Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

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

The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government’s primary channel for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, is expected to have a devastating impact on the world’s developing nations.

The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering $58.8 billion in US foreign aid for this year.

The proposed aid included funding to fully support the US priorities and commitments made at the U.S.-Africa Leader’s Summit in May last year.

The request also fulfills Biden’s pledge made at the U.S.-hosted Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to match $1 for every $2 contributed by other donors by providing $1.2 billion to the Global Fund.

And, according to the State Department, it was also expected to advance U.S. leadership by providing sustained funding for the Pandemic Fund to enhance global preparedness against infectious disease threats.

But all these commitments will have to be abandoned– or drastically scaled back– with the elimination of USAID and with over 10,000 of its staffers laid-off worldwide, leaving only about 290 positions—with US employees asked to return home.

Credit: J. Countess/Getty Images

According to a frontpage story in the New York Times February 11, critics of Trump’s executive orders say these orders “will cause a humanitarian catastrophe and undermine America’s influence, reliability and global standing.”

The Times said the US spent nearly $72 billion on foreign assistance in 2023, including spending by USAID and the State Department. As a percentage of its economic output, the US—which has the world’s largest economy—gives much less in foreign aid than other developed countries.

USAID spent about $38 billion on health services, disaster relief, anti-poverty efforts and other programs in 2023—about 0.7 percent of the federal budget.

Dr James E. Jennings, President, Conscience International, told IPS the Draconian cuts to USAID are already having global repercussions.

For two billionaires– one of whom is allegedly the richest person in the world– to take bread from the mouths of multitudes of children throughout the global south is not just uncaring–it is cruelty personified, he pointed out.

“International aid is more than numbers on a balance sheet. It impacts people in desperate need for their next meal, safe drinking water, a place to sleep, or emergency medical aid”.

Washington’s USAID program costs only 1.2% of the federal budget, according to the Pew Research Center. Much of it benefits refugees and displaced persons worldwide.

“Today they number more than ever before in history, totaling almost 100 million people. Cutting support for health programs, especially Malaria eradication and AIDS/SIDA treatment and prevention is simply madness, because deadly diseases eventually reach everybody’s neighborhood,” said Dr Jennings.

Not since President Franklin Roosevelt arrived in the White House in 1932, he said, has a chief executive issued so many directives. There is a huge difference, however.

“FDR’s actions were to benefit people, lift them out of poverty, provide jobs and improve life.”
Even if the massive federal government needs reform and border controls strengthened, something most Americans support, Trump’s actions are intended to strengthen plutocrats like himself, cut services to the American people, including veterans, and eliminate programs to help struggling populations in the rest of the world.

Such has always been the behavior of autocrats, not to mention would-be tyrants, declared Dr Jennings.

In an oped piece this week, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU), wrote “witnessing the devastating impact of Trump’s executive order to freeze almost all foreign aid is heartbreaking”.

His decision has left millions of vulnerable children without access to lifesaving food across the globe. Over 1.2 million people in Sudan who were supported by US-funded programs are now left without access to food, essential medicine, and clean water, which they need to survive.

“The consequences are equally devastating in refugee camps in Ethiopia, where 3,000 malnourished children relied on US-supported efforts through Action Against Hunger. Trump’s inhumane decision is not just heartless; it shatters the very ideals of compassion and leadership that once defined the United States”.

A nation that once led the charge in fighting hunger and saving lives is now, under Trump’s savage assault, abandoning millions of innocent children to starvation and inevitable death. His wanton action demeans rather than preserves America’s greatness, said Dr Ben-Meir.

According to the Times, there are more than 30 “frozen studies”, including:
• Malaria treatment in children under age 5 in Mozambique
• Treatment for cholera in Bangladesh
• A screen-and-treat method for cervical cancer in Malawi
• Tuberculosis treatment for children in Peru and South Africa
• Nutritional support for children in Ethiopia
• Early-childhood-development interventions in Cambodia

Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State and acting Administrator of USAID, was quoted as saying:
“The United States is not walking away from foreign aid. It’s not.”

“But it has to be programs we can defend. It has to be programs we can explain and it has to be programs we can justify. Otherwise, we do endanger foreign aid.”

Meanwhile, justifying the decision to shut down USAID, the White house said in an official statement that for decades, USAID “has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight”.

The few examples of “waste and abuse” cited by the White House included the following:

$1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”
$70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland
$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
$47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
$32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
$2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala
$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations — even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation
Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
“Hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria”
Funding to print “personalized” contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries
Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” benefiting the Taliban

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IFAD president Alvaro Lario at a media conference during the first day of the 48th session of the IFAD Governing Council. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
ROME & NAIROBI, Feb 12 2025 (IPS)

Nearly one in 11 people in the world and one in five people in Africa go hungry every day, a crisis primarily driven by chronic inequality, climate change, conflict and economic instability. At the current pace, hunger and extreme poverty rates show little sign of drastically receding by 2030.

Speaking on the backdrop of IFAD’s annual Governing Council, King Letsie III of Lesotho, African Union Nutrition Champion, Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, Alvaro Lario, IFAD President, and Dayana Dokera Domico, Indigenous and youth activist, leader of the Emberá People, spoke of finding solutions amid increasingly complex and uncertain global alliances, priorities and development financing.

“There are hundreds of millions of people in extreme poverty. It is important for us today to continue working together on a collective action supported by governments, development financial institutions, multilateral development banks and public development banks. It is very important that we continue investing in creating stable rural communities as the foundation for global stability. At the same time, productive agriculture means less hunger,” said Lario, stressing that together they will explore ways to catalyze investment.

As the world’s fund for transforming agriculture, rural economies and food systems, IFAD’s work focuses on those who are otherwise left behind, supporting vulnerable rural people. Often referred to as “the last mile,” IFAD considers rural areas the first mile, as this is where small-scale farmers grow the food that nourishes the planet.

On February 12 and 13, 2025, the 48th session of the IFAD Governing Council, IFAD’s main decision-making body, will bring together heads of state, ministers, high-level representatives of international financial institutions and multilateral development banks, Indigenous peoples representatives and others from rural communities globally to generate investments for rural people.

“That we are in the presence of heads of states, government ministers, heads of multilateral development banks and financial institutions is a demonstration of a shared belief in the IFAD mission and, more so, in the important mission of tackling food insecurity, hunger, inequality, and poverty, of which 80 percent is concentrated in rural areas. It is important that these investments generate impact,” Lario emphasized.

With four in five of the world’s extreme poor people living in rural areas in developing countries, the leaders stressed that tackling agricultural and rural development challenges requires renewed action, strategic focus, innovative thinking and financial instruments that match escalating global problems.

“To adequately address the pressing challenges facing Africa, particularly Southern Africa, we must focus on driving our own development through sustainable nutrition strategies. The recent droughts that have affected most, if not all, of our region have exacerbated food insecurity, and we suspect millions will face hunger in this year, 2025,” King Letsie III explained.

Dayana Dokera Domico, Indigenous and youth activist and leader of the Emberá people, spoke about investments in solutions driven by Indigenous communities. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

“However, in response to some of these challenges, the African Union’s 2025 Declaration emphasizes the importance of nutrition in agricultural development, highlighting the need for investment in agri-food systems that support healthy diets.”

In January, African leaders adopted the 2025 Kampala Declaration, setting the African Union’s agrifood systems strategy for the next 10 years. The declaration is highly critical and timely, as over 40 million people were food insecure in West and Central Africa in 2024. Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad were the most affected as Mali, Sudan and South Sudan experienced catastrophic acute food insecurity.

On the back of a devastating drought in Southern Africa and persistent malnutrition on the continent, King Letsie III provided a unique perspective on the country’s approach to tackling food insecurity. A “state of National Food Insecurity Disaster” was declared in July 2025 and more than 400,000 people are expected to experience crisis levels of acute hunger through March 2025.

Bio spoke from his experience of leading a country coming out of a decade-long civil war—from fragility to prosperity. Stressing the need to leverage self-determination, dialogue and cooperation, including with strong development financial institutions such as IFAD and the need to venture into the world in search of additional partners for the resources needed to open up agriculture as the mainstay of our economy.

“To grow our economy, we should be able to have a major transformation in that sector. In order to be able to take care of the youth bulge, which is a blessing but could also be a curse, we have to be able to embark on a successful agrarian revolution, or transformation, as we have started. In order to deal with the food insecurity, which has been accentuated as a result of geopolitical tensions and many of the shocks that we have had to endure, we have to definitely have a successful transformation in agriculture,” he said.

As an Indigenous Colombian, Domico called for investments to end hunger and poverty, seeking equitable solutions that are driven by the Indigenous communities themselves, that help communities adapt to climate change, respect traditional Indigenous knowledge and safeguard biodiversity and natural resources.

“In almost all cases, parameters, standards and protocols have been imposed on us. On many occasions, we have even requested the high courts and their jurisprudence to design and implement legitimate differential approaches that allow for intercultural and inter-scientific dialogue—horizontal and respectful—so that public policies on food and nutrition continue to be privileged with traditional knowledge. We have our own knowledge system, which is also valid, which has allowed us to live and survive in time,” she emphasized.

The speakers stressed that hunger and poverty are most entrenched in rural areas of developing countries where nearly half of the global population lives. Yet, small-scale farmers produce one third of the world’s food and seventy percent of the food consumed in low- and middle-income countries.

Despite their strategic importance, rural areas suffer from chronic underinvestment.

The IFAD president spoke of the need to create conditions that attract private sector investments, as official development assistance alone or public sector funding will not be enough and that such conditions include building tertiary rural roads and smaller dams to support irrigation activities, emphasizing the need to work together to create these conditions.

“As a development financial institution, it is even more important that we act as catalysts and that we support governments and, especially, the farmers’ organizations and the small-scale farmers in creating conditions to help them drive their own development. For instance, between 2019 and 2021, investments funded by IFAD increased the incomes of 77 million rural people and improved the food security of another 57 million. It is important that we show the impact of these investments,” he emphasized.

Overall, global leaders discussions emerging from the Governing Council will also contribute to global conversations towards the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, the Nutrition For Growth summit, upcoming OG7 and G20 meetings and the implementation of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty

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UNICEF Global Spokesperson James Elder visits a school in Port-au-Prince, which UNICEF and partners relocated from La Saline in 2023, after its students got caught up in a clash between two armed groups. Credit: UNICEF/Ralph Tedy Erol

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 2025 (IPS)

As ongoing gang violence and unrest bring down the living conditions in Haiti, humanitarian groups sound the alarm on human rights violations and the increasing challenges they dace in providing relief efforts.

On February 7, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a press release in which they detailed the deterioration of living conditions in Haiti, particularly as it impacts young girls.

“A staggering 1,000 per cent rise in sexual violence against children in Haiti has turned their bodies into battlegrounds. The 10-fold rise, recorded from 2023 to last year, comes as armed groups inflict unimaginable horrors on children,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder. He added that there was instances of young girls being abducted, beaten, drugged, raped, and held for ransom by gang members.

On January 22, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), released an informational animated video which sheds light on the daily lives of survivors of abuse in Haiti. In this video, it is stated that roughly 4,200 Haitian women were subjected to sexual assault last year, marking a 140 percent increase from 2022.

Life for survivors in Haiti has been described as very difficult as the country has limited psychosocial and medical resources. There are only a few emergency shelters that provide care for survivors, which are strained due to a high volume of patients. Survivors of sexual violence are often forced to reside in displacement camps or public streets, with some even returning back to the site of their assaults.

Heightened insecurity has made it difficult for most to seek justice or gain orders of protection. Additionally, survivors are often not granted legal or economic assistance due to the wide scale of needs.

“We see again and again that survivors cannot return safely to their regular lives, they often have no safe space to go to. So emergency shelter or safe houses is the biggest need cited by survivors of sexual violence,” said Diana Manilla Arroyo, the MSF head of mission in Haiti.

According to a report from the United Nations (UN), Haiti’s legal system is currently paralyzed. Despite the efforts of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé to revamp the judicial system in 2024, progress on the apprehension of perpetrators has been slow. As of now, no arrests have been made.

