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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking at the opening of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference. Credit: UNDESA

By Naureen Hossain
NICE, France, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

The world has converged along the Mediterranean Sea to affirm their commitments to the sustainable use and protection of the ocean.

June 9 marked the first day of the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which is being held in Nice, France. The overarching theme of this year’s conference is “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean,” which will see global stakeholders take urgent steps towards conserving the oceans, seas, and marine resources.

Over 50 heads of government and state, along with thousands of scientists, non-governmental organizations, business leaders, Indigenous people, and civil society groups, are participating in the conference.

In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to make “bold pledges” toward conserving the ocean.

“We must also strengthen maritime security as a pillar of sustainable development. And we must embed ocean priorities across climate, food systems, and sustainable finance.”

Guterres remarked on ongoing negotiations on global agreements, such as the World Trade Organization’s agreement on fisheries and the International Maritime Organization’s commitment to reach net zero emissions from shipping by 2050.

“This proves multilateralism works—but only if we match words with action. By developing concrete national plans aligned with global targets; by harnessing science, driving innovation, and ensuring fair access to technology; by empowering fishers, Indigenous peoples, and youth; and above all, by investing.”

This conference will focus on a range of concerns on ocean conservation and governance. The impacts of global warming and climate change have had dramatic effects on the ocean’s systems. Extreme heating has put greater pressure on the ocean’s food systems and ecosystems. The Blue Economy – the systems of trade and industry that rely on the oceans and seas – needs to be strengthened and more inclusive. Plastic pollution is a particularly pervasive issue, as over 23 million tons enter the ocean as waste.

President Emmanuel Macron of France remarked on the consensus that has made the conference possible as a “victory against indifference.” He noted, however, that this was a “fragile victory,” adding that it “requires rapid action, and we cannot afford to move backwards… we know what is at stake.”

“We need to revitalize multilateralism behind the UN Secretary General,” said Macron, adding, “the only way to meet that challenge is to mobilize all actors, heads of state and government speaking here, but also scientists.”

President Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica stated the Ocean Conference “must be remembered as the time when the world understood that looking after the ocean is not simply an option. Rather, it is a moral and economic issue, and indeed we need minimum protection.”

“Let’s leave behind this indifference. Let’s build together a new contract… so that nobody exploits anything on other people’s backs.”

Countries were encouraged to ratify the UN Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), which was first adopted in 2023. At present, fifty countries have committed to the BBNJ.

The conference is expected to see the adoption of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a set of outcomes based on an intergovernmentally negotiated political declaration and voluntary commitments from member states. This Action Plan is expected to include outcomes that will catalyze urgent, inclusive, and science-based actions to safeguard the ocean for generations to come.

The commitments made during the conference and beyond should be done with the consideration and perspective of developing countries, especially small-island developing states (SIDs). During the first plenary session, President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr. remarked that from the beginning, island nations have always been “the voice for the ocean” and have been at the forefront of global marine regulatory and development frameworks, including the BBNJ, which Palau was one of the first states to ratify.

“The ocean ecosystems don’t follow national boundaries… we need a governance framework that reflects that reality,” said Whipps.

Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, remarked that the world’s responsibility to the ocean is “not just environmental stewardship” but also a “fusion of traditional wisdom and modern science, where conservation is driven by community, not just compliance.”

“As a frontline [state], our call today is not of privilege or abundance, but of moral obligation and generational responsibility. We speak not from the comfort of distance but from immediacy of experience,” said Heine.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Related Articles

• Oceans at Risk: Report Warns Global Fossil Fuel Expansion Threatens Marine Biodiversity
• UNOC3: Bringing Ocean Education and Science to the Global Agenda
• Global Push to Protect Oceans Gains Momentum Ahead of UN Conference in Nice

By CIVICUS
Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other international organisations with Wisthon Noguera, an activist, student and deputy coordinator of the National Youth Platform of Nicaragua.

Wisthon Noguera

In May, the Nicaraguan government announced its withdrawal from UNESCO after the organisation awarded the World Press Freedom Prize to La Prensa, a Nicaraguan newspaper operating in exile. The regime branded the newspaper a traitor and accused it of inciting foreign interference. The government’s move comes as part of a systematic offensive against press freedom and means a further loss of international space for Nicaraguan civil society.

Why did Nicaragua withdraw from UNESCO?

This departure is the latest episode in a strategy of isolation that began in early 2025. The regime has systematically abandoned United Nations agencies that have questioned its rule. First came the Food and Agriculture Organization in February, after it ranked Nicaragua among the countries with the highest levels of hunger in the world. President Daniel Ortega denounced ‘interventionist tendencies’ and closed the agency’s offices.

This was followed by a symbolic withdrawal from the Human Rights Council after its experts recommended that the state be brought before the International Court of Justice for stripping over 450 people of their nationality. And in late February, Nicaragua also left the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration after receiving reform recommendations from them. This pattern repeated in May with the departure from UNESCO.

The logic is simple: the regime rejects any body that questions it, seeking to consolidate absolute control by eliminating all external oversight.

What does this decision reveal about the regime’s repressive strategy?

Its strategy of international isolation reinforces internal control, which intensified after the crackdown on 2018 protests. Since then, the regime has launched a relentless offensive against civil society organisations, independent media and universities.

Journalists have paid the highest price. Notable cases such as the murder of Ángel Gahona and the enforced disappearance of Fabiola Tercero illustrate the dangers of exercising freedom of expression. The result is devastating: 283 journalists have been forced into exile, media outlets such as La Prensa operate from abroad with enormous limitations, and a climate of fear and self-censorship now prevails within Nicaragua.

The education sector is also suffering the consequences. UNESCO’s departure weakens educational programmes just as the regime has expropriated universities, eliminated public funding and revoked the legal status of at least 37 educational institutions, including the emblematic Central American University.

Meanwhile, the regime has carried out constitutional changes to legalise authoritarianism, further weakening the separation of powers and closing the few remaining spaces for democratic participation. Its aim is to eliminate any form of internal or external oversight and silence all critical voices, including those resisting from exile.

Are other countries in the region on the same trajectory?

Nicaragua is part of a worrying regional authoritarian trend. In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele has also restricted civil society organisations through legislation such as the Foreign Agents Law, which imposes a 30 per cent tax on foreign donations. Both governments use similar strategies to restrict freedom of association and the funding of independent media and organisations.

They are even collaborating with US immigration policies for profit: while El Salvador negotiates the reception of deportees from the USA in exchange for funding for its prisons, Nicaragua receives them in secret. This underlines the urgent need to strengthen regional civil society networks and develop common strategies against authoritarianism.

How is Nicaraguan civil society resisting?

Repression has decimated civil society, but has not eliminated it entirely. Since 2018, over 5,600 organisations have been dissolved, resulting in the almost total dismantling of the national civic fabric. The few remaining organisations operate under strict state supervision and have no real autonomy.

Internal resistance is virtually non-existent due to the enormous risks involved, but the diaspora keeps international condemnation alive in exile. Exiled organisations document the consequences of authoritarianism and urge host governments to take stronger measures against the regime.

However, resistance requires more than declarations. Civil society needs effective protection mechanisms for at-risk activists and journalists, as well as sustainable funding to enable them to continue operating from exile. International commitment to democracy and human rights in Nicaragua must translate into tangible actions of solidarity that strengthen civic resistance, inside and outside the country.

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SEE ALSO
Nicaragua: ‘The regime counts on the disappearance of civil society, but people will always look for ways to organise themselves’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Amaru Ruiz 24.Feb.2025
Nicaragua: a dynasty in the making CIVICUS Lens 17.Feb.2025
135 political prisoners expelled from Nicaragua; closure of 1,500 CSOs within one month CIVICUS Monitor 15.Nov.2024

 

Credit: IMF Photo/Ebunoluwa Akinbo

By Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, Hamza Mighri and Can Sever
WASHINGTON DC, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

More than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lives in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS)—economies that face profound challenges such as stagnant economic growth, weak institutions, inadequate public services, extreme poverty, war, and forced internal displacement.

Some countries have transitioned out of extreme fragility by implementing sound macroeconomic policies, diversifying the economy, and strengthening institutions. However, as we explain in our analytical note in the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, recovering from the successive shocks of recent years is likely to be difficult for many FCS, faced with erratic growth, political instability, exposure to natural disasters, and heavy resource dependency.

Fragility carries a stark human cost. With strained budgets, vast development needs, and insufficient funding, fragile states in the region consistently rank at the bottom of global development indicators.

Life expectancy lingers at 60 years, poverty rates are twice as high as in non-FCS in the region, and elementary school completion rates remain among the lowest globally. If current trends continue, by 2030 two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor will live in fragile states, with sub-Saharan Africa at the epicenter.

Many fragile states struggle to sustain the bursts of faster growth needed to escape poverty. As the Chart of the Week shows, while non-FCS economies in sub-Saharan Africa managed to keep growing after the pandemic—albeit more slowly than previously forecast—fragile states in the region haven’t been able to regain lost ground, with inflation-adjusted income per person still, on average, below its 2019 level.

When FCS suffer a downturn, they lose revenue and have limited access to affordable financing, forcing them to cut expenditures more sharply than in non-FCS. This results in a relatively longer and deeper fiscal contraction, exacerbating the initial shock, as shown in a recent IMF working paper.

Fragility is more than a lack of institutional capability and armed conflict: it often reflects deeper political and economic forces that make recovery elusive. Restricted access to international financial markets, weaker institutions, and limited entrepreneurship in fragile states result in significantly smaller private sector contributions to the economy and fewer employment opportunities compared with other countries.

However, some fragile states have managed to break free by focusing on participatory governance, institutional reform, and economic diversification. Countries that curb corruption, strengthen institutions, and promote political participation are more likely to mitigate fragility, according to our analysis of past cases based on a machine learning approach.

Indeed, past lessons offer hope. After its 2002 civil war, Sierra Leone sought to prioritize rebuilding infrastructure and public services in education and health care, while Liberia, after four years of civil war ended in 2003, strengthened core institutions and reduced reliance on extractive industries. Both nations used pivotal moments to reset societal expectations, rebuild trust, and set a new course.

Employment and income

FCS in the region are simultaneously major sources of refugees and key hosts. Despite the acute challenges and constraints, several FCS (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, among others) have implemented innovative refugee policies, such as granting refugees free movement, work permits, and access to public services.

While these measures require up-front investments and administrative capacity, well-designed refugee integration strategies can boost employment and income for both the host country and the refugees.

The transition toward sustained growth and resilience is a long-term process requiring perseverance and adaptability, not a quick fix. No single policy guarantees success. Instead, states that focus on a package of measures to build inclusive institutions, maintain economic stability, and seize key opportunities for reform are far more likely to succeed.

In line with the Fund’s Strategy for Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS), our policy recommendations include:

• Restoring macroeconomic stability by strengthening fiscal institutions and improving public financial management.
• Rebuilding trust by improving governance and ensuring that revenues—particularly from natural resources—are managed responsibly.
• Creating opportunities for broader public engagement and ensuring a fairer allocation of resources to ultimately strengthen social unity and resilience.
• Forming long-term partnerships with international partners, including donors, can help support capacity building, financing social programs, and mitigating the impact of economic shocks— ensuring that fragility does not escalate into a global crisis.

This blog is based on an analytical note for the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa authored by Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, Vidhi Maheshwari, Hamza Mighri, Annalaura Sacco, and Can Sever.

For more, see the IMF’s strategy for fragile and conflict-affected states.

IPS UN Bureau

 

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

As the Trump administration continues its battle against the United Nations– over war crimes, human rights, and the climate treaty, among others — they also remain sharply divided over Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex. (LGBTI) rights.

The US has taken several actions, some by Executive Order, related to transgender people, including restricting Access to Gender-Affirming Care, banning Transgender Individuals from Military Service, rescinding Protections for Transgender Students and ending Federal Funding for gender Ideology.

But in contrast, the United Nations recognizes transgender people and their rights, affirming the human right of transgender individuals to legal recognition of their gender identity, including the right to change their gender on official documents like birth certificates.

The UN also works to protect transgender people from discrimination and violence, and advocates for their inclusion and equality.

As the campaign for a female UN secretary-general (UNSG) continues to accelerate, there was a proposal, circulating in the corridors of the UN last week, that a member state should be prompted to sponsor a token transgender candidate for UNSG.

Perhaps it may not be a political reality in the long run but it could well be a symbolical act of defiance against the Trump administration, one Asian diplomat told IPS.

Asked for her comments, Sanam Anderlini, founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network, told IPS: “We don’t have time for symbolism or gimmicks or performative issues. The UN is a serious matter, needing serious experienced leadership”.

In principle, the sex of the candidates or a nominee should not matter. It should be about their experience. “But we have seen that for 80 years, member states have persisted in selecting men,” she pointed out.

So, they have made female representation an issue.

