Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

A young boy in Mozambique sleeps next to a bag of food aid donated by USAID and distributed by the UN’s World Food Programme. Credit: WFP/Rein Skullerud

By Heather Stobaugh
NEW YORK, Jun 30 2025 (IPS)

On July 1st, USAID officially shuts down and transfers operations to the U.S. State Department. Amid growing uncertainty about the future of U.S. foreign assistance structures and funding, supply chains that deliver life-saving treatment to malnourished children worldwide have broken down, triggering a global nutrition crisis.

We are witnessing the dismantling of a system that has saved millions of children’s lives for decades. The consequences will reverberate across the world: from peanut farms in Georgia to remote clinics in South Sudan, creating a humanitarian catastrophe that could have been prevented.

For more than two decades, the American people have supported the production, shipment, and administration of treatment packets, called ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), to save the lives of children suffering from a severe form of malnutrition, which affects 19 million children worldwide at any given moment.

These RUTF packets of specially-formulated nutrient-dense paste, often branded as “Plumpy’nut”, boast recovery rates exceeding 90% and can bring a child from medical crisis to health in as little as 45 days. Without treatment, survival rates are low, as a malnourished child is 11 times more likely to die than a healthy one.

Today, it all hangs in the balance. Our world has seen immense progress in preventing child deaths from malnutrition; unless we act fast and funding cuts are reversed, all our progress will regress 30 years seemingly overnight.

A System in Collapse

The numbers tell a devastating story. The closure of USAID and transfer of operations to the U.S. State Department has left 90% of all USAID contracts terminated, including $1.4 billion in emergency nutrition programming that, in part, supported approximately 50 percent of the global RUTF supply.

As a result, production of RUTF has halted, with most manufacturers receiving no new orders since December 2024. Eighteen countries face RUTF stockouts set to begin this month, creating a shortage of over two million cartons that could treat over two million malnourished children.

With supply chains requiring 3-6 months to produce, transport, and deliver the life-saving treatment to children who need it, time has run out.

Countries like South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria that are already grappling with conflict, climate shocks, and displacement will be among the first and hardest hit. In South Sudan alone, nutrition response funding has been slashed nearly in half, leaving one in two severely malnourished children without treatment. UNICEF estimates that Ethiopia will run out of RUTF supplies imminently.

The reality on the ground is stark: RUTF stockouts mean mothers will bring their children to health and nutrition centers only to be turned away because there’s no available treatment. Even before the current crisis, millions of children would lose the fight against malnutrition, given limited resources. Now, that number is going to rise rapidly.

Beyond the Numbers: Human Cost

Nutrition and health services have always been integrated: Malnourished children with medical complications often require referral to health facilities for further medical care in addition to the nutrition treatment. A malnourished child with a weakened immune system who contracts malaria may not survive because their body cannot fight off the simple illness.

But now, funding cuts for health programs have drastically reduced treatment for illnesses, such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV, which, alongside cuts to nutrition programs, create a perfect storm. These preventable, treatable conditions become matters of life and death.

Progress Was Being Made:

RUTF’s introduction nearly 30 years ago has revolutionized our fight against child mortality. Experts estimate that before RUTF, child survival from malnutrition was about 25%; with RUTF, it’s over 90%. Leading scientists and researchers were conducting rigorous research investigating how to optimize the dosage of RUTF and piloting new formulations to make limited resources stretch to reach more children in need of treatment.

Other innovative research on preventing relapse through gut microbiome restoration was showing tremendous promise for sustainable solutions and conserving resources. Together with improved public health programs, our world has seen annual child mortality rates drop from 12.9 million in 1990 to 4.8 million in 2023.

With the current uncertainty around U.S. humanitarian aid funding, the immediate outlook is very bleak, and doubts grow every day regarding the longer-term projections for any continuation in reducing child mortality worldwide. From a humanitarian perspective, it’s criminally irresponsible to stop trying to give every child a chance at life past their fifth birthday.

American Communities Feel the Impact

The crisis is not confined to remote nutrition clinics in foreign countries. American agricultural communities that supply raw ingredients for the life-saving RUTF are also hit hard. Peanut farmers in rural Georgia and dairy farmers across the country, critical to the RUTF supply chain, now face canceled contracts and uncertain futures.

MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald, Georgia – which has produced RUTF to treat 10 million children across the globe since 2010 – estimates it has enough cash to keep running through August at best if no new contracts materialize.

The irony is profound: feeding children, mothers, and families has always been a deeply bipartisan American value. Emergency food assistance aligns with foreign policy priorities: it’s measurable, cost-effective, and builds lasting goodwill. These relationships also helped American farmers put food on their own families’ tables.

Other efforts were ongoing to increase local production of RUTF in countries where it is needed the most, creating jobs, bolstering local economies, and establishing self-sustaining solutions within each country’s challenges. But these smaller and newer RUTF manufacturers in the global south can only supply a fraction of what’s needed and have less reserves to be able to withstand the gap in revenue.

A Call for Urgent Action

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department announced approval of $50 million for RUTF, representing 1.4 million boxes of the life-saving supplies that could “nourish over one million of the world’s most vulnerable children.” While this represents welcome progress after months of uncertainty, the amount is minimal compared to the need, and still no contracts have been confirmed. So we wait.

Meanwhile, every 11 seconds, a child dies from malnutrition-related causes. These aren’t abstract statistics—they’re preventable deaths of children who could be saved for about $150 a child. The dismantling of USAID represents more than a policy change—it’s a moral choice about America’s role in the world and our commitment to the most vulnerable.

There’s nothing more devastating than looking a mother in the eyes when both of you know that her child probably won’t make it to their next birthday, or perhaps even to the end of the week. Previously, that situation was becoming less frequent. However, now, I shudder to think how many more mothers around the world will be in this situation.

The clock is ticking, and children’s lives hang in the balance. As supply chains collapse and treatment centers close, the time to act is now, before this preventable crisis becomes an irreversible global tragedy.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Dr. Heather Stobaugh is Associate Director of Research and Innovation, Action Against Hunger

Over 7 million people die from smoking-related deaths every year. The World Health Organization’s protocols to control and reduce tobacco have been adopted in at least 155 countries. Credit: Unsplash/Kouji Tsuru

By Maximilian Malawista
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 2025 (IPS)

Tobacco kills up to half its users who don’t quit, a grim reality that highlights the urgent mission of global tobacco control. A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that while many countries have followed the organization’s protocols to reduce tobacco use, major gaps still remain in broader implementation.

The Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report was launched on June 23 at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, where global health leaders emphasized a renewed commitment towards reducing tobacco-related deaths, which claim more than seven million lives each year. At least 80 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries, where the risk of tobacco-related illness and death is much higher.

The report focuses on the WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures, the steps that countries need to take to reduce tobacco usage. The WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures include:

· Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies;
· Protecting people from tobacco smoke with smoke-free air legislation;
· Offering help to quit tobacco use;
· Warning about the dangers of tobacco with pack labels and mass media;
· Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and
· Raising taxes on tobacco.

The WHO MPOWER measures were first introduced in 2007, where only forty-four countries had implemented at least one tobacco control measure, protecting 1.2 billion people. Their implementation can be viewed through the new data portal, which tracks countries’ progress from 2007-2025.

155 countries have successfully implemented at least one control measure at the best-practice level, the highest marker of implementation. This protects up to 6.1 billion people, or about 75 percent of the global population. Additionally, countries with two or more measures have seen “a nearly tenfold increase,” from 11 to 107 countries, which protects 4.8 billion people. Forty of these countries have adopted two or more measures, while seven of them have implemented four measures, and four have adopted five of the MPOWER measures. Altogether, fifty-one countries have at least three of these measures in place, accounting for the protection of 1.8 billion people.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said, “Twenty years since the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we have many successes to celebrate, but the tobacco industry continues to evolve and so must we.” He added, “By uniting science, policy, and political will, we can create a world where tobacco no longer claims lives, damages economies or steals futures. Together, we can end the tobacco epidemic.”

The report highlights that one practice — graphic health warnings and plain packaging — has made significant progress, with 56 percent of countries having reached ‘best-practice’ level. As one of the key measures under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), it makes it difficult for people to ignore the health risks. It has been proven that cigarette packaging that contain graphic visual health warnings are effective in informing people about tobacco risks. They can be understood by people across all demographics and countries of all income levels.

Additionally, 110 countries at some levels have adopted these measures, accounting for approximately five billion people, or 62 percent of the world’s population. 36 percent of the global population now live in countries which run best-practice campaigns, which is up from 19 percent in 2022. WHO is urging countries to “invest in message-tested evaluated campaigns”.

Despite this, forty countries have zero MPOWER measures at the best-practice level. More than thirty countries allow the sale of cigarettes without mandatory health warnings. Even as many of the measures are being adopted, WHO notes that enforcement is “inconsistent”. Packaging for smokeless tobacco remains “poorly regulated”, as these items come in irregular packaging, are developed by smaller local producers, and may be found illegally produced and sold. These factors make it difficult to enforce packaging regulations. Furthermore, since 2022 at least 110 countries have failed to run anti-tobacco campaigns.

Many countries are failing to enact policies that would restrict access to cigarettes through taxation. Since 2022, only three counties have increased their taxes on tobacco at the best-practice level. Sixty-eight countries have adopted anti-tobacco media campaigns in the best practice, educating 25 percent globally. Additionally, cost-covered quitting services are accessible to about 33 percent of the world’s population.

While media campaigns and taxation policies target tobacco users, tobacco also affects people second hand. Around 1.6 million people die each year from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases exacerbated by exposure to second-hand smoke. To combat this, seventy-nine countries have implemented “comprehensive smoke-free environments,” which protects at least one-third of the global population. The regulation of e-cigarette devices or ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) has also begun to pick up traction. As of 2024, 133 countries are regulating or outright banning e-cigarette devices.

To account for the notable lags in progress and enforcement, Dr. Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion said, “Governments must act boldly to close remaining gaps, strengthen enforcement, and invest in the proven tools that save lives. WHO calls on all countries to accelerate progress on MPOWER and ensure that no one is left behind in the fight against tobacco.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Toya Sarno Jordan/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 30 2025 (IPS)

On 1 June, Mexico made history by becoming the only country in the world to elect all its judges by popular vote, from local magistrates to Supreme Court justices. This unprecedented process saw Mexican voters choose candidates for 881 federal judicial positions, including all nine Supreme Court justices, plus thousands at local levels across 19 states. Yet what the government heralded as a transformation that made Mexico the ‘the most democratic country in the world’ may turn out to be a dangerous deception.

Judicial independence under attack

The judicial election was the culmination of a controversial constitutional reengineering pushed through by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and embraced by his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party promoted the change as a bold democratic measure to eliminate corruption, increase transparency and make judges accountable to the people rather than political or economic elites. But this narrative masked a more troubling reality. The judicial overhaul was the final piece in a systematic assault on institutions that checked executive power during López Obrador’s presidency. Between 2018 and 2024, the National Electoral Institute faced repeated budget cuts and legislative attacks. The National Institute for Access to Public Information was eliminated in late 2024, leaving oversight of public information access in the hands of an executive-dependent secretariat.

The judiciary became a prime target after the Supreme Court repeatedly struck down López Obrador’s key legislative proposals as unconstitutional. The president responded with aggressive public criticism, accusing judges of corruption and cutting the judiciary’s budget. When the Supreme Court invalidated his attempt to put the civilian National Guard under military command, López Obrador declared the judiciary needed democratisation.