Currently, gangs control approximately 85 percent of Port-Au-Prince. Approximately 1.2 million children are under constant threat of armed violence. In 2024 alone, there was a 70 percent increase in child recruitments into gangs. Half of all gang members are estimated to be children, with some as young as eight years old.

This has been attributed to the collapse of social services for children in Haiti, particularly education. According to UNICEF, over 300,000 children have experienced disruptions in their education due to repeated displacement and widespread insecurity. Due to not having ways to make income or access protection services, many Haitian children join armed groups to avoid violence.

“Many are taken by force. Others are manipulated or driven by extreme poverty. It’s a lethal cycle: Children are recruited into the groups that fuel their own suffering,” said Elder.

UNICEF’s Chief of Child Survival and Development for Haiti, Gianluca Flamigni, visited a displacement shelter in 2025 to speak with displaced communities about their experiences. Dieussica, a 13-year old Haitian girl residing in the shelter, told Flamigni that children desperately “need education. Too many young people are carrying weapons.”

Following the gang attacks in Kenscoff in late January, rates of displacement have soared. According to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a total of 3,139 people have been displaced from these attacks alone. Over 1 million people have been displaced in 2024, 500,000 of which are children. Additionally, rates of displacement in Port-Au-Prince have increased by approximately 87 percent since 2023.

Rates of violence have also skyrocketed in the past year. According to estimates from Save the Children, 2024 was the deadliest year for children and their families since the eruption of gang violence in 2022. Roughly 289 children were killed last year, marking a 68 percent increase from 2023. An average of 24 children were killed in each month of 2024.

Humanitarian operations have seen numerous restrictions in 2024 and 2025. In the last quarter of 2024, MSF, which has been instrumental in providing direct medical assistance to Haitians, announced that they had to temporarily halt operations following a series of attacks on medical personnel. Although MSF resumed services 22 days later, Haiti continued to face a shortage of medical supplies and staff.

Currently, the UN’s 674 million dollar response fund for Haiti has only been 42 percent funded. To adequately provide support for the millions of Haitians in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis, it is imperative that aid organizations are able to scale up responses. The UN Security Council continues to urge the international community to increase protection services.

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Credit: United Nations, Iraq

By Dima Dabbous
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb 12 2025 (IPS)

Efforts to end child marriage in Iraq are facing a serious threat, with the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ approval of amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law raising grave concerns that it risks permitting child marriage for girls.

These legal amendments would grant religious authorities in Iraq greater control over family matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and the care of children by allowing clerics in Islamic Courts to rule on these in accordance with the clerics’ interpretations of Islamic law.

This includes permitting the marriage of minors according to the specific religious sect under which the marriage contract is conducted, meaning that the minimum age of marriage could be lowered below 18, and could vary between different religious denominations.

If this goes ahead, it would be a profound violation of human rights and risks undermining legal protections for women and girls, in direct contravention of international human rights commitments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iraq is a signatory.

It is important to note that these changes have not yet been made to Iraq’s personal status law. The amendment passed by the Iraqi Council of Representatives on January 21, 2025, only granted religious authorities the ability to interpret and potentially modify the law, but the alterations have not been implemented yet.

On February 4, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court suspended implementation of the controversial bill after a number of members of parliament filed a complaint on the grounds that the voting process was illegal. This provides a crucial opportunity for continued advocacy, with the persistent efforts of civil society organizations already having a positive impact.

Now is a critical moment to join together in action to help safeguard and strengthen the rights of women and girls in Iraq, and prevent their fundamental human rights from being further eroded.

Child marriage puts girls at greater risk of harm

If the amendment is implemented, it could end a ban on the marriage of children under the age of 18 that has been in place In Iraq since 1959 – although this did include a provision allowing a child to be married with a judge’s consent.

In 2022, UNICEF reported that 28% of girls in Iraq were married under the age of 18, and 7% were married before they turned 15. Child marriage rates vary across different Iraqi regions, with the highest prevalence found in Missan (43.5%), Najaf (37.2%), and Karbalah (36.8%).

Legalizing child marriage under any pretext sets a dangerous precedent. It is not a cultural or religious necessity but a harmful practice that perpetuates cycles of poverty, illiteracy, and gender-based violence.

Marrying girls while they are still children puts them at greater risk of exploitation and is associated with higher rates of early and forced pregnancy, physical and sexual abuse, psychological trauma, and limited access to education, employment, and financial independence.

Women and girls need greater protection in personal status laws

Personal status laws govern some of the most intimate aspects of family relationships, such as marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, and property ownership. In many countries, these laws are deeply rooted in discriminatory traditions that prioritize the rights of men and boys over women and girls.

As a result, women and girls in Iraq, and in many other countries, continue to face significant challenges due to sex discrimination written into personal status laws.

Reforming this type of legislation has proved to be one of the most intractable areas of legal change because laws governing family relationships are deeply intertwined with beliefs about religion, tradition, and culture.

The weakening of legal protections for women and girls in Iraq reflects a disturbing global trend. Around the world, efforts to roll back laws that protect women’s and girls’ rights are gaining momentum, putting millions at risk of child and forced marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced pregnancy due to curtailed access to reproductive healthcare.

Collaborating to protect women’s and girls’ legal rights

The proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law threaten to normalize harmful practices like child marriage, potentially undermining decades of progressive reform that established greater safeguards for women and girls and helped unify the country’s family law provisions.

As the United Nations in Iraq has highlighted in its statement released in response to recent developments, legal reforms must “align with Iraq’s international human rights commitments, particularly in relation to safeguarding the rights and well-being of women and children, in a way that meets the aspirations of the Iraqi people and preserves the country’s historic achievements and gains.”

Women’s rights supporters are united in opposition to harmful legal reforms that endanger the rights of women and girls across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Local advocates in Iraq are collaborating alongside leading MENA women’s rights organizations as part of the Hurra Coalition, which seeks to reform family laws at national and regional levels in compliance with international human rights standards.

Through evidence-based advocacy and survivor-centered approaches, Hurra Coalition members are building a regional movement to protect girls’ rights within the family, their safety, and autonomy over their futures.

This includes calling for comprehensive family law reforms that uphold and advance equality, ensure safety, and guarantee access to justice for all, without discrimination. We urge the global community to support the human rights of Iraqi women and girls by amplifying advocacy and promoting their protection.

Governments, lawmakers, and global institutions must stand firm in upholding the legal rights of women and girls to safeguard them from harm in Iraq and in all countries around the world.

Dr. Dima Dabbous is Equality Now’s Regional Representative in the Middle East and North Africa

Equality Now is an international human rights organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of all women and girls worldwide. Its work is organized around four main program areas: Achieving Legal Equality, Ending Sexual Violence, Ending Harmful Practices, and Ending Sexual Exploitation, with a cross-cutting focus on the unique challenges facing adolescent girls.

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Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), interacts with Sudanese refugee children in Egypt. Sherif appealed to the global community to empower girls in crises to receive the education, training, and resources they need to improve their knowledge and skills base in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Credit: ECW

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Feb 11 2025 (IPS)

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and a time to take stock of progress, successes, and setbacks towards open and gender-inclusive science. Gender equality remains elusive in science, as only one in three scientists is a woman. Not only do these inequalities hold women back, but they also limit scientific progress.

“The future of the human race hangs in the balance. With science and technology far outpacing the capacity of most humans to keep up, we must arm our future scientists and future leaders with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities they need to survive and thrive in the brave new world of the 21st century,” says Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif.

To achieve these goals, Sherif says the global community must empower an entire generation of girls in crises to receive the education, training, and resources they need to improve their knowledge and skills base in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Today, less than two out of five STEM graduates are women, and only 12 percent of national academies of science members are women. The gender gap varies across scientific disciplines. Some fields, such as physics, tend to attract more men than women.

In spite of and because of these concerning gender inequalities in STEM, Sherif says this 10th anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a time to also “recognize the groundbreaking work of leading women scientists throughout history, such as Marie Curie, who pioneered research on radioactivity and was awarded two Nobel Prizes in Science.”

“Today, we also recognize the power and potential of an entire generation of future scientists. Brave leaders such as ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi, who led the Afghan Girls Robotics Team in Kabul and built a ventilator out of car parts. Together with ECW and our strategic partners, strong visionaries like them inspire our global charge to ensure girls have access to STEM education from an early age, and women can break through the glass ceiling to find their rightful place in universities, labs, and research facilities across the globe.”

Faruqi is the former captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team. Their story is featured in the inspiring new movie Rule Breakers, premiering early March in theaters across the United States. In building the ventilator, the team had the support of their former governor in Herat City. It took them about three months to build the ventilator under very difficult times, as it was during the COVID-19 quarantine period and all the shops were closed.

The publicity material for a new film based on ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi’s life as the captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team.

“For one screw, we had to call for the shop owner to open the store, and it took days to do that. But after that, when we saw that the ventilator was working, it was a feeling of relief, and I feel that it is something that I want to do to help the people. It is not just about building robots—it is about building robots and devices that can help people in the community,” says Faruqi.

Sherif stresses that STEM is not an easy road, especially for girls living on the frontlines of armed conflict, climate change, and forced displacement, where the thought of even attending school is elusive at best. Emphasizing that in all, there are now nearly a quarter of a billion crisis-affected girls and boys whose right to a quality education fit for the 21st century is interrupted by these protracted crises.

“Girls are among the most vulnerable. Rather than studying science or learning about technology, they are exposed to forced child marriage and unwanted pregnancies without their potentials ever being achieved,” says Sherif.

Faruqi was born in Herat, Afghanistan, in 2002. She says it has not been easy pursuing science and breaking barriers “in a country like Afghanistan, which is a very traditional society. It was really hard for girls and women to go to shops and work on cars, but I’m happy that I had the support of my dad, and by chance, I joined the robotics team.”

“When we started our robotics team in 2017, there were many, many negative comments on social media about us as girls in STEM engineering in Afghanistan. But after a while, when they started to see us go to other countries, participate in competitions, and win awards and medals, it was then that their behavior and mindset changed about girls and women in STEM and technology,” she says.

It all nearly came to an abrupt end. In 2021, the Afghan Girls Robotics Team traveled from Herat City to Kabul, the heart of Afghanistan—the Taliban had taken over Herat City, cutting off electricity and internet. The all-girls team had driven to Kabul to rehearse for a competition. Three days later, when Faruqi woke up and looked outside the window, the Taliban were already in the streets.

The #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign is a compelling and poignant campaign developed in collaboration with ECW Global Champion, Somaya Faruqi. CREDIT: ECW

It is the dramatic escape to Qatar and a scholarship from the Qatar Fund for Development to pursue engineering studies in the United States that has kept Faruqi’s STEM dream alive, inspiring other girls and boys, including those in crises and emergency situations globally, to dream on.

She says that, in the United States, men and women in science work together. She hopes to see the same in Afghanistan, where the door to education for women and girls is narrowing with every new Taliban edict.

Sherif says it is possible to achieve this equity in science.

For instance, in Chad, through ECW investments delivered by UNICEF and partners, Khadidja is learning about science, math, and mechanics in a classroom designed to provide non-formal education to children that have been impacted by the various crises facing the nation.

On another continent, “Nadejda, a Ukrainian refugee in Moldova, is building up her digital skills and even learning to develop a website thanks to support at an ECW-funded EDUTech lab in her new school.

“Technology, artificial intelligence, and breakthroughs in science have the potential to save humanity from our collision course with our own demise,” Sherif observes.

“We need to train the young women—and young men—who will guide us through this technological transformation. Our best investment is to ensure that every girl and boy on planet earth is able to access the quality education they need to bravely thrive in a world undergoing rapid transformation and face it head-on.”

Meanwhile, Faruqi uses her platform as an ECW global champion to amplify the voices of those left behind through the #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign. The campaign elevates to the global stage the voices of girls being denied their right to education in Afghanistan. Featuring moving testimonies, artwork, poetry, cartoons and more from Afghan girls demanding their right to education, the campaign aims to build wide support for the cause.

