyielding Israeli ally, is threatening UN member states urging them to keep off an upcoming high-level meeting aimed at recognizing a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

The meeting, to be co-chaired by France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and Saudi Arabia, a strong political ally of the US, is scheduled to take place June 17-20.

According to the London Guardian, the Trump administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending the conference.

The diplomatic demarche, sent out last week, says countries that take “anti-Israel actions” following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington.

“The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,” the cable read.

The United States also opposes “any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,” according to the cable cited by the Jerusalem Post.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and former director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, told IPS
the international community should reject the Trump administration’s naked bullying to stop them from attending a conference on Palestinian statehood.

She said the international community has a legal and moral duty to help end Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid rule.

“The United States finds itself more and more isolated from the rest of the world because of its destructive obeisance to Israeli diktat,” Whitson declared.

“It is absolutely essential to keep alive the two-State solution perspective with all the terrible things we are witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters last week.

“And for those that doubt about the two-State solution, I ask: What is the alternative? Is it a one-state solution in which either the Palestinians are expelled or forced to live in their land without rights?”

Meanwhile, the longtime pro-Israeli Western alliance seems to be on the verge of gradually crumbling?

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) last week warmly welcomed the decision jointly made by five Western nations – the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Norway–in imposing sanctions on two extremist ministers in the Israeli government.

The move was considered “an important step toward upholding justice and accountability and ending impunity enjoyed by the Israeli officials involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, incitement to violence, organized terrorism, and genocide. “

The OIC said it “strongly condemned National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming, once again, of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces”.

It cited it as a further provocation to the feelings of all Muslims and a dangerous escalation of the Israeli occupation’s plots aiming to change the historical and legal situation of the holy sites in Jerusalem, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

As outlined in General Assembly resolution 79/81, next week’s Conference will produce an action-oriented outcome document entitled “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and implementation of the two-State solution”.

Meanwhile, two European countries –Spain and Ireland– have recognized Palestine as a sovereign nation state.

Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, and coordinator of the program in Middle Eastern Studies, told IPS rather than recognizing how Israeli security and Palestinian rights are mutually dependent on each other, the Trump administration, echoing the far right in Israel, is insisting that it is a zero-sum game.

In their view, he pointed out, any talk of a two-state solution—even a mini-state on just 22% of historic Palestine—is “anti-Israel.”

“The fact that, rather than simply boycotting the conference, the administration is threatening diplomatic consequences towards nations that attend in indicative of the extreme measures they are willing to take in support of Israeli expansionism,” he said.

Democratic foreign policy has not been much different, however.

While claiming to support a two-state solution, Dr Zunes pointed out, successive Democratic administrations and Congressional leaders have refused to recognize the State of Palestine.

Along with Israel, they have vetoed UN resolutions allowing Palestine to join as a member, have even withdrawn from UN entities which include Palestine, and have opposed pressuring Israel to allow for the emergence of a Palestinian state while categorically ruled out supporting Palestinian statehood outside of Israeli terms—even as the Israeli government has categorically ruled it out.

In practice, then, little has changed in regard to U.S. policy, declared Dr Zunes.

Asked for a UN response to the US warning against participation in next week’s conference, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters Wednesday: “I believe that all the Member States of the system will make their own decisions, according to what their own interests are”

“But we expect that there will be widespread attendance at this meeting. And the Secretary-General in his stakeout appearance last week explained exactly the importance of keeping the two-state solution alive.

With the lack of support from United States, how much of the possibility is still there for a two-state solution?

“I think the Secretary-General has been very clear and very straightforward about what the challenges are that the two-state solution faces. And he’s also been clear, as he told you last Friday, what are the alternatives to it?

“We need to have a solution where the people of Israel and the people of Palestine can live side by side in peace and security. This is the one solution that the international community has embraced and has been able to try to push forward over the years.”

“Obviously, there are challenges facing it, and they’re extremely clear at this moment. But this is the way forward that we have, and we have to embrace it”, said Haq.

IPS UN Bureau Report