Following Sheinbaum’s landslide victory in June 2024, when she won with close to 60 per cent and Morena secured a supermajority in Congress, the outgoing government introduced constitutional amendments as part of ‘Plan C’, with judicial elections the centrepiece. Despite protests by judicial workers, students and opposition groups, the bill passed in September.

The new system replaced merit-based appointments with a process where candidates are pre-screened by Evaluation Committees controlled by the executive, legislative and judicial branches before facing popular election. Judicial terms have been shortened and aligned with political cycles, while judicial salaries are now tied to the president’s, effectively giving the executive control over judicial remuneration in violation of international standards requiring stable, politically independent judicial funding.

Another concerning development is the new Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal, whose five popularly elected members have broad powers to investigate and sanction judicial personnel through final, unappealable decisions. This tribunal threatens to become a tool of political intimidation against judges who rule against government interests, fundamentally undermining judicial independence.

Corrosive effect on rights

As it turned out, the judicial elections achieved only a 13 per cent voter turnout, light years from the 61 per cent who voted at the last general election. This suggested widespread public disconnection from the process, calling into question the democratic legitimacy its proponents claimed to seek. The complexity of choosing between so many unknown candidates appears to have deterred many voters.

Troublingly, dozens of candidates were identified as having potential ties to drug cartels, including the former defence lawyer for notorious drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, who got elected in Chihuahua state. Vulnerability to criminal infiltration is particularly alarming given Mexico’s context, where political violence has reached unprecedented levels – with at least 32 candidates and 24 public officials murdered during the 2024 campaign – and where criminal organisations exercise de facto governmental control in many territories.

The international community has responded with condemnation. The Rule of Law Impact Lab at Stanford Law School joined the Mexican Bar Association in filing an amicus curiae – friend of the court – brief before the Mexican Supreme Court challenging the reform’s constitutionality. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed ‘grave concern’ about judicial independence, access to justice and the rule of law. These concerns were echoed by United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the International Bar Association.

The judicial elections will likely have a corrosive effect on democracy and human rights. By making judges accountable to popular majorities rather than constitutional principles, the new system will likely weaken protection for excluded groups including women, migrants and Indigenous communities who depend on judicial intervention for protection against discrimination.

Early analysis suggests that judges aligned with the ruling party performed well in the elections, potentially giving Morena unprecedented influence over judicial decision-making. From the government’s perspective, the elections appear to have achieved their underlying political objective: consolidating control across all branches of government. This eliminates the accountability mechanisms needed to prevent authoritarian drift.

Mexico’s experience highlights the dangerous tension between populism and constitutional democracy. With fewer institutional barriers remaining to prevent further concentration of power, the country’s democratic institutions now face their greatest test. For the rest of the world, Mexico offers a cautionary tale about how populist claims to democratic legitimacy can systematically undermine the institutional foundations democracy depends on.

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

 

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Celebrating the opening of this brightly coloured charging station made using recycled plastic tiles. Stanley Anigbogu projects bring vibrant solutions to underserved communities. Credit: LightEd

By Promise Eze
ABUJA, Jun 30 2025 (IPS)

When Stanley Anigbogu heard his name announced as the 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year in London earlier in March, he could hardly believe it. He had not expected to win, especially among a pool of brilliant nominees from across the globe.

The 25-year-old Nigerian energy innovator was recognised for transforming waste into solar-powered innovations that deliver clean energy to over 10,000 refugees in Africa. Anigbogu is the co-founder of LightEd, a company that turns plastic waste into solar-powered charging stations. These stations supply electricity to communities with little or no access to power. LightEd works in hard-to-reach areas and serves people in different parts of Nigeria, including thousands of displaced persons.

“I really was not expecting to win the award,” he said. “When my name was called, I was shocked. It took me a moment to believe it. I was really grateful because it was an amazing accomplishment. Just representing Africa, being the best from Africa out of 56 countries. I knew the work we were doing was important, but the other finalists were doing amazing things as well. I was grateful that my work was spotlighted because it gives the work that I do a different level of recognition. It is a very big accomplishment.”

For Anigbogu, the award is not just a personal achievement. He sees it as a moment of pride for Nigeria and for young people across the continent.

“This award gives me hope,” he said. “It shows that people see our work and that it matters.”

Stanley Anigbogu, 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year. Credit: LightEd

The Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, known as the Commonwealth Youth Awards, is a flagship project of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which has supported youth development for over 50 years. The Secretariat’s Head of Social Policy Development, Layne Robinson, underscored the importance of highlighting the work of young leaders like Anigbogu and empowering them to do more.

He said, “These awards enable us to learn more about the work being done by young people across the Commonwealth and offer us an opportunity to support them tangibly.  By amplifying their work, the awards help them become beacons to others and contribute to building the next generation of leaders.”

In pursuit of the waste-to-energy approach, Stanley Anigbogu’s project has repurposed more than 5 tonnes of plastic waste. Reducing harm to the environment is central to his innovations. Credit: LightEd

Lighting Up Communities

Anigbogu grew up in Onitsha, a bustling town in southeastern Nigeria. Like many homes in the country, his family did not have reliable electricity. Power cuts were frequent. Sometimes, they had electricity for only a few hours in an entire week. He often had to study using candles or kerosene lamps.

These struggles sparked his curiosity about how electricity worked. He became interested in finding solutions to the challenges around him. At the age of 15, he began building small inventions. He created robots and rockets using scraps and second-hand electronic components. He built simple tools to help with tasks at home and even started a science club in school.

Stanley Anigbogu stands inside a work in progress. Credit: LightEd

After secondary school, Anigbogu moved to Morocco for university. While there, he founded a start-up which aimed to turn orange peels into energy. The project failed, but it taught him valuable lessons.

“I made a lot of mistakes because I did not understand business well,” he said. “But I learnt a lot from it.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Anigbogu returned to Nigeria. He wanted to create something useful that could help poor communities. That’s how LightEd started. His innovation is helping to address Nigeria’s electricity problem. According to the World Bank, 85 million Nigerians do not have access to electricity from the national grid. This means about 43 percent of the population lives without regular power, making Nigeria the country with the highest number of people without electricity.

Stanley Anigbogu’s projects work towards providing electricity to underserved people; the community is at the heart of the decisions on where to place the solar-powered charging stations. Credit: LightEd

One of LightEd’s flagship projects is the construction of charging stations made from plastic and recycled waste, fitted with solar panels. People use them to charge phones, lamps, and small devices. In many of these areas, it is the only source of electricity available.

LightEd has trained over 6,000 students and recycled more than 20,000 kilograms of plastic. The company has also raised over 500,000 dollars from donors and partners to expand its work.

“Our goal is to make clean energy available to everyone,” said Anigbogu, who added that the company works closely with communities to create solutions tailored to their needs.

Stanley Anigbogu finds light in waste. Credit: LightEd

“The solutions we provide are community-led. Each community has different needs. We begin by asking questions like: where should the station be built? What is their energy need? What does the community require? We also add artwork to the stations, designed to reflect what the community feels the station represents. When we work with an artist, we hold a workshop and collect input from the people. We also work with them to decide how the station will be managed. Once it is built, we hand it over to the community.”

Helping Displaced People

Anigbogu’s interest in helping displaced people began while he was in Morocco. He joined a volunteer group that visited families living in the Atlas Mountains. Many had been displaced and lacked access to electricity and clean water.

LightEd has set up solar charging stations in two big camps for displaced people in Nigeria. They also provided solar lights and lamps, making it easier and safer for people to move around at night, especially women and children.

“I want kids in refugee camps to be able to study at night. Before, everywhere used to be dark, and when you put in streetlights, it lights up the surroundings and creates a sense of safety and also supports their mental health. I think when you’re living in a dark environment and you’re already in an inhospitable situation, having proper lighting helps give you a sense of security. That contributes to an overall stronger feeling of safety. Aside from that, it also helps reduce costs, such as the money spent on things like kerosene or candles, because all you need to do is go and charge your lamp or other device. It also reduces the negative health effects from the smoke and fumes people inhale when using traditional lighting solutions,” Anigbogu said.

Looking Ahead

Anigbogu’s journey has not been without challenges. In the early days, one of the biggest obstacles was the lack of clear guidance on how to start an organisation in Nigeria, including navigating registration, documentation, and taxes. Today, his main challenge is scaling. While funding is important, Anigbogu says the harder task is finding the right strategies and structures to expand into new regions and countries.

Stanley Anigbogu hopes to use access to energy to bring people of different faiths together, helping them resolve the many conflicts in the region. Credit: LightEd

But for Anigbogu, none of this is a reason to give up. He is now working on building charging stations that also double as spaces for peace dialogue.

“I am working with the Commonwealth Peace Prize winners, who are also Nigerians. We are discussing building a charging station that can serve as a space for intergenerational and interreligious dialogue. In Nigeria, where there are many religious conflicts, I believe it is a good idea to use access to energy as a way to bring people of different faiths together to talk and understand each other,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The number of people desiring to emigrate permanently exceeds the number of immigrants countries are willing to admit, leading many individuals to migrate without authorization. Credit: Shutterstock.

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Jun 30 2025 (IPS)

Approximately 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, wish to leave their country permanently, while over a billion people believe that fewer or no immigrants should be allowed into their countries. This demographic struggle between the two sides over international migration is causing significant social, economic, and political repercussions for nations and their citizens.

The 1.3 billion individuals desiring to emigrate to another country is over four times the size of the estimated total number of immigrants worldwide in 2025, which is around 305 million. If all the people desiring to emigrate could do so, the global number of immigrants would increase to about 1.6 billion.

While an estimate of the total number of immigrants in the world is readily available, estimating the total number of unauthorized immigrants is much more challenging, with few reliable estimates available on a global scale.

If the percentage of unauthorized immigrants among all immigrants in the United States, approximately 25%, applies to the global immigrant population, the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants worldwide would be around 75 million (Figure 1).

 

Source: United Nations and Gallup Polls.

 

The global proportion desiring to emigrate permanently to another country has increased significantly in recent years, rising from 12% in 2011 to 16% in 2023.

Additionally, the desire to emigrate varies greatly across the different regions of the world. In 2023, Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest proportion desiring to emigrate at 37%, a significant increase from its 29% in 2011 (Figure 2).

 

Source: Gallup Polls.

 

In almost all major regions, the proportion desiring to emigrate permanently saw a substantial increase between 2011 and 2023. For instance, the proportions for the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, rose from approximately 18% to 28%.

The desire to emigrate is not exclusive to developing regions. In the European Union, nearly 20% of the population in 2023 expressed a desire to emigrate. Similarly, in the United States and Canada, around 18% of their populations in 2023 desired to emigrate, a significant increase from the 10% reported in 2011.

The significant imbalance between the desire to emigrate and the number of immigrants countries are accepting is a major demographic factor contributing to unauthorized migration. Thousands of migrants die annually on migration routes in their attempts to reach their desired destination country

The number of people desiring to emigrate permanently exceeds the number of immigrants countries are willing to admit, leading many individuals to migrate without authorization.

For example, while approximately 170 million adults wish to emigrate to the United States, the country’s annual number of immigrants granted legal permanent residence has ranged from 1 to 2 million, with net immigration expected to average just over 1 million annually in the future. Similarly, in Canada, about 85 million people desire to emigrate, but the annual number of immigrants admitted ranges from 400,000 to 500,000.

The significant imbalance between the desire to emigrate and the number of immigrants countries are accepting is a major demographic factor contributing to unauthorized migration. Thousands of migrants die annually on migration routes in their attempts to reach their desired destination country.