 

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By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Feb 11 2025 (IPS-Partners)

A global alert is not an option. It requires global action. Over the past three years, the number of crisis-impacted school-aged children in need of urgent quality education support has grown by an alarming 35 million, according to Education Cannot Wait’s new Global Estimates Report.

The recently published report offers a stark and brutal alert for the future of 234 million girls and boys enduring the frontlines of the world’s most dire humanitarian crises. Their access to a quality education is non-existent. We cannot stand by and let the consequences avalanche into a total collapse. They desperately need our urgent collective global action, now.

The complex and horrific disruption of education in Gaza, the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond are utterly dangerous and harmful to them and all of us. Without action, we are pushing even more children into harm’s way. Without a quality education, we risk repeating cycles of displacement, instability, insecurity, uncertainty, chaos and mayhem. We risk leaving an entire generation behind. This will have severe impact on their lives, as well as all our lives.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and all our partners – be it strategic donors, the private sector, ministries of education, UN agencies, civil society and local communities – have proven again and again that it is indeed possible to make a difference and a bold impact. It is indeed possible to extinguish the fire, reduce the speed of the avalanche and turn challenges into opportunities. In just a few years, we jointly and collectively delivered a continued quality education to over 11 million children and adolescents in the harshest circumstances on earth.

With more funding, we could double that number in just over a year. With even more funding, we can and will eventually become a collective force of nature that makes sure that every child and young person in crises reaches their potential. When they reach their potential through a quality education, they will be the force of nature for their societies and the world at large, be it in science, in business, as highly-qualified teachers, or any other profession that every society needs to thrive and make an impact.

The needs have never been greater. At the same time, the evidenced-based model for success has never been stronger. This is not the time to fear to fail, nor for closing our eyes to the reality, or the power of education to resolve it.

This is an investment in the human potential at its best. It is an investment in stronger economies and greater stability across the globe. No one loses. All are winners.

According to the United Nations, there is a US$100 billion annual financing gap to achieve the education targets in low- and lower-middle income countries. ECW is calling for a tiny part of that figure to make a major impact. That is US$600 million to deliver on the goals outlined in our four-year strategic plan: to reach 20 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents.

The need for collaboration has never been more important. In January, ECW and our close strategic partner the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) issued a Complementarity Note that underscores the value-addition of our individual organizations and charts a path toward increased results, impact, coordination and collaboration. We ensure that there is no duplication, nor double funding. Rather, we provide a holistic approach based on each other’s comparative advantage. The same applies for the third funding mechanism of IFFEd, the International Finance Facility for Education. With the resources required, these three funds work with all our partners to deliver comprehensively and completely. It is possible.

In Sudan, for example, recent analysis from OCHA indicates that of the 4.2 million targeted through the humanitarian response toward education, only 777,000 have been reached thus far, and of the US$131 million humanitarian funding ask for education, only US$22.8 million has been funded thus far. That is an 83% funding gap.

It is astonishing considering that education is both lifesaving and has the power to reduce aid-dependency in the long run. Now, more than ever, we need to step up funding for education in emergencies and protracted crises. Humanitarian, development, public and private sector funding can make a huge contribution to address the vicious cycle of humanitarian crises.

We should make no mistake: the children and adolescents in crises are extremely resilient due to their soul-shattering experiences. Once they get an education, they will certainly tap into extraordinary innovation, unbreakable courage and a limitless source of creativity. Then, they will show us how to make the impossible possible.

In conclusion, we need to connect the dots and see the whole picture. Climate change is no less of a major factor in disrupting education than conflict. Indeed, conflicts, climate change and forced displacement are all interconnected humanitarian crises. In this month’s high-level interview, we discuss the connection between education and climate change with ECW’s Climate Champion Adenike Oladosu. Funding climate change demands funding education, too. We cannot afford to separate the two.

Or, as the multi-faceted Leonardo da Vinci once said: “Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

The 234 million children and adolescents deprived of a quality education are connected to 8 billion people, our future as a human species and the progress of our world. Making an investment requires us to see the whole picture. It is not an option. It is a call for action.

Yasmine Sherif is Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Pakistan’s once-thriving trout fish farming industry, a vital source of livelihood for communities in the country’s mountainous northern region, is now on the verge of collapse due to the devastating impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures, glacial melt, erratic rainfall, and catastrophic floods have dealt a severe blow to this promising sector, leaving farm owners […]

The price of not providing equitable grant-based, public climate finance will be economic losses, health impacts, increased disaster costs, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and infrastructural damage. Credit: Hivos

By External Source
Feb 11 2025 (IPS)

The global commitment to fair climate finance is at a crossroads. COP29 concluded with a disappointing New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), leaving developing nations at risk of being left behind. With the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and slashing development aid, prospects for more ambitious fair climate finance are getting out of sight.

Decisions like these not only threaten global cooperation on climate change but will also fail to meet its core purpose in supporting the most affected communities in adapting to and mitigating climate change. Now, more than ever, fair and equitable climate finance – such as increased grant-based funding and debt relief – is critical.

Much of the climate finance provided is in the form of loans rather than grants, worsening existing debt burdens and limiting investments in sustainable development. Without stronger commitments to public grants and additional funding, developing countries risk falling into a cycle of debt that hinders climate action

In Africa, the impacts of climate change are stark and undeniable. Extreme weather events on the continent surged from 85 in the 1970s to over 540 between 2010 and 2019, causing 730,000 deaths and USD 38.5 billion in damages.

The increasing frequency and severity of floods, droughts, and storms are threatening food security, displacing populations, and putting immense stress on water resources. According to the World Bank, climate change could push up to 118 million extremely poor people in Africa into abject poverty by 2030 as drought, floods, and extreme heat intensify. A stark reality that underscores the urgent need for robust climate finance to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies to safeguard and secure the continent’s future.

At the same time, climate response remains critically underfunded in Africa. From the figures released by the Climate Policy Initiative, the continent will need approximately USD 2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

However, current annual climate finance flows to Africa are only USD 30 billion, exposing a significant funding gap for climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

 

Climate Finance at COP 29

COP 29’s main objective was to deliver on a finance goal that would see the world off the tipping point. However, after two weeks of nearly failed climate diplomacy, negotiators agreed to a disappointing USD 300 billion annually by 2035. This amount falls short of the USD 1.3 trillion per year figure, supported by the Needs Determinant Report, that many developing countries had advocated for.

Collins Otieno, Hivos

Nevertheless, the Baku to Belem Roadmap has been developed to address the climate finance gap. This framework, set to be finalized at COP30 in Brazil, offers a crucial opportunity to refine finance mechanisms to effectively and equitably meet the needs of developing countries.

 

Why the finance outcome of COP 29 could leave developing countries behind

Beyond the insufficient funding, the NCQG lacks a strong commitment to equity, a key principle of the Paris Agreement. The principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) emphasizes that developed countries should bear a greater share of the financial burden. However, the NCQG merely states that developed nations would “take the lead” in mobilizing USD 300 billion, reflecting a lack of firm commitment.

A major concern is the climate debt trap for developing nations. Much of the climate finance provided is in the form of loans rather than grants, worsening existing debt burdens and limiting investments in sustainable development. Without stronger commitments to public grants and additional funding, developing countries risk falling into a cycle of debt that hinders climate action.

 

Moving forward: shaping conditions for fair, equitable and enduring climate finance

To ensure COP 29’s finance outcomes do not leave the Global South behind, several actions are needed.

Firstly, debt relief is crucial. Approximately 60% of low-income countries are already in or near debt distress. Between 2016 and 2020, 72% of climate finance to developing nations was in loans, while only 26% was in grants. Reducing debt burdens would allow developing countries to allocate more resources to climate projects, improve fiscal stability, and attract additional investments.

Similarly, given the mounting climate finance debts in low-income developing countries, increased grant-based financing for climate action is needed. In 2022, developed countries provided around USD 115.9 billion in climate finance to developing countries, but a significant portion was in the form of loans.

Jaël Poelen, Hivos

Heavy reliance on debt-based financing exacerbates financial burdens on these nations. Grant-based finance, on the other hand, aligns with equity principles and ensures that funding effectively supports adaptation and mitigation.

Another potential path is leveraging private sector investment. The private sector plays an essential role in climate finance. However, its involvement often prioritizes profit over genuine climate benefits. Strategies must ensure that private investments align with climate justice principles. To address this, approaches are needed such as those used by Bill and Melinda Gates.

Lastly, implementing robust governance and transparent mechanisms is critical. This includes developing detailed reporting templates, public participation in decision-making, and clear monitoring systems to track climate finance flows and prevent double counting.

While the developed world is rapidly changing its relationship with the rest of the world from aid to trade, the price of not providing equitable grant-based, public climate finance will be economic losses, health impacts, increased disaster costs, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and infrastructural damage. Quite simply, taking the equity conditions into account is the way forward if we are to ensure that the outcomes of COP 29 leave no low-income developing nation in the Global South behind.

 

Collins Otieno is a Climate Finance and Innovations Officer at Hivos. He is a licensed Associate Environmental Impact Assessment expert with the National Environment Management Authority of Kenya, a certified policy analyst, and has extensive experience in climate finance, having worked in the sector for over eight years.

Jaël Poelen is the Global Advocacy and Communications Officer at Hivos for the Voices for Just Climate Action Program, which aims to amplify the voices of people and communities most affected by climate change.

Credit: UNFPA Namibia
 
Communities in the Kavango West region of northern Namibia have firsthand experience of the severe impacts of climate change. The dry, cracked soil and emaciated livestock provide a constant reminder of the lack of access to water in this part of the country. While the challenge of water scarcity is not new, the country is facing one of its worst droughts in more than a hundred years. Exacerbated by the impacts of El Niño, this drought has triggered widespread food insecurity, environmental degradation, health threats and rising unemployment, affecting more than half a million people.
 
To support the government and the people of Namibia, particularly those most vulnerable, including nursing mothers, other women and children, the UN in Namibia mobilized resources through the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to tackle the crisis. Even as women and girls disproportionately feel the impact of droughts, we have an opportunity to leverage their leadership and boost drought resilience in communities.—Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.

By Hopolang Phororo
WINDHOEK, Namibia, Feb 11 2025 (IPS)

Communities in the Kavango West region of northern Namibia have firsthand experience of the severe impacts of climate change. The dry, cracked soil and emaciated livestock provide a constant reminder of the lack of access to water in this part of the country.

While the challenge of water scarcity is not new, the country is facing one of its worst droughts in more than a hundred years. Exacerbated by the impacts of El Niño, this drought has triggered widespread food insecurity, environmental degradation, health threats and rising unemployment, affecting more than half a million people.

To support the government and the people of Namibia, particularly those most vulnerable, including nursing mothers, other women and children, the UN in Namibia, under my leadership, mobilized resources through the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to tackle the crisis.

Even as women and girls disproportionately feel the impact of droughts, we have an opportunity to leverage their leadership and boost drought resilience in communities.

Meeting women’s immediate needs

To tackle urgent needs, our UN team works with government and partners, including the Society for Family Health, Catholic AIDS Action and Mobile Telecommunication Company (MTC), to leave no one behind.

Mupuni village Ext. 1 stands as a shining example. The World Food Programme (WFP) has been distributing food vouchers and has established a soup kitchen for children aged 6 months to 9 years old, reaching nearly 65,000 people facing acute malnutrition in the regions of Omaheke, Kavango East and Kavango West.

Complementing this, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides lifesaving support to breastfeeding mothers and children impacted by the drought emergency while the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provides protection initiatives, including family planning and counseling services to women. These are delivered through mobile clinics set up in these areas.

The UN in Namibia is also paving the way to transition towards long-term resilience, climate action and sustainable development.

Building women’s long-term resilience

The national drought response plan, which is supported by the United Nations, prioritizes building the resilience of drought-affected communities, boosting food security and protecting livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable members of the population including women.

Through targeted interventions, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) support the introduction of initiatives that are helping diversify livelihoods.

