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‘The Government Was Corrupt and Willing to Kill Its Own People to Stay in Power’

Tue, 10/07/2025 - 08:43

By CIVICUS
Oct 7 2025 (IPS)

CIVICUS discusses recent protests that led to a change of government in Nepal with Dikpal Khatri Chhetri, co-founder of Youth in Federal Discourse (YFD). YFD is a youth-led organisation that advocates for democracy, civic engagement and young people’s empowerment.

Dikpal Khatri Chhetri

In September, Nepal’s government blocked 26 social media platforms, sparking mass protests led by people from Generation Z. Police responded with live ammunition, rubber bullets teargas and water cannons, killing over 70 people. Despite the swift lifting of the social media ban, protests continued in anger at the killings and corruption concerns. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned, and an interim government has taken over, with a new election scheduled within six months.

What triggered the protests?

When the government asked social media companies to register and they failed to comply, it blocked 26 platforms, including Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Signal, WhatsApp, X/Twitter and YouTube. A similar situation happened in 2023, when TikTok was banned and later reinstated once the company registered.

The government said the goal was to create a legal point of contact for content moderation and ensure platforms complied with national regulations. For them, the ban was just a matter of enforcing rules. But people saw it differently, and for Gen Z this was an attempt to silence them. Young people don’t just use social media for entertainment; it’s also where they discuss politics, expose corruption and organise themselves. By banning these platforms, the government was cutting them off from one of the few spaces where they felt they could hold leaders accountable.

However, the ban was the final factor after years of frustration with corruption, lack of accountability and a political elite that seems out of touch with ordinary people. Young people see politicians’ children living in luxury while they struggle to get by. On TikTok, this anger became visible in the ‘NepoKids’ trend that exposed the privileges of political families and tied them directly to corruption.

That’s why the response was so strong and immediate. What began as anger over a restriction on freedom of expression grew into a nationwide call for transparency, accountability and an end to the culture of corruption. Protests became a way for young people who refuse to accept the status quo to show their voices can’t be silenced.

How did the government react to the protests?

Instead of dialogue, the government chose repression. Police used rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon to try to disperse crowds. In many places they also fired live ammunition. By the end of the first day, 19 people had been killed.

The use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters is a serious violation of human rights. Authorities claimed protesters had entered restricted zones around key government buildings, including Parliament House, and argued this justified their response. But evidence tells a different story: footage and post-mortem reports show many of the victims were shot in the head, indicating an intent to inflict severe harm rather than simply disperse crowds. Police also failed to fully use non-lethal methods before turning to live bullets.

Rather than containing the protests, this violence further fuelled public anger. Protests, now focused on corruption and the killings, continued even after the government lifted the social media ban. Many realised the government was both corrupt and willing to kill its own people to stay in power. In response, authorities imposed strict curfews in big cities.

The political fallout was immediate. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned the next day, taking responsibility for the bloodshed. Within a day, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli also stepped down. An interim government led by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki took over, parliament was dissolved and a new election is scheduled to take place in the next six months.

What changes do protesters demand and what comes next?

We are demanding systemic change. Corruption has spread through every level of government and we are tired of politicians who have ruled for decades without improving our lives. While they grow richer, everyday people face unemployment, rising living costs and no real opportunities. We refuse to accept this any longer.

We want a government that works transparently and efficiently, free from bribery, favouritism and political interference. Leaders must understand that sovereignty belongs to the people and their duty is to serve citizens, not themselves.

We need more than just some small reforms. Nepal needs serious discussions about holding to the essence of its constitution, finding ways to amend it when dissatisfaction occurs instead of uprooting it entirely. Its implementation has to be strengthened to truly include diverse voices, reflect our history and be able to respond to future challenges. We are calling for new, younger and more competent leaders who can break the cycle of past failures.

The upcoming election will be a crucial test. Gen Z must turn out in numbers, articulate clear demands to the wider public and ensure the changes we strive for in the streets are carried into parliament.