In addition to the demographic imbalance, other important factors contributing to unauthorized migration include poverty, unemployment, low wages, harsh living conditions, violence, crime, persecution, political instability, armed conflict, lack of health care, limited education opportunities, and climate change.

Many migrant destination countries are experiencing record-high numbers of unlawful border crossings, unauthorized arrivals, and visa overstays, leading to millions of individuals living unlawfully within those countries.

Human rights regarding international migration are relatively straightforward. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”. While all people have the right to leave and return to their country, they do not have the right to enter another without permission nor to overstay a temporary visit.

However, Article 14 of the Universal Declaration also states that “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution”. As a result, many migrants entering a country without authorization claim asylum to escape persecution.

To be granted asylum, an individual must meet the internationally recognized definition of a refugee.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees codified the right of asylum. The right to asylum is for anyone with “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”

The Convention and its Protocol, however, do not require governments to grant asylum to those who qualify.

By claiming asylum, migrants lacking legal authorization to enter are in principle permitted to remain in the destination country while their asylum claims are being adjudicated. Typically, the adjudication process takes several years and the large majority of asylum claims are denied.

For example, in the United States, approximately 70 percent of asylum claims have been denied over the past several years. Similarly, high levels of asylum claim denials, often exceeding 70 percent in first-instance asylum applications, are reported among many European countries, including France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden.

Many destination countries, especially wealthy, more developed nations, view the extensive use of asylum claims by unauthorized migrants as a means of avoiding deportation. Although most claims are judged to lack merit, the large numbers of claims overwhelm the ability of countries to review them in a timely manner and enforce negative rulings to send people back to their home countries.

To address the large number of asylum claims, some countries are adopting various policies. For example, some countries are requiring unauthorized migrants to wait abroad while their asylum claims are being considered. Other countries are mandating that unauthorized migrants seek asylum in another country and have also implemented policies to transfer the migrants to different third countries for processing their asylum claim or for resettlement.

Looking towards the future, the world’s population, currently at 8.2 billion, is expected to increase by another two billion people over the next fifty years. During this time, the population of more developed regions is projected to decline by around 70 million.

In contrast, by 2075, the population of less developed regions, excluding the least developed countries, is projected to grow by close to 700 million. This significant population increase is about half the level expected for the least developed countries, which as a group are expected to increase by about 1.4 billion (Figure 3).

 

Source: United Nations.

 

While countries are addressing unauthorized migration, many of them are also experiencing or anticipating population decline. Despite the current and expected decreases in population size, countries are not ready to accept large numbers of immigrants.

Instead of increasing immigration numbers, countries are focusing on raising their low fertility rates, which have dropped and remain well below the replacement level.

Business leaders, employers, various non-governmental organizations, families, and some government officials acknowledge the benefits of international migration and may even tolerate some unauthorized migration.

However, many citizens in destination countries, particularly those on the political far right, increasingly view newcomers, especially those living in the country without authorization, as a threat to jobs, cultural integrity, national security, and a financial burden on public funds. Consequently, many governments in these countries have implemented policies and actions to deport migrants, especially those who are unauthorized.

Furthermore, opponents of increased immigration are worried that it will negatively impact their traditional culture, shared values, and national identity. They believe that immigration, particularly unauthorized migration, undermines their way of life, national security, ethnic heritage and social cohesion.

In conclusion, international migration has always been a fundamental, defining demographic phenomenon with significant economic, social and political implications worldwide. Currently, the global population of over 8.2 billion people is grappling with an escalating struggle over international migration.

On one side of this struggle are approximately 1.3 billion people desiring to emigrate, with many choosing to do so without authorization and often risking their lives to reach their destination. On the other side are over a billion people in destination countries attempting to prevent this emigration, reduce the rising numbers of immigrants, and deport those living in their territories without authorization, including many who are seeking asylum.

Given the demographics, significant differences between the two sides, and the current situations in various countries, it is likely that the struggle over international migration will persist throughout the 21st century.

 

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials”.

By Cecilia Russell
Jun 28 2025 (IPS)

When Stanley Anigbogu heard his name announced as the 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year in London earlier in March, he could hardly believe it. He had not expected to win, especially among a pool of brilliant nominees from across the globe.

The 25-year-old Nigerian energy innovator was recognised for transforming waste into solar-powered innovations that deliver clean energy to over 10,000 refugees in Africa. Stanley is the co-founder of LightEd, a company that turns plastic waste into solar-powered charging stations. These stations supply electricity to communities with little or no access to power. LightEd works in hard-to-reach areas and serves people in different parts of Nigeria, including thousands of displaced persons.

“I really was not expecting to win the award,” he said. “When my name was called, I was shocked. It took me a moment to believe it. I was really grateful because it was an amazing accomplishment. Just representing Africa, being the best from Africa out of 56 countries. I knew the work we were doing was important, but the other finalists were doing amazing things as well. I was grateful that my work was spotlighted because it gives the work that I do a different level of recognition. It is a very big accomplishment.”

For Stanley, the award is not just a personal achievement. He sees it as a moment of pride for Nigeria and for young people across the continent.

“This award gives me hope,” he said. “It shows that people see our work and that it matters.”

The Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, known as the Commonwealth Youth Awards, is a flagship project of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which has supported youth development for over 50 years. The Secretariat’s Head of Social Policy Development, Layne Robinson, underscored the importance of highlighting the work of young leaders like Stanley and empowering them to do more.

He said, “These awards enable us to learn more about the work being done by young people across the Commonwealth and offers us an opportunity to support them tangibly.  By amplifying their work, the awards help them become beacons to others and contribute to building the next generation of leaders”.

Lighting Up Communities

Stanley grew up in Onitsha, a bustling town in southeastern Nigeria. Like many homes in the country, his family did not have reliable electricity. Power cuts were frequent. Sometimes, they had electricity for only a few hours in an entire week. He often had to study using candles or kerosene lamps.

These struggles sparked his curiosity about how electricity worked. He became interested in finding solutions to the challenges around him. At the age of 15, he began building small inventions. He created robots and rockets using scraps and second-hand electronic components. He built simple tools to help with tasks at home and even started a science club in school.

After secondary school, Stanley moved to Morocco for university. While there, he founded a start-up which aimed to turn orange peels into energy. The project failed, but it taught him valuable lessons.

“I made a lot of mistakes because I did not understand business well,” he said. “But I learnt a lot from it.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Stanley returned to Nigeria. He wanted to create something useful that could help poor communities. That’s how LightEd started. His innovation is helping to address Nigeria’s electricity problem. According to the World Bank, 85 million Nigerians do not have access to electricity from the national grid. This means about 43% of the population lives without regular power, making Nigeria the country with the highest number of people without electricity.

One of LightEd’s flagship projects is the construction of charging stations made from plastic and recycled waste, fitted with solar panels. People use them to charge phones, lamps, and small devices. In many of these areas, it is the only source of electricity available.

LightEd has trained over 6,000 students and recycled more than 20,000 kilograms of plastic. The company has also raised over 500,000 dollars from donors and partners to expand its work.

“Our goal is to make clean energy available to everyone,” said Stanley, who added that the company works closely with communities to create solutions tailored to their needs.

“The solutions we provide are community-led. Each community has different needs. We begin by asking questions like: where should the station be built? What is their energy need? What does the community require? We also add artwork to the stations, designed to reflect what the community feels the station represents. When we work with an artist, we hold a workshop and collect input from the people. We also work with them to decide how the station will be managed. Once it is built, we hand it over to the community.”

Helping Displaced People

Stanley’s interest in helping displaced people began while he was in Morocco. He joined a volunteer group that visited families living in the Atlas Mountains. Many had been displaced and lacked access to electricity and clean water.

LightEd has set up solar charging stations in two big camps for displaced people in Nigeria. They also provided solar lights and lamps, making it easier and safer for people to move around at night, especially women and children.

“I want kids in refugee camps to be able to study at night. Before, everywhere used to be dark, and when you put in streetlights, it lights up the surroundings and creates a sense of safety, and also supports their mental health. I think when you’re living in a dark environment, and you’re already in an inhospitable situation, having proper lighting helps give you a sense of security. That contributes to an overall stronger feeling of safety. Aside from that, it also helps reduce costs, such as the money spent on things like kerosene or candles, because all you need to do is go and charge your lamp or other device. It also reduces the negative health effects from the smoke and fumes people inhale when using traditional lighting solutions,” Stanley said.

Looking Ahead

Stanley’s journey has not been without challenges. In the early days, one of the biggest obstacles was the lack of clear guidance on how to start an organisation in Nigeria, including navigating registration, documentation, and taxes. Today, his main challenge is scaling. While funding is important, Stanley says the harder task is finding the right strategies and structures to expand into new regions and countries.

But for Stanley, none of this is a reason to give up. He is now working on building charging stations that also double as spaces for peace dialogue.

“I am working with the Commonwealth Peace Prize winners, who are also Nigerians. We are discussing building a charging station that can serve as a space for intergenerational and interreligious dialogue. In Nigeria, where there are many religious conflicts, I believe it is a good idea to use access to energy as a way to bring people of different faiths together to talk and understand each other,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Cecilia Russell
Jun 28 2025 (IPS)

When Stanley Anigbogu heard his name announced as the 2025 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year in London earlier in March, he could hardly believe it. He had not expected to win, especially among a pool of brilliant nominees from across the globe.

The 25-year-old Nigerian energy innovator was recognised for transforming waste into solar-powered innovations that deliver clean energy to over 10,000 refugees in Africa. Stanley is the co-founder of LightEd, a company that turns plastic waste into solar-powered charging stations. These stations supply electricity to communities with little or no access to power. LightEd works in hard-to-reach areas and serves people in different parts of Nigeria, including thousands of displaced persons.

“I really was not expecting to win the award,” he said. “When my name was called, I was shocked. It took me a moment to believe it. I was really grateful because it was an amazing accomplishment. Just representing Africa, being the best from Africa out of 56 countries. I knew the work we were doing was important, but the other finalists were doing amazing things as well. I was grateful that my work was spotlighted because it gives the work that I do a different level of recognition. It is a very big accomplishment.”

For Stanley, the award is not just a personal achievement. He sees it as a moment of pride for Nigeria and for young people across the continent.

“This award gives me hope,” he said. “It shows that people see our work and that it matters.”

The Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, known as the Commonwealth Youth Awards, is a flagship project of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which has supported youth development for over 50 years. The Secretariat’s Head of Social Policy Development, Layne Robinson, underscored the importance of highlighting the work of young leaders like Stanley and empowering them to do more.

He said, “These awards enable us to learn more about the work being done by young people across the Commonwealth and offers us an opportunity to support them tangibly.  By amplifying their work, the awards help them become beacons to others and contribute to building the next generation of leaders”.

Lighting Up Communities

Stanley grew up in Onitsha, a bustling town in southeastern Nigeria. Like many homes in the country, his family did not have reliable electricity. Power cuts were frequent. Sometimes, they had electricity for only a few hours in an entire week. He often had to study using candles or kerosene lamps.

These struggles sparked his curiosity about how electricity worked. He became interested in finding solutions to the challenges around him. At the age of 15, he began building small inventions. He created robots and rockets using scraps and second-hand electronic components. He built simple tools to help with tasks at home and even started a science club in school.

After secondary school, Stanley moved to Morocco for university. While there, he founded a start-up which aimed to turn orange peels into energy. The project failed, but it taught him valuable lessons.

“I made a lot of mistakes because I did not understand business well,” he said. “But I learnt a lot from it.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Stanley returned to Nigeria. He wanted to create something useful that could help poor communities. That’s how LightEd started. His innovation is helping to address Nigeria’s electricity problem. According to the World Bank, 85 million Nigerians do not have access to electricity from the national grid. This means about 43% of the population lives without regular power, making Nigeria the country with the highest number of people without electricity.