Women farmers are provided with irrigation equipment for more efficient and sustainable water use, reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture. Vulnerable households receive seeds, tools, poultry and pig feed, fencing, shade netting materials, and most crucially, access to markets. These initiatives boost agricultural productivity and build community resilience to effectively weather drought conditions.

Supporting teen mothers and children-at-risk

Compounding the impact of the drought crisis, teenage pregnancy also undermine development in Namibia. Teenage mothers often interrupt their education to care for their infants while older relatives take on added domestic and childcare responsibilities to support their younger counterparts. This perpetuates a vicious cycle of lost opportunities across generations.

The well-being of children borne by teenage mothers also suffers as part of these challenges. For example, children weaned at an early age, to give mothers time to earn a living, face increased risks of malnourishment and related health issues.

In communities heavily impacted by drought, disruptions to healthcare infrastructure and the resulting economic instability increase the challenges of providing adequate medical care and counseling, including reproductive health services to counter the spread of HIV and the provision of maternal and child health support.

Ultimately, teen mothers and their children stand to lose more, exposed to added risks of poor education, malnutrition, stunting and serious diseases. The UN has been a committed player contributing to the work to support vulnerable populations with rapid and coordinated interventions.

Joint solutions for long-term impact

The UN in Namibia puts building local resilience at the heart of its work, engaging communities through an integrated, gender-sensitive approach. As the Resident Coordinator overseeing the UN’s climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster response work and our initiatives to tackle poverty and gender inequalities, I ensure our collective efforts bear fruit, especially for those who need it most.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2025-2029 is our north star, centered on poverty eradication (SDG Goal 1) and resilience-building while empowering women and youth. Our UN team’s work support key government interventions, such as Namibia’s national flood and drought monitor and early warning system that provides crucial information to communities, enabling them to prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters. This work includes making climate information easily accessible and usable by women.

The UN in Namibia also works to integrate risk management into national policies and planning processes, including provisions for disaster risk reduction into legal frameworks. These efforts boost Namibia’s ability to respond to environmental threats, protect lives and livelihoods, minimize the impacts of extreme weather events, and foster a culture of preparedness.

An integrated programme, co-created with communities, addressing multifaceted challenges, including the needs of women and girls, is crucial. This work requires a whole of society approach and the UN in Namibia remains committed to working with national authorities and other partners to continue delivering meaningful results.

A solid foundation has been established in Kavango West. Even as the country prepares for the next drought cycle, let us build on this, work together, empowering communities to take ownership of Namibia’s resilient and sustainable future.

Hopolang Phororo is UN Resident Coordinator in Namibia. For more information about the UN’s work in Namibia, visit namibia.un.org.

Source: UN Sustainable Development Group

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Feb 11 2025 (IPS)

Many in the West, of the political right and left, now deny imperialism. For Josef Schumpeter, empires were pre-capitalist atavisms that would not survive the spread of capitalism. But even the conservative Economist notes President Trump’s revival of this US legacy.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Economic liberalism challenged
Major liberal economic thinkers of the 19th century noted capitalism was undermining economic liberalism. John Stuart Mill and others acknowledged the difficulties of keeping capitalism competitive. In 2014, billionaire Peter Thiel declared competition is for losers.

A century and a half ago, Dadabhai Naoroji, from India, became a Liberal Party Member of the UK Parliament. In his drainage theory, colonialism and imperial power enabled surplus extraction.

As the Anglo-Boer war drew to a close in 1902, another English liberal, John Hobson, published his study of economic imperialism, drawing heavily on the South African experience.

Later, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin cited Hobson, his comrade Nikolai Bukharin and Rudolf Hilferding’s Finance Capital for his famous 1916 imperialism booklet urging comrades not to take sides in the European inter-imperialist First World War (WW1).

Three pre-capitalist empires – Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman – ended at the start of the 20th century. Their collapse spawned new Western nationalisms, which contributed to both world wars.

Germany lost its empire at Versailles after WW1, while Italian forays into Africa were successfully rebuffed. Western powers did little to check Japanese militaristic expansion from the late 19th century until the outbreak of World War Two (WW2) in Europe.

Imperialism and capitalism
Economists Utsa and Prabhat Patnaik argue that the primary accumulation of economic surplus – not involving the exploitation of free wage labour – was necessary for capitalism’s emergence.

Drawing on economic history, they clarify that primary accumulation has been crucial for capitalism’s ascendance. Thus, imperialism was a condition for capitalism’s emergence and rapid early development. Ensuring continued imperial dominance has sustained capitalist accumulation since.

The 1910s and 1920s debates between the Second and Third Internationals of Social Democrats and allied movements in Europe and beyond involved contrasting positions on WW1 and imperialism.

For most of humanity in emerging nations, now termed developing countries, imperialism and capital accumulation did not ‘generalise’ the exploitation of free wage labour, spreading capitalist relations of production, as in ‘developed’ Western economies.

Due to capitalism’s uneven development worldwide, the Third International maintained the struggle against imperialism was foremost for the Global South or Third World of ‘emerging nations’, not the class struggle against capitalism, as in developed capitalist economies.

After decades of uneven international economic integration, including globalisation, the struggle against imperialism continues to be foremost a century later. Imperialism has reshaped colonial and now national economies but has also united the Global South, even if only in opposition to it.

Blinkers at Versailles
After observing the peace negotiations after WWI, John Maynard Keynes presciently criticised the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, warning of likely consequences. In The Economic Consequences of the Peace, he warned that its treatment of the defeated Germany would have dangerous consequences.

But Keynes failed to consider some of the Treaty’s other consequences. Newly Republican China had contributed the most troops to the Allied forces in WW1, as India did in WW2.

Germany was forced to surrender the Shantung peninsula, which it had dominated since before WW1. But instead of China’s significant contributions to the war effort being appreciated at Versailles with the peninsula’s return, Shantung was given to imperial Japan!

Unsurprisingly, the Versailles Treaty’s terms triggered the May Fourth movement against imperialism in China, culminating in the communist-led revolution that eventually took over most of China in October 1949.

Even today, popular culture, especially Western narratives, largely ignores the role and effects of war on these ‘coloured peoples’. By contrast, understating the Soviet contributions to and sacrifices in WW2 was probably primarily politically motivated.

Another counter-revolution
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected US president in 1932. He announced the New Deal in early 1933, years before Keynes published his General Theory in 1936.

Many policies have been introduced and implemented well before they were theorised. Unsurprisingly, it is often joked that economic theory rationalises actual economic conditions and policies already implemented.

Keynesian economic thinking inspired much economic policymaking before, during, and after WW2. Both Allied and Axis powers adopted various state-led policies. Keynesian economics remained influential worldwide until the 1960s and arguably to this day.

The counter-revolution against Keynesian economics from the late 1970s saw a parallel opposition movement against development economics, which had legitimised more pragmatic and unconventional policy thinking. From the 1980s, neoliberal economics spread with a vengeance and much encouragement from Washington, DC.

This Washington Consensus – the shared ‘neoliberal’ views of the US capital’s economic establishment, including its Treasury, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund – has since been replaced by brazenly ethno-nationalist ‘geoeconomic’ and ‘geopolitical’ responses to unipolar globalisation.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A protester holding a sign declaring the death of democracy during social protests against the authoritarian policies of Peru's President Dina Boluarte in downtown Lima, July 2024. Credit: Walter Hupiu / IPS

By Mariela Jara
LIMA, Feb 10 2025 (IPS)

“We are facing a deeply conservative government that is opening the doors to all kinds of setbacks. We have a failed state with a democracy that is no longer a democracy,” said Gina Vargas, a Peruvian feminist internationally recognized for her contributions to women’s rights.

In an interview with IPS from her home in Lima, Vargas shared her perspective on Peru, a country of 34 million inhabitants, which is undergoing a profound political crisis that is weakening its democratic institutions, ultimately harming the rights of the most vulnerable populations, such as women and the LGBTI+ community.

The female population is just over 17 million, according to the government’s National Institute of Statistics and Computing, while a 2019 study by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights estimated that LGBTI+ adults could reach 1.7 million.“The conservatives are taking away everything they believe goes against their traditional principles, while the reality for Peruvian women is one of discrimination, violence, femicide, sexual abuse of girls, and the denial of therapeutic abortion”: Gina Vargas.

Vargas, one of the founders of the feminist Flora Tristán Peruvian Women’s Center, one of the oldest organizations in Latin American feminism, argued that the conservative forces, which manifest as the far-right in Peru, are seeking to reclaim what they lost in terms of their values over the last three decades.

This period began with the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, which established norms and mechanisms for the advancement of women.

In September 1995, 30 years ago, the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development, and Peace, convened by the United Nations, was held in Beijing, China. Representatives from 189 countries participated, not only from governments but also from women’s and feminist movements.

A sociologist, Gina Vargas will turn 80 in July. She coordinated the participation of Latin American and Caribbean civil society organizations in the global forum, as well as their contributions to the Platform, which outlines the commitments of states regarding 12 areas of action on the status of women worldwide.

She highlighted that within this framework, mechanisms were established at the highest level to promote equal rights, which in Peru’s case is currently the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP). However, this ministry will be diluted in a regressive wave through an upcoming merger with the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Development.

“The conservatives are taking away everything they believe goes against their traditional principles, while the reality for Peruvian women is one of discrimination, violence, femicide, sexual abuse of girls, and the denial of therapeutic abortion,” she lamented.

Peruvian feminist Gina Vargas believes that democracy no longer exists in Peru and that the growing influence of conservative groups is harming the rights of women and sexual diversity. Pictured third from the left during the launch of the 46th anniversary of the non-governmental Flora Tristán Center, of which she is one of the founders, on January 30. Credit: Mariela Jara / IPS

According to official figures, 170 femicides occurred nationwide in 2024. The number for the last three years rises to 450 when including victims from 2022 and 2023. Peru has a law against violence toward women and family members, and it has incorporated the crime of femicide into the Penal Code.

These are serious issues that three decades ago were weakly addressed by the state or absent from its agenda. But Vargas emphasized that the Beijing Platform left a set of commitments to be fulfilled and expanded, as has happened in many countries.

“But in Peru, we are facing brutal resistance in a context where there is no balance of power, and the Legislature passes laws to co-opt democratic institutions in their desire to control the country,” she stressed.

The legislative Congress of the Republic has an approval rate of 5%, and President Dina Boluarte’s administration has 6%, according to recent polls, reflecting one of the most discredited periods for state branches in the country.

Both branches of government are seen as colluding for personal interests, closely linked to corruption, and unable to address citizen insecurity and poverty, two of the most pressing issues in this South American and Andean nation.

Vargas warned: “We are facing a failed state, with the rise of fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and the imposition of the right-wing. What is not good for democracy is definitely not good for us or for sexual diversity.”

A banner featuring victims of femicide in Peru during a demonstration in Lima. Peru suffered 170 femicides in 2024, reflecting the severe violation of women’s human rights. Credit: Mariela Jara / IPS

Fear of Losing Rights

Antonella Martel, a 29-year-old psychologist, grew up in a country that already had a favorable framework for women’s rights and guaranteed gender equality, established in the 1979 Constitution and maintained in the current one from 1993.

She is aware that she has had more opportunities than her mother and grandmothers. “Now, traditional roles for women and men are being questioned; they are no longer normalized as before. There are also laws against gender-based violence, although access to justice is complicated,” she told IPS.

In the current context, she fears that the rights gained could be lost. “There is distrust in institutions that are not allies of women’s struggles and do not play a protective role for their rights,” she said.

One of her biggest concerns is that the setbacks and the disappearance of the Ministry of Women through its merger with another ministry will weaken the state’s action against violence. “We women face this problem every day, and it could get worse,” she warned.

Maria Ysabel Cedano, a lawyer with the Demus organization and the non-governmental Lifs, criticized the lack of protection for the rights of the LGBTI population. “Lesbians are not invisible because we are hidden in the closet, but because no one wants to see you or let you be seen,” she stated. Credit: Mariela Jara / IPS

They Don’t Want to See Us

María Ysabel Cedano, a 59-year-old lawyer from the feminist human rights organization Demus and an associate of the non-governmental Independent Feminist Socialist Lesbians (Lifs), believes that the world is experiencing a new fascist stage, which in Peru has its own version in Fujimorism and its conservative political allies, whether ideologically right-wing or left-wing.