“As I said before, we need a woman — we have plenty of extraordinary potential candidates. If there is a qualified transgender candidate, perhaps they’d like to throw their hat in the ring.”

But to suggest that a transgender candidate should be named ‘symbolically’ is, I believe, a denigration of the trans community, the UN and women., she declared.

According to a report in Cable News Network (CNN) last week, June is “Pride Month”, when the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities celebrate the freedom to be themselves.

“Yet, those who identify as LGBTQ — especially transgender people — are still fighting battles for the right to exist without prejudice.”

Fearing reprisals from right-wing customers and the Trump administration, 39% of consumer brands are scaling back their Pride Month engagements this year.

President Trump has threatened to cut funding for California because one transgender high school athlete participated in the state’s track and field championships over the weekend.

The Education Department has ordered the University of Pennsylvania to ban transgender athletes from participating on women’s teams. The Pentagon is forcing transgender service members to leave the military and has banned them from enlisting.

And the Department of Health and Human Services has told health care providers to stop providing gender-affirming care for minors, said CNN

Meanwhile, the US-UN conflicts include US withdrawals from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Human Rights Council (HRC), and threats against the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)—perhaps with more to come.

Dr James E. Jennings, President Conscience International, told IPS “tyrants, autocrats, and oligarchs are always the ones who want to take people’s rights away, preferring a stratified society with themselves on top to an egalitarian one”.

However, the founding documents of the United States proclaim the opposite–affirming liberty and justice for all and intended to promote the general welfare by protecting the individual rather than the state, he said.

“We are entitled to ask, “Which is it? Are human rights truly to be democratized or not?” If so, we can learn to manage our society equally by caring for each and every person in it”, he asked.

Even though issues of societal mores and human sexuality are difficult to put into a code of laws because attitudes and practices change over time, the law itself changes from generation to generation.

The principle of human freedom trumps Trump and his MAGA minions, declared Dr Jennings.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken several actions related to transgender people including:

• Treatment of Transgender Individuals in Federal Prisons: Policies have been put in place to treat transgender individuals in federal prisons according to their sex assigned at birth, potentially leading to harmful housing arrangements.
• Elimination of Gender from Federal Websites: Information related to “gender ideology” has been removed from federal websites, and the term “gender” has been replaced with “sex” in some instances.
• Denial of Passport Gender Markers: Requests for passports with gender markers other than male or female, and requests to change gender markers between male and female, are being denied.

But many of these policies have faced legal challenges, according to published reports.

• The Supreme Court has allowed the ban on transgender military service to take effect for now, but litigation is ongoing.
• The administration’s actions have drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates who argue that they are discriminatory and harmful.

According to the UN, LGBTQI+ people are discriminated against in the labour market, in schools and in hospitals, mistreated and disowned by their own families. They are singled out for physical attack – beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured and killed.

Discrimination and hate-motivated violence against LGBTQI+ people is widespread, brutal, and often perpetrated with impunity, and it is even worse for those belonging to racialized communities. They are also victims of torture and ill treatment, including in custody, clinics and hospitals.

In some 77 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships – exposing individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution, imprisonment — even, in at least five countries, the death penalty.

Since 2010, according to Outright International, transgender people in the United States have been able to change their gender markers on their passports.

In 2021, the US State Department aligned this policy with international best practices by removing requirements for physician certification to do so, and in 2022 it began offering the option of an “X” gender marker on passports for nonbinary people.

In reversing these policies, the Trump Administration undermines trans, nonbinary, and intersex people’s ability to have their gender identity recognized and respected, directly conflicting with the principles of self-determination and autonomy.

Requiring people to carry identity documents that do not reflect their gender expression also exposes them to an increased risk of violence and restricts their freedom of movement, a right protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The policy could pose an immediate risk to members of the armed services and other US government personnel who are currently deployed or working abroad on passports that reflect their gender identity, said Outright International.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-and-ending-funding-to-certain-united-nations-organizations-and-reviewing-united-states-support-to-all-international-organizations/

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

A report documents the impact of unchecked oil and gas projects in biologically rich and ecologically sensitive environments. Credit: Spencer Thomas

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SACRAMENTO, US & NEW DELHI, India:, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

A newly released report by Earth Insight in collaboration with 16 environmental organizations has sounded a global alarm on the unchecked expansion of offshore oil and gas projects into some of the most biologically rich and ecologically sensitive marine environments on the planet.

Titled Ocean Frontiers at Risk: Fossil Fuel Expansion Threats to Biodiversity Hotspots and Climate Stability, the report documents how 2.7 million square kilometers of ocean territory—an area nearly the size of India—has been opened to oil and gas exploration, much of it within or adjacent to protected areas and biodiversity hotspots.

The findings are based on a detailed spatial analysis of 11 case study regions, with data drawn from government ministries, investor briefings, and independent mapping efforts. The report was released ahead of the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) taking place in Nice, France, this week.

Tyson Miller, Executive Director of Earth Insight, described the process in an exclusive interview with Inter Press Service (IPS).

“Our research unit selected 11 frontier regions out of many and built a dataset with a mix of publicly available data and digitized information where government data was lacking,” Miller said. “It was shocking to see the scale of planned oil and gas expansion and LNG development, knowing that fossil fuel expansion shouldn’t be happening—let alone in some of the world’s most sensitive ecosystems.”

‘Overlap between oil blocks and critical habitats deeply troubling’

The report warns of massive ecological consequences as oil and gas activities encroach on coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass meadows, and Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA). Many of these zones fall within existing or proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), which the international community has pledged to safeguard under initiatives like the 30×30 goal—protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.

“Expanding marine protected areas is essential,” said Miller. “Safeguarding protected areas from oil and gas expansion and industrial development should go without saying. Yet, the extent of overlap between oil blocks and critical habitats is deeply troubling.”

In regions like the Gulf of California—also known as “the world’s aquarium”—LNG projects are already threatening a marine ecosystem that supports 39 percent of all marine mammal species and sustains hundreds of millions of dollars in fisheries. Despite local opposition and delayed environmental impact assessments, the area remains under active threat from fossil fuel expansion.

Meanwhile, off the coasts of Seychelles and Mauritius, the Saya de Malha Bank—a massive seagrass meadow that stores up to 10 percent of the ocean’s annual carbon despite covering just 0.2 percent of its surface—is now 98 percent overlapped by oil and gas blocks.

“There are important efforts underway to support the creation of a Marine Protected Area in the region—and if an exclusion of oil and gas and industrial activity in the area accompanied that, that would be a real positive step in the right direction,” Miller said.

Another key theme of the report is the outsized pressure placed on countries in the Global South to become new frontiers for fossil fuel extraction, even as they face increasing debt and climate vulnerability. Governments facing financial strain are often courted by foreign energy firms with promises of investment, job creation, and energy independence. However, the long-term consequences—both ecological and financial—are far more complex.

“Many countries in the Global South face high external debt and economic development pressures,” Miller explained. “Perhaps debt relief and payments for ecosystem services can become effective levers to help safeguard coastlines. Without this support, elected officials may greenlight projects that ultimately cost far more in the form of pollution, habitat destruction, and cleanup efforts.”

Indeed, the Ocean Protection Gap Report, also referenced in Earth Insight’s study, identifies billions of dollars in promised—but yet to be delivered—financing for marine conservation and climate resilience in low-income nations.

Incredible Work by Frontline and Indigenous Communities

Despite facing immense challenges, Indigenous and coastal communities are leading grassroots resistance movements in many of the threatened regions. In Mexico’s Gulf of California, local activism has successfully delayed LNG terminal approvals due to the absence of proper environmental reviews. In the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, and elsewhere, community-led campaigns continue to demand transparency, ecological justice, and a halt to extractive projects.

“Frontline and Indigenous communities are doing incredible work to oppose fossil fuel expansion, often with limited resources and at great personal risk,” said Miller. “They need more direct support and more visible platforms to champion their vision for the future.”

Yet these communities, according to the report, are frequently up against entrenched corporate and political interests, making their fight not just environmental but also a struggle for democratic participation, land rights, and long-term sovereignty over natural resources.

Policy Roadmap

The report has pitched a policy roadmap for global leaders, particularly in the lead-up to high-stakes forums like COP and the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC). These include:

• Halting all new coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments, especially in environmentally sensitive regions.
• Removing unassigned oil and gas blocks and stopping the approval of new exploration licenses and permits.
• Ending financial support—including investments, insurance, and financing—for planned offshore fossil fuel projects.
• Shifting public and private capital to renewable energy, including offshore wind and solar.
• Ensuring a just transition that includes full decommissioning of abandoned offshore infrastructure and stakeholder inclusion.
• Undertaking habitat restoration where damage from fossil fuel operations has already occurred.
• Strengthening global legal frameworks, including support for treaties like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to prevent new coastal and offshore oil expansion.

“It’s time for global leaders to take bold, enforceable actions,” said Miller. “If the UN Ocean Conference wants to be taken seriously, it must directly address the growing threat of fossil fuel industrialization on coastlines and oceans.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• South-West Pacific Communities Threatened by Ocean Heat, Sea-Level Rise
• UNOC3: Bringing Ocean Education and Science to the Global Agenda
• Global Push to Protect Oceans Gains Momentum Ahead of UN Conference in Nice

Vizhinjam Port—Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 May 2025, as India’s first deep-water container transshipment hub—has been criticized for displacing fishers and disrupting the sensitive ocean biodiversity. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS

By Aishwarya Bajpai
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Jun 8 2025 (IPS)

As the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) approaches, bringing renewed attention to SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and the rights of ocean-dependent communities, India’s Vizhinjam coast highlights the environmental injustice and human cost of unchecked coastal development.

Kerala’s traditional fishworkers—communities historically rooted to the sea—are now facing irreversible disruption due to the controversial Vizhinjam Port project.

Despite repeated rejections by multiple expert appraisal committees over severe environmental concerns, the Vizhinjam Port—Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 May 2025, as India’s first deep-water container transshipment hub—was approved under questionable circumstances.

Experts have raised serious concerns about the compromised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the Vizhinjam Port, calling it a “cut-copy-paste” job lifted from unrelated projects. The port’s viability studies were manipulated to overlook ecological threats and suppress dissenting community voices.

According to Vijayan M.J., Director of the Participatory Action Research Coalition—India, “The first viability study by Ernst & Young clearly said the port was not feasible—environmentally or economically. So did the second. But both were dismissed, and a third study was commissioned with the clear expectation that it would declare the project viable. They didn’t even put the E&Y logo on the final report—just the names of the two researchers. That tells you something.”

Breaking the Coast: Ecological Damage and Fisher Exclusion

In spite of these warnings, the Vizhinjam Port project moved forward in a coastal region already burdened by extensive human intervention. As of 2022, Kerala’s 590-kilometer coastline hosted a major port at Kochi and intermediate ports in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, and Thalassery. The shoreline was further segmented by 25 fishing harbors, multiple breakwaters, and 106 groynes. Nearly 310 kilometers of this coastline had already been transformed into artificial stretches.

These cumulative constructions had already disrupted the natural rhythms of the coast, causing severe erosion in some areas and sediment build-up in others—ultimately leading to the loss of accessible beaches. To mitigate these impacts, the state installed additional seawalls and groynes, which only further interfered with the marine ecosystem and traditional fishing practices.

For Kerala’s fishworkers, this pattern of exclusion and ecological damage is not new.

The situation intensified with the onset of Vizhinjam Port’s construction, when hundreds of local fishers were abruptly informed that they could no longer fish near their home shores due to the imposition of shipping lanes and designated no-fishing zones.

This pattern of exclusion deepened when the state government handed over large portions of the Thiruvananthapuram coast, including Vizhinjam, to the Adani Group.

Amid rising protests in places like Perumathura and Muthalappozhi—where heavy siltation and repeated fisher deaths had triggered alarm—the government assured that Adani’s involvement would provide solutions, including constructing embankments and regularly dredging the estuary to keep it navigable. However, these promises quickly fell apart.

As Vipin Das, a fishworker from Kerala, recalls, “Adani took over the entire beach and built an office complex. Now, even stepping onto the shore requires his office’s permission.”

According to local accounts, the company’s first move was to dismantle the southern embankment to allow barge access to the port. This action disrupted natural sediment flows and caused a severe blockage of the estuary. “When floodwaters began threatening nearby homes, a JCB was rushed in to reopen the embankment—but it was already too late,” Vipin adds. “Adani’s entry didn’t solve anything—it only worsened the crisis and destroyed our coastline.”

From Biodiversity Hotspot to Danger Zone

Once a biodiversity hotspot, Vizhinjam’s marine ecosystem boasted 12 reef systems and one of the world’s 20 rare ‘wedge banks’—a critical oceanic zone near Kanyakumari where hundreds of fish species fed and reproduced. Fishers remember it as a “harbor of procreation,” teeming with over 200 varieties of fish and more than 60 aquatic species.