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SEE ALSO
Nepal: Anti-corruption protests force political change despite violent crackdown CIVICUS Monitor 23.Sep.2025
Nepal: ‘The Social Network Bill is part of a broader strategy to tighten control over digital communication’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Dikshya Khadgi 28.Feb.2025
Nepal: ‘The TikTok ban signals efforts to control the digital space in the name of national sovereignty’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Anisha 11.Dec.2023

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Categories: Africa, Swiss News

When Women Lead, Peace Follows

Tue, 10/07/2025 - 08:01

More women must have a role in shaping peace agreements, security reforms and post-conflict recovery plans, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council October 6. Credit: UN News

By Sima Bahous
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 2025 (IPS)

We meet on the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325—a milestone born of the multilateral system’s conviction that peace is more robust, security more enduring, when women are at the table.

Yet the record of the last 25 years is mixed: bold, admirable commitments have been followed too often by weak implementation and chronic under-investment. Today, 676 million women and girls live within reach of deadly conflict, the highest [number] since the 1990s.

It is lamentable, then, that we see today rising military spending and renewed pushback against gender equality and multilateralism. These threaten the very foundations of global peace and security.

This anniversary must be more than a commemoration. Women and girls who live amidst conflict deserve more than commemoration. It must instead be a moment to refocus, recommit, and ensure that the next 25 years deliver much more than the last.

A belief in the core principles of resolution 1325 is shared by women and men everywhere. Whether through our work at country level, including in conflicts, or in the recent Member State commitments for the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we know that our women, peace and security agenda, our conviction for equality, enjoys the support of an overwhelming majority of women and men, and also of Member States.

Even in Afghanistan, UN Women’s ongoing monitoring shows that 92 per cent of Afghans, men and women both, think that girls must be able to attend secondary education. It is also striking that a majority of Afghan women say they remain hopeful that they will one day achieve their aspirations.

This, despite everything they endure under Taliban oppression. Their hope is not an idle wish, and it is more than a coping mechanism. It is a political statement. A conviction. An inspiration.

As we meet to discuss the women, peace and security agenda, the painful situation in the Middle East, especially for women and girls, remains on our minds and in our hearts. Two years into the devastating Gaza war, amid the killing, the pain and the loss, a glimmer of hope emerges.

I join the Secretary-General in welcoming the positive responses to President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the Gaza war, to implement an immediate and lasting ceasefire to secure the unconditional release of all hostages, and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access.

We hope that this will lead to a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike, where all women and girls live with dignity, security, and opportunity.

The trends documented in the Secretary-General’s report should alarm us. It is understandable that some might conclude that the rise and normalization of misogyny currently poisoning our politics and fuelling conflict is unstoppable. It is not. Those who oppose equality do not own the future, we do.

The reality is that globally, suffering and displacement will likely rise in the face of seemingly intractable conflicts and growing instability. And it is a painful fact that we must be prepared for the situation to become worse before it becomes better for women and girls.

This will continue to be exacerbated by short-sighted funding cuts that already undermine education opportunities for Afghan girls; curtail life-saving medical attention for tens of thousands of survivors of rape and sexual violence in Sudan, Haiti and beyond; shutter health clinics across conflict zones; limit access to food for malnourished and starving mothers and their children in Gaza, Mali, Somalia and elsewhere; and fundamentally will erode the chance for peace.

Yet despite the horrors of wars and conflicts, women continue to build peace.

• In Haiti, women have managed to achieve near parity in the new provisional electoral council and increased the quota for women in the draft constitution.

• In Chad, women’s representation in the National Assembly has doubled.

• In Syria, the interim Constitution ratified this March mandates the Government to guarantee the social, economic, and political rights of women, and protect them from all forms of oppression, injustice, and violence.

• In Ukraine, women have achieved the codification into law of gender-responsive budgeting, including across national relief efforts.

Whether mediating, brokering access to services, driving reconstruction, and more, women’s leadership is the face of resilience—a force for peace.

The Secretary-General has just spoken to UN Women’s recent survey findings, which highlight how current financing trends are endangering the viability and safety of women-led organizations in conflict-affected countries.

We believe there is no alternative but to change course and to invest significantly in women’s organizations on the frontlines of conflict.

The last 25 years have seen an emphasis on investing in transnational security and international legal institutions. This has not been matched by attention to investing in national capacities and social movements.