The late Alberto Fujimori ruled autocratically between 1990 and 2000 and established an ultra-conservative movement that now manifests in the Popular Force party, the leading legislative group led by his daughter Keiko Fujimori.

Fujimori was the only head of state to attend the Beijing Conference, where he promoted his new National Population Policy and birth control measures. It was later revealed that this included the  forced, mass, and non-consensual sterilization of poor and indigenous people, especially in rural areas, a practice that victimized around 300,000 women.

“We are witnessing the hijacking of democracy as a political horizon, a system that, despite its flaws, allowed us to expand freedoms and rights such as equality and non-discrimination, access to justice, and those related to women, which have been the result of sustained struggles,” Cedano reflected in an interview with IPS.

She explained that anti-rights groups have not been satisfied with taking over the state as a spoil through corruption but are operating as a regime that attacks everything opposing their beliefs, seeking to impose totalitarian thinking.

In late 2024, the institution Transparencia issued a report on 20 laws passed by this Congress of the Republic that weakened democracy, favored the actions of criminal groups, and undermined human and environmental rights.

“They don’t need typical wars with lethal weapons; they have developed technological mechanisms to appropriate minds and hearts through denialism and disinformation,” she emphasized.

Cedano talked about Argentina, where libertarian President Javier Milei is dismantling progress in rights, and the massive rejection by the population on February 1. Along with her LIFS collective, she joined the solidarity sit-in in front of the Argentine embassy.

“Argentina generates and radiates indignation. It experienced and enjoyed dignity and knows what it has lost, whereas in Peru we don’t know it because we’ve never had anything,” she said regarding rights for the LGBTI+ population.

She adds there are no laws on gender identity or equal marriage. “In reality, we survive without enjoying rights; we live in a so-called democracy without being citizens,” she added.

The lesbian activist also denounced that they have been stigmatized and accused of atrocities such as wanting to homosexualize children, using them to attack comprehensive sexual education in schools.

She noted that the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights study reveals that 71% of the population perceives that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trans people suffer discrimination. “We swell the lists of suicides, bullying, school dropouts, and sexual assaults. They want us to live in the ghetto, on the margins,” she asserted.

In a context where democratic institutions are unable to guarantee people’s rights and the Ministry of Women, as the governing body for gender equality, is about to disappear through the merger, the prospects for the rights of non-heterosexual people are at greater risk.

“Lesbians are not invisible because we are hidden in the closet, but because no one wants to see you or let you be seen. They make you feel guilty and responsible for the consequences of living fully in the light… and that results in multiple and terrible acts of violence,” Cedano stressed.

Flashback to 2020 protests against a rigged election. Credit: Andrew Keymaster/Unsplash

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Feb 10 2025 (IPS)

In the months leading up to presidential elections at the end of January, Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of hundreds of political prisoners. Some observers saw this as a sign that the man who had led the former Soviet state for the last three decades could be planning a relaxation of his regime’s brutal repressions in return for a lessening of Western sanctions.

But having secured an inevitable further term in office, human rights groups and Belarusians who have survived persecution under his regime say they see no signs he is preparing to loosen his iron grip on the state.

“If we have learned anything from the last four years, it is that repression in Belarus is not lessening, despite the fact that Lukashenko has everything under his power. There are no protests, people have been forced into exile, there are no legal ways for rights groups to do their work, yet the repression continues,” Anastasiia Kruope, Assistant Researcher, Europe and Central Asia, at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told IPS.

In August 2020, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Belarus to protest against what they saw as the rigged result of an election which had just returned Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, to power.

Security forces launched a violent crackdown on those involved. Over the next six months, tens of thousands were detained and at least 11 people were killed.

Although the protests eventually stopped, repression has continued, with any form of dissent severely punished. There have been mass arrests, imprisonment, and torture for those deemed to be opposing the regime, while secret police and party loyalists have been installed in institutions as official ideological gatekeepers to ensure people toe the government line.

Independent media has been muzzled—almost 400 journalists have been arrested in the last four years—and much of the NGO sector has been effectively shuttered through repressive legislation on foreign funding and authorities’ misuse of anti-terror and anti-extremism laws. The closures of these groups have impacted everything from human rights work to vital healthcare services.

But while the wider international community largely sees Belarus as a pariah state—Lukashenko has the explicit political support of Moscow, and China maintains close ties with the country—and the West has imposed sanctions on individuals in Belarus, there has been no let-up in government efforts to bring the population to heel.

However, the slew of releases of political prisoners, which began last summer and went right up to the elections, had prompted speculation that Lukashenko may be looking to repair relations with the West, especially as the conflict in Ukraine—Lukashenko has backed Russia and allowed Moscow to use Belarus to launch assaults on Ukraine—appears to be heading towards some kind of, at least temporary, end, and he looks to extract his country from ever-increasing dependence on Moscow.

But people who live in Belarus, and some who have fled into exile, told IPS they are not expecting the pervasive climate of fear that Lukashenko has spread to cement his control in the country to lift any time soon.

“Usually the human rights situation in Belarus after elections becomes calmer, with fewer arrests. But it doesn’t look that way this time. We are still getting information about repressions,” Natallia Satsunkevich, a human rights defender with the Belarussian NGO Viasna, told IPS.

She said Lukashenko could even decide to intensify his crackdown on opponents of his regime.

“Of course [he could], the repressive machine is huge and works fast. Police are still looking for and arresting people that participated in protests in 2020,” Satsunkevich said.

Others who have suffered under Lukashenko agree.

“Any expectations that the repression will ease are just wishful thinking,” Lidziya Tarasenka, co-founder of The Belarussian Medical Solidarity Foundation (Bymedsol), which operates outside Belarus helping doctors who have left the country, told IPS.

Tarasenka, who worked in healthcare in the capital, Minsk, before fleeing the country after the 2020 protests, said she saw no sign that repression in Belarus was easing off.

“First of all, the number of political prisoners that have been released is less than the number of those newly imprisoned. The government has learned their lessons and is trying to make new prosecutions as unnoticeable as possible, but the process is in full swing. Secondly, there is a whole army of different police/secret services and so on, their number is growing and they have to be doing something. [Repression] cannot be stopped that easily,” she said.

Some Belarussians who spoke to IPS gave some insight into the regime’s persecutions.

Sviatlana (NOT REAL NAME) fled Belarus last year after she feared she was about to be arrested. Her work in healthcare had brought her into contact with former political prisoners, some of whom had been tortured in prison, and she had given some money for treatment to help their recovery. She managed to escape, but she fears now that her former colleagues will be targeted by the security services simply for having worked with her.

“I’m expecting there will be repressions against the staff and management at my work now,” she told IPS.

Kruope added that while Belarusians not actively opposing the regime could try to adopt a “keep your head down and don’t make any trouble” approach to ensuring they avoid any repressions, even that carried no guarantees.

“One thing people have to watch out for is that you never know what might suddenly become a problem. You may have, in the past, liked a social media comment or followed someone, not even for their political views, or simply followed a media outlet that is then declared a terrorist group or something, and now find yourself in trouble. It is difficult to know what activity might suddenly become a criminal offense,” she said.

So far, it is unclear what Lukashenko may be planning as he begins his latest term in office. But the initial signs suggest he is not planning any kind of rapprochement with the West in the immediate future.

In a press conference immediately after his election win and as western leaders threatened more sanctions and dismissed the elections as a “sham,” he pointedly said, “I don’t give a damn about the West.”

However, even if repressions continue, rights defenders have not given up hope that things will improve in the future.

“I personally believe that one day Belarusians will live in a free and democratic country,” said Satsunkevich.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Around 600 million Africans still lack reliable access to electricity, which is nearly half the continent's population and more than 80 per cent of the global electricity access gap. Credit: Raphael Pouget / Climate Visuals Countdown via UNDP

By Yacoub El Hillo
ASMARA, Eritrea, Feb 10 2025 (IPS)

At night, when the world lights up, large swathes of Africa remain cloaked in darkness—a stark reminder of the continent’s lack of reliable access to electricity.

This access is one of the key ingredients to accelerating the continent’s progress – powering homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses, towards unlocking the continent’s full potential. For millions of Africans, the absence of affordable and reliable access to electricity isn’t just about lighting a room —it’s about access to education, economic growth, and a better quality of life.

Africa’s story in terms of its reliable access to electricity can be seen through the lens of three key data points: 600, 300, and 55.5. These figures highlight the challenge, the goal, and the opportunity shaping the continent’s access to electricity and overall energy future.

“600 million” illustrates the scale of the issue—over half of Africa’s population still lacks reliable access to electricity. “300” reflects the ambition of Africa’s target to turn the page on this access—Mission 300 aims to provide power to 300 million people by 2030. “55.5” underscores the opportunity—more than 55 per cent of Africa’s energy already comes from renewable sources, paving the way for long-term development.

Around 600 million Africans still lack reliable access to electricity, which is nearly half the continent’s population and more than 80 per cent of the global electricity access gap. While nations in Northern Africa and countries like Ghana, Gabon, and South Africa have made progress in tackling the issue, challenges remain in the Central Africa and the Sahel regions. For example, Burundi and South Sudan have low levels of electricity access, according to 2022 data.

For African communities, access to affordable energy is a lifeline. It transforms everyday life, especially in isolated and vulnerable areas. Reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy creates quality jobs, protects livelihoods, boosts security to bring durable peace and promotes economic growth.

Access to energy, also breaks down barriers for women and girls, enabling them to pursue opportunities that were previously out of reach, from starting small businesses to accessing information and education online.

For instance, farmers can use energy to power irrigation systems, extending growing seasons and boosting agricultural output. Manufacturers benefit from consistent power for their operations, leading to higher production rates and reduced downtime that could usher in an age of industrialization and prosperity.

Reliable and affordable access to energy also provide Africa with the policy space to take control of its own development path, mobilizing domestic capital while attracting international investment.

Most recent data with highest coverage. Credit: Global SDG Database

300 million by 2030: Africa’s 2030 energy vision

Through an initiative called “Mission 300”, the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank Group and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative are working with partners to expand electricity access to 300 million people throughout the continent by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the initiative focuses on improving Africa’s energy sector by enhancing infrastructure, updating policies, and attracting private investment.

UN teams on the ground are working closely with governments and other partners through this engagement. In Guinea, the UN, led by the Resident Coordinator (RC), is supporting the development of hydroelectric dams and solar power plants, providing clean, reliable electricity that reach more than 34,000 people per project.

In Burundi, the UN’s work centres on renewable energy projects that would support the country in bringing in investors while expanding the electricity distribution network to underserved areas.

The RC in Djibouti is calling to expand solar panel use in homes and businesses to boost energy efficiency and to reduce electricity costs while supporting innovative solutions. Access to reliable, affordable energy provides families with more spending power, stimulating job creation and accelerating development.

In Guinea, the UN, led by the RC, is supporting the development of hydroelectric dams and solar power plants. Credit: UNICEF

UN teams across Africa are also supporting climate-friendly and sustainable means to generate energy. For example, there are initiatives to boost renewable energy production in Botswana, studies to harness offshore energy in Mauritius and innovative clean energy financing projects in Madagascar.

The Joint SDG Fund supports start-ups and small and medium-sized companies in Madagascar through the Integrated Financing of Sustainable Energy programme to promote innovation in renewable energy.

55.5 per cent renewable energy share – Africa leads the way

In terms of energy access, Africa—with its abundant resources and growing population—must have the autonomy to shape an energy mix that addresses its development needs while staying true to its global environmental commitments. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas currently play critical roles in several African economies.

Without the ability to utilize these resources, the continent not only faces economic slowdowns but also the challenge of leaving millions in the dark. This would pose a significant setback to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Therefore, UN teams across the continent supports African countries in advocating for a balanced energy mix that is tailored to the realities on the ground.