One of LightEd’s flagship projects is the construction of charging stations made from plastic and recycled waste, fitted with solar panels. People use them to charge phones, lamps, and small devices. In many of these areas, it is the only source of electricity available.

LightEd has trained over 6,000 students and recycled more than 20,000 kilograms of plastic. The company has also raised over 500,000 dollars from donors and partners to expand its work.

“Our goal is to make clean energy available to everyone,” said Stanley, who added that the company works closely with communities to create solutions tailored to their needs.

“The solutions we provide are community-led. Each community has different needs. We begin by asking questions like: where should the station be built? What is their energy need? What does the community require? We also add artwork to the stations, designed to reflect what the community feels the station represents. When we work with an artist, we hold a workshop and collect input from the people. We also work with them to decide how the station will be managed. Once it is built, we hand it over to the community.”

Helping Displaced People

Stanley’s interest in helping displaced people began while he was in Morocco. He joined a volunteer group that visited families living in the Atlas Mountains. Many had been displaced and lacked access to electricity and clean water.

LightEd has set up solar charging stations in two big camps for displaced people in Nigeria. They also provided solar lights and lamps, making it easier and safer for people to move around at night, especially women and children.

“I want kids in refugee camps to be able to study at night. Before, everywhere used to be dark, and when you put in streetlights, it lights up the surroundings and creates a sense of safety, and also supports their mental health. I think when you’re living in a dark environment, and you’re already in an inhospitable situation, having proper lighting helps give you a sense of security. That contributes to an overall stronger feeling of safety. Aside from that, it also helps reduce costs, such as the money spent on things like kerosene or candles, because all you need to do is go and charge your lamp or other device. It also reduces the negative health effects from the smoke and fumes people inhale when using traditional lighting solutions,” Stanley said.

Looking Ahead

Stanley’s journey has not been without challenges. In the early days, one of the biggest obstacles was the lack of clear guidance on how to start an organisation in Nigeria, including navigating registration, documentation, and taxes. Today, his main challenge is scaling. While funding is important, Stanley says the harder task is finding the right strategies and structures to expand into new regions and countries.

But for Stanley, none of this is a reason to give up. He is now working on building charging stations that also double as spaces for peace dialogue.

“I am working with the Commonwealth Peace Prize winners, who are also Nigerians. We are discussing building a charging station that can serve as a space for intergenerational and interreligious dialogue. In Nigeria, where there are many religious conflicts, I believe it is a good idea to use access to energy as a way to bring people of different faiths together to talk and understand each other,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
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Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime addresses the high-level debate of the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 27 2025 (IPS)

Since 1989, the United Nations (UN) has recognized June 26 as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in an effort to raise awareness around the global drug problem and foster a more compassionate world, free of drug abuse. Through this year’s campaign, “Break the Cycle. #StopOrganizedCrime”, the UN underscores the importance of addressing the root causes of global drug abuse and illegal drug trading, and investing in reliable systems that prioritize prevention, education, and health.

Concurrently, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its annual World Drug Report, in which it analyzed the current trends in global drug abuse amid a “new era of global instability”. In the report, UNODC emphasizes the wide ranging implications of drug use on the economy, the environment, global security, and human society.

According to the report, roughly 316 million people used drugs (excluding tobacco and alcohol) around the world in 2023. UNODC also estimates that nearly half a million people around the world die annually as a result of drug use disorders, indicating a “global health crisis”. Roughly 28 million years of life are lost annually from disabilities and premature deaths due to addiction. Furthermore, there is an overwhelming lack of healthcare and education resources for individuals with drug use disorders, as only one in twelve people are estimated to have received treatment in 2023.

Cocaine has been described as the world’s fastest growing illicit drug in terms of global usage, production, and seizures. In 2023, approximately 3,708 tons of cocaine were produced, marking a 34 percent increase from the previous year. Roughly 2,275 tons were seized in 2023, a 68 percent increase from 2019’s figures. Additionally, global usage of cocaine has inflated to 25 million users in 2023.

As nations began to implement harsher crackdowns on drug production, the use and transportation of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, has reached record-highs, accounting for nearly half of all global drug seizures. Drug trafficking groups have found ways to chemically conceal these drugs, making distribution much easier.

UNODC Executive Director Ghada Fathi Waly states that organized drug trafficking groups around the world continue to exploit global crises, disproportionately targeting the most vulnerable communities. With worldwide synthetic drug consumption having surged in recent years, the UNODC forecasts that civilians displaced by armed conflicts face heightened risks of drug abuse and addiction.

Although the cocaine market was once contained in Latin America, trade has extended through to Asia, Africa, and Western Europe, with Western Balkans having greater shares in the market. This is a testament to the influence of organized crime groups in areas facing instability, natural disasters, and economic challenges.

According to the report, since the end of the Assad regime in Syria and the subsequent political transition, nationwide use of fenethylline — also known as captagon, a cheap, synthetic stimulant — has soared. Although the transitional government of Syria has stated that there is zero tolerance for captagon trade and consumption, UNODC warns that Syria will remain a significant hub for drug production.

Angela Me, the Chief of Research and Analysis at UNODC, states that captagon use in the Arabian peninsula was spurred by regional violence, with members of terrorist organizations using it on battlefields to stay alert. Due to its highly addictive properties, as well as its severe impacts on physical and mental health, the drug has seen widespread consumption over the past several years.

“These groups have been managing Captagon for a long time, and production is not going to stop in a matter of days or weeks,” said Me. “We see a lot of large shipments going from Syria through, for example, Jordan. There are probably still stocks of the substance being shipped out, but we’re looking at where the production may be shifting to. We’re also seeing that the trafficking is expanding regionally, and we’ve discovered labs in Libya.”

Global drug trafficking is estimated to generate billions of dollars per year. National budgets to combat drug trafficking, in terms of law enforcement and prosecution, cost governments millions to billions annually as well. Healthcare systems, which are often underfunded for addiction-related treatments, are overwhelmed by the vast scale of needs. Furthermore, damages related to theft, vandalism, violence, and lost productivity in the workplace have significant impacts on gross domestic products.

Additionally, increased rates of deforestation and pollution are linked with global drug cultivation. Additional adverse environmental impacts include ecosystem damage from drug waste, which yields notable costs in environmental restoration efforts.

It is imperative for governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders to invest in programs that disrupt illicit drug trafficking groups and promote increased security, especially along borders, which are critical hubs for transporting concealed substances. Furthermore, cooperation at an international level is instrumental for the transfer of information and promoting a joint and multifaceted approach.

“We must invest in prevention and address the root causes of the drug trade at every point of the illicit supply chain. And we must strengthen responses, by leveraging technology, strengthening cross-border cooperation, providing alternative livelihoods, and taking judicial action that targets key actors driving these networks,” said Waly. “Through a comprehensive, coordinated approach, we can dismantle criminal organizations, bolster global security, and protect our communities.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

By Naïma Abdellaoui
GENEVA, Jun 27 2025 (IPS)

In an era defined by the gig economy and pervasive job insecurity, advocating for permanent contracts within the United Nations might seem anachronistic, even counterintuitive.

Yet, clinging to a culture of short-term, precarious contracts is not just detrimental to staff well-being; it’s a strategic and financial misstep that undermines the UN’s core mission.

Simultaneously, while internal restructuring under the banner of “UN 2.0” or “UN80” absorbs significant energy, the world burns with geopolitical fires demanding urgent, credible multilateral action. It’s time to re-focus: prioritize quality hires with stability AND make multilateralism genuinely effective, starting where it matters most – preventing mass atrocities.

The False Economy of Job Insecurity

The argument for limiting permanent contracts often hinges on perceived flexibility and cost savings. However, the reality is starkly different:

1. The High Cost of Turnover: Constantly recruiting, onboarding, and training staff for short-term roles is immensely expensive. Studies consistently show replacing an employee can cost 50-200% of their annual salary. For complex UN roles requiring deep institutional knowledge, context-specific understanding, and intricate diplomatic networks, these costs are amplified exponentially. Permanent staff represent a long-term investment whose value compounds over time.

2. Loss of Institutional Memory & Expertise: The UN tackles the world’s most complex challenges – climate change, pandemics, conflict resolution. Success requires deep historical understanding, nuanced relationships, and specialized expertise. A revolving door of staff erodes this vital institutional memory. Permanent contracts foster the accumulation and retention of irreplaceable knowledge critical for navigating protracted crises.

3. Diminished Loyalty & Engagement: Job insecurity breeds anxiety and disengagement. Staff on short-term contracts, constantly worried about renewal, are less likely to invest fully in long-term projects, challenge inefficient practices, or build the deep cross-departmental collaborations essential for UN effectiveness. Permanent status fosters commitment, psychological safety, and the courage to speak truth to power – vital assets for any organization, especially this one.

4. Quality Over Contract Length: The focus should shift decisively from “how long”someone is hired to “how well” they are selected and perform. Rigorous recruitment processes aimed at securing the best talent, coupled with robust performance management and accountability mechanisms, are the true guarantors of efficiency and effectiveness.

Permanent contracts for highly qualified, competitively selected, high-performing staff provide the stability needed for excellence, not complacency. It’s penny-wise and pound-foolish to sacrifice long-term capability for illusory short-term budget flexibility.

UN80 Reforms: A Distraction from Existential Challenges?

While streamlining processes and modernizing tools under initiatives like UN80 has merit, it risks becoming a consuming internal exercise that diverts attention from the UN’s fundamental crisis: the erosion of effective multilateralism in the face of escalating global turmoil.

The world confronts a resurgence of conflict, climate catastrophe accelerating faster than responses, democratic backsliding, and a fragmenting international order. Yet, the UN Security Council, the body charged with maintaining peace and security, remains paralyzed by the very tool meant to ensure great power buy-in: the veto.

The ghost of the League of Nations haunts us – an institution fatally weakened by its inability to act decisively against aggression because powerful members could simply block consensus.

Reform Must Prioritize Action, Especially Against Genocide

True UN reform cannot be confined to internal restructuring. It must courageously address the structural flaws that prevent the organization from fulfilling its primary mandate:

1. Veto Restraint on Atrocity Crimes: The most urgent starting point is suspending the use of the veto in Security Council resolutions aimed at preventing or stopping genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

When a permanent member wields its veto to shield perpetrators of these most heinous crimes, it betrays the UN’s foundational purpose and renders collective security a mockery. This specific, targeted reform is not about abolishing the veto wholesale but about preventing its most morally indefensible application. It is a litmus test for the credibility of UN reform.

2. Effectiveness Over Bureaucracy: Reforms must demonstrably enhance the UN’s ability to deliver tangible results on the ground – mediating conflicts effectively, delivering humanitarian aid unhindered, holding human rights abusers accountable, and implementing climate agreements with urgency. This requires empowering agencies, improving coordination, and ensuring mandates are matched with resources and political backing.

3. Reinvigorating Multilateralism: The UN must become a platform that fosters genuine dialogue and compromise, not just a stage for grandstanding. Reform should seek ways to better integrate emerging powers, strengthen the role of the General Assembly where feasible, and rebuild trust among member states around shared principles of the Charter.

Conclusion

Advocating for permanent contracts is not a retreat into comfort; it’s a strategic investment in the UN’s human capital – the bedrock of its effectiveness. It fosters the expertise, loyalty, and long-term perspective needed to tackle generational challenges.

Simultaneously, obsessing over internal restructuring while the mechanisms for global peace and security remain fundamentally broken is a dangerous distraction.