And while attention to the women, peace and security agenda has been focused in global capitals and in major cities of conflict-affected countries, it must also become localized and reach the remote areas that are worst affected and where it makes the biggest difference. This is true for information, funding, policy implementation, services, and more.

Recent years have seen a much-needed increased level of attention to conflict-related sexual violence than ever before. We have taken huge strides in ending the silence, chipping away at the impunity that emboldens and enables perpetrators.

These efforts must be redoubled, giving greater attention to reproductive violence, gender-based persecution in accountability initiatives, and a more comprehensive understanding of atrocities disproportionately affecting women and girls in conflict.

In the next 25 years of the critical women, peace and security agenda, it is crucial that we see funding earmarked, robust quotas implemented, clear instructions and mandates, and accountability measures in place that make failures visible and have consequences.

So, allow me to leave you with five calls to action that need full attention in the coming years:

• First:

• Second: Measure the impact of this agenda by the number of women that participate directly in peace and security processes, and by the relief women receive in the form of justice, reparations, services, or asylum.

• Third: End violence against women and girls, address emerging forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and challenge harmful narratives both online and offline.

• Fourth: End impunity for atrocities and crimes against women and girls, respect and uphold international law, silence the guns, and ensure peace is always in the ascendency.

• Fifth: Embed the women, peace and security agenda ever-deeper in the hearts and minds of ordinary people, particularly young people, both boys and girls. It is they who will determine the future of our ambitions, ambitions that must ultimately become theirs too.

Above all, the coming few years should see Security Council resolution 1325 implemented fully, across all contexts.

When women lead, peace follows. We made a promise to them 25 years ago. It is past time to deliver.

This article is based on remarks by UN Under-Secretary General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous at the Security Council meeting on “Women and peace and security” on 6 October 2025.

IPS UN Bureau

Excerpt:

Sima Bahous is UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Director UN Women

Categories: Africa, Swiss News

No African Development from Western Trade Policies

Tue, 10/07/2025 - 07:35

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and K Kuhaneetha Bai
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Oct 7 2025 (IPS)

The World Bank’s 1981 Berg Report provided the blueprint for structural adjustment, including economic liberalisation in Africa. Urging trade liberalisation, it promised growth from its supposed comparative advantage in agriculture.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Berg promises
Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Plan for Action by Professor Elliot Berg blamed government interventions for blocking post-colonial African economic progress.

Removing ‘distortions’ caused by marketing boards and other state interventions and institutions was supposed to unleash export-led growth for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) producers.

However, despite the supposed comparative advantage and trade preferences, African agricultural exports have not grown significantly due to protection by wealthy nations.

By the turn of the century, Africa’s share of worldwide non-oil exports had declined to less than half of what it was in the early 1980s.

African agricultural output and export capacities have been undermined by decades of low investment, economic stagnation and neglect.

Significant public spending cuts accelerated the deterioration of existing infrastructure (roads, water supply, etc.), undermining potential ‘supply responses’.

K Kuhaneetha Bai

However, high growth in East and South Asian economies boosted SSA mineral exports, often mined by foreign firms from the most significant economies in Asia.

Even the primary commodity price collapse from 2014 did not prevent Africa’s share of world exports from increasing.

Promises, promises
The 1994 Marrakech declaration, concluding the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, created the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.

The new Doha Development Round of trade negotiations began in 2001, following the dramatic walkout by African trade ministers at the WTO Seattle ministerial conference in 1999.

The Public Health Exception to the WTO’s onerous new intellectual property rules alleviated this concern but was ignored during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Developing countries were projected to gain US$16 billion in the most likely scenario, according to a 2005 World Bank study led by Kym Anderson, which estimated the likely effects of a Doha Round trade agreement.

However, various studies estimating the welfare effects of multilateral agricultural trade liberalisation – including Anderson et al. – suggest significant net losses, not gains, for SSA.

Gains from agricultural trade liberalisation would largely accrue to existing major agricultural exporters – mainly from the Cairns Group – not SSA.

Nevertheless, the World Bank and others continued to insist that trade liberalisation would benefit all developing countries, including SSA, although most studies indicated otherwise.