However, intense dredging, altered wave patterns, and ongoing port operations have severely damaged this fragile marine ecosystem. In 2020, Kerala recorded a 15 percent decline in fish catch, and the numbers have continued to fall in the years since—threatening both biodiversity and the livelihoods that depend on it.

The state’s response has been displacement disguised as compensation, offering ₹10 lakh (USD 12,000) as a one-time payment to those willing to leave their homes instead of addressing systemic erosion and disaster risks, said Vijayan.

The situation further took a catastrophic turn on May 24, 2025, when a massive shipwreck occurred off the Vizhinjam coast.

While authorities framed it as an isolated incident, environmentalists and coastal communities argue it was a disaster waiting to happen—fueled by years of unregulated dredging and reckless port expansion.

“The sea is poisoned; people are saying not to eat fish,” shared Vipin. “But it’s not just rumors—there are chemicals, plastics, and fuel. And we, who had nothing to do with this, are the first to suffer.”

With livelihoods already battered by monsoon storms and port restrictions, fishers now face public panic, polluted waters, and a poisoned food chain. “This isn’t just an accident—it’s a man-made disaster,” Vipin added. “The state must act swiftly to hold the company accountable and compensate the coastal communities who are paying the highest price.”

However, earlier this year Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. told the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre that  “Environment Clearance accorded to Vizhinjam Port has stood the test of legal scrutiny, having gone through litigation before the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi.”

It continued, “The Port operations and fishing/ancillary activities coexist all over the world and both activities are continuing as per the rules and regulations prevailing in the democratic country of India. It may also be noted that Vizhinjam port construction has been carried out with best practices, including stakeholder engagement, taking the community into confidence.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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More than 30 solar panels power the pumping plant in the village of El Mozote, in eastern El Salvador, providing water to around 360 families. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
EL MOZOTE, El Salvador , Jun 6 2025 (IPS)

The worst massacre of civilians in Latin America occurred in the Salvadoran village of El Mozote, where environmental projects are beginning to emerge, slowly fostering awareness about protecting the natural resources of this deeply symbolic site, embedded in the country’s historical memory.

Since early 2024, a small photovoltaic plant has been operating in El Mozote, in the district of Meanguera, eastern El Salvador, powering a municipal water system designed to supply around 360 families in the village and nearby areas.“We used to wash clothes in those communal wells, which were built after the war, in ’94.” — Otilia Chicas

“The project’s goal was to minimize environmental impacts in the area by seeking cleaner energy sources, and with that in mind, the solar panel system was implemented,” Rosendo Ramos, the Morazán representative of the Salvadoran Health Promotion Association (ASPS), the NGO behind the project, explained to IPS.

The Spanish organization Solidaridad Internacional Andalucía also participated in launching the initiative.

El Mozote is located in the department of Morazán, a mountainous region in eastern El Salvador. During the civil war (1980-1992), the area was the scene of brutal clashes between leftist guerrillas and the army.

In December 1981, over several days, military units massacred around 1,000 peasants in the village and neighboring communities—including pregnant women and children—accusing them of being a support base for the rebels.

The conflict is estimated to have left more than 75,000 dead and 8,000 disappeared.

The photovoltaic system installed in El Mozote, eastern El Salvador, operates alongside the national distribution grid, so on cloudy days with low solar generation, the conventional power grid is activated. Credit: Courtesy of ASPS

Sunlight to Distribute Water

The solar project consists of 32 panels capable of generating a total of 15 kilowatts—enough to power the equipment, primarily the 60-horsepower pump that pushes water up to the tank installed atop La Cruz mountain. From there, water flows down to households by gravity.

The photovoltaic system operates alongside the national power grid, so on cloudy days with low solar output, the conventional grid kicks in—though the goal is obviously to reduce reliance on it.

The project, costing US$28,000, was funded by the European Union as part of a larger environmental initiative that also included two nearby municipalities, Arambala and Jocoaitique, focusing on protecting the La Joya Pueblo micro-watershed.

Key aspects of the broader program include reducing the use of agrochemicals, plastic, and other disposable materials; and promoting rainwater harvesting.

The overall program reached 1,317 people (706 women and 611 men) across three municipalities and six communities, involving NGOs, schools, and local governments.

“The aim is to consume less energy from the national grid, thereby lowering pumping costs,” explained Ramos.

However, this cost reduction doesn’t necessarily translate into lower water bills for families in El Mozote and surrounding areas. That’s because the water system is municipally managed, and tariffs are set by local ordinances, making adjustments difficult—unlike community-run projects where residents and leaders can more easily agree on changes.

One benefit of the new system is that lower energy costs for the municipality free up funds to expand and improve other basic services—not just in Meanguera but also in places like El Mozote, Dennis Morel, the district director, told IPS.

The plaza of El Mozote, the iconic village in eastern El Salvador, was renovated, but local residents complain that the government-led construction work was not agreed upon with the community. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Water in the postwar era

Otilia Chicas, a native of El Mozote, recalled what life was like in the village when there was no piped water service—back in the days following the end of the civil war in 1992, when people began returning to the area.

“We used to wash clothes in those communal wells. They were built after the war, in ’94,” said Chicas, pointing toward one of those now-empty wells, about 20 meters away from where she stood, inside a kiosk selling handicrafts, books, and T-shirts in El Mozote’s central plaza.

Next to the plaza is the mural bearing the names of the hundreds of people killed by the army—specifically, by units of the Atlacatl Battalion, trained in counterinsurgency by the United States.

“We used to fetch water from there and bathe there, but since these wells weren’t enough, we’d go to a spring, to ‘El Zanjo,’ as we called it,” she recounted.

She added that the drinking water project arrived between 2005 and 2006, finally bringing the resource directly into people’s homes.

“The community had to pitch in, and the hours people worked were counted as payment, as their contribution,” she noted while weaving colorful thread bracelets.

There is uncertainty over whether the kiosk in the village plaza will be removed. Several women from the El Mozote Historical Committee sell handicrafts and work as tour guides there. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

 Almost No One Was Spared 

Chicas, 45, was born in 1980, a year before the massacre. Now, she helps run the kiosk and works as a tour guide alongside other local women from the El Mozote Historical Committee, explaining to visitors the horrific events that took place in December 1981.

The artisan shared that her family lost several relatives in the 1981 massacre, as did nearly everyone here. The victims’ mural is filled with dozens of people bearing the last names Chicas, Márquez, Claros, and Argueta, among many others.

“My grandmother lost four of her children and 17 grandchildren,” she recalled.

Chicas’ father, in an attempt to save their lives, moved his family out of El Mozote before the massacre and resettled in Lourdes Colón, in the western part of the country. But the military ended up killing him in 1983 after discovering he was originally from Morazán and linking him to rebel groups.

“The National Guard came for him and two uncles—they saw they were from Morazán, a guerrilla zone,” she emphasized. “Before killing them, they forced them to dig their own graves. They were left by the roadside, in a place called El Tigre,” she explained.

The military operation that culminated in the massacre was planned and executed by the Salvadoran Army’s High Command, with support from Honduran soldiers and covered up by United States government officials, revealed Stanford University scholar Terry Karl in April 2021.

Karl testified as an expert witness during a hearing on the case held that April in San Francisco Gotera, the capital of Morazán.

Dormant in El Salvador’s judicial system since 1993, the case was reopened in September 2016. Among the accused are 15 soldiers—seven of them high-ranking Salvadoran officers—,the only surviving defendants from the original list of 33 military personnel.

The trial is currently in the investigative phase, where evidence is being gathered and examined before the judge decides whether to proceed to a full public trial.

A mural on the side of El Mozote’s plaza displays the names of the hundreds of people killed by the Salvadoran army in December 1981, marking the largest massacre of civilians in Latin America. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Times of Uncertainty 

El Mozote’s central plaza has been renovated over the past three years as part of the government’s effort to give it a more orderly and modern appearance—a promise made by President Nayib Bukele when he visited the site in February 2021.

The town is also nearing completion of a Urban Center for Well-being and Opportunities (CUBO)—a government-sponsored community center designed to provide youth with access to reading materials, art, culture, and information and communication technologies.

However, some residents told IPS that these projects are being carried out without prior consultation or agreement with the community, in violation of the 2012 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which called for justice, truth, and reparations for the victims.

The reconstruction work demolished the bandstand, a space highly valued by the community as a gathering place for meetings and collective organizing.

Despite this, Chicas said she supports the plaza’s renovations, as they have made it more inviting for young people to spend time there. Still, she noted that the remodeling affected her personally.

The construction forced her to dismantle her small food stall, made of corrugated metal sheets, where she used to make and sell pupusas—El Salvador’s most iconic dish, made of corn and stuffed with beans, cheese, or pork.

Chicas also mentioned the ongoing uncertainty about whether the kiosk where she and other women craft and sell their handicrafts will be removed.

“We’re left in limbo—we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

Magdalene Ngimoe and Char Tito, learners at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, making chairs from mathenge wood. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
KAKUMA, Kenya, Jun 6 2025 (IPS)

Char Tito is hammering nails into wood at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Turkana County, northern Kenya. The 16-year-old is making a traditional chair under the scorching sun outside one of the classroom blocks.

The wood she is using is from an unpopular source in this community. It is from a species of mesquite named Prosopis juliflora, which is native to Central and South America and is known in Kenya as mathenge.

Many locals hate mathenge in Turkana County due to its invasiveness and its thorns that are harsh to humans and can cause injuries to livestock. Locals say rivers and dams dry fast in areas with mathenge, and it dominates other plants.

Over the years, the residents have found it an easy source of firewood and charcoal, fuel for many in this community.

But youths, including girls, are now repurposing the mathenge tree to make furniture, particularly chairs.

Char Tito, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Kakuma, is seated on a chair made from mathenge wood. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“Plastic chairs are expensive. This is why I started making chairs from mathenge earlier this month,” says Tito, who fled the war in South Sudan to seek refuge in Kakuma Refugee Camp in 2017.

“I was taught here at school. Mathenge is abundant. We have been using it for firewood for years. I did not know that it could be used to make chairs.”

Income-Generating Scheme

The land in Kakuma is barren with sparse vegetation and the soils are so poor that they do not support agriculture. Turkana County receives little or no rain and can go for five years without experiencing a single drop of rain.

Acacia trees and mathenge, which are always green despite the high temperatures and water scarcity, make up most of the trees in this community.

Government statistics indicate that the mathenge trees spread at a rate of 15 percent yearly and have so far colonized a million acres of land in Kenya.

Some use mathenge to fence their homes and to make livestock shelters.

Locals survive on livestock production and trading charcoal and firewood.

Dennis Mutiso, a deputy director at Girl Child Network (GCN), a grassroots non-governmental organization supporting Tito and hundreds of other refugees, says the project is equipping learners with green skills.

Magdalene Ngimoe, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, is making chairs from mathenge wood in Kakuma. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“It is contributing to national climate plans. It aligns with the school curriculum,” he says.

Mutiso says those youths who have been trained in making chairs partner with those untrained to pass the knowledge to the community.

Tito, who lives with her mother and her three siblings, is so far making chairs for household use but is planning to make some for sale to her neighbors.

“This is a skill that I can use for my entire life. I am looking forward to earning a living out of carpentry,” she says, smiling.

Mathenge was introduced in the 1970s in the East African country to restore degraded dry lands. It is drought resistant, with its deep roots making it ideal for afforestation in areas like Turkana. The mathenge restored the area and blocked wind erosion in some areas, but at a cost to the locals.

Invasive mathenge tree in Kakuma, northern Kenya. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

Despite the massive cutting down of this tree for firewood and charcoal, the mathenge regenerates fast, unlike other trees like Acacia.

Lewis Obam, a conservator at the Forestry Commission under Turkana County, says there was a negative perception of the mathenge in the community.

“Communities lost their goats after consuming the tree. Its thorns were affecting the community,” he says.

Obam says mathenge is a colonizer and spreads so fast.

“It was meant to counter desertification. The intention was good,” he says.

Obam says its hardwood is ideal for making chairs.

“It has more opportunities than we knew. It has the second hardest wood in this area. We need maximum use of the mathenge.”

Protecting Environment 

To restore other trees in this semi-arid land, Tito and other girls are planting trees at school and in their homes. She has planted five trees at home and many at school, but water is a challenge amid temperatures that can go as high as 47 degrees Celsius.

Magdalene Ngimoe, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Kakuma, planting a tree. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“I am proud that I am contributing to measures that reduce the effects of climate change,” she says.

Sometimes, the girls bring water from home to school to ensure that the trees survive.

Trees help mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Kenya is targeting to plant at least 15 billion trees by 2032 through its National Tree Growing Restoration campaign launched in December 2022.

Magdalene Ngimoe, another learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, says she has so far planted two trees at her home in Kiwandege village in Kakuma.