The UN was born from the ashes of catastrophic failure. Its reformers must have the courage to confront the structural impediments – including the unchecked veto enabling atrocity and the erosion of staff stability – that threaten to lead it down the same path.

Let’s prioritize permanent expertise and permanent purpose. The world, beset by crisis, demands nothing less than a United Nations capable of fulfilling its promise.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Naïma Abdellaoui, Concerned International Civil Servant and Staff Representative. Member of the Executive Bureau of UNOG Staff Union

By CIVICUS
Jun 27 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses autonomous weapons systems and the campaign for regulation with Nicole van Rooijen, Executive Director of Stop Killer Robots, a global civil society coalition of over 270 organisations that campaigns for a new international treaty on autonomous weapons systems.

Nicole van Rooijen

In May, United Nations (UN) member states convened in New York for the first time to confront the challenge of regulating autonomous weapons systems, which can select and engage targets without human intervention. These ‘killer robots’ pose unprecedented ethical, humanitarian and legal risks, and civil society warns they could trigger a global arms race while undermining international law. With weapons that have some autonomy already deployed in conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has set a 2026 deadline for a legally binding treaty.

What are autonomous weapons systems and why do they pose unprecedented challenges?

Autonomous weapons systems, or ‘killer robots’, are weapons that, once activated by a human, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. These systems make independent decisions – without the intervention of a human operator – about when, how, where and against whom to use force, processing sensor data or following pre-programmed ‘target profiles’. Rather than using the term ‘lethal autonomous weapons systems’, our campaign refers to ‘autonomous weapons systems’ to emphasise that any such system, lethal or not, can inflict serious harm.

The implications are staggering. These weapons could operate across all domains – air, land, sea and space – during armed conflicts and law enforcement or border control operations. They raise numerous ethical, humanitarian, legal and security concerns.

The most troubling variant involves anti-personnel systems triggered by human presence or individuals or groups who meet pre-programmed target profiles. By reducing people to data points for algorithmic targeting, these weapons are dehumanising. They strip away our inherent rights and dignity, dramatically increasing the risk of unjust harm or death. No machine, computer or algorithm can recognise a human as a human being, nor respect humans as inherent bearers of rights and dignity. Autonomous weapons cannot comprehend what it means to be in a state of war, much less what it means to have – or to end – a human life. Enabling machines to make life and death decisions is morally unjustifiable.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has noted it is ‘difficult to envisage’ scenarios where autonomous weapons wouldn’t pose significant risks of violating international humanitarian law, given the inevitable presence of civilians and non-combatants in conflict zones.

Currently, no international law governs these weapons’ development or use. As the technology advances rapidly, this legal vacuum creates a dangerous environment where autonomous weapons could be deployed in ways that violate existing international law while escalating conflicts, enabling unaccountable violence and harming civilians. This is what prompted the UN Secretary-General and the ICRC president to jointly call for urgent negotiations on a legally binding international instrument on autonomous weapons systems by 2026.

How have recent consultations advanced the regulatory agenda?

The informal consultations held in New York in May, mandated by UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 79/62, focused on issues raised in the UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report on autonomous weapons systems. They sought to broaden awareness among the diplomatic community and complement the work around the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), emphasising risks that extend far beyond international humanitarian law.

The UNGA offers a crucial advantage: universal participation. Unlike the CCW process in Geneva, it includes all states. This is particularly important for global south states, many of which are not a party to the CCW.

Over two days, states and civil society explored human rights implications, humanitarian consequences, ethical dilemmas, technological risks and security threats. Rich discussions emerged around regional dynamics and practical scenarios, examining how these weapons might be used in policing, border control and by non-state actors or criminal groups. While time constraints prevented exhaustive exploration of all issues, the breadth of engagement was unprecedented.

The Stop Killer Robots campaign found these consultations energising and strategically valuable. They demonstrated how UN processes in Geneva and New York can reinforce each other: while one forum provides detailed technical groundwork, particularly in developing treaty language, the other fosters inclusive political leadership and momentum. Both forums should work in tandem to maximise global efforts to achieve an international legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

What explains the global divide on regulation?

The vast majority of states support a legally binding treaty on autonomous weapons systems, favouring a two-tier approach that combines prohibitions with positive obligations.

However, roughly a dozen states oppose any form of regulation. Among them are some of the world’s most heavily militarised states and the primary developers, producers and likely users of autonomous weapons systems. Their resistance likely stems from the desire to preserve military superiority and protect economic interests, and the belief in inflated claims about these weapons’ supposed benefits promoted by big tech and arms industries. Or perhaps they simply favour force over diplomacy.

Whatever their motivations, this opposition underscores the urgent need for the international community to reinforce a rules-based global order that prioritises dialogue, multilateralism and responsible governance over unchecked technological ambition.

How do geopolitical tensions and corporate influence complicate international regulation efforts?

It is undeniable that geopolitical tensions and corporate influence are challenging the development of regulations for emerging technologies.

A handful of powerful states are prioritising narrow military and economic advantages over collective security, undermining the multilateral cooperation that has traditionally governed arms control. Equally troubling is the expanding influence of the private sector, particularly large tech companies that operate largely outside established accountability frameworks while wielding significant sway over political leaders.

This dual pressure is undermining the international rules-based order precisely when we most need stronger multilateral governance. Without robust regulatory frameworks that can withstand these pressures, development of autonomous weapons risks accelerating unchecked, with profound implications for global security and human rights.

How is civil society shaping this debate and advocating for regulation?

Anticipating the challenges autonomous weapons systems would pose, leading human rights organisations and humanitarian disarmament experts founded the Stop Killer Robots campaign in 2012. Today, our coalition spans over 270 organisations across more than 70 countries, working at national, regional and global levels to build political support for legally binding regulation.

We’ve played a leading role in shaping global discourse by highlighting the wide-ranging risks these technologies pose and producing timely research on weapons systems evolution and shifting state positions.

Our multi-level strategy targets all decision-makers who can influence this agenda, at local, regional and global levels. It’s crucial that political leaders understand how autonomous weapons might be used in warfare and other contexts, enabling them to advocate effectively within their spheres of influence for the treaty we urgently need.

Public pressure is key to our approach. Recent years have seen growing weapons systems autonomy and military applications, particularly in ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, alongside rising use of technologies such as facial recognition in civilian contexts. Public concern about the dehumanising nature of these technologies and the lack of regulation has grown online and offline. We frame these concerns along the whole spectrum of automated harm, with autonomous weapons representing the extreme, and highlight the critical need to close the gap between innovation and regulation.

We also collaborate with experts from arms, military and technology sectors to bring real-world knowledge and credibility to our treaty advocacy. It is crucial to involve those who develop and deploy autonomous weapons to demonstrate the gravity of current circumstances and the urgent need for regulation.

We encourage people to take action by signing our petition, asking their local political representatives to sign our Parliamentary Pledge or just spreading the word about our campaign on social media. This ultimately puts pressure on diplomats and other decision-makers to advance the legal safeguards we desperately need.

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Credit: United Nations

By Stephanie Hodge
NEW YORK, Jun 27 2025 (IPS)

I’ve spent much of my life in the machinery of international development, navigating acronyms, crises, and committee rooms with stale coffee. Through it all—amid war zones, climate summits, and remote island consultations—one institution has remained constant: the United Nations.

Revered, ridiculed, relied upon.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the UN, in its current form, is not fit for purpose.

That’s not a call to abandon it. It’s a call to fix the house the world built before the roof collapses entirely. Because while the UN remains the only institution with near-universal legitimacy, its structures are badly outdated.

The world it was built for in 1945 no longer exists. Today’s threats—climate collapse, mass displacement, AI-driven inequality—demand a smarter, leaner, more inclusive United Nations. Reform is no longer a luxury. It’s an obligation.

So, how do we get there?

Start with Governance.

The Security Council is the UN’s most glaring anachronism. It reflects post-WWII power, not today’s multipolar reality. But full-scale reform has failed for decades. So let’s be pragmatic. Expand the Council to include regional permanent seats without veto, allowing Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and SIDS a permanent voice.

Introduce term-based rotation for new seats, and bind permanent members to veto restraint in the face of mass atrocities. These reforms won’t fix everything, but they’ll chip away at the legitimacy deficit.

Follow the Money.

One of the UN’s biggest problems isn’t policy—it’s how it’s funded. Over 70% of UN development work is paid for by earmarked, donor-driven funds, creating a patchwork of pet projects and weakened country ownership. The solution? Cap earmarked funding. Reinvest in core funding mechanisms.

Introduce a Global Solidarity Contribution—a small levy on air travel or financial transactions—to create independent funding for global public goods. Because right now, the people who suffer most from climate collapse or pandemics have the least say in how UN funds are spent.

Empower the Country Level.

Ask any government where the UN matters most, and the answer is the country office—not New York. Yet the UN Development System remains fragmented and turf-driven.

It’s time to give Resident Coordinators real authority across agencies, consolidate back-office functions, and scrap duplicative structures. One-UN should mean one plan, one budget, one voice. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.

Reclaim Technical Integrity.

The UN’s comparative advantage was never its bureaucracy. It was its expertise. But too often, technical roles are politicized or handed to parachuted consultants with little country context. We need a Global Technical Corps—a pool of deployable UN experts drawn from all regions, especially the Global South.

We need to enforce merit-based hiring and ensure at least 30% of senior posts go to nationals from least developed countries. Diversity shouldn’t be window dressing—it should drive decisions.

Make It Democratic.

The UN Charter begins with “We the peoples”—not “We the diplomats.” Yet citizens have little say in the institution that governs global rules. We need a UN Parliamentary Assembly—an advisory body elected or nominated by regional blocs.

We need to formally include civil society in decision-making and ensure transparency in how leaders are chosen and money is spent. If the UN doesn’t reflect people’s voices, it risks irrelevance.

These aren’t utopian dreams. They are strategic, staged, and long overdue reforms. Start small. Pilot in willing countries. Build coalitions across the Global South and reform-minded donors. Anchor reform in crisis moments, when political will opens a window for change.

Because the next time there’s a war the UN can’t stop, a climate emergency it’s too slow to respond to, or a famine it’s too bureaucratic to prevent—people won’t ask why the system failed. They’ll ask why we didn’t fix it when we had the chance.

The UN doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to work. For everyone.

Let’s get to work.

Stephanie Hodge is an international evaluator and former UN advisor who has worked across 140 countries. She writes on governance, multilateral reform, and climate equity.

IPS UN Bureau

 

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), housed at the historic Palais des Nations, is the second largest United Nations centre after the UN Headquarters in New York. The facility, an outstanding testimony to twentieth century architecture, is situated in the Ariana Park in Geneva, Switzerland.

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

In the US, the success of a business enterprise or the value of real estate is reflected in a repetitive and alliterative phrase: “LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION”.

As the UN continues its plans for system-wide restructuring– amidst a growing liquidity crisis– one of the key issues on the negotiating table is the re-location of UN agencies: a choice between high-cost and low-cost duty stations.

The two major UN locations, New York and Geneva, are described as “among the most expensive cities in the world”, making it challenging for the UN to operate within its current budget.

Besides the UN headquarters, New York city is also home to several UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

The city of Geneva, considered “a hub for global diplomacy”, is hosting more than 40 international organisations and UN agencies, including the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), among others.

Reacting to a possible partial UN pullout from Geneva, the Swiss Government last week announced “a generous financial package of support to the United Nations presence in Geneva.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is “very much appreciative of the Swiss Federal Council for this decision”. The United Nations is determined to continue working in partnership with Switzerland to advance the cause of multilateralism.