WTO trade rules have reduced the policy space for developing countries – especially in industrial, trade, or investment policy – although some claim that room for industrial policy remains.

African governments were told that a Doha Round deal would reduce agricultural subsidies, import tariffs and non-tariff barriers by rich nations, especially in Europe.

But the neglect of both physical and economic infrastructure over two decades of structural adjustment programmes left little effective capacity to respond to new export opportunities.

Worse still, trade liberalisation of manufactured goods also undermined nascent African industrialisation.

African market access to rich, mainly European, markets was secured through negotiated preferential agreements, rather than trade liberalisation. Hence, further multilateral trade liberalisation would erode these modest gains.

Additionally, most African governments – particularly those of poorer economies with limited government capacities – were unable to replace lost tariff revenues with new taxes.

African losses foretold
What was Africa expected to gain from a Doha Round deal?

Thandika Mkandawire warned the WTO trade regime would make Africa worse off, especially without preferential treatment from the European Union under the Lomé Convention.

Anderson et al. claimed SSA would gain substantially as “farm employment, the real value of agricultural output and exports, the real returns to farm land and unskilled labor, and real net farm incomes would all rise substantially in capital scarce SSA countries with a move to free merchandise trade”.

To be sure, the modest gains from trade liberalisation would be ‘one-time’ improvements projected by the models used.

Anderson et al. claimed that SSA, excluding South Africa, would gain US$3.5 billion, compared to roughly US$550 billion worldwide.

These projected gains of less than one per cent of its 2007 output were nonetheless much more than the tenth of one per cent for all developing countries!

World Bank structural adjustment programmes undermined the limited competitiveness of African smallholder agriculture. However, their projections ignored the reasons why African food agriculture declined after the 1970s.

Meanwhile, the agricultural exports of wealthy nations have benefited from higher production subsidies, which more than offset lower export subsidies. However, reducing agricultural subsidies would likely lead to higher prices of imported food.

Uneven effects
Uneven and partial trade liberalisation and subsidy reduction will have mixed implications. These effects vary with national conditions, including food imports and share of consumer spending.

Earlier estimates for all developing countries obscured the likely impacts of trade liberalisation on Africa. The one-time welfare improvement for SSA, excluding most of Southern Africa, would be three-fifths of one per cent by 2015!

With deindustrialisation accelerated by structural adjustment, Sandra Polaski estimated that SSA, excluding South Africa, would lose US$122 billion from Doha Round trade liberalisation.

Although former World Bank economists agreed the lost decades were due to Bank structural adjustment programmes, these were reimposed a decade ago.

SSA, excluding South Africa, would lose US$106 billion to agricultural trade liberalisation. Poor infrastructure, export capacities and competitiveness in both SSA industry and agriculture were responsible.

Most of the poorest and least developed SSA countries were likely to be worse off in all ‘realistic’ Doha Round outcome scenarios.

With more realistic model assumptions – e.g., allowing for unemployment – Lance Taylor and Rudiger von Arnim found SSA would not gain, on balance, from trade liberalisation.

Mainstream international trade theory cannot justify trade liberalisation for SSA. Worse, ‘new trade theories’ and evolutionary studies of technological development suggest trade liberalisation would permanently slow growth.

Export growth?
As economic growth typically precedes export expansion, trade can foster a virtuous circle but cannot trigger it.

Specifically, a weak investment-export nexus hinders export expansion and diversification, as rapid resource reallocation is unlikely without high investment and sustained growth.

Citing the World Bank, Mkandawire noted Africa’s export collapse in the 1980s and 1990s meant “a staggering annual income loss of US$68 billion – or 21 per cent of regional GDP”!

For Dani Rodrik, Africa’s ‘marginalisation’ was not due to its trade performance, although poor by international standards. Gerald Helleiner has emphasised, “Africa’s failures have been developmental, not export failure per se”.

With its geography and income, Africa probably trades as much as can be expected. Indeed, “Africa overtrades compared with other developing regions in the sense that its trade is higher than would be expected from the various determinants of bilateral trade”!