An important part of this balance is Africa’s use of renewable energy. The continent is demonstrating strong leadership in this area, with 55.5 per cent of its total final energy consumption coming from renewable sources based on 2021 data. This trend outpaces Europe (15.3 per cent), Northern America (12.4 per cent) and Asia (16.8 per cent) per the Global SDG Database.

In fact, many of the African countries with least access to electricity have the highest share of renewable energy in their final energy consumption. This presents a potent opportunity for the rollout of renewable energy on the continent.

And with Africa holding 30 per cent of the world’s essential minerals for renewable technologies and 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources, the continent possesses enormous potential to fuel its future growth with clean energy.

Yet, Africa only received 2 per cent of global renewable energy investments in the last 20 years, far below what’s needed to accelerate change. This year, we have an opportunity to help turn this trend. The new generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement are due to be submitted ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, 10-21 November 2025.

The UN system is committed to help countries ensure that their NDCs are economy-wide and can act as investment plans for sustainable development. UN Resident Coordinators in Africa are galvanizing their UN Country Teams under the UNDP Climate Promise umbrella to support the development of these NDCs and to attract investment.

Africa Energy Summit for #PoweringAfrica

Against this backdrop, the Africa Energy Summit in Tanzania on 27 and 28 January provided a timely opportunity to reflect on how expanding electricity access can transform lives and drive sustainable development across the continent.

The Summit offered a platform for Africa to showcase its leadership in creating an affordable, clean energy future—not only for the continent but as an inspiration for the world.

Yacoub El Hillo is UN DCO Regional Director for Africa.

Source: UN Sustainable Development Group

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Women vanish from public life under Taliban rule. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, girls and women have been systematically banned from education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world that denies schooling to girls over the age of 12. The situation continues to deteriorate, with even primary school enrollment for girls in decline, according to UNESCO.

With female teachers barred from instructing boys, a shortage of educators has further deepened the crisis.

In this bleak landscape, online education has emerged as the only hope for an estimated 1.4 million Afghan girls over the age of 12, desperate to continue learning. Yet, this alternative is fraught with formidable obstacles.

 

Barriers to Online Learning

Afghanistan’s poor internet infrastructure and unstable electricity supply make remote education unreliable.

While the situation of electricity in urban centres is relatively better than in the rural areas, it still does not guarantee easy access to online learning to everyone. The amount of money needed for equipment such as computers, tablets and smartphones is beyond what most low-income Afghans families can afford.

Besides that, due to impromptu power outages in Afghanistan, online learning is problematic. Electricity can suddenly go off without prior notice and often for several hours. Frequent instances of such events make it increasingly difficult to hold online lessons and students are unable to download learning material from the internet or do their assignments.

In Afghanistan, online education courses do not have universal recognition, and no public entity provides them.

Besides the poor infrastructure, parents are afraid that the Taliban may be secretly tracking online education, and if caught, their daughters could bring substantial difficulties to the whole family.

An Afghan father who has an 18-year-old daughter expressed his despair. “My daughter has always wished to study law, he said, “in order to fight for justice for women in a country where women’s rights are routinely ignored, but now she cannot study peacefully at her own home”.

He went on to outline the typical problems, “we don’t have electricity, the internet is down, and if the Taliban find out that she is studying online, her life might be in danger, and we all will be in trouble”.

More often than not, the home environment does not allow for uninterrupted studies, especially in large families due to congestion of space.

 

Online learning is the only path to education for Afghan women and girls over 12. Credit: Learning Together.

 

A Network of Learning, Despite the Risks

Many of these online educational institutions, about 33 altogether, are available across several countries in the West and in the South Asian region, with four operating inside Afghanistan.

They provide quality education in a vast range of subject areas such as medical sciences, economics, engineering, computer science and information technology, business management, law, art, and social sciences.

Mainstream media platforms such as television, radio and newspapers are under the tight censorship of the Taliban, and therefore of little use as sources of beneficial information. But fortunately, students can conveniently turn to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Telegram for additional supplementary information.

However, even though faced with numerous challenges in pursuing online education, it has nevertheless produced positive outcomes, which has kept hopes alive for a better future for girls who unfortunately, have been abandoned by the Taliban.

Among the individual success stories is Raihana, one of the few girls who has had the opportunity to study economics at an online university.

“Despite all the difficulties and challenges “I have experienced during this time she says, “I remain hopeful”.

According to Raihana, studying online allows her to connect with other students globally and it enables her gain different perspectives.

“I want to tell other girls never to give up, even if the conditions seem difficult”, she says.

“Adding further, “every day, I think about how I will one day return to society and help my community so that more girls have the right to education”.

Excerpt:

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

Credit: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Alexander Lukashenko will soon begin his seventh term as president of Belarus. The official result of the 26 January election gave him 86.8 per cent of the vote, following an election held in a climate of fear. Only token opposition candidates were allowed, most of who came out in support of Lukashenko. Anyone who might have offered a credible challenge is in jail or in exile.

No repeat of 2020

In office since 1994 as the so far only president of independent Belarus, Lukashenko is by far Europe’s longest-serving head of state. The 1994 vote that brought the former Soviet official to power was the country’s only legitimate election. Each since has been designed to favour Lukashenko.

He only faced a serious threat in 2020, when an outsider candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was able to run a campaign that captured the popular imagination. Lukashenko’s response was to arrest opponents, repress protests, restrict the internet, deny access for electoral observers and then blatantly steal the election.

When people took to the street in mass protests against electoral fraud, Belarus seemed on the brink of a democratic revolution. But Lukashenko’s government launched a brutal defence, using security forces to violently attack protesters and arresting over a thousand people. It dissolved opposition political parties and raided and shut down civil society organisations: over a thousand have been forcibly liquidated since 2020.

Lukashenko’s regime has gone after those in exile, kidnapping and allegedly killing Belarusians abroad. Belarus is among the 10 states most engaged in transnational repression. They authorities have also deprived the estimated 300,000 people who’ve fled since 2020 of their ability to vote.

By embracing repression, Lukashenko made a choice to abandon his policy of balancing between the European Union (EU) and Russia. When the EU imposed sanctions in response to the 2020 election fraud, Russia offered a package of loans. In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine, some of its forces entered Ukraine from Belarus.

Shortly after Russia began its full-scale invasion, a constitutional referendum held in Belarus, marked by the same lack of democracy as its elections, formally ended the country’s neutrality and non-nuclear status. In December 2024, the two states signed a security treaty allowing the use of Russian nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Belarus, and Lukashenko confirmed that the country hosts dozens of Russian nuclear warheads.

Belarus has also been accused of instrumentalising migrants to try to destabilise neighbouring countries. In 2021, it relaxed its visa rules for people from Middle Eastern and North African countries and encouraged flights to Belarus. Thousands were taken to the borders with Lithuania and Poland and left to try to cross them in desperate conditions, freezing and without essentials, subjected to security force violence on both sides. Migrants were unwitting pawns in Lukashenko’s game to strike back at his neighbours. Attempted crossings and human rights violations have continued since.

Renewed crackdown

Just to be on the safe side, Lukashenko launched another crackdown in the months leading up to the election. The intent was clearly to ensure there’d be no repeat of the expression of opposition and protests of 2020.

Starting in July 2024, Lukashenko pardoned around 250 political prisoners, releasing them from jail. His likely aim was to soften international criticism in the run-up to the vote. But these weren’t the high-profile prisoners serving long sentences, such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, a founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, who received a 10-year sentence in 2023, or protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, sentenced to 11 years in 2021. Those pardoned had to publicly acknowledge their guilt and repent.

The freed jail spaces were quickly filled, with over a hundred friends and relatives of political prisoners detained. In February 2024, authorities detained at least 12 lawyers who’d defended political prisoners. In December, they arrested seven independent journalists. Belarus has the world’s fourth highest number of jailed journalists.

People have been jailed merely for following Telegram channels deemed ‘extremist’ or making social media comments. Over 1,700 people reportedly faced charges for political activities in 2024. Prison conditions are harsh. People may be forced to do hard labour, kept in solitary confinement, sent to freezing punishment cells, denied access to their families and have medical care withheld.

On election day, Lukashenko’s dictatorial style was on full display. He held a press conference where he promised to ‘deal with’ opposition activists in exile and said they were endangering their families in Belarus, adding that some opponents ‘chose’ to go to prison. He also didn’t rule out the prospect of running for an eighth term in 2030.

Time for change

Lukashenko promises more of the same: continuing autocracy and closed civic space. For generations of Belarusians who’ve known nothing but his rule, and with opposition voices so ruthlessly suppressed, it may be hard to imagine anything else. The possibilities opened up in 2020 have been ruthlessly shut down.

But the wheels of history will keep turning, and the 70-year-old dictator won’t last forever. Some kind of cessation of hostilities in Ukraine may well come this year, forcing Lukashenko to make friends beyond Vladimir Putin. If Russia winds down its booming war economy, the ensuing economic shock in Belarus, which largely depends on Russia, could trigger public anger.

Meanwhile, potentially increased scrutiny could come from the International Criminal Court: in September 2024, the government of Lithuania requested an investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Belarusian authorities. If this move gains momentum, Lukashenko could find himself in an uncomfortable spotlight. States could also intensify sanctions: Canada and the UK have done so following the election.

If Belarus attempts to reengage with them, democratic states should insist that no thaw in relations is possible without tangible human rights progress . This should start with the release of all political prisoners, guarantees for the safety of exiled activists and a reversal of attacks on civic space.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

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

 

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An infant and young Child Feeding Nutrition programme in the Sidama region of Ethiopia, which has been considerably affected by climate-induced disasters. Credit: UNICEF/Bethelhem Assefa

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Over the past few years, climate shocks have become more frequent and have devastated economies and agriculture systems, exacerbating widespread malnutrition and hunger. It has become increasingly apparent that the utilization of sustainable agriculture practices and disaster risk management systems are crucial to fulfill growing needs as natural resources continue to dwindle.

The Paris Agreement, an international treaty which seeks to limit average global temperatures to 2°C, was adopted by the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in 2015. A new analysis conducted by climatologist Professor James Hansen states that due to the rapidly accelerating nature of the climate crisis, previous climate goals are now considered impossible to achieve.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) defined a scenario which gives a 50% chance to keep warming under 2°C – that scenario is now impossible. The 2C target is dead, because the global energy use is rising, and it will continue to rise,” said Hansen. He adds that global temperatures are likely to reach 2°C by 2045. It is estimated that this will trigger a rise in sea levels by several meters, the melting of polar caps, and irreversible damage to critical ecosystems around the world.

On January 28, the World Food Programme (WFP) released an update to their climate change policies detailing the urgency of effective climate action as it relates to worldwide food production. This release expands upon the 2017 version, underscoring the international setbacks that have contributed to the worsening climate crisis.

WFP’s policy update states that these changes will exacerbate the hunger crisis for the most food-insecure populations. Climate-induced disasters, such as heat waves and tropical storms will disproportionately affect women, children, displaced persons, and people with disabilities. It is estimated that rising global temperatures will cause approximately 12.5 million girls to drop out of school, which significantly undermines their capability to cope with food insecurity and malnutrition in their communities.

On January 27, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report titled, Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024, highlighting the wide scale devastation that the climate crisis had brought upon people in rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of the countries studied in this analysis, 20 reported facing a high frequency of natural disasters and 14 were considered highly vulnerable to malnutrition and food insecurity. In 2023, it is estimated that climate-induced disasters drove roughly 72 million people into emergency levels of hunger.

“Climate shocks are making it increasingly difficult for families across Latin America and the Caribbean to produce, transport, and access food. Frequent storms and floods are destroying homes and farmland, while drought and erratic rainfall are wiping out crops before they can grow,” said Lola Castro, WFP’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2024, the El Niño weather phenomenon triggered extensive heat waves and droughts across Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, causing an increase in the prices of corn, which is a staple crop. Additionally, heavy rainfall in Ecuador caused a 32 to 54 percent increase in wholesale prices of corn, making food inaccessible for numerous communities.