“I hate mathenge. It makes our lives difficult. But I am happy that I am using it to make chairs. I am also planting trees at school, which will provide shade to other students,” says the 16-year-old Kenyan Ngimoe, the firstborn in a family of seven.

Her family survives on selling meat and she hopes she will earn some money from her newly acquired craft.

Edwin Chabari, a manager at Kakuma Refugee Camp under the Department of Refugee Services, says Mathenge has been a menace not only within the camp but also in the area.

“The local youths can get cash from a tree that we thought was a menace,” he says.

GCN, with funding from Education Above All, a global education foundation based in Qatar, has so far planted 896,000 trees in Kakuma and Dadaab and is targeting 2.4 million trees by next year.

Ngimoe’s favorite subject is science and she wants to be a lawyer representing vulnerable children.

Established in 1992, Kakuma Refugee Camp is home to 304,000 people from more than 10 countries, like South Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Joseph Ochura, sub-county director in Turkana County under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), says the tree-planting initiative has enhanced the learning environment.

“When you visit most of the schools that have been supported, you will see big shades of trees. Whenever there is a break time, learners sit there, including the teachers. Sometimes, some lessons are even carried out under that shade,” Ochura says.

He says that of the 15 billion trees set by the government, TSC was allocated 200 million trees.

Some schools also have their tree nurseries.

When ready, they plant the seedlings at the school and supply others to the community.

“Some of the girls are at the forefront in tree planting. That is a plus. That is what we are telling the girls—outside school, you can still do this in the community,” Ochura says.

Tito, whose favorite subject is English and who wants to be a doctor, is happy to be part of the green jobs being created in Kakuma.

“As a girl, I am proud of myself. I am contributing to environmental protection,” she says.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Close up of the New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Unsplash/Aditya Vyas

By Maximilian Malawista
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 6 2025 (IPS)

While Asia and the Pacific seem to be booming in employment and GDP growth, reports reveal a possible volatile and fragile market pegged to U.S. consumerism.

The World Employment and Social Outlook for May 2025 from the International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals reductions of projections about the global job market in large percentages, reflecting an increasingly dependent and fragile job market.

According to the report, global GDP growth projections were lowered from 3.2 percent to 2.8 percent, correlating to a slowdown in economic growth, which is linked to a decrease in employment growth from 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent, a difference of 7 million jobs. The root cause of this decrease seems to be based in U.S. consumerism, linking trade disruptions due to high tariffs directly to lower outcomes.

A reliance of the global market on a single country’s consumerism reflects a weakening job market, one which relies on trade from high-income countries. Additionally, the labour income share — the percentage of money from a country’s GDP which goes directly into the laborers pockets — has fallen from 53 percent in 2014 to 52.4 percent in 2024, reflecting a global decrease in purchasing power parity (PPP).

Employment is also seeing a shift, with high- and middle-income countries experiencing market shifts from lower- to medium- skill occupations to high-skill occupations. Between 2013 and 2023, under-educated or qualified workers relative to their occupation dropped from 37.9 percent to 33.4 percent. Overeducated or overqualified workers rose from 15.5 percent to 18.9 percent.

The report also indicates shifts from generative AI, reflecting that nearly 1 in 4 workers have some level of exposure in their tasks, which could be automated by AI. Additionally, 16.3 percent of workers are experiencing medium exposure while 7.5 percent are in high exposure, especially in high-skill occupations.

Uncertainty rewriting employment projections

An estimated 407 million people are in want of a job but do not have one, leading to more people taking positions they may be overqualified for due to the lack of options. Credit: Unsplash/Alex Kotliarskyi

Uncertainty has become the biggest contender for slowed job growth. Even in a time where global market outputs continue to expand and inflationary pressures ease, employers are becoming more cautious in hiring more workers, while still retaining their current employees. Geo-political disturbances combined with systematic transitions have altered the job landscape, creating unprecedented and unconsulted scenarios for enterprises globally.

Inflation is projected to fall across most countries, dropping to 4.4 percent in 2025 compared to 5.8 percent in 2024. This could be due to an overall contraction in economic expansion globally. The U.S. reciprocal tariffs in April have been deemed to have profoundly shifted global trading landscapes, leading to a synchronized slowdown multilaterally across all regions. These changes influence businesses to create new strategies to either combat against the new landscape, or bend to the set demands.

407 million people in 2025 are estimated to want a job, but currently do not have one, resulting in a greater occupancy of people taking lower quality or more vulnerable positions due to a lack of options.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the world’s fastest-growing economies, projecting a growth of 3.8 percent, compared to the Americas at 1.8 percent, and Europe and Central Asia at 1.5 percent. Yet from a 2023 estimate, 56 million jobs in Asia and the Pacific were found to be directly or indirectly linked through supply chains to final demand, the highest share out of any other region, creating the most volatility out of any other market in face of new tariffs: leaving employment in the hands of US demand for imports.

Employment growth sees its highest rates in Asia and the Pacific growing at 1.7 percent or 34 million, followed by Africa, with much lower projections seen by the Americas at 1.2 percent, and then Europe and central Asia at a mere 0.6 percent.

Economic growth and productivity amidst global setbacks

From 2014 to 2024, the global GDP grew by 33.5 percent, with the Asia-Pacific GDP growing up to 55 percent. This would reflect fast recoveries even amidst the economic downturns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ILO report finds that economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is found in productivity improvements rather than the creation of new jobs. Contrasting this, Africa and Arab states accompanied their economic growth by increased employment opportunities.

Informal employment remains slightly above formal employment, with a difference in growth rate by 1.1 percent, informal employment representing 2 billion people, 57.8 percent of all workers globally. Countries with high informal employment still saw large amounts of economic growth, with 85 percent of workers in Africa to be informally employed, expanding at 29.3 percent in the recent decade. However, in Asia and the Pacific, informal employment has been in decline of 11.3 percent over the past decade, reflecting on similar economic outcomes whether it be from formal or informal employment.

Labour income shares decline in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia, and yet increase in Asia and the Pacific along with the Arab states across the same period of time. This suggests occupational dynamic changes in technology and market structures fractioned regionally across the globe. Due to this, the occupation composition – the type of jobs which flood the market – have changed throughout the years, mainly driven by different technological needs and the use of different skill sets.

Employment shares per country tend to look very different, usually depicted by GDP, as higher income countries will be less invested into markets like elementary occupations and agriculture, and more into professional, technical, and managerial sectors, reflecting greater interest in technology, business, and higher education.

Globally, more than half of workers are mismatched to their job, either being undereducated or overeducated, with the deficit being the largest in low-income countries, but this has been decreasing significantly over the past decade. Rising education levels seem to contribute to the share of appropriate qualifications for jobs.

An ever-changing landscape

Faster than any other time in human history, dynamics are changing. This report reflects on the volatility of the employment market globally, and how certain factors might correlate to a decrease or increase in one sector but could be completely different regionally: overall reflecting on a difference of technology and focus. Economies which are still agricultural, garment-based, and high-labor low-education see opposite methods to similar economic outcomes to countries which are prioritizing productivity, education, and technical skills, meaning there is no perfect formula to a stable global economic balance.

“The findings of this report on the employment landscape are sobering, but they can also act as a roadmap for the creation of decent jobs,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. “We can make a difference, and we can do so by strengthening social protection, investing in skills development, promoting social dialogue, and building inclusive labor markets to ensure that technological change benefits all. And we must do so with urgency, ambition, and solidarity.”

Mentioning the “need for inclusivity” is perhaps the most important factor when looking to expand the global economy. If each country is not going to tilt increasing in the same manner, each region needs to be addressed according to their needs and economic focus.

In February, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, said that governments were “shifting policy priorities”. “There are significant policy changes in the United States, in areas such as trade policy, taxation, public spending, immigration, and deregulation, with implications for the U.S. economy and the rest of the world…The combined impacts of possible policy changes are complex and still difficult to assess but will come into clearer view in the months ahead.” The acting director reflected on the current era of “uncertainty”, viewing the United States’ role in global trade to only be adding to that level of uncertainty, also displaying that each country’s policy creates different economic outcomes based on their own economic focuses.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Credit: United Nations

By Nyada Bryant, Zuleyha Cite and Martin Edwards
NEW JERSEY, USA, Jun 6 2025 (IPS)

On April 16, Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations hosted UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang as part of its World Leader Forum.

President Yang emphasized the enduring relevance of the three pillars of the United Nations—peace and security, human rights, and development—and the promising future that the students possessed. His confident remarks were a stark contrast to both the rhetoric surrounding the UN as well as the pressures put on it by the Trump administration.

Multilateralism was built on the rocky foundations of political unrest, which made the United Nations a lighthouse for the international community. However, the storm confronting the UN has only worsened in recent months.

President Yang’s conversation with Diplomacy students underscored that despite the challenges, the UN system has proven to be more flexible and adaptable than critics suggest.

The UN’s inbox is a challenging one due to events such as the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the conflict in Gaza. Russia’s Security Council vetoes have been met with criticism by the General Assembly, and Gaza has been a similarly polarizing event.

Israeli delegates alleged that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency assisted in the October 7th strike on Israel, while Palestinian officials condemned the International Court of Justice for not calling for a ceasefire. Deepening political divisions between countries have doubtless complicated the work of the UN.

At the same time, political polarization between UN member states is mirrored by a partisan divide within the US public. According to a 2024 Pew Research study, 78% of Democrats saw a benefit in UN membership, compared to 42% of Republicans.

Additionally, only 31% of Democrats saw a decrease in the UN’s influence, whereas 42% of Republicans differed. The UN’s challenge has grown with the new administration, as its efforts to cut funding have replaced multilateralism with nationalism.

Recent efforts to ask Congress to reduce previously appropriated money to WHO, UNRWA, and UN peacekeeping are emblematic of a broader trend in which the UN is asked to work with less.

The Secretary-General’s developing response to the UN’s financial challenges, known as UN 80, is not without critics. The plan aims to identify efficiencies, review mandates from Member States, and propose a deeper set of program realignments.

While reducing ongoing turf battles between UN peace operations and UN political and peacebuilding affairs would certainly be laudable, there are natural questions, just as there are with any reform, over how much is just pure cost-cutting and how much is efficiency-improving.

The prevalence of leaks and communications problems along with limited voices of SIDS, NGOS and LDCs surrounding UN 80 is indicative of the challenge any reform faces, especially one that focuses on reducing personnel costs.

Despite these challenges, President Yang made a case for optimism about the UN. His case had three elements. First, President Yang stressed the importance of the General Assembly as the most representative, deliberative body of the organization, which has 193 member states.

It stands out from other international organizations as the only one that can bring together member countries under the same roof and provide an environment for diplomacy and solutions.

The centrality of the General Assembly led President Yang to his second point, recapping the past history of reform to underscore that the UN has risen to challenges in the past. Kofi Annan’s In Larger Freedom, the 2000 Millennium Summit, the Brahimi Report, and the 2006 Creation of the Human Rights Council, and others have proven that the UN is transformable.

The General Assembly has, in turn, historically helped the UN to be a functioning organization. As President Yang claimed in paraphrasing Dag Hammarskjöld, ”We are not in heaven, but we are not in hell either.”

Finally, this reform agenda has continued with the Pact for the Future, which was adopted by heads of state and government in New York in September 2024. It presents a multilateral system seeking to be more just, more inclusive, and more effective.

The pact’s two main annexes prioritize youth and future generations to ensure that we act with tomorrow in mind and to infuse the United Nations’ work with long-term thinking. For President Yang, the Pact is a crucial sign that the UN is committed to overcoming structural and functional obstacles that reduce its efficiency.

His optimism towards the reform stems from the potential of the Pact for the Future to modify international cooperation according to present realities and revitalize multilateralism. And it is worth stressing that the Pact for the Future predated the change of US administration, showing that the UN is capable of rising to the challenge.

The UN may be facing a crisis moment. However, it is certainly not ending. It is shifting and evolving, as it has in the past, as a response to emerging trends put forward by member states. The ongoing international conflicts unveil the need for inclusive approaches to diplomacy, global cooperation, and multilateralism. Only the UN can make these inclusive approaches a reality.

Nyada Bryant is a graduate student at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations, where she specializes on negotiations and foreign policy. She serves as an executive member of two campus organizations and strives to make a difference.

Zuleyha Cite is a graduate student at the Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations, specializing in International Organizations, International Peace & Security, and UN Studies. She serves as a Graduate Assistant in the School of Diplomacy and is an active student in leadership initiatives on campus who aims to make a meaningful impact.

Martin Edwards is a Professor and Associate Dean at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

‘J Hunter Pearls Fiji: Savusavu Community Edible Pearl Oyster Farms’ project is an environmentally sustainable, community-owned and -operated aquaculture aimed at alleviating poverty in Fiji communities and building sustainable use of ocean resources. Credit: UNDP Fiji
 
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), scheduled to take place in Nice, France from 9-13 June, will bring together Heads of State, scientists, civil society and business leaders around a single goal: to halt the silent collapse of the planet's largest – and arguably most vital – ecosystem.