Vulnerable Africa
The Doha Round of WTO negotiations effectively ended over a decade ago as the backlash in wealthy nations – against globalisation and its consequences – gained momentum.

Meanwhile, trade liberalisation – as part of structural adjustment programmes – deepened SSA deindustrialisation and food insecurity.

With Africa unevenly integrated by economic globalisation, most of the continent exports little to the USA, making it less of a target of Trump’s tariffs.

Nevertheless, trade liberalisation has made developing economies more vulnerable to and unprotected from the recent weaponisation of tariffs and other economic measures.

Last month’s expiration of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) prompted some African leaders to scramble for an extension.

US AGOA imports in 2023 totalled US$10 billion, accounting for high shares of some countries’ exports. Tariff imposition will exacerbate problems due to AGOA’s demise.

Meanwhile, there have been great expectations for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Still, regional trade integration may not be very beneficial, as SSA exports are more competitive than complementary.

K. Kuhaneetha Bai studied at the University of Malaya and does policy research at Khazanah Research Institute.

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Swiss News

Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan: Today, Tomorrow and the Day After

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 18:54

Image: The White House 29.9.25 / Wiki Commons

By Ramesh Thakur
Oct 6 2025 (IPS)

Back in January last year, my Toda Policy Brief 182 was published with the title “Israel and Gaza: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. On 29 September this year, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a joint press conference to announce a peace plan for Gaza. The plan’s title could well have been “Gaza: Today, Tomorrow and the Day After”. Trump’s yearning for the Nobel Peace Prize is no secret, possibly out of Obama-envy. If the bold and audacious 20-point Gaza plan succeeds, he will surely deserve the award. For it entails the end of Hamas as a governing force in Gaza and a security threat to Israel, gives Arabs the stability they seek in the region, promises a terror-free future for Israel and keeps alive the dream of a Palestinian state. That said, however, potholes, there be a few on the pathway to Middle East peace.

First, the good news

Any viable peace plan must deliver on three core challenges: an immediate ceasefire that brings an end to the killings and a release of all Israeli hostages still in captivity, dead or alive (today); the removal of Hamas as a military, political and institutional force from Gaza and its replacement with a credible governance structure for the strip to oversee its reconstruction (the agenda for tomorrow); and appropriate provisions, backed by credible guarantees, to prevent the return of terror to Israel (the promise of the day after).

The plan calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed line, the immediate cessation of hostilities and freeze on battle lines once all parties have agreed to the plan; the return of all hostages to Israel within 72 hours of the latter’s acceptance of the agreement; the release of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel (points 3–5).

The second part (tomorrow) is covered in points 6–16. After the exchange of hostages and prisoners, Hamas members who give up their arms and surrender will be granted amnesty and, if they wish, be given safe passage to third countries. They will play no role in Gaza’s governance. Aid deliveries into Gaza will resume and distributed without interference from any party. Gaza will be governed by a transitional, technocratic and apolitical committee of qualified Palestinians and international experts. An international high-level Peace Board will “set the framework”, “handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza”, and “create modern and efficient governance” to the “best international standards”. Trump will draw up an economic development plan. No one will be forced to leave Gaza. Israel will neither occupy nor annex Gaza. Instead, its forces will withdraw to agreed lines and on a timetable tied to Hamas’s demilitarisation. The US, Arab countries and other international partners will provide a temporary International Stabilisation Force to deploy immediately in Gaza.

The third and final element is addressed in points 1, 9, 14, 19 and 20. They envision Gaza as “a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours”; a guarantee from Arab regional partners that Hamas and its factions will comply with the provisions and New Gaza will not pose a threat to its people or to neighbours; and, possibly as the most critical trigger to a direct US involvement if the agreement is violated, the new “Board of Peace” to be set up “will be headed and chaired” by Trump himself. As Gaza redevelops and the Palestinian Authority implements the necessary reforms, a “credible pathway” to realise the aspirations of the Palestinians for self-determination and statehood will emerge. The US will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians “for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

Now, the rest of the news

There are thus a lot of moving parts and the plan will work only if everything that can go right, does go right. Usually this is an overly optimistic basis for any peace plan.