“Our presence in Geneva remains an integral part of the UN system. The Swiss support is crucial for this continued endeavour”, said Guterres.

According to a report from Reuters, Switzerland will spend 269 million Swiss francs ($329.37 million) to support Geneva as a hub for international diplomacy.

The 269 million francs covers the period from 2025 to 2029, with the government requesting a credit of 130.4 million francs from parliament later this year, a 5% increase from the previous period. The government has already approved 21.5 million francs for urgent measures to help Geneva-based organisations.

Asked for his comments, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters: “You know, we see it as an act of generosity on the part of the Swiss Federal Government to support the United Nations’ work in Geneva. The UN’s presence in Geneva is critical. It is also historical, and we very much welcome the efforts of the Swiss Government in that regard.”

Somar Wijayadasa, formerly Director and Representative of UNAIDS at the United Nations in New York (1995-2000), told IPS “It is a generous move– but to dole out about $60 million extra each year is “peanuts” for the Swiss Govt. considering the billions of dollars that the 40 UN Agencies in Geneva contribute annually to its coffers.”

In the “UN80” initiative to audit and merge overlapping bureaucracies across all UN agencies, it can move some programs to more affordable locations around the world.

A good example, he said, is the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) that was created in 1995, in the height of the AIDS pandemic (with 3.3 million people with HIV and almost a million died) has successfully curtailed the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic – from a death sentence to a manageable disease with proven treatments.

“UNAIDS can be easily re-merged with WHO, and located in countries in the Global South – with lower operational costs – where the burden of behavioral transmission challenges of HIV/AIDS remain highest. A leaner, regional, behavior-focused program could maintain awareness, and continue essential work without the legacy overhead.”

Another example, he pointed out, is the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in New York and its branch in Geneva. The UN cannot, or has failed, to disarm or reduce the annually-increasing military budgets of the US, Russia, India or China.

For example, the UN finally adopted the now legally binding TPNW Treaty but which country has given up its nuclear weapons or stopped other countries’ urge to create a nuclear weapon to protect themselves from hegemonic warmongers?

In this modern age of communications, there are many bloated UN departments in costly New York and Geneva that can effectively, and cost efficiently, function from any developing country, declared Wijayadasa.

Meanwhile, as part the UN’s relocation plans, there are reports that the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women may be moved out of New York and relocated to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, described as the fourth-largest UN headquarters and the only one in the Global South.

Currently Nairobi serves as the global headquarters for UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and UN-Habitat. Besides these, several other UN agencies have offices in Nairobi, including UNICEF, UNDP, FAO, UNIDO, UNODC, UNV, and WHO.

But Kenya is currently embroiled in a political crisis. If the turmoil continues, the UN may have second thoughts on relocating more of its offices in Nairobi.

A New York Times report June 26 and titled “Kenyans Battle the Police a Year After Deadly Tax Protests” says at least 8 people were killed and hundreds injured amid nation-wide protests “laid bare the anger at President William Ruto’s government”

On June 26, the UN Human Rights Office said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of several deaths of protesters and many more injuries – of protesters and police officers – during demonstrations in Kenya on Wednesday.”

“We are concerned by reports that some protesters had gunshot wounds. Under international human rights law, lethal force by law enforcement officers, such as firearms, should only be used when strictly necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury from an imminent threat.”

Asked about the death toll and injuries in Nairobi, Dujarric told reporters June 26 said: “We’re obviously concerned about the violence that we’ve seen in Kenya. We’re closely monitoring the situation, very saddened by the loss of life”

“We look forward to an independent and transparent investigation. And it bears reminding that under international law, under human rights law, lethal force by law enforcement such as firearms should only be used when strictly necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury of an imminent threat,” declared Dujarric.

Additionally, some of the other European countries hosting UN agencies include:

• Austria: Vienna hosts the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
• Netherlands: The Hague is the seat of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), one of the principal organs of the UN.
• France: Paris hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• Italy: Rome is home to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Brindisi hosts the UN Global Service Centre (UNGSC), including the UN Humanitarian Response Depot.
• Germany: Bonn hosts several UN organizations, including the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program, and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
• Denmark: Copenhagen houses the headquarters of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
• United Kingdom: London is home to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
• Spain: Madrid hosts the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism).
• Belgium: Brussels hosts the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC), a Regional Office for Europe of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and a Liaison Office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Besides Nairobi, the UN is also exploring three other possible relocation sites: Doha, Qatar Kigali, Rwanda and Valencia, Spain.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Community orchard in Ribeirão, a neighbourhood in Florianopolis, the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. There are more than 150 such orchards in the city, which serve as a final destination for the compost produced from their organic waste. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

By Mario Osava
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

Living with her neighbours, getting to know them and chatting with them is what Lucila Neves enjoys most in the community orchard of Portal de Ribeirão, a neighbourhood in the south of Florianopolis, considered the most sustainable of Brazil’s 27 state capitals.

The biodegradable packaging entrepreneur chose to live in the capital of the southern state of Santa Catarina, where she came from Ribeirão Preto, 950 kilometres to the north.

She is one of the people who voluntarily take care of the huge variety of vegetables, medicinal plants and fruit trees planted on about 1000 square metres.

The neighbourhood’s residents accepted the planting started 15 months ago, because it cleaned up the area where a private company used to compost organic waste for the municipality, without the necessary care.

Gone are the mice, mosquitoes, cockroaches and the bad smell that had infested the place, said biologist Bruna do Nascimento Koti, a primary school teacher and permanent volunteer in the garden, where she was together with Neves on the day IPS visited the space.

Now the state-owned Capital Improvement Company (Comcap) also makes clean compost there, with organic waste collected by the population in closed plastic buckets distributed by the Florianopolis city government.

In addition to providing inexpensive and healthy vegetables without agrochemicals, the orchard promotes conviviality, with a Thursday tea gathering and sometimes collective cultivation on Saturdays, Koti said.

Bruna do Nascimento Koti is one of the volunteers who tends the garden at Portal de Ribeirão, in the south of the Brazilian city of Florianopolis, where community life is promoted and healthy food is provided to neighbours and volunteer gardeners. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

The Florianopolis municipality has chosen composting and recycling as the main alternatives for managing the solid waste generated by the city’s 537 000 people, to which many tourists and seasonal residents are added during the southern summer.

It is estimated that of the 700 tonnes of daily waste, 43% is dry recyclable waste and 35% organic waste, the use of which is to be increased in order to reduce the proportion of waste destined for landfill. There is 22% of non-recyclable waste left over.

Currently only 13% of the total is recycled, while the remaining 87% goes to the landfill in the neighbouring municipality of Biguaçu, 45 kilometres from Florianopolis, which receives waste from 23 cities, Karina de Souza, director of solid waste at the Florianopolis Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development, told IPS.

But official statistics point to significant progress. Food waste used in composting increased more than four times, from 1175 tonnes in 2020 to 5126 tonnes in 2024, according to Souza’s records.

Green organics, as waste from tree pruning and other vegetation is called, more than doubled during that period. Glass also increased by a factor of 2.5 and materials that arrive mixed and go through separation before recycling almost quadrupled.

The ‘Zero Waste’ programme adopted by the mayor’s office in 2018 sets a target of recycling 60% of dry waste and 90% of organic waste by 2030, a goal that seems far off.

Waste already separated for recycling, in this case glass. Tyres, plastics and cardboard are other materials collected for recycling at the Waste Recovery Centre near the city centre of Florianopolis in southern Brazil. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Waste has value

The Comcap Waste Recovery Centre, located in the Itacorubi neighbourhood, near the city centre and next to the Botanical Garden, is at the heart of the municipal policy to solve the waste challenge.

It concentrates the city’s large composting yard, a central facility for separating recyclable waste and another for transferring disposable waste and compacting it into larger trucks for transport to the landfill.

It also includes a Waste Museum, especially for environmental education, and an ecopoint where residents deposit their recyclable waste, such as wood, electronics, paper, plastics and glass.

There are nine ecopoints distributed throughout the city, which receive around 11 000 tonnes of recyclable waste per year for sorting and handling.

This waste, also collected from other sources, is transferred to warehouses where glass, packaging cartons, corrugated paper, plastics and tyres are collected separately for recycling. But they arrive mixed with rubbish and have to go through human separation and sorting, called triage.

This is the area of the Association of Collectors of Recyclable Material, which, hired by Comcap, separates the waste for the buyers, generally the recycling industry.

Of the 75 members, about 40% are immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, but also Peruvians, Haitians and Colombians, according to Volmir dos Santos, the association’s president, during IPS’ visit to the facility.

Founded in 1999, the group was initially made up of street waste collectors. With the advance of municipal management, selective collection in residences, industries and commerce, in addition to the ecopoints, they became ‘triadores’, those who separate, classify and sell the waste ready for recycling.

“We suffered prejudice, discrimination and shame, now we gain respect,” Dos Santos celebrated.

Two young Venezuelans who immigrated to Brazil and found employment at the Waste Valorisation Centre in Florianopolis. Haitian and Peruvian migrants also work at the facility. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

No incineration of waste

But the broad movement of recycling workers, from various associations and cooperatives, seeks to influence municipal plans. It opposes, for example, the burning of non-recyclable waste for energy generation, an alternative that is growing among industrial countries.

There are at least 3035 solid waste combustion plants in the world, known as Waste-to-Energy, said Yuri Schmitke, president of the Brazilian Association of Energy from Waste (Abren), which brings together 28 companies in the sector.

It is the way to achieve the goal of ‘zero waste’ or the elimination of landfills, since recycling has limits –there is always a percentage that cannot be reused and incineration replaces fossil fuels, he argued.

Countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Nordic European nations have managed to use 100% of their waste, he said, by eliminating these landfills or final solid waste deposits.

Restrictions and allegations of environmental and even sanitary damage have been dispelled in several European countries, Japan and Korea, with the implementation of these plants even in central parts of large cities, without such negative effects, he pointed out.

Paris already has three of them in its so-called extended city centre, where the population density reaches 15 000 people per square kilometre, he said.

“Incineration puts an end to the cycle, it excludes recycling definitively, and Brazil is very different from Europe, it has already had failed experiences,” countered Dorival Rodrigues dos Santos, president of the Federation of Associations and Cooperatives of Waste Pickers of Santa Catarina, which claims to represent 28,000 workers.

It calls for a broad debate between technicians and collectors on the subject, given that this alternative is beginning to gain followers in Brazil. The municipality of Joinville, with 616 000 inhabitants and 170 kilometres from Florianopolis, has plans to install a plant to generate electricity by burning waste.

Florianopolis is looking to send non-recyclable waste to the cement industry, which is interested in using it as fuel instead of fossil fuels, said De Souza, Florianopolis’ director of solid waste.

Aparecida Napoleão leads a waste collection movement in her building, an example of the benefits of separating and recycling different materials in the southern Brazilian city of Florianopolis. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Recycling first

“We defend the primacy of recycling over incineration. The goal is to improve recycling, we have not exhausted the advances,” according to Karolina Zimmermann, the engineer who works with the collectors.

Progress in recycling depends not only on new technologies, such as those that separate mixed or even melted materials, dyes and chemical elements in plastics or paperboard. The environmental education of consumers in order to separate waste is key to increase reuse.

Aparecida Napoleão is an example of how recycling monitoring has taken hold. In her building of 126 luxury flats, she spearheads a movement to separate all waste, from the small glass containers she sends to artisanal jelly producers to special papers that can be turned into notebooks, plastics and even bottle caps.