By Francine Pickup
NEW YORK, Jun 6 2025 (IPS)

The ocean is far more than a vast expanse of water; it is a cornerstone of life and a critical driver of sustainable development. The intricate relationship between human development and the ocean underscores why ocean governance and sustainability are pivotal to global progress. Its significance becomes particularly evident in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where the ocean is not just a resource but an intrinsic part of identity and survival.

Custodians of some of the world’s largest Exclusive Economic Zones— SIDS protect vast ocean and coastal areas, home to 20% of all plant, bird and reptile species. Many have designated large parts of their national waters into marine protected areas, positioning themselves as leaders in global conservation. These natural assets form the backbone of their economies in ocean-dependent sectors such as tourism and fisheries. Yet these nations are also on the frontlines of climate change.

Rising sea levels, increasingly severe weather events, accelerating environmental degradation are not distant threats – they are today’s reality. And yet, despite this future-smart, holistic approach to their development, these countries are trapped in a vicious cycle of indebtedness, undermining their ability to plan and prepare for climate-induced shocks that will undoubtedly come.

A Sea of Solutions

SIDS were instrumental in securing the 1.5° degrees global warming threshold in the Paris Agreement, a testament to their foresight of the urgency we all will face. They lead the world in implementing bold, integrated solutions that tackle multiple challenges of conserving and sustainably using their ocean and coastal resources, promoting renewable energy, fostering digital and local capacity and creating jobs.

The Fourth International Conference on SIDS (May 2024) and the adoption of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) charts a ten-year roadmap to scale climate and biodiversity action, increase conservation and promote sustainable ocean use, with resilience at its core. SIDS make important contributions to implementing global environmental accords including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), the Paris Agreement and the UNCCD Strategic Framework, all of which prioritize action to save the ocean and reduce marine and land-based drivers of degradation.

The Rising Up for SIDS – a forward-looking strategy to outline a transformative vision for the next decade, builds on nearly 60 years of collaboration between UNDP and the SIDS and a partnership with Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) ensuring that SIDS’ specific needs are met in policy and practice.

As the world leaders gather for the Third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, (June 9-13) SIDS will offer innovative and scalable solutions to global environmental and development challenges and show how they are at the forefront of ocean-positive strategies,. It is critical that the world listens. Here are the three key lessons SIDs bring:

1. The Ocean is a Catalyst for Human Development

For SIDS, the ocean is not a boundary: it is life itself. Small-scale fisheries provide food and livelihoods for millions. Marine and coastal tourism drives much of their GDP. Blue carbon ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes, sequester carbon, buffer coastlines, and host diverse species. The ocean’s vast genetic and biological wealth offers untapped potential for future medicines, sustainable industries, and climate adaptation.

In SIDS, ocean action is inseparable from economic development. Escalating environmental threats aggravate economic insecurities. Harnessing the ocean economy enables sustainable growth and diversification for food security, tourism, trade and climate resilience.

But SIDS cannot do it alone. Global partnerships and international finance are essential to support SIDS unlock the full potential of their marine resources, ensuring inclusive, equitable development that leaves no one behind.

2. Integrated Solutions are needed to address Interconnected Challenges

Sea level rise, ecosystem degradation and economic vulnerability are not separate problems. Neither are their solutions. In SIDS, efforts to restore and protect coastal ecosystems also support sustainable tourism and sustainable fishing. Expanding opportunities drive human development, bringing jobs and economic prosperity within planetary boundaries.

‘Whole of island’ approaches offer a powerful model for sustainable development. These strategies align decarbonization with community empowerment, protect biodiversity while expanding opportunity and security, and build on traditional and local knowledge as a foundation for innovation.

SIDS are showing the wider world how to cope and solve multiple, interconnected challenges that demand integrated solutions for people and prosperity – with the ocean at the heart.

3. Innovation is the Accelerator

SIDS are testing and scaling innovative ocean-based solutions that can be replicated globally. Many islands are today incubating new and investable ocean-based solutions that can be scaled up to support successful transitions to ocean-positive economic sectors and centers of excellence, both in the islands themselves and to the benefit of countries beyond.

Seychelles launched the world’s first ‘blue bond’ to finance marine conservation. In Cuba, nature-based solutions are reversing the degradation of the Sabana-Camagüey ecosystem. In the Maldives, local communities have successfully banned single-use plastics. The new GEF-financed, UNDP-led Blue & Green Islands initiative is taking this work further.

Designed specifically for SIDS, it promotes nature-based solutions across three key economic sectors: urban development, food production, and tourism. It is the first of its kind—focused on systems-level transformation that delivers global environmental benefits while advancing sustainable development.

Innovative partnerships that crowd in public, private and philanthropic capital, like the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, are also attracting and de-risking private sector investment into local businesses to protect and restore coral ecosystems. These new initiatives are already inspiring similar models in other countries.

SIDS for Ocean Action

As global leaders gather in Nice for the third UN Ocean Conference and at the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, (30 June-July 3) the message is clear: the world must rally behind SIDS to scale up the solutions they are already pioneering. By supporting their leadership, we create new ‘oceans of opportunity’ where people and planet can thrive together and where the path to sustainable development is swept forward by the oceans that touch every coastline in SIDs and beyond.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Francine Pickup is Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP New York.

CIVICUS Global Alliance Secretary-General Mandeep Tiwana speaks at the SDG 16 High-Level Conference in May 2024. Credit: Mandeep Tiwana/CIVICUS Global Alliance

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS / NEW YORK, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

On June 1, CIVICUS Global Alliance, announced the appointment of Mandeep Tiwana as its new Secretary-General. With his tenure underway, Tiwana sat down with an IPS correspondent to discuss CIVICUS’s work in promoting civic freedom and solidarity in an increasingly autonomy-restrictive world.

Throughout his career, Tiwana has been an advocate for human rights, civic and democratic freedoms, sustainability, and inclusivity. He previously oversaw CIVICUS’ policy and research department. When asked about what he would like to accomplish during his tenure as Secretary-General, Tiwana stated that he would like to focus on fostering a worldwide community of engaged, empowered citizens able to come together to confront the challenges facing humanity such as violent conflict, inequality, environmental degradation, discrimination and authoritarianism.

“On one hand, you have several conflicts happening around the world where opposing forces are committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide with impunity. I’d definitely like to reinforce the respect for international norms and the rule of law,” said Tiwana. “We are living in a time of searing inequality caused by flawed economic systems. It’s a travesty that there are individuals with immense wealth who can afford to send rockets up into space for entertainment while 750 million people go to bed hungry every night. We have global military spending topping 2.7 trillion dollars while tens of millions are struggling to afford the basic necessities of life.”

CIVICUS promotes civic space, in which people come together to shape the political, economic, and social structures around them. CIVICUS uses several approaches including participatory research, policy analysis, strategic convenings, targeted advocacy, coalition building and emergency resourcing to defend civic space from authoritarian actors around the world.

According to Tiwana, approximately 7 in 10 people worldwide live in severely repressed civic space conditions where uncovering corruption, exposing human rights violations or seeking transformational change in society can lead to serious forms of persecution.

With authoritarianism on the rise around the world, the need to defend civic freedoms is more crucial than ever before. Tiwana remarked that millions of people around the world are currently being denied the agency to shape the decisions that impact their lives. He noted that authoritarianism is rife in countries such as China, Russia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea and Vietnam. Even countries with democratic traditions such as India and the United States are not immune from the march of authoritarianism. Moreover, authoritarianism and patriarchy go hand in hand which can also erode hard-won gains in gender justice.

Through CIVICUS’s work, Tiwana aims to bring together a diverse array of civil society actors to ensure that no one is left behind. “We work with multilateral institutions, grassroots activists, and organizations to highlight injustices and raise awareness of discrimination against excluded peoples,” he said. “We provide moral support and solidarity to those who are fighting for justice so they know that they are not alone.”

In March, CIVICUS added the United States to its list of countries experiencing serious declines in civic freedoms on the CIVICUS Monitor, a participatory platform that collects and analyzes data from multiple sources on civic freedoms around the globe. The United States was included in the Watchlist due to the Trump administration’s efforts to limit equity, diversity, democracy, global cooperation, and the rule of law.

This watchlist, which is published and updated every six months, features countries facing serious declines and is meant to serve as an “early warning to the international community”, Tiwana explained. He added, “the United States was included in our current watchlist due to rapid erosion of civic space conditions in the country. Senior government officials actively intimidate those who don’t agree with their worldview or their political agendas. History shows us that when international norms are not followed, it leads to impunity, criminality and mass persecution of people by autocrats with disastrous consequences.”

Tiwana went on to add that major points of concern in the United States include limitations on the freedom of speech, the right to peaceful protest, and the abrupt slashing of funding for NGOs and foreign aid, all of which have had severely detrimental consequences for people in vulnerable situations in the United States and abroad. “As the world’s largest economy the United States has historically been the one that benefits the most from international trade, as it is the major trading partner for most countries in the world. When the U.S. provides foreign aid to civil society, it helps promote stability, respect for fundamental freedoms, and social cohesion around the world which ultimately benefits its economy. With the US withdrawing from its established foreign policy priorities to promote human rights and democracy, solidarity around the world will suffer.”

On January 20, President Trump signed an executive order for the U.S.’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), which elicited concerns of reduced global health cooperation from a host of humanitarian organizations. Tiwana opined that the U.S.’s withdrawal poses significant risks for global health and security. “We urge countries that support international cooperation and the United States in particular not to arbitrarily withdraw from international institutions. The United States has a moral responsibility to ensure the health and wellbeing of the people around the world from whose markets the U.S. economy profits from. This will endanger the lives of vulnerable populations,” he said.

The United Nations is an integral force for protecting civic freedoms through its support to civil society, facilitating accountability-seeking measures, and maintaining international law. As it undergoes key structural reforms and restructuring under the UN80 initiative, it is worth considering what role NGOs can play in this process. Tiwana told IPS that CIVICUS has been focused on advocating for more inclusive and democratic changes. He reminded that civil society groups played key roles in shaping some of the UN’s signature achievements, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and the Treaty of Enforced Disappearances. This can only be possible as long as civil society participation is protected in the UN and beyond.

“For all intents and purposes the United Nations is the secular conscience of the world. Hence, its leadership is expected at all times to act with good faith, professional integrity and principled courage…the UN’s top decision makers have impeded the institution from achieving its full potential, by resorting to bureaucratic ways of functioning, submission to perceived political realities and personal ambition,” Tiwana said.

“The current frustration expressed by UN staff about lack of consultation and transparency by the UN’s leadership is a symptom of a much larger problem that pervades the institution, including of not taking responsibility for one’s own failures and seeking to place the blame wholly on the belligerent actions of UN member states.”

Among the calls for reform, there are calls for leadership to protect gender equality, as evidenced in the campaign calling for the next UN secretary-general to be a woman. When asked, Tiwana said that CIVICUS would support the appointment of a female UN secretary-general. He further highlighted that appointing a woman would reflect increased inclusivity within the UN, feminist ideals, and diverse leadership for future generations.

“Having a woman Secretary-General is absolutely essential in exemplifying feminist values, empathy, and solidarity. We believe that the process should be fair and transparent. We urge member states that are putting forward candidates to put forward female ones, particularly a female candidate that is most aligned with UN values, especially the four principles articulated in the UN Charter,” said Tiwana.

The existence of civic freedoms is vital for active citizens and civil society organizations to build momentum for vital action to address the worsening climate crisis, which is known to detrimentally affect public health and impair development gains. Excessive reliance on fossil fuels, unsustainable mining practices, and overconsumption are creating a host of environmental and economic disparities that are negatively impacting impoverished communities and exacerbating inequality. This has a negative impact on civic spaces worldwide due to tight overlaps between political and economic elites.

“We continue to highlight the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which despite the fact that they were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 have experienced limited progress,” Tiwana said. “We believe that emphasis on realizing SDG 16, which is on peace, justice, and strong institutions, can catalyze action towards achievement of the SDGs. Policy makers have an important role to play in identifying the root causes of lack of progress on SDGs. That said, lasting change will only come through citizen mobilization that forces decision-makers to act.”

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefs reporters on the UN80 Initiative on the restructuring of the world body. Credit: United Nations

By Laura Johnson and Ian Richards
GENEVA, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

Like you, we attended last week’s townhall where UN High Commissioner (for Human Rights) Volker Turk presented his latest plans for moving staff out of headquarters. We note that this project has been carried out without adequate consultation with the staff union. The key points we learned and which we are concerned about:

• It’s expensive: It will involve the move of 120 staff. We conservatively estimate the cost of relocation or indemnities at $12 million. We did not hear any figures to show whether the moves will justify the cost in the long run.