To start with, Israel gets almost all its demands and conditions met on hostage release, Hamas disarmament and its removal as a military and political power, and a security buffer zone in Gaza. Its own withdrawal will be phased on Hamas’s compliance. Hamas, not so much. Hostages have been its most powerful leverage over Israel. Mass civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering have been its most potent weapon in the campaign of global delegitimisation of Israel. The few credible opinion polls show Hamas to be the runaway choice in the West Bank and, especially, Gaza. Trump has threatened to give Israel the green light to finish the job if Hamas rejects his plan. For an ideology that welcomes martyrdom for shahids, they might choose to die on their feet rather than survive on their knees on Israeli sufferance.

Conversely, the deal might be torpedoed by the more hawkish partners in Netanyahu’s governing coalition who demand a permanent security presence in Gaza, annexation of the West Bank, no release of the worst of the Palestinian prisoners and no amnesty for the killers of 7 October. Of course, it’s possible that opposition parties that want an end to the war could step in to keep Netanyahu afloat.

Third, both Hamas and Israel might feel compelled to accept the plan in order to escape the wrath of the infamously short-tempered US president. But both have a long history of sabotaging the implementation of agreements reached, arguing endlessly over the finer details and implementation implications of the agreement’s clauses, pointing fingers at each other, and so on. The region has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Fourth, to believe that the Palestinian Authority, with a president who is into the third decade of his four-year elected term, will quickly transform into a corruption-free model of competence and effective governance is a triumph of hope over experience.

Fifth, Arab governments were brought on board with Trump’s very public rejection of Israel’s agenda to annex the West Bank. When Israel attacked targets on its soil, Qatar discovered the limits of playing all sides in hosting the Hamas leadership and a big US military base while also acting as a mediator in the Israel-Palestine conflict. This helped concentrate its mind to seal the deal. But how long will the Arab regimes be able to resist their attachment to the Palestinian cause?

Finally, Tony Blair’s presence on the Peace Board as an eminence grise is a kick in the teeth of international idealism. He is thoroughly discredited for his role in the 2003 Iraq war. Putting “Tony Blair” and “Middle East peace” alongside each other in any plan for the region has as much chance of peaceful coexistence as Hamas and a Netanyahu government in Gaza and Israel. We can only conclude that Trump lacks awareness of just how globally toxic the Blair brand is.

Ramesh Thakur, a former UN assistant secretary-general, is emeritus professor at the Australian National University and Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He is a former Senior Research Fellow at the Toda Peace Institute and editor of The nuclear ban treaty: a transformational reframing of the global nuclear order.

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

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, European Union

Politically Motivated Murders Across the United States

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 14:11

Available data and research over several decades have consistently reached the same conclusion: Far-right extremists are more open to political violence, more likely to commit it, and responsible for far more homicides than far-left extremists. Credit: Shutterstock

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Oct 6 2025 (IPS)

Following the murder of Charles Kirk, a U.S. conservative activist, in Orem, Utah on September 10, various remarks, commentaries, and accusations have been made regarding politically motivated murders occurring across the United States.

In order for elected U.S. officials, policymakers, the country’s population, and others to have an informed understanding of politically motivated domestic murders, it is essential to consider the relevant facts, statistics, and research findings surrounding these homicides.

Although politically motivated murders represent a relatively small fraction of the overall number of homicides in the United States, these murders have a disproportionately large effect on the country. In particular, their symbolic impact, high visibility, media coverage, and threats to democracy make these murders especially significant for the United States

The starting point for this understanding is to define these types of homicides. Politically motivated domestic murders involve killings of people where the perpetrator’s primary motivation is ideology, politics, partisan affiliation, beliefs about government, or bias. Examples of such motivations include white supremacy, anti-immigrant sentiment, religious extremism, and political extremism.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 22,830 homicides in the United States in 2023. Domestic politically motivated murders were relatively rare, with an estimated number of 20 extremist-related murders, representing about one-tenth of one percent of all homicides that took place across the country.

Additionally, between January 1, 2020 and September 10, 2025, 79 politically motivated murders were reported to have occurred in the United States. These murders accounted for approximately 0.07 percent of all murders during that time period, or 7 out of 10,000.