A retired social worker from the Florianopolis municipality, she has organised a chain of shelves and bins on the ground floor of the building for dozens of different types of materials. She tries to guide her neighbours, but recognises that even so, there are always those who put rubbish in the wrong place.

“It’s a lot of work, you have to be patient, explain, ask repeatedly until they understand the importance of separation,” she says.

A family in Der Al Balah, in the Gaza Strip, who received clothing from UNICEF. Communities in the Gaza Strip were affected by the recent exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran, as well as the ceasefire announced on June 23. Credit: UNICEF/Mohammed Nateel

By Naomi Myint Breuer
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

The Trump administration announced on June 23 that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran had been reached following 10 days of conflict between the two nations and the United States’ bombardment of three nuclear sites in Iran. The establishment of the ceasefire will return focus back to the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations estimates that 610 Iranians and 28 Israelis were killed due to the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran. With the cessation of the conflict, the region can recover from these damages, as well as come closer to stability, peace and a chance to focus on their already existing humanitarian crises.

Amid fears of an escalating global conflict, humanitarian organizations expressed concern about the far-reaching humanitarian implications in regions such as Gaza and the West Bank, where conditions are already dire. With the ongoing blockade in Gaza, civilians are unable to acquire food, clean water, humanitarian aid, healthcare and fuel. These regions have also been subject to routine bombardment by Israel, and conditions worsened after some communities were impacted by the strikes between Israel and Iran, according to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).

“Nothing since WWII can equal it, with bombs deliberately targeting hospitals and civilians and UN agencies like the World Food Program and World Health Organization being blocked,” James E. Jennings, president of Conscience International and Executive Director of U.S. Academics for Peace, told IPS.

The 10 day conflict between Israel and Iran led to increased military raids, arrests, violence and damage to infrastructure. The period shifted focus away from Palestinians, reducing donations and advocacy.

The ceasefire and potential de-escalation of tensions between its neighbors should bring the international focus back to Palestine’s humanitarian crisis.

With Iran severely weakened, former New York University (NYU) international relations professor Dr. Alon Ben-Meir says the country will not be able to support its Axis of Resistance in the near future. He predicts Iran will attempt to come to an agreement with the U.S. in regard to its nuclear program. Israel, on the other hand, is now in a powerful position as it has diminished Hamas’, Hezbollah’s, and now Iran’s threat against them, according to Ben-Meir.

“Sadly, Israel’s triumphant assault on Iran may further embolden Netanyahu to try to attain his ‘total victory’ in Gaza, which, in my view, is elusive at best,” Ben-Meir said.

Israel seemed to confirm this prediction.

“Now the focus shifts back to Gaza—to bring the hostages home and to dismantle the Hamas regime,” Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military chief, said.

With Iran and Hamas temporarily out of the equation, Ben-Meir said Trump has a chance to demand an end to the conflict between Israel and Palestine and “to think in terms of changing the dynamic” of the conflict.

Ben-Meir said that only if Trump pushes for an end to the war can a resolution be reached. Yet, he said that while Netanyahu remains in power, it is unlikely that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end, which will still leave the region in an unstable state.

“Although this will not lead to a regional peace that would include all the players, it has created a more positive regional atmosphere,” he said.

Ben Meir also predicts that the cessation of tensions with Iran is unlikely to change the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“Netanyahu is riding high and will relent only if Trump tells him to stop using humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages,” he said.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on June 22 after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites. Following pushing for peace in the region, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres praised the ceasefire.

“I urge the two countries to respect it fully,” Guterres wrote on X. “The fighting must stop. The people of the two countries have already suffered too much.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the debate at the UN on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. The debate marked the 20th anniversary of its adoption at the 2005 World Summit. Credit: Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

United Nations member states this week reiterated their commitment to the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity—at a time when world powers are failing to meet these obligations.

On the 20th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, the UN held a Plenary Meeting to discuss the landmark commitment to the doctrine. Although many speakers praised the policy’s work on prevention capacity, members largely criticized the inconsistency and hypocrisy of states that have failed to adhere to the doctrine’s guidelines.

The representative from Slovenia criticized the Security Council permanent members’ veto power on issues addressing genocide and human rights violations, arguing that the veto slows the quick response needed for such issues when people’s dignity is threatened. She further suggested that there should be no veto power from Permanent Members in cases where R2P is involved.

This statement, although not explicitly, calls out the United States and the Russian Federation, the two Permanent Member states who have exercised their veto power in the past year—for the US, in regard to the Middle East and Palestine specifically, and for Russia, in regard to Sudan and South Sudan.

This critique is not new; the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) coalition of small and medium-sized states proposed a “Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes,” which, according to the R2P website, “calls upon all members of the Security Council (both permanent and elected) to not vote against any credible draft resolution intended to prevent or halt mass atrocities.” As of 2022, 121 member states and two observers have signed.

By reframing the protection of civilians from mass atrocities as a governmental duty and responsibility, R2P was created after inadequate responses to genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Although the initiative has been successful for mediating in regions like The Gambia and Kenya, as Secretary-General António Guterres noted in his report entitled “Responsibility to Protect: 20 years of commitment to principled and collective action,” R2P has failed to push the UN towards action in places like Syria or Myanmar, where veto deadlock prevented aid or policy change.

Another hindrance to R2P’s efficacy, as both Slovenia and a representative from Australia noted, is what the latter referred to as general impunity and lack of accountability for many states.

Criticizing sanctions and dismissal of international court rulings such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), this statement may have been in response to US sanctions towards four ICC judges after the court opened investigations concerning both the US and Israel’s military actions.

Neither nation recognizes the ICC’s authority, making them not subject to ICC rulings.

In a statement from the White House, President Donald Trump said, “The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”

Multiple representatives reaffirmed their respect for impartial judicial rulings and international courts and tribunals in the General Assembly meeting despite verbal and economic pushback from some of the most influential member states.

The R2P’s most glaring inconsistency between principle and implementation lies in the conflict in Gaza. The representative from Indonesia highlighted the genocide against Palestine as “the R2P’s most urgent test,” urging member states to revive the sanctity of international law and restore trust in the UN’s ability to enforce their policy. As trust in the UN has waned, many feel a growing pressure to re-legitimize the institution through their actions, particularly regarding crimes against humanity.

As one representative noted, “History will judge us all.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Living in Camp Roe in the Democratic Republic of Congo Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By Juliana White
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

The demand for cobalt and other minerals is fueling a decades-long humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In pursuit of money to support their families, Congolese laborers face abuse and life-threatening conditions working in unregulated mines.

Used in a variety of products ranging from vitamins to phone and car batteries, minerals are a necessity, making daily tasks run smoothly. The DRC is currently known as the world’s largest producer of cobalt, accounting for nearly 75 percent of global cobalt production. With such high demands for the mineral, unsafe and poorly regulated mining operations are widespread across the DRC.

The exploitation of workers is largely seen in informal, artisanal, small-scale mines, which account for 15 to 30 percent of the DRC’s cobalt production. Unlike large industrial mines with access to powerful machines, artisanal mine workers typically excavate by hand. They face toxic fumes, dust inhalation, and the risk of landslides and mines collapsing daily.

Aside from unpaid forced labor, artisanal small-scale mines can be a surprisingly good source of income for populations with limited education and qualifications. The International Peace Information Service (IPIS) reports that miners can make around 2.7 to 3.3 USD per day. In comparison, about 73 percent of the population in the DRC makes 1.90 USD or less per day. However, even with slightly higher incomes than most, miners still struggle to make ends meet.

Adult workers are not the only group facing labor abuse. Due to minimal regulations and governing by labor inspectors, artisanal mines commonly use child labor. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs reports that children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old are forced to work in mineral mines across the DRC.

“They are unremunerated and exploited, and the work is often fatal as the children are required to crawl into small holes dug into the earth,” said Hervé Diakiese Kyungu, a Congolese civil rights attorney.

Kyungu testified at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 14, 2022. The hearing was on the use of child labor in China-backed cobalt mines in the DRC. Kyungu also said that in many cases, children are forced into this work without any protection.

Children go into the mines “…using only their hands or rudimentary tools without protective equipment to extract cobalt and other minerals,” said Kyungu.

Despite the deadly humanitarian issue at hand, the solution to creating a more sustainable and safe work environment for miners is not simple. The DRC has a deep history of using forced labor for profit. Starting in the 1880s, Belgium’s King Leopold relied on forced labor by hundreds of ethnic communities across the Congo River Basin to cultivate and trade rubber, ivory and minerals.

While forced and unsafe conditions kill thousands each year, simply shutting down artisanal mining operations is not the solution. Mining can be a significant source of income for many Congolese living in poverty.

Armed groups also control many artisanal mining operations. These groups use profits acquired from mineral trading to fund weapons and fighters. It is estimated that for the past 20 years, the DRC has experienced violence from around 120 armed groups and security forces.

“The world’s economies, new technologies and climate change are all increasing demand for the rare minerals in the eastern Congo—and the world is letting criminal organisms steal and sell these minerals by brutalizing my people,” said Pétronille Vaweka during the 2023 U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) award ceremony.

Vaweka is a Congolese grandmother who has mediated peace accords in local wars.

“Africans and Americans can both gain by ending this criminality, which has been ignored too long,” said Vaweka.

One way to mitigate the crisis is through stricter laws and regulations. Many humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), strongly advocate for such change.

The UN has deployed a consistent stream of peacekeepers in the DRC since the country’s independence in 1960. Notable groups such as the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC) and the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) were established to ensure order and peace. MONUC later expanded in 2010 to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).

Alongside peace missions, the UN has made multiple initiatives to combat illegal mineral trading. They also created the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is dedicated to helping children in humanitarian crises.

The ILO has seen success through its long-standing project called the Global Accelerator Lab (GALAB). Its goal is to increase good practices and find new solutions to end child labor and forced labor worldwide. Their goal markers include innovation, strengthening workers’ voices, social protection and due diligence with transparency in supply chains.

One group they have set up to coordinate child protection is the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS). In 2024, the ILO reported that the program had registered over 6,200 children engaged in mining in the Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces.

Additionally, GALAB is working on training more labor and mining inspectors to monitor conditions and practices.

While continued support by various aid groups has significantly helped the ongoing situation in the DRC, more action is needed.

“This will require a partnership of Africans and Americans and those from other developed countries. But we have seen this kind of exploitation and war halted in Sierra Leone and Liberia—and the Africans played the leading role, with support from the international community,” Vaweka said. “We need an awakening of the world now to do the same in Congo. It will require the United Nations, the African Union, our neighboring countries. But the call to world action that can make it possible still depends on America as a leader.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

Delegates at AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, which focused on the ICPD Program of Action and 2030 Agenda. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

By Cecilia Russell
MALÉ & JOHANNESBURG, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

A meeting of parliamentarians in Malé, the Maldives, pledged to provide an enabling environment for emerging women leaders by supporting them and promoting a political culture rooted in mutual respect, inclusivity, and equal opportunity.

This was one of the main features of the Malé Declaration, agreed to by more than 40 participants from parliaments, governments, international organizations, NGOs, youth organizations, and academia across 15 countries during the AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, which focused on the ICPD Program of Action and 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, aiming to address youth and women empowerment.

The meeting was co-hosted by the People’s Majlis of the Maldives and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the Japan Trust Fund (JTF).

The lawmakers agreed to commission evidence-based research on barriers to women’s political participation. The research will “examine the social, cultural, economic, and institutional impediments to women’s pursuit of political office and leadership roles in the member states in Asia, including the Maldives,” the declaration said, with the outcomes serving as a foundation for targeted policy interventions and legislative reforms to enhance women’s political engagement.