Volker Turk

• It’s mandate is unclear: Volker Turk claims that the General Assembly backed his project. Reading the relevant resolution, it is not clear how he inferred this.

• The justification is questionable: The main reason given was increased demand for OHCHR’s physical presence within countries. We would like to see the letters from governments requesting this. Instead, we hear from you that governments are generally less keen on OHCHR presence, are delaying visas and discouraging meetings on the ground with civil society.

• It’s being rushed unnecessarily: Staff may have mere months to move. One Director told her staff that if they didn’t like it, they could leave, despite the initial management rhetoric of ‘moving posts not people’. We don’t understand the urgency. For UN 80 the current plan is for moves to take place in summer 2026. In addition, if UN 80 results in human rights activities from other entities being merged with OHCHR, new changes might be necessary and such moves might prove premature and unjustified.

• Personal considerations are not taken into account: staff with special constraints have not been listened to, despite this being a key element of the UN’s overall mobility policy. There has been no compendium developed and management has not informed staff on how to contest a move if necessary.

• It copies UNHCR without learning the lessons: UNHCR also expanded regional offices to embellish the organigramme. With the financial crisis, these middle layer offices, neither headquarters nor field, are seen as a luxury, reminiscent of an empire-building past, and are being downsized. Repeating the same mistake at OHCHR carries risks for staff. At the same time OHCHR is a normative entity not an operational one that requires regular mandatory rotation. In the last three years, Volker Turk’s vision appears to have shifted from the former to the latter.

• Questions about conflicts of interest persist: There will be expansion at the Vienna regional field office, which has triggered allegations of favouritism. We have received concerns from you and would appreciate clarification from management on the ethical guardrails used.

We understand that this restructuring will make the careers of some, and we wish them well. But this is being done at huge expense to many on the basis of unclear reasons and objectives that may raise sustainability questions in the future.

Many of you have been in touch about the personal costs these sudden changes will have and the harm you believe it will do to the Office.

In the last few years, human rights around the world have been taking a turn for the worse. We call on Volker Turk and member states to make sure that OHCHR is strengthened rather than being weakened through wasting money, moving staff for the sake of moving, modelling OHCHR after a humanitarian agency, and splashing $12 million on empire-building.

We also call on Volker Turk to treat his staff with the dignity that all human beings deserve in the workplace. This includes hearing each staff member’s concerns with care and attention.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Laura Johnson is Executive Secretary and Ian Richards is President of the UN Staff Union in Geneva-- in a message to OHCHR staff.

Villagers are running out of adaptation options like the building of seawalls, as seen here in Tarawa, Kiribati. Credit: Lauren Day/World Bank

By IPS Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

The South-West Pacific experienced unprecedented warming in 2024, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report released today (June 5)—threatening islands in a region where half the population lives close to the coast.

The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 Report said that sea-surface temperatures were the highest on record, and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. Nearly 40 million km² (15.4 million square miles), an area almost the size of the Asian continent, was affected by marine heatwaves.

On land, extreme heat and rainfall caused deadly and devastating impacts. A record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones hit the Philippines, while the last remaining tropical glacier in Indonesia’s New Guinea headed closer to extinction, the WMO said in a statement.

“2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region. Ocean heat and acidification combined to inflict long-lasting damage to marine ecosystems and economies. Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations. It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Celeste Saulo.

The report was to coincide with the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 in Geneva and ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference.

However, the report also highlighted how strengthened early warning systems and Anticipatory Action in the Philippines enabled communities to prepare and respond to the back-to-back typhoons in 2024. This helped to protect lives and livelihoods and ensure dignified, timely support for vulnerable communities.

During a press briefing on the report, Catherine Jones, Disaster Resilience Officer from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), gave some detail of how “anticipatory action protocols” assisted a community in the Bicol Region on an island called Catanduanes. On November 13, 2024, the fifth cyclone in the region intensified into a super typhoon (category 5), and a warning was issued that it would make landfall on the 16th. The organization supported 2,800 households with multi-purpose cash to protect their livelihoods, and the early warning system also enabled these households to evacuate and secure their boats.

“When we went back to speak with various fisherfolk who received the support, they said to us, because they received the warnings before the event, they were able to get back onto the water one week after the sediment and all the ocean had settled; they were able to jump straight back into their livelihood and provide for their families.”

The WMO says that this example exemplifies the value of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, which is one of WMO’s top strategic priorities, even though the report says 50,000 Pacific Islanders face the risk of displacement due to climate change.

2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region, at approximately 0.48 °C above the 1991–2020 average. Credit: WMO

Key highlights of the report include:

• 2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region, at approximately 0.48 °C above the 1991–2020 average. This was associated with the continued influence from the 2023/2024 El Niño event.
• The southern coast of Australia, northern New Zealand, and many Pacific Islands all suffered precipitation deficits.
• Parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, the northern Philippines, northern Australia, eastern Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and southern New Zealand saw above-average rainfall.
• Extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts across the region, with major events in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines disrupting communities, infrastructure, and economies.
• The late 2024 tropical cyclone season in the Philippines was unprecedented, with 12 storms from September to November — more than double the average. Across the entire sequence, over 13 million people were impacted in 17 of the country’s 18 regions, with more than 1.4 million displaced.
• In Indonesia, glacier ice loss continued rapidly in 2024, with the total ice area in the western part of New Guinea declining by 30-50% since 2022, according to satellite estimates. If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter.
• Most of the ocean area of the South-West Pacific region was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe, or extreme intensity during 2024. During the months of January, April, May, and June 2024, nearly 40 million km² of the region’s ocean was impacted, marking a record high since records began in 1993.

Sea Level Rise in the Pacific Islands

Communities on the Pacific Islands face difficult decisions about staying in high-risk areas or relocating to secure their futures.

“Villagers are running out of adaptation options, with the building of seawalls, plantation of mangroves, and improvement of drainage systems no longer being viable,” the report says, giving an example from the Government of Fiji, which has offered support for the islanders to relocate. However, many choose to stay because of the concept of “vanua,” which translates literally to “land,” embodying the profound connection between the Indigenous communities and their ancestral lands.

Delegates address a press conference at the launch of the WMO State of the Climate in South-West Pacific 2024 Report.

During a press briefing on the report, UNFCCC’s  Juhi Bansal described the daily life of people living on Sarawak Island.

“Since 2000, rising sea levels have caused severe coastal erosion, flooding, and seawater intrusion-crops have failed. Homes have been submerged and sea walls have been repeatedly destroyed in two extreme flooding events,” she said. “Boats have been used to traverse the island. Villagers now build planks between homes and they dock boats at their doors during high tide. The villages have tried every adaptation measure available. They’ve built sea walls, tried mangrove restoration, and even crop relocation to the mainland, but these are all temporary solutions. With each king tide, Sira Island inches closer to being uninhabitable.”

Bansal said the report comes at a pivotal moment when the world prepares for the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions, known as NCD 3.0 and countries have been asked to put in place National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

“The dual task of deepening ambition while also ensuring development priorities are met is complex, but it is possible, especially with strong partnerships, shared commitment, and sustained political will. The case studies today demonstrate that we must scale up finance support for locally led mitigation and adaptation and ensure that relocation, when necessary, is done with dignity, cultural sensitivity, and the buy-in of local communities.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Related Articles

• South-West Pacific Communities Threatened by Ocean Heat, Sea-Level Rise
• UNOC3: Bringing Ocean Education and Science to the Global Agenda
• Global Push to Protect Oceans Gains Momentum Ahead of UN Conference in Nice

Credit: Zed Jameson/Anadolu via Getty Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

For decades, Portugal stood as a beacon of democratic stability in an increasingly unsettled Europe. While neighbours grappled with political fragmentation and the rise of far-right movements, Portugal maintained its two-party system, a testament to the enduring legacy of the 1974 Carnation Revolution that peacefully transitioned the country from dictatorship to democracy. It was long believed that Portugal’s extensive pre-revolution experience of repressive right-wing rule had effectively inoculated it against far-right politics, but that assumption is now demonstrable outdated. An era of exceptionalism ended on 18 May, when the far-right Chega party secured 22.8 per cent of the vote and 60 parliamentary seats, becoming the country’s main opposition force.

This represents more than an electoral upset; it marks the collapse of five decades of democratic consensus and Portugal’s reluctant entry into the European mainstream of political polarisation. Chega could hold the balance of power. The centre-right Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, won the most parliamentary seats, but fell far short of the 116 needed for a majority. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party, which governed from 2015 to 2024, suffered its worst defeat since the 1980s, relegated to third place by a party that’s only six years old.

Chega’s meteoric rise from just 1.3 per cent of the vote and one seat in 2019 to its role as today’s main opposition demonstrates how quickly political landscapes can shift when mainstream parties fail to address people’s fundamental concerns. The roots of the transformation lie in a toxic combination of economic pressure and political failure that has systematically eroded public confidence in the political establishment.

Portugal has endured three elections in under four years, a sign of its novel state of chronic instability. The immediate trigger for the latest election was the collapse of Montenegro’s government following a confidence vote, with opposition parties citing concerns over potential conflicts of interest involving his family business. This followed the previous Socialist government’s fall in November 2023 amid corruption investigations, creating a recurring cycle of scandal, government crisis and electoral upheaval.

The political turmoil unfolds against a backdrop of mounting social challenges that mainstream parties have failed to adequately address. Despite its economy growing by 1.9 per cent in 2024, well above the European Union average, Portugal faces a severe housing crisis that has become the defining issue for many voters, particularly those from younger generations. Portugal now has the worst housing access rates of all 38 OECD countries, with house prices more than doubling over the past decade.

In Lisbon, rents have jumped by 65 per cent since 2015, making the capital the world’s third least financially viable city due to its punishing combination of soaring housing costs and traditionally low wages. This crisis, driven by tourism, foreign investment and short-term rentals, has pushed property ownership beyond most people’s reach, creating widespread frustration with governments perceived as ineffective or indifferent to everyday struggles.

Immigration has provided another flashpoint. The number of legal migrants tripled from under half a million in 2018 to over 1.5 million in 2025. This rapid demographic change has fuelled populist narratives about uncontrolled migration and its alleged impact on housing and employment markets. It was precisely these grievances that Chega, led by former TV commentator André Ventura, expertly exploited.

As an outsider party untainted by association with the cycle of scandals and governmental collapses, Chega positioned itself as the defender of ‘western civilisation’ and channelled anti-establishment anger into electoral success. It combines promises to combat corruption and limit immigration with a defence of what it characterises as traditional Portuguese values, including through extreme criminal justice policies such as chemical castration for repeat sexual offenders.

Despite Ventura’s insistence that Chega simply advocates equal treatment without ‘special privileges’, the party’s ranks include white supremacists and admirers of former dictator António Salazar. Its openly racist approach to immigration and hostility towards women, LGBTQI+ people, Muslims and Roma people reflects a familiar far-right playbook that has proven successful across Europe. Chega has cultivated significant connections with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, Germany’s Alternative for Germany, and Spain’s Vox party, and Ventura was among the European far-right leaders invited to Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Montenegro has so far refused to work with Chega, which he has publicly characterised as demagogic, racist and xenophobic – a rejection that may have inadvertently strengthened Chega’s anti-establishment credentials. However, the arithmetic of Portugal’s fractured parliament suggests that any significant policy initiatives will require either Socialist abstention or, more controversially, Chega support, creating new opportunities for far-right influence, particularly on criminal justice and immigration policies.

Portugal’s experience offers sobering evidence that far-right influence should no longer be viewed as a passing fad but rather as an established feature of contemporary European politics. The speed of the shift offers a stark reminder that no democracy is immune to the populist pressures reshaping the continent.

The question now is whether Portugal’s institutions can adapt to govern effectively in this new fractured landscape while preserving democratic values. Portugal’s civil society has an increasingly vital part to play in holding newly influential far-right politicians to account and offering collective responses to populist challenges.

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

 

UNICEF’S cholera response in Sudan. A doctor mixes an oral rehydration solution, which treats cholera. Credit: UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

A particularly virulent outbreak of cholera was detected in the Khartoum State of Sudan and is a direct result of the Sudanese Civil War, warns the United Nations.

“The resurgence of cholera is more than a public health emergency – it is a symptom of deep, persistent inequality. Cholera takes hold where poverty is entrenched, where healthcare is scarce, and where conflict has shattered the systems that keep children safe. Without access to safe water and sanitation and essential services, communities are left exposed, and children are paying the price,” said Joe English, the Emergency Communication Specialist of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Cholera is an acute bacterial infection caused by the consumption of contaminated food or water, which can be fatal and lead to death by dehydration if left untreated. Cases of cholera are most concentrated in Africa and South Asia, as these regions are known to be particularly sensitive to flooding, have high rates of poverty and displacement, and lack adequate water, sanitation and health (WASH) infrastructure in many areas.