“In more rural areas they don’t have a lot of resources to be able to weather a poor harvest. You don’t generate as much income. There’s not as much nutritious food around, so they sell what they can, and then they purchase the cheapest thing that’ll fill them up,” said Ivy Blackmore, a researcher with the University of Missouri who analyzed nutrition and agriculture among rural communities in Ecuador.

As extreme weather makes healthier food options inaccessible, communities in climate-sensitive areas have gravitated towards cheaper, unhealthier food sources. This is particularly apparent in Latin America, where the cost of a healthy diet is the highest in the world. As a result, child and adult obesity has risen significantly since 2000 in these areas.

“Overweight and obesity are growing challenges in the region and key risk factors for non-communicable diseases. A healthy diet is the foundation for health, well-being, and optimal growth and development,” said Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

According to FAO’s studies, in the Caribbean approximately 50 percent of the population, or 22.2 million people, were unable to afford a healthy and balanced diet.

In Mesoamerica, roughly 26.3 percent were unable to meet their nutrition needs. South America has the highest numbers, with 113.6 million people unable to afford proper nutrition.

WFP’s report concludes that there must be immediate climate change adaptation on a governmental level. WFP is currently working with smallholder farmers and distributors to incorporate more resource-efficient technologies for food production in an effort to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and prevent excessive wastage. Additionally, they are working with women and young people, who have been historically excluded from jobs in marketing and technology, to support socio-economic growth in these communities.

WFP is aiming to increase government funding for food-security measures, sustainable technologies, and risk management systems. Through the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund and other government-financed investments, WFP seeks to facilitate agriculture practices with a smaller carbon footprint and help the most disaster-vulnerable communities prepare for and face losses from extreme-weather phenomenon.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Much of Gaza has been destroyed in the current conflict. Credit: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba, February 2025

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Even after Trump declared that he wanted to take back the Panama Canal, acquire Greenland by force, if necessary, and rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I could not, like many others, imagine that his madness could reach a new unfathomable height.

At his news conference on February 4, with Prime Minister Netanyahu standing beside him, sporting a sinister grin, Trump announced that the US would take over Gaza, ship the Palestinians like sheep to Jordan and Egypt, build such a mesmerizing Riviera along the Mediterranean Sea and, voilà, bring peace and prosperity to the whole region. ‘What a wonderful and visionary plan that nobody could have possibly conceived but him.’

Of course, his bluster is short of any details. A display of bravado and raw exercise of power is what he wants to project, and to hell with the ramifications of his brazen plan that would set the region on fire, the likes of which is hard to envisage. Though no sensible person believes that Trump can effectuate such a perilous undertaking, mentioning it alone sent shivers down the spine of every Palestinian.

The message to them is simple: forget about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This land is the ancestral land of the Jewish people and it must be restored to its rightful owners. Oh, you Palestinians, be prepared now for the second Nakba (catastrophe), but this time, do not worry; the exodus will be well organized; you will settle in Jordan and Egypt and live happily ever after.

What Trump does not grasp, which is no surprise, is that even though much of Gaza lies in ruin, and it will take years and billions to rebuild, this is their land. They can rebuild their homes, restore the infrastructure, tend to their farms, and restructure their businesses, but they cannot replace their land.

Their attachment is to the land, which they cannot relinquish, substitute, or be compensated for. This is where they belong, where their ancestors lived and died, where their cultural heritage resides, and where they still dream of having a better and brighter future and living with dignity, which even the President of the US cannot usurp with impunity. The ramifications of Trump’s brutally brazen plan for Gaza transcends any nightmare that Trump or Netanyahu can envision.

The exodus of the Palestinians would immediately and ominously destabilize the region. Jordan, in particular, will be the first to be destabilized as an influx of Palestinians would shake the foundation of the country, which is already saddled with nearly one million refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Jordan’s internal instability could potentially lead to conflict with Israel, with whom it shares a 350-kilometer-long border, and precipitate the infiltration of weapons and terrorists. This would wreak havoc on Israel and risk the peace treaty between the two countries that served as the anchor for stability.

Egypt, too, views Trump’s ‘ingenious idea’ as preposterous. Notwithstanding American aid to Egypt, President Sisi vehemently rejected Trump’s plan because it would have dire regional consequences that would not spare Egypt and potentially send Israeli-Egyptian peace asunder.

Trump and Netanyahu’s alignment in this regard is extremely treacherous. Instead of building a new structure of regional peace, Trump will plunge the region into widespread violence and wars, denying both Israelis and Palestinians a day of peace.

And rather than expanding the Abraham Accords, he could potentially unravel them, making the prospect of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace a pipedream while giving Iran’s axis of resistance a new lease on life. To be sure, Trump’s plan is strategically incomprehensible and horrifically ominous.

It is hard to exaggerate what the impact on the Palestinians would be should Trump’s plan come to fruition. The displacement of the Palestinians will be catastrophic on many fronts, which most likely has not even crossed his mind. Uprooting more than 2.2 million Palestinians from their homeland is cruel and forbidding and will create an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

It will bring to life the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, as the memory of those dark days continues to haunt the Palestinians to this day. Many current residents of Gaza are descendants of those original refugees. Moreover, it will destroy family ties, obliterate their cultural identity, and subject them to the horror of resettlement, in lands where they are unwelcome.

Palestinian radicalism will intensify, which will make the current violent conflict look like a rehearsal. Trump completely ignored Hamas, which remains a powerful force in Gaza, and will further validate its narrative that the Israelis are irredeemable foes seeking to eradicate all Palestinians and that only violent resistance is the answer to Israel’s insatiable lust for more Palestinian land.

Another generation of Palestinians will be poisoned, whose mission in life will be nothing but revenge and retribution for what has befallen their people.

For Netanyahu and his fascist government, Trump’s idea of ethnic cleansing in Gaza of all Palestinians is a dream come true. This, along with the creeping, if not outright, annexation of the West Bank, would finally realize his dream of “greater Israel” as a God-given right; Trump, the Messiah, has come to deliver what God had promised the Jews. Genesis 17:8 (NIV) states, “The whole land of Canaan [Israel], where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Everyone, especially Trump and Netanyahu, should remember this: the displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza will vanquish any prospect of a two-state solution, as no one has come up yet with any new viable idea that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully short of a two-state solution. The alternative is perpetual bloodshed to satisfy the corrupt Netanyahu-led government, whose thirst for Palestinian blood is insatiable.

After 77 years of Israel’s existence, Netanyahu and his gang of right-wing extremists seem to have learned nothing. Israel has every right to exist in peace and security, but it cannot build itself on the ashes of the Palestinians. The Palestinians will resist for generations if they must and will never forsake their inherent right to statehood, which is enshrined by UNSC Resolution 181, the same resolution that granted the Jews in Palestine the same right.

Trump believes that he can do whatever pleases him. One thing he will learn the hard way is that he is not the ruler of the world; he cannot take or dish out territories that do not belong to him. He has no jurisdiction; it is against international law, defies reason, and is devoid of any moral tenet.

The Palestinians have endured occupation, blockade, displacement, expulsion, and dehumanization, and suffered decades-long horrific pain and sorrow, but they have endured. They remained resilient and resolute because their thirst for freedom is absolute. No American president, including Trump, can bend their will.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.
alon@alonben-meir.com

IPS UN Bureau

 

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U.S. Embassy Charge de Affairs Andy Lentz dances with teenagers during a World Aids Day Commemorations in Dar es Salaam. Credit: Kizito Shigela/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

At 9 a.m. on Monday, Mariam Msemwa clutched her clinic card tightly as she stood in line at Bagamoyo District Hospital’s HIV Clinic in Tanzania’s coastal region. The 19-year-old had been here many times before, picking up monthly doses of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that kept her alive. But today was different.When she reached the counter, the nurse flatly told her. “There’s no more free medication, ” she said. “You’ll have to buy it yourself.”

Msemwa felt the words like a punch to her chest. Buy it? With what? Her mother, a street vegetable hawker, could barely afford their next meal. The ARVs had always been free, provided under a U.S.-funded program. But now that lifeline was gone.

“I don’t know what to do,” Msemwa said. “Without this medicine, I’m going to die.”

A Lifeline Cut Off

For years, Tanzania’s fight against HIV had relied heavily on funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a U.S. initiative that had injected over USD 110 billion into fighting HIV/AIDS worldwide since 2003. The program funded everything—medication, testing, community outreach, and home-based care.

But in early 2025, with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, an executive order froze all new foreign aid spending. In a matter of days, USD 450 million in annual PEPFAR funding for Tanzania vanished, cutting off free ARVs for nearly 1.2 million Tanzanians.

Catherine Joachim, acting executive director of the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), had spent weeks in frantic meetings, her phone constantly buzzing with calls from worried health officials and aid workers.

A community health worker provides counselling to a street cook in Bagamoyo before testing for HIV AIDS. Credit: Kizito Shigela/IPS

“This is a serious blow which ushers in  a complete collapse of our HIV response,” she said. “For nearly two decades, PEPFAR kept people alive. Now, they will probably suffer.”

The fallout was immediate. Clinics that once provided free ARVs had run out. Home-based care programs were shutting down. And across the country, patients were being turned away with nowhere to go.

“I had a mother come in yesterday,” said Abdallah Suleiman a treatment literacy trainer for people living with HIV in the historical town of Bagamoyo . “She was begging for just a few pills for her son, who’s been on ARVs since birth. I had nothing to give her. Nothing.”

End of Free Care

It’s nearly midday at the bustling Mbezi bus terminal in Dar es Salaam, and Helena Mkwasi is standing over a pot of boiling water, stirring maize flour into a thick, stiff ugali. Smoke curls around her as she moves quickly, balancing the demands of her small food stall with the worries that never leave her.

“I wake up early, light the fire, and rush to the market for meat, cooking oil, tomatoes—whatever I can afford that day,” she says, adjusting the colorful khanga wrapped around her waist. Business is slow, as usual. The money she makes is just enough to buy food for her two children.

But these days, money isn’t her biggest concern.

“For years, I’ve been getting my ARVs for free,” she said. “Now they’re saying that has stopped. I don’t know how I’ll survive.”

Mkwasi was diagnosed with HIV when she was 19. She doesn’t remember much from that day, only the way her heart pounded as the nurse explained viral loads and CD4 counts. She thought it was a death sentence. Then she started on antiretroviral therapy, and the medicine worked. Her health improved. She had her children safely. She built a routine—cooking ugali, serving customers, taking her pills every evening with a cup of warm water.

“Without the medicine, I’ll get sick again. I won’t be able to work,” she says, glancing at the bubbling pot. “Then what happens to my kids?”

Around her, the bus terminal hums with life. Conductors shout out destinations, men weave between traffic selling bananas and bottled water, and the air smells of grilled meat and diesel fumes. Mkwasi wipes sweat from her forehead and keeps stirring, but the weight of uncertainty lingers.

A Worsening Crisis

The numbers painted a grim picture. Without ARVs, HIV-positive individuals risk developing full-blown AIDS, making them vulnerable to deadly infections like tuberculosis and pneumonia. Health experts warned that Tanzania could see at least 30,000 additional HIV-related deaths in the next two years if the crisis wasn’t resolved.

Deogratius Rutatwa, CEO of the National Council of People Living With HIV/AIDS, sat at his desk, staring at the endless reports detailing the worsening situation. His phone, still warm from his last call, kept ringing.

“This is a disaster,” he said, rubbing his temples. “PEPFAR wasn’t just about giving out medicine—it funded education, prevention, community support. Now, everything is gone.”

His inbox was flooded with desperate messages from community organizations. What do we do now? they asked. But Rutatwa had no answers.

“I wish the people making these decisions could see what’s happening here,” he said. “They talk about budgets and policies, but on the ground, it’s about a mother walking miles to get her child tested. It’s about a teenager who just found out he’s positive and needs help, not rejection. It’s about keeping people alive.”

Live or Die

Mary Tarimo had dedicated her life to helping HIV patients stay on treatment. As a home-based care supervisor at the Bagamoyo hospital’s HIV department, she spent her days navigating the dusty streets of Dar es Salaam, checking in on patients, ensuring they orally took their medication.