Dr. Anara Naeem, MP, Huraa Constituency/Maldives

In an interview ahead of the meeting, Dr. Anara Naeem (MP, Huraa Constituency/Maldives) told IPS that advocating for women’s rights started when they were young and parliamentarians had an active role in ensuring that women are encouraged to become involved in the economy.

Reacting to a question on the UNFPA research, which shows that 40 percent of young women are not engaged in employment, education, or training (NEET), she noted many core challenges, including high youth unemployment despite free education up to a first university degree. The country, like others, had to deal with gender stereotypes that prioritized women’s domestic role over careers—and with social participation barriers, “stereotypes limit women’s public engagement.”

Policymakers, Naeem said, were focusing on addressing these using multiple strategies, including promoting postgraduate scholarships and vocational training (tourism, tech, and healthcare aligned with job markets), encouraging women into STEM and non-traditional fields via mentorship, and integrating leadership and career advancement programs to address the glass ceiling.

Parliamentarians were also looking at innovative ways to boost the public sector hiring of women and incentivize private sector partnerships through tax benefits, flexible work, and career progression pathways.

“We also host community dialogues (haa saaba) and engage religious leaders to shift mindsets,” Naeem said.

AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, held in Malé, Maldives. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

 

Speakers at the AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, held in Malé, Maldives. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

The Maldivian government was working to enforce gender equality laws (anti-discrimination, parental leave, and addressing the glass ceiling) and allocate a budget for childcare, job programs, and women’s grants, including the enforcement of paid maternity leave for up to six months and no-pay leave for a year in all government offices. It was also encouraging the private sector to do likewise.

However, the success of these plans requires “coordinated action across government, the private sector, NGOs, and communities to create relevant jobs, dismantle cultural barriers (including the glass ceiling), provide critical support (childcare, robust maternity leave), and enable flexible pathways for young women’s economic and social participation.”

Parliamentarians also committed to working with the relevant Maldivian authorities to undertake a thorough “review and enhancement of national school curriculum to align it with job matrix. This initiative shall integrate principles of gender equality, women’s rights, civic responsibility, leadership, and sustainable youth development, fostering transformative educational content to instill progressive values from an early age.”

Naeem said lawmakers were also playing a special role in addressing issues affecting the youth like drug use and mental health, where they were “combining legislative action, oversight, resource allocation, and public advocacy.”

This included updating drug laws to target traffickers, decriminalizing addiction, and prioritizing treatment. While parliamentarians were lobbying for increased funding for rehab centers and the training of psychologists and medication subsidies, they were using national media to create awareness and holding local dialogues.

“Our key focus in law reform includes better rehab frameworks, funding oversight, public awareness partnerships, building support systems, minimizing service delivery gaps, and reducing relapse—shifting towards prevention and recovery in the Maldivian context,” Naeem said.

Participants at the meeting recommitted themselves to working with all stakeholders to advance the ICPD PoA and achieve the 2030 Agenda and reaffirmed the 2024 Oslo Statement of Commitment.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

For streetside sellers of artificial jewelry and for recyclers toiling under the increasingly torrid temperatures caused by climate change, innovative insurance means not all is lost when their wares are ruined or it is too hot to work. But is this a panacea or an opportunity for the authorities to ignore their responsibilities to the poorest workers of India?

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran has reported no increase in radiation levels outside Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. After surprise US bombing raids on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities over the weekend, the head of the UN-backed nuclear watchdog on Monday appealed for immediate access to the targeted sites to assess the damage that is likely “very significant”. 23 June 2025. Credit: Dean Calma/IAEA

By James E. Jennings
ATLANTA, USA, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

Chest thumping “Mission Accomplished” claims by President Trump that he ordered the world’s biggest conventional bombs to be dropped on a sleeping nation of 90 million people, were premature. To top it off he bragged that Iran’s nuclear capacity was devastated and that the whole nation fired “not a single shot” back.

That rosy scenario was greatly tempered a couple of days later when the US Defense Intelligence Agency reported that Iran’s nuclear program was set back only a few months. And the New York Times listed the doppelganger effect of echoing the Bush Administration’s claim of “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq, when in fact years of struggle and loss followed.

The US withdrew from Iraq not with a bang but a whimper. Saddam Hussein never had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) as Bush alleged.

At least George W. Bush had the decency to wait awhile before making his widely mocked “Mission Accomplished” claim after invading Iraq, which proved to be ten years premature. The US attack on Iran on June 21 was based on the same kind of hallucinatory paranoia about a non-existent nuclear bomb threat as had fueled the Iraq War hysteria in Washington in 2003.

Both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the President’s own Director of National Intelligence denied that Iran has either a nuclear weapons program or enough high-grade uranium to produce a bomb.

Even the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Trump’s pal in Jerusalem, Bibi Netanyahu, admit that 60% enrichment is not 90%, the percentage required to make a bomb.

Administration advocates are therefore reduced to claiming that the US bombed Iran solely on “suspicious intentions,” which is exactly what the George W. Bush Administration used as a pretext to attack a practically defenseless Iraq in 2003.

A criminal charge based on a that claim would get the plaintiff tossed out, if not laughed out, of every courtroom in the United States.

The marvelously choreographed US stealth attack on Iran, long urged by Israel, was based on protecting not just Israel’s security, but its total domination of the Middle East with US backing. There are two things wrong with that policy. Neither a secure ally in Jerusalem nor a steady partner in Washington supports it.

Israel is a tiny country in a vast area and cannot hope to forever dominate the countries around it, as a glance at the map will demonstrate. The thin margin in the Israeli Knesset is sure to be unstable. Then too, American support is variable, depending on public attitudes, budget constraints, a volatile Congress, and events and political parties that change over time.

The main reason for the 2003-2011 war, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, was false. The claim of the G.W. Bush Administration that the US faced the threat of a “mushroom cloud” over Washington was a wild fantasy. Vice President Cheney went so far as to say that there is “no doubt” that Iraq already has WMD.

The idea that Iraq somehow supported the 9/11 attacks against the US was also untrue. None of the reasons given for the war were true—all were lies. The evidence was available and plain to see, but the war was started anyway.

The world was shocked when Israel went ahead and attacked Iran, presumably with a green light from Mr. Trump, only a few days before diplomatic talks were scheduled to begin. That deception is reminiscent of the deadly Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into WW II while diplomacy was being simultaneously offered in Washington.

The fact is that this war has been advocated and planned for decades by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu. If you use the WW II test for which side is guilty of blatant aggression, Hitler and his Axis allies in Tokyo or Roosevelt, you would say Hitler and Tojo.

Today the shoe is on the other foot. Israel and the United States, acting in concert, have indeed launched an illegal war of aggression (which defenders call “choice”) against Iran. No matter how many talking heads and newspapers cheer the attack, it was still illegal.

The UN charter has been breached and the American Constitution violated. What are US citizens going to do about it?

Violence cannot make friends, bring peace with 90 million Iranians whose sovereignty has been violated, or enable Israel to rule the Palestinian people. Their watchword is sumud, steadfast resistance.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

James E. Jennings, PhD is President of Conscience International

A bustling Kabul street near the unmarked stairway down to the women-only restaurant—located in a basement to ensure no women can be seen from outside, since they are barred from working or dining in public with men. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
KABUL, Jun 25 2025 (IPS)

It was a sunny winter day in Kabul. I decided to step out and take a stroll around my surroundings. With my long dress and hijab on, I left the house. Since I was not too far from home, I did not need the company of a Mahram, a male guard, by my side – a strict restriction placed on Afghan women by the Taliban.

Life in the city was bustling, children selling plastic bags by the roadside while ordinary people went about in various ways.

As I walked, my eyes caught a sign that indicated a restaurant for women only, serving a variety of local and national dishes. I was intrigued, given that in a city filled with numerous hotels and restaurants, mostly run by men, this particular one was operated by women catering to only women customers.

I decided to pursue further. The sign took me fifteen stairs deep into the basement of a building, where the women working in the restaurant could not be seen from outside.

 

From Home-Kitchen Hustle to Full-Blown Restaurant

I was met by a woman who friendly welcomed me. As I sat in the restaurant, memories of the past flooded my mind. I had visited restaurants with my family and friends prior to the Taliban takeover of our country. There used to be laughter, we shared meals and enjoyed each other’s company without fear or restriction.

We could sit together, converse openly, and enjoy life, free from the oppressive atmosphere that now defines our current situation. Those days were full of joy and possibility, and the memories are among the happiest I have ever had; now they feel like a distant, almost unreachable past.

A waitress snapped me back to the present as she took my order. I was curious to know how the women had managed to set up a workplace outside home in the heart of Kabul.

One of the proprietors who wanted to remain anonymous narrated the story: “My daughter and I were driven by unemployment and poverty into preparing delicious food at home and selling it online at low price”.

“The business gradually flourished, even though initially we made many mistakes”, said the young woman, a law degree holder, forced by the Taliban to abandon further studies.

After saving 800,000 Afghanis, and an additional 100,000 European Union support, they decided to start their own restaurant. The rented place has a fully equipped kitchen and a large hall for customers.

Inside the beautifully decorated walls, girls are busy preparing dough for bolani, a thin-crusted flat bread widely consumed in Afghanistan often filled with potatoes, leeks, grated pumpkin, or chives.

Due to the Taliban crack down on women outside home, the restaurant has become a lifeline to most of the women working there, who recently lost their jobs.

Among them is Wahida, a young girl who said she lost her job as an office worker. “It has been over three years since my colleagues and I lost our jobs with the arrival of the Taliban,” she said, adding, “I was left wondering what to do”.

But now with the opening of the women-only restaurant by the two enterprising women, she and ten of her colleagues, have had a salaried job for the past one month.

And that was precisely one of the motivations for Farhard and her mother opening the restaurant – creating jobs and providing financial independence for women who had been thrown out of jobs by the Taliban.

“Women’s work outside the home has brought great hope to the women working in our restaurant, because they can support their families with their salaries”, said Farhard.

“Besides that”, she continued, “a restaurant is a good source of income and reintroduces the culture of cooking authentic Afghan food for people in the most beautiful way possible”.

They are licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and their customer base is steadily increasing. The proprietors provide training in catering and service to applicants before hiring them.

 

Navigating the Tightrope of Taliban Rules

Ever since the Taliban burst onto the political scene four years ago with indiscriminate ban on women from working outside home, Afghan women are exploring income-generating business options. Tailoring and custom-made dressmaking are among the most common, while the restaurant sector also provides a viable alternative for many others.

This women-only restaurant can only operate because it strictly follows all Taliban rules. It’s located in a basement to ensure that no women can be seen from outside, as women are not allowed to work outside or eat in public with men.

They pay monthly taxes to the Taliban, all staff are women, and they follow hijab and other religious regulations set by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Yet in spite of the great lengths, which women take to generate incomes, the Taliban are still looming not far behind.

“Officials from the so-called Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice conduct weekly inspection visits to our restaurant,” complains Wahida.

The inspections, she says, “ensure that all the women are wearing their hijabs properly, with their faces covered, and dressed in the appropriate long dress, as the regulations demand”.

Apart from that, they thoroughly check the entire restaurant to ensure no men are working there, since women are strictly forbidden to work in the same place as men.

To the women working in the restaurant, these inspections are undoubtedly viewed as unnecessary harassment. They feel scrutinized and yet powerless to fight against it.

However, Wahida has a message for the brave Afghan women: “Don’t despair, find the small niches the private sector allows, and keep moving forward.”

 

 

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