UNICEF has warned that worldwide cases of cholera have nearly doubled in the past two years, with approximately 1.1 billion people being at risk of succumbing to the disease. Children under the age of five and people living in poverty face the highest risks of death as many of them also suffer from other health complications such as malnutrition.

Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that there were 804,721 cases and 5,805 deaths across 33 countries in 2024, marking a 37 percent increase in cases, and a 27 percent increase in deaths from 2023. The latest figures show that there have been 157,035 cases and 2,148 deaths recorded across 26 countries in the first four months of 2025. Although cholera is difficult to monitor, WHO projects an increase in cases this year.

On May 28, UNICEF released a report detailing the most recent outbreak occurring in Sudan. Attributed to the deterioration of conditions due to the Sudanese Civil War, the outbreak is most prevalent in Khartoum State. As the conflict ravages residential areas, displacement has reached new peaks and hordes of civilians reside in overcrowded and unsanitary shelters. Attacks from armed forces have also damaged the national supplies of electricity and water, forcing families to rely on water from contaminated sources.

The report further details that the recent outbreak in Khartoum spread particularly quickly. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recorded over 500 cases in a single day on May 21. This represents a quarter of the cases recorded in the past three weeks. UNICEF added that between May 15 and 25, the number of recorded cases surged ninefold from 90 per day to 815.

Additionally, Sudanese officials confirmed that there have been over 2,500 cases recorded in the past week, as well as 172 deaths. Since January, there have been approximately 7,700 cases of cholera recorded in Sudan and 185 associated deaths. Over 1,000 of these cases comprise of children under the age of five.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has expressed concern as the rapid rise in cases greatly outpaces Sudan’s national epidemic response supplies. With Sudan lacking the adequate resources to respond to a widespread public health crisis, it is imperative that humanitarian organizations distribute vaccines and continue to monitor the spread.

“Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster. The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure, and limited access to clean water is fueling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases. With the rainy season fast approaching, the need for immediate, coordinated action could not be more urgent,” said Eatizaz Yousif, IRC’s Sudan Country Director.

At present, the main challenge in Sudan is in monitoring the spread of infection and supplementing the collapsing healthcare system. Dr. Sayed Mohamed Abdullah from Sudan’s Doctors Union stated that roughly 80 percent of hospitals are not functional, and the remaining are operating on shortages of water, electricity, and medical supplies. These remaining facilities struggle to assist large influxes of patients on a daily basis. Humanitarian aid workers and medical personnel are also at heightened risks of exposure.

“Part of what we are doing with health authorities is to reinforce the epidemic surveillance system to have a better understanding of where most of the patients come from, what the main problems are, and how we could improve our support,” said Slaymen Ammar, MSF’s medical coordinator in Khartoum. “In a context like this, with very few operational health facilities, we need to quickly address the needs of patients to prevent them from progressing to a severe form of the disease.”

The United Nations (UN) and its partners have been on the frontlines supporting vaccination campaigns that target the most vulnerable communities. According to UN Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, cholera vaccinations began on May 27 in Jabal Awliya, a village that borders Khartoum which was hit particularly hard.

That same day, WHO announced that they had delivered eight tonnes worth of medical supplies including treatments for non-communicable diseases, mental health issues, and malnutrition. This is estimated to provide roughly six months of support to the hospital.

UNICEF has delivered over 1.6 million oral cholera vaccines along with numerous cholera treatment kits. They have also distributed water treatment chemicals to households and water plants in an effort to mitigate the spread. Furthermore, UNICEF is also facilitating community awareness through social media campaigns and dialogues.

“We are racing against time with our partners to provide basic healthcare, clean water, and good nutrition, among other lifesaving services, to children who are highly vulnerable to deadly diseases and severe acute malnutrition,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative for Sudan. “Each day, more children are exposed to this double threat of cholera and malnutrition, but both are preventable and treatable, if we can reach children in time.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

By Todd Moss
WASHINGTON DC, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)

On June 10, the World Bank’s board will meet to consider lifting an outdated ban on nuclear energy – one that has remained in place for decades despite the growing global need for clean, reliable electricity.

The ban limits options for developing nations, undermines climate goals, and leaves countries vulnerable to authoritarian influence. Here are some key facts to know about the ban and its impact:

FACT: Over 3 billion people lack reliable electricity.

Nuclear power can help close this gap by delivering large-scale, dependable energy to regions where renewables alone are insufficient to meet rising demand.

FACT: Global electricity demand will double by 2050, led by emerging and developing countries.

Most of the world’s growth in energy demand will be among World Bank client countries in Asia, Middle East, and Africa that are open to nuclear power but still require financing.

FACT: Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest, most reliable sources of electricity.

Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power generates electricity without carbon emissions – and unlike solar and wind, it provides round-the-clock baseload power essential for economic growth and industrialization.

FACT: The World Bank’s ban leaves developing nations dependent on Russia and China.

Without financing options from trusted institutions like the World Bank, countries turn to state-backed Russian and Chinese nuclear deals – often opaque, long-term arrangements that undermine sovereignty and energy security.

FACT: Developing countries want nuclear power – but can’t finance it.

Countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are actively exploring nuclear power but face steep financing barriers. Without World Bank support, they’re denied a viable path to energy independence.

FACT: Every credible path to a low-carbon future includes nuclear.

More than two dozen countries have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2030 to meet climate goals. Continued exclusion of nuclear from World Bank policy contradicts the urgency of the climate crisis.

FACT: The World Bank’s ban is copied by over 20 other development finance institutions.

This domino effect means that outdated policy by a few powerful shareholders is depriving low- and middle-income countries around the world of access to a key clean energy technology.

FACT: Modern nuclear technology is safer, smaller, and more flexible than ever.

Advanced reactors and small modular designs address past safety concerns and are well-suited for the needs of emerging markets, including off-grid, industrial, and remote applications.

FACT: Lifting the ban would open the door to U.S. and allied technology.

American nuclear firms are at risk of being shut out of deals due to the financing gap, while authoritarian states step in. Reversing the ban would promote fair, open competition and high safety standards.

FACT: A simple first step: build World Bank expertise.

The Bank doesn’t yet have a team of nuclear energy experts to assist and advise client countries. Creating a technical team to assess nuclear options would help countries make informed decisions – and allow the Bank to modernize itself and better serve its shareholders.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Todd Moss is founder and executive director of the Energy for Growth Hub.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid tribute to the victims with a minute of silence. Credit: Akorda

By Katsuhiro Asagiri
TOKYO / ASTANA , Jun 4 2025 (IPS)

On the windswept steppe west of Astana, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev led a solemn ceremony this week to mark Kazakhstan’s Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repressions and Famine—an annual reflection on one of the nation’s darkest chapters.

The ceremony was held at the ALZHIR Memorial Complex, a former Stalin-era camp where nearly 8,000 women—wives of those declared “enemies of the state”—were once imprisoned.

“The lessons of history must never be forgotten,” Tokayev declared, referring to the Stalin-era policies that left deep scars on Kazakhstan’s cultural and intellectual life.

Credit: Map of Gulag locations in Soviet Union, Public Domain

Kazakhstan’s experience forms part of the broader story of Stalinist repression, which extended well beyond Russia’s borders. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, an estimated 560,000 to 760,000 Japanese prisoners of war and civilians were forcibly relocated and detained across Soviet territory. Among them, about 50,000 were sent to camps in what was then the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan). In camps such as Spassky near Karaganda, many perished under harsh forced labor and brutal conditions.

Kazakh citizens suffered even greater losses. In the early 1930s, famine caused by Stalin’s agricultural collectivization policies and the forced destruction of the traditional nomadic way of life claimed as many as 2.3 million Kazakhs. This was followed by purges in which countless intellectuals and landowners were executed or exiled.

Migration of Kazakh People due to theFamine in 1932 – 33.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has sought not only to confront this painful legacy but also to embrace the vision of a multiethnic and multifaith society rooted in tolerance. Its constitution guarantees equality for all ethnic and religious groups, and more than 300,000 victims have been officially rehabilitated. Declassified archives continue to shed new light on this era.

But Kazakhstan’s progress is not merely about reconciliation with the past. It has also chosen to make tolerance and dialogue central pillars of its national identity.

As I wrote in a 2023 INPS Japan article, Kazakhstan’s leadership has placed global interfaith dialogue at the heart of its foreign engagement. The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, launched in 2003, has become a signature platform bringing together leaders from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other faiths for sustained dialogue.

7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions Group Photo by Secretariate of the 7th Congress

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri

The upcoming 8th Congress, scheduled for September 17–18, 2025, in Astana, is expected to draw religious leaders, scholars, and policymakers from around the world.

Hosted at the iconic Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Congress reflects Kazakhstan’s role as a bridge between East and West and its commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, and dialogue.

This approach holds particular relevance in a world increasingly fractured by sectarian conflict and geopolitical tensions. Kazakhstan’s efforts to transform a history marked by division and repression into a model of inclusion and cooperation offer valuable lessons for the global community.

Such values were echoed by Pope Francis, who attended the 7th Congress in 2022. In his closing address, the pontiff stated, “Religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility or extremism, but instead become a beacon of hope for peace.” He emphasized the importance of interreligious dialogue and coexistence.

Semipalatinsk former Nuclear test site. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri

Kazakhstan is also confronting another grievous injustice from its Soviet past. From 1949 to 1989, 456 nuclear tests were conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, exposing more than one million people to radiation—an enduring tragedy. In response, post-independence Kazakhstan chose to voluntarily renounce the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, making nuclear disarmament a cornerstone of its foreign policy.

This commitment to nuclear disarmament also extends to interfaith diplomacy. Since the 6th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in 2018, Kazakhstan has worked closely with Soka Gakkai International (SGI) of Japan and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), advancing a shared vision of peace, dialogue, and the abolition of nuclear weapons, grounded in the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use and the testimonies of Hibakusha, while promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and deepening international cooperation.

A Group photo of participants of the regional conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear-free-zone in Central Asia held on August 29, 2023. Credit: Jibek Joly TV Channel

The ALZHIR Memorial itself continues to bear witness to the injustices of the past. Its preserved barracks and “Arch of Sorrow” leave a powerful impression on visitors.

Yet as this week’s remembrance ceremony and Kazakhstan’s ongoing interfaith efforts make clear, the country is determined to build a future grounded in tolerance, justice, and peace.

“Such injustices must never be repeated,” Tokayev affirmed—a principle that now informs both Kazakhstan’s domestic policies and its multi-vector diplomacy aimed at fostering dialogue and harmony on the international stage.

Katsuhiro Asagiri is the President of INPS Japan and serves as the director for media projects such as “Strengthening awareness on Nuclear Weapons” and SDGs for All” In 2024, he was honored with the “Kazakhstan Through the Eyes of Foreign Media” award, representing the Asia-Pacific region.

This article is brought to you by INPS Japan in collaboration with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Credit: MarcoVector/shutterstock.com

By Lisa Schirch
Jun 4 2025 (IPS)

 
A better internet that supports democracy rather than undermines it is possible.

In 2025, we stand at a crossroads in the digital era. Our platforms have become the new public squares, but rather than fostering democracy and dignity, many are optimized for manipulation, division, and profit. The Council on Technology and Social Cohesion’s “Blueprint on Prosocial Tech Design Governance” offers a systems-level response to this crisis.

Digital harms are not accidental. They stem from deliberate choices embedded in how platforms are built and monetized. Infinite scroll, addictive recommendation systems, and deceptive patterns are not technical inevitabilities—they are design policies that reward engagement over truth, attention over well-being, and outrage over dialogue. These antisocial designs have proven devastating: eroding mental health, fuelling polarisation, spreading disinformation, and concentrating power in a handful of corporate actors.

Tech companies blame users for harmful content online. But this avoids their own responsibility in how they design platforms. The Blueprint shifts the focus from downstream content moderation to upstream focus on platform design.

No technology has a neutral design. Companies make choices about what a platform will allow you to do, prevent you from doing, and what the design will persuade, incentivise, amplify, highlight, or manipulate people to do or not do online.

Prosocial Building Codes

Like building codes in architecture, the report proposes a tiered certification system for prosocial tech, outlining five levels of increasing ambition—from minimum safety standards to fully participatory, socially cohesive platforms. This is not window-dressing. It’s a structural intervention to address the root causes of harmful tech designs.

Tier 1 begins with establishing baseline protections: Safety by Design, Privacy by Design, and User Agency by Design. These aren’t abstract ideals but concrete practices that give users control over what they see, how they’re tracked, and whether manipulative features are opt-in rather than default. Tier 2 scales up with low-barrier user experience tools like empathy-oriented reaction buttons, friction to slow down impulsive posting, and prompts to reflect before sharing.