Now, she was watching helplessly as people who had been stable for years began to relapse.

“There’s a woman I’ve been caring for since 2015,” Tarimo said. “She never missed a dose. But now, she’s stopped taking her medicine.”

The woman, a mother of three who made a living as a street cook, had broken down in tears just days earlier.

“She told me, ‘Mama Tarimo, I have to choose between feeding my children and buying my medicine,’” Tarimo recalled. “How do you respond to that? What kind of choice is that?”

Across the Bagamoyo town, the same tragedy was unfolding. People were showing up at hospitals with fevers, night sweats—the first signs of opportunistic infections. Some, ashamed that they could no longer afford their treatment, simply stopped coming.

“I met a man last weekend—he was diagnosed in 2010. Never missed a single appointment,” Tarimo said. “Now, he’s scared. He told me, ‘I feel like I’m back where I started.’”

She paused, shaking her head. “The worst part? We spent decades building this program, making sure people knew that HIV isn’t a death sentence if you stay on treatment. And now, just like that, we’re watching all of it fall apart.”

Searching for Solutions

Despite the bleak outlook, Joachim refused to give up.

“We are not just sitting back and watching this happen,” she said. “We’re talking to other international partners, private donors, and our own government to find alternative funding.”

The Ministry of Health had pledged to reallocate part of its budget to keep ARVs flowing, and there was hope that other donor countries might step in.

“We are looking at every possible solution,” Joachim said. “People have a right to treatment. We will do everything we can to make sure they get it.”

But experts warned that Tanzania’s national health budget simply couldn’t cover the $260 per patient per year needed for ARVs. For many, the cost—ranging between USD 15 and USD 20 per month—was almost impossible to afford.

“The reality is, without external support, we cannot bridge this gap,” Rutatwa admitted. “And that means lives will be lost.”

A Race Against Time

Back at Bagamoyo Hospital, Tatu sat on a bench, staring at the floor. She had no idea what to do next.

“I don’t want to die,” she whispered. “I just want my medicine.”

As she stood up to leave, she glanced around at the others in the waiting room—young, old, mothers with babies, men with hollow eyes. They were all waiting for something that was no longer there.

For now, Tanzania was scrambling to find a solution. But for the millions who relied on PEPFAR, time was running out.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The international community must take action to address the CO2 emissions of the carbon aristocracy as climate change analysis makes it clear that there is no alternative. Credit: Bigstock

By Philippe Benoit
WASHINGTON DC, Feb 6 2025 (IPS)

For centuries, innumerable countries were ruled by an entrenched, typically inherited, political class: the “aristocracy.” The term comes from the Ancient Greek words “aristos”, meaning best, and “kratia,” meaning power. As a result of long and hard-fought democratic struggles, these aristocracies have largely dwindled worldwide (albeit, not everywhere).

Today, we are seeing the emergence of a new aristocracy in another arena: the millionaires whose consumption privileges produce per capita CO2 emissions incompatible with global climate goals. Like the aristocrats of the past, they are spread around the world. Meeting global emissions goals will require addressing the privileges of these worldwide wealthy big emitters, what can be called the “carbon aristocrats.”

According to Oxfam, the world’s richest 1% are responsible for 15% of global emissions. [By comparison, the world’s poorest 50% produce 8% of global emissions.] This class is mostly made up of millionaires, who now total nearly 60 million globally and are projected to grow in number to over 65 million by 2028 (according to the UBS Wealth Report).

According to Oxfam, the world’s richest 1% are responsible for 15% of global emissions. [By comparison, the world’s poorest 50% produce 8% of global emissions.] This class is mostly made up of millionaires, who now total nearly 60 million globally and are projected to grow in number to over 65 million by 2028

The United States has the most with 22 million, followed by China at nearly 7 million. Significantly, about 34% of the world’s millionaires live outside the U.S. and Western Europe, including not only China, but also South-East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. In fact, 10 of the 15 countries with the projected fastest growth in millionaires are emerging economies. Millionaires have increasingly become a worldwide phenomenon.

The aristocrats of the past were united by many common behaviors. From the Channel to Moscow, they often spoke French better than their own country’s native tongue. Their children were frequently sent abroad to elite boarding schools in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. They vacationed together on the Cote d’Azur.

Similarly, the carbon aristocrats of today are united by what they have in common notwithstanding differing nationalities, namely a shared extravagant lifestyle and a corresponding sense of entitlement to emit large amounts of CO2. From private planes to superyachts to multiple mansions, this class of emitters shares consumption patterns that are the reserved domain of the privileged wealthy.

The unsurprising result is an inordinately high per capita level of CO2 emissions. If all these carbon aristocrats were to gather in their own exclusive nation, it would constitute the second highest CO2 emitting country in the world, behind only China with its 1.4 billion people and more than the United States with its 335 million.

Significantly, climate operates differently than economics. While the rich and their capital can generate income for the middle-class, workers and even the poor, climate is more akin to a type of zero-sum game.

The more carbon that the wealthy emit, the less carbon there is available for others consistent with limiting climate change. Like political power which was hoarded by the aristocrats of the past to the detriment of others, the carbon budget is currently being grabbed by this carbon-entitled aristocracy.

In response, I, like others, have advocated for a carbon tax targeting luxury-consumption related emissions — perhaps better termed a “carbon extravagance tax” to reflect the fundamentally gratuitous character of emissions from superyachts and similar activities in contrast to those generated by essential needs such as producing food and heating homes.

This analysis builds on the seminal work of Professor Henry Shue who back in 1992 argued for differentiating between emissions from vital subsistence activities and discretionary luxury ones.

The world has changed a great deal since then. Not only have emissions climbed dramatically over the past 30 years, there are also a lot more millionaires with high per capita emissions.

As the number of these millionaires continues to grow year upon year, including notably in the emerging economies of the Global South, it has become evident that, more than a country-based or even OECD-oriented measure, what is required is an effort targeting carbon-entitled aristocrats worldwide.

Notably, some form of internationally coordinated carbon extravagance taxes, regulations and more is needed given the cross-border mobility of the carbon-entitled aristocrats with their planes, superyachts and multiple mansions.

But the opposition to these types of measures will surely be formidable as these modern carbon aristocrats, like the aristocrats of the past, look to hold on to their privilege … in this case to emit large amounts of CO2. It’s a resistance potentially uniting the very rich and powerful of the United States with the governing elites of China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India and elsewhere in an anti-regulatory effort.

Unfortunately, given current emissions trends, there isn’t the time to wait for voluntary action on their part. Rather, the challenge is to change the emissions patterns and, perhaps most importantly, the carbon-entitled mindset of these aristocrats.

The international community needs to consider initiatives and measures to tackle these CO2 emissions of the carbon aristocracy because the climate change analysis indicates there is no other choice.

Philippe Benoit is Managing Director at Global Infrastructure Advisory Services 2050 (www.gias2050.com) and publishes extensively on international energy and climate change issues.

13-year-old Fiyha Al Tayeb Nasser a child rights activist and president of the girls' or Saleema club speaks to mothers and caregivers at Aljabalin hospital about the dangers of early marriage and female genital mutilation. Credit: UNICEF

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 2025 (IPS)

February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). A practice deemed a gross violation of human rights, tragically the practice persists across multiple countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Over 230 million women and girls alive today have been subjected to this gruesome practice, and experts warn that at least 27 million more could endure this by 2030.

This year’s theme: “Stepping up the pace: Strengthening alliances and building movements to end female genital mutilation,” spotlights that collective action from multiple groups and stakeholders is paramount. Both UNICEF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) call the joint efforts of survivors, advocates, women and girls, men and boys, community leaders, governments, the private sector, and donors, to address the issue.

The efforts of survivors, activists and grassroots movements must be upheld and unimpeded, with leaders and communities making sure to respect. To that end, investing in these groups is key to scaling up effective interventions and producing results, which governments, donors and the private sector should pledge to commit to.

Through the UNICEF-UNFPA Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, nearly 7 million girls and women received prevention and protective services related to FGM. So far, 20,000 grassroots organizations have been integrated into networks working towards ending FGM. The programme has been implemented in 18 countries, including Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, and Indonesia.

In a joint statement, the heads of UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) reaffirm their commitment to work together to tackle the issue and abolish FGM once and for all. The organizations acknowledge that significant progress has been made in raising awareness and building up public consensus against FGM, noting the decline in countries like Kenya and Uganda. This has been achieved through the strength of multi-sectoral partnerships and social change.

“Yet the fragility of progress made has also become starkly evident,” the statement reads. “In the Gambia, for example, attempts to repeal the ban on female genital mutilation persist, even after an initial proposal to do so was rejected by its parliament last year. Such efforts could gravely undermine the rights, health, and dignity of future generations of girls and women, jeopardizing the tireless work over decades to change attitudes and mobilize communities.”

The Gambia made international news last year when attempts were made to repeal the amendment in the Women’s (Amendment) Act 2011 which criminalizes FGM. Although the repeal was successfully prevented, this signaled that women’s rights still faced challenges, especially in a country where 73 percent of girls aged 15-19 have undergone FGM.

For their part, UNICEF, UNFPA and civil society partners in Gambia launched a campaign that brought the voices of survivors to the forefront to challenge this repeal.

UNICEF’s Gambia Representative Nafisa Binta Shafique told IPS that since this challenge, they has been working closely with government partners including the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare to develop a revised FGM National Strategy and Action Plan, which will be “grounded in amplifying women’s leadership and engaging with men, boys and religious leaders in the country’s effort to end FGM”.

“Every child, every girl and women, has the right to be protected,” Shafique said. “Together, we are working to break down social barriers and taboos to ensure transformative and sustainable change that protects every woman and girl.”

UNICEF, UNFPA, and WHO are also calling for greater accountability “at all levels” to ensure countries uphold their commitment to human rights and invest in the implementation of strategies that protect girls at risk and ensure justice for survivors.

Accountability should be directed at governments and community leaders who do not push for the ban of FGM and do not challenge its pervasiveness. Accountability should also be directed to the medical practitioners that administer FGM in these countries, as recent evidence shows at 66 percent of girls received it at the hands of a doctor or a nurse. These health personnel should be held accountable for administering a practice that has proven to be detrimental to women and girls’ overall health and has resulted in physical and psychological trauma.

The current rate of decline has to increase drastically in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of ending FGM by or before 2030. Seven out of the 31 countries with national data are on track to meet this goal. UNICEF projects that the rate of decline has to be 27 times faster in order for these countries to meet that goal on time.

International intergovernmental organizations like UNFPA and UNCIEF have the resources to provide safe reproductive health practices for women and girls and to promote these messages on bigger platforms. The work of civil society and grassroots organizations are the bedrock to build up support and raise awareness within local communities.

Frontline Women’s Fund, a nonprofit that promotes women’s rights and protections through building connections between frontline women’s groups and donors, is one such group which has made FGM one of its key issues. Through a dedicated fund, the Efua Dorkenoo Fund to End Female Genital Mutilation, the group provides direct funding and visibility to civil society groups that deal with this issue. Among its grantees is the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), who were active in protecting the FGM ban last year alongside other women- and youth-led civil society groups, and have continued their work building awareness for reproductive health rights.

The fund’s director, Jarai Sabally said that Frontline Women’s Fund work to support and amplify the voices of activists, survivors and grassroots leaders who are in the best positions to ensure real change by calling for abolishing FGM in their own communities.

“Ending female genital mutilation is not just about eliminating a harmful traditional practice—it is about reclaiming bodily autonomy, dignity, and justice for women and girls,” said Sabally. “The urgency of this issue is only heightened by a rising global trend of patriarchal conservatism, ushering in new legal challenges to women’s and girls’ civil rights.”

“As we commemorate Zero Tolerance Day, we must recognize that women’s bodies are not symbols for patriarchal nationalism to control. The fight to end FGM is part of the larger struggle for human rights—dismantling systems that seek to define women’s and girls’ worth through violence and subjugation.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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