Iin Tier 3, prosocial algorithms that highlight areas of common ground and diverse ideas replace engagement-maximising recommender systems that offer news feeds skewed toward polarising topics. Tier 4 introduces civic tech and deliberative platforms explicitly built for democratic engagement, and Tier 5 pushes for middleware solutions that restore data sovereignty and interoperability.

Research Transparency and Protections

The report highlights the need for research to understand how platform design impacts society, safe harbour laws to protect independent researchers, and open data standards for measuring social trust and cohesion. The paper calls for mandated platform audits, researcher safe harbours, and public infrastructure to enable independent scrutiny of algorithmic systems and user experiences. Without these safeguards, crucial insight into systemic harms—such as manipulation, bias, and disinformation—remains inaccessible.

The paper offers a set of prosocial metrics on three areas of social cohesion. This includes individual agency and well-being, or the ability of users to make informed choices and participate meaningfully; social trust and intergroup pluralism referring to the quality of interaction across diverse social, cultural, and political groups; and public trust or the strength of relationship between users and public institutions.

Shifting Market Forces

The report concludes with a set of market reforms to shift incentives toward prosocial tech innovations. Market forces drive antisocial and deceptive tech design. Venture capital (VC) funding is the main source of financing for many major tech platforms, especially in their early and growth stages. It significantly entrenches antisocial tech design, expecting rapid scaling, high returns, and market dominance—often at the expense of ethical development.

Market concentration inhibits innovation and confines users within systems that prioritise profit over well-being. Numerous large technology companies function as monopolies, employing opaque strategies and dominating value chains. Such technology monopolies pose significant challenges for smaller, prosocial platforms seeking growth. When a limited number of tech giants control infrastructure, data, and user attention, smaller platforms with ethical, inclusive, or democratic designs encounter difficulties in achieving visibility and viability.

The report recommends shifting market forces by codifying liability for platform-induced harms, enforcing antitrust to level the playing field for ethical alternatives, and identifying a range of options for funding and monetising prosocial tech startups.

Too often piecemeal tech regulation has failed to show the flood of toxicity online. Using a system’s approach, the report offers a comprehensive plan to make prosocial tech not only possible, but competitive and sustainable. Just as we expect bridges to be safe and banks to be audited, the Blueprint insists we treat digital infrastructure with the same seriousness. Platforms should not be allowed to profit from harm while hiding behind the myth of neutrality.

At its core, the Blueprint argues that platform design is social engineering. Platforms that currently amplify outrage could, with the right design and incentives, foster empathy, cooperation, and truth.

Now the question is political will. Will regulators adopt tiered certifications that reward responsibility? Will investors fund platforms that prioritise well-being over profit? Will designers centre the needs of marginalised communities in their user experience decisions? The Blueprint gives us the tools. The next step is collective action for governments, technologists, and civil society alike.

Download the report here.

Related articles:
How technology can build trust in the Israeli-Palestinian context
Mapping tech design regulation in the Global South
Deliberative technology: Designing AI and computational democracy for peacebuilding in highly-polarized contexts
Building tech “trust and safety” for a digital public sphere

Dr. Lisa Schirch is Research Fellow with the Toda Peace Institute and is on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame in the Keough School of Global Affairs and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She holds the Richard G. Starmann Sr. Endowed Chair and directs the Peacetech and Polarization Lab. A former Fulbright Fellow in East and West Africa, Schirch is the author of eleven books, including The Ecology of Violent Extremism: Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Human Security and Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy: The Tech-tonic Shift. Her work focuses on tech-assisted dialogue and decision-making to improve state-society relationships and social cohesion.

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from the original with their permission.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Noor Mukadam at a protest outside the Islamabad Press Club, holding a poster demanding justice for a rape survivor. The photo was taken on September 12, 2020. She was murdered by her partner on 20 July 2021. Credit: Shafaq Zaidi

By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jun 4 2025 (IPS)

“It’s brought me some closure,” said Shafaq Zaidi, a school friend of Noor Mukadam, reacting to the Supreme Court’s May 20 verdict upholding both the life sentence and death penalty for Noor’s killer, Zahir Jaffer.

“Nothing can bring Noor back, but this decision offers a sense of justice—not just for her, but for every woman in Pakistan who’s been told her life doesn’t matter,” Zaidi told IPS over the phone from Islamabad. “It’s been a long and painful journey—four years of fighting through the sessions court, high court, and finally, the Supreme Court.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, rights activist Zohra Yusuf said, “It’s satisfying that the Supreme Court upheld the verdict,” but added that the crime’s brutality left little room for relief. “It was so horrific that one can’t even celebrate the judgment,” she said, referring to the “extreme” sadism Noor endured—tortured with a knuckleduster, raped, and beheaded with a sharp weapon on July 20, 2021.

Yusuf also pointed out that the “background” of those involved is what drew national attention.

Noor Mukadam, 27, was the daughter of a former ambassador, while Zahir Jaffer, 30, was a dual Pakistan-U.S. national from a wealthy and influential family. Her father and friends fought to keep the case in the public eye, refusing to let it fade into yet another forgotten statistic.

Still, the response has been muted—many, including Yusuf, oppose the death penalty.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded at least 174 death sentences in 2024—a sharp rise from 102 in 2023—yet not a single execution was reportedly carried out. The last known hanging was in 2019, when Imran Ali was executed for the rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab Ansari.

However, Noor’s father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam, has repeatedly stated that the death sentence for Zahir Jaffer was “very necessary,” emphasizing, “This isn’t just about my daughter—it’s about all of Pakistan’s daughters,” referencing the countless acts of violence against women that go unpunished every day.

The HRCP’s 2024 annual report painted a grim picture of gender-based violence against women in Pakistan.

According to the National Police Bureau, at least 405 women were killed in so-called honor crimes. Domestic violence remained widespread, resulting in 1,641 murders and over 3,385 reports of physical assault within households.

Sexual violence showed no sign of slowing. Police records documented 4,175 reported rapes, 733 gang rapes, 24 cases of custodial sexual assault, and 117 incidents of incest-related abuse—a chilling reminder of the dangers women face in both public and private spaces. HRCP’s media monitoring also revealed that at least 13 transgender individuals experienced sexual violence—one was even killed by her family in the name of honor.

The digital space offered no refuge either. The Digital Rights Foundation recorded 3,121 cases of cyber-harassment, most reported by women in Punjab.

Justice Remains Elusive

But numbers alone can’t capture the brutality—or the deep-rooted disregard for women that drives it.

“We recently took a man to court and secured maintenance for twin baby girls,” said Haya Zahid, CEO of the Karachi-based Legal Aid Society (LAS). “The father divorced their young mother while she was still in the hospital—just because she gave birth to daughters.”

LAS offers free legal aid to those who can’t afford it, handling cases like rape, murder, acid attacks, forced and child marriages, and domestic violence.

Bassam Dhari, also from LAS, recalled Daya Bheel’s gruesome murder, which took place after Noor Mukadam’s but failed to stir national attention because it happened in a remote village in Sindh’s Sanghar district.

“She was skinned, her eyeballs removed, her breasts chopped off, and her head severed from her body,” said Dhari.

He said the postmortem report confirmed that she was neither raped nor sexually assaulted, and the attack did not appear to be driven by rage or revenge.

While Mukadam’s family may have found closure, justice remains elusive for thousands of Pakistani women.

“Noor Mukadam’s case is indeed a rare instance where justice was served,” said Syeda Bushra, another lawyer at the LAS.

“It’s not that there aren’t enough laws to protect women and children—far from it,” said Bushra. “There are plenty of laws, but what good are they if investigations are weak?” According to her, only a small percentage of women can seek redress. “Justice is denied or delayed every single day,” she added.

“The problem is that these laws are crafted in a social vacuum,” observed Fauzia Yazdani, a gender and governance expert with over 30 years of experience working with national governments, the UN, and bilateral development partners in Pakistan.

She acknowledged that although many progressive, women-friendly laws have been passed over the years, they’ve failed to resonate in a society resistant to change. “Laws are essential, but no amount of legislation can end violence against women if the societal mindset remains misogynistic, patriarchal, and permissive of such crimes,” she said.

Buying Justice Through Blood Money

At the same time, Dahri highlighted critical flaws in the justice system.

In Pakistan, where the death penalty remains legal under its Islamic status, such sentences can be overturned through the diyat (blood money) law, which allows perpetrators to buy forgiveness by compensating the victim’s family.

“In our country, money can buy anything,” said Dahri. “This blood money law is routinely abused by the rich and powerful to literally get away with murder.”

He stressed the urgent need to reform these laws. “Many families initially refuse compensation, but intense pressure and threats—especially against the poor—often force them to give in.”

In 2023, 10-year-old Fatima Furiro’s death might have gone unnoticed if two graphic videos—showing her writhing in pain, then collapsing—hadn’t gone viral. The resulting public outcry led to her body being exhumed. Her employer, a powerful feudal lord in Sindh’s Khairpur district, who appeared in the footage, was swiftly arrested.

He spent a year in prison before the case was closed, after Fatima’s impoverished family accepted blood money—despite forensic evidence confirming she had been raped, beaten, and tortured over time.

Shafaq Zaidi—Noor Mukadam’s school friend—stood outside the Islamabad Press Club on July 25, 2021, at the very spot where Noor had once protested. This time, Zaidi was seeking justice for Noor herself, who had been killed just days earlier, on July 20, 2021. Courtesy: Shafaq Zaidi

Law vs Prejudice

Alongside a flawed justice system, women must battle deep-rooted social taboos—amplified by relentless victim-blaming and shaming.

“In such an environment,” said Bushra, “it’s no surprise that many women, worn down by the long and exhausting process, eventually withdraw their complaints.”

“A woman’s trial begins long before she ever enters a courtroom,” said Dahri.

In Noor Mukadam’s case, the claim of a “live-in relationship”—real or fabricated—was used by the convict’s lawyer to downgrade his death sentence for rape to life imprisonment.

“A boy and girl living together is a misfortune for our society,” remarked Justice Hashim Kakar, who led the three-member bench hearing Mukadam’s case.

“Her reputation was sullied—even in death,” said Yazdani, adding that judges should refrain from moralizing and preaching.

“A judge’s verdict should rest solely on an impartial reading of the law,” said Bushra.

But as Dahri pointed out, few lawyers in Pakistan dare to say this openly. “Judges can take it personally,” he said, “and we risk facing repercussions in our very next case.”

According to Yazdani, even a few targeted reforms—like faster hearings, clearing case backlogs, setting up GBV and child protection courts, and training judges, lawyers, and police on the realities of misogyny and gender-based violence—could cut victim-blaming in half.

But she also offered a word of caution: reforms alone don’t guarantee empathy, which she called the cornerstone of real justice.

“Social change doesn’t happen overnight,” Yazdani said. “Anthropologically speaking, it takes five years for change to take root—and another ten for it to truly take hold.”

Gender balance matters in justice

Judicial gender inequality worsens the situation. Some experts argue that increasing the number of women judges and lawyers could lead to a more fair, dynamic, and empathetic justice system.

A 2024 report by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) reveals that women make up less than 20 percent of the country’s judges, lawyers, and judicial officers—an alarming gap in a nation of over 117 million women. Of the 126 judges in the superior judiciary, only seven are women—just 5.5 percent. In the Supreme Court, that number drops to two.

Meanwhile, the 26 judges of the apex court (including the chief justice) are burdened with a backlog of more than 56,000 cases—not all related to violence against women.

Bushra believes more women must be encouraged to enter the justice sector—particularly as prosecutors, police officers, and judges. “I’ve seen how distressed victims become when forced to repeat their ordeal to male officers—often multiple times,” she said.

But she emphasized that simply increasing the number of women won’t end victim-blaming or guarantee survivor-centric justice. “Everyone in the system—including women—must be genuinely gender-sensitized to overcome personal biases and deep-rooted stereotypes,” said Bushra.

Special Courts

In 2021, the government passed the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, leading to the formation of an anti-rape committee by the Ministry of Law and Justice to support victims, including setting up special courts nationwide. “Special investigation units with trained prosecutors now handle 77 percent of complaints, and 91 percent of cases go to special courts,” said Nida Aly of AGHS, a Lahore-based law firm offering free legal aid and part of the committee.

By 2022, Sindh had set up 382 such units. Aly noted that a survivor-centered, time-bound, and coordinated approach raised conviction rates from 3.5 percent to 5 percent. A national sex offenders registry, managed by police, was launched in 2024. In Punjab, all 36 districts now have crisis and protection centers offering legal and psychosocial support, though some face resource limitations.

Nearly five years after gender-based violence courts were established in Karachi, she sees a promising shift in how judges handle such cases. “Prosecutors now take time to prepare women complainants—something that never happened before,” she said.

However, she added, the number of such courts and sensitized judges remains a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming number of violence committed against women and such cases flooding the system across Sindh.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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