Some political figures have suggested that left-wing groups are a greater threat than right-wing groups. However, research based on empirical data does not support these claims.

In recent decades, right-wing extremism, such as white supremacist, anti-immigrant, and anti-government ideologies, has been the most frequent ideology when it comes to politically motivated domestic homicides in the United States.

In contrast, while left-wing extremism, such as environmental or anti-police violence, is present in the United States, it is much less frequently associated with homicides.

Overall, domestic politically motivated violence in the U.S. is rare compared to total violent crime, but right-wing extremist violence has been responsible for the majority of domestic terrorism fatalities over the past several decades.

For instance, a study by the U.S. National Institute of Justice found that since 1990, far-right extremists have killed more than six times as many people in ideologically motivated attacks (520 people) as far-left extremists (78 people).

In the last five years, approximately 70% of politically motivated domestic homicides in the United States were committed by individuals with right-wing ideology, compared to about 30% by those with left-wing ideology (Figure 1).

Source: Cato Institute.

Furthermore, there has been a noticeable increase in plots or attacks in the United States targeting government officials, political candidates, party officials, or staff. The number of domestic attacks and plots against government targets motivated by partisan political beliefs in the past five years is nearly triple the number of such incidents in the previous 25 years.

The available data and research over the past several decades have consistently reached the same conclusions regarding domestically politically motivated homicides. In simple terms, far-right extremists are more open to political violence, more likely to commit it, and have been responsible for far more homicides than far-left extremists.

The rising threats and politically motivated domestic murders across the United Staes warrant countering the spread of disinformation, conspiracy theories, one-sided narratives, and violent rhetoric that have motivated many of the attackers and killers.

Political violence in the United States has risen in recent months taking forms that often go unrecognized. During the 2024 election cycle, nearly half of all states reported threats against election workers, including social media death threats, intimidation and doxxing.

The recent murder of Charles Kirk is just one in a series of politically motivated domestic killings that includes the June assassinations of Minnesota representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman.

Almost 75% of the U.S. public views politically motivated violence as a major problem for the country. Additionally, a majority of the U.S. public, 62%, believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction, while a minority of 38% believe it is moving in the right direction.

Threats and violence are increasingly seen as acceptable means to achieve political goals, posing serious risks to democracy and society. In October 2025, almost a third of the U.S. public, 30%, strongly agreed or agreed that violence may be necessary in order to get the country back on track. This figure is a significant increase from the 19% who strongly agreed or agreed in April 2024 that violence may be necessary (Figure 2).

Source: PBS News/Marist Poll.

The population of the United States should reject political violence in all its forms and reaffirm that democracies depend on peaceful participation. Public discourse and government rhetoric should aim to reduce tensions, not inflame them.

Furthermore, elected officials and political leaders of the United States need to emphasize that differences should be resolved through civic debate and elections, not by violence.

If violence becomes acceptable or inevitable in politics, then political outcomes may be determined not by votes or debate but by intimidation or force. The primary message to the U.S. public should be zero tolerance for political violence, vigilance against radicalization and societal polarization, and commitment to peaceful democratic engagement.

In summary, politically motivated domestic murders across the United States remain a small fraction of overall homicides in the country and are disproportionately driven by right-wing extremist ideologies. However, their symbolic impact and threats to both human lives and U.S. democracy make them especially significant.

Countering and preventing politically motivated domestic homicides must be achieved without infringing on the constitutional rights of free speech, religion, or political expression. Elected officials, political leaders, and the courts should prioritize preventing and prosecuting criminal acts, reducing radicalization, and lessening societal polarization, rather than undermining the democratic principles, rights, and liberties of the United States.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues.

Categories: Africa, Balkans Occidentaux

World War II Era Weapons Still Threatening Lives and Development in the Solomon Islands

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 10:58

HALO coordinating with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department (RSIPF EODD) to record the location of UXO in Dunde area, Munda, Western Province. Credit: HALO TRUST.

By Catherine Wilson
SYDNEY, Australia , Oct 6 2025 (IPS)

Last century the remote Solomon Islands was the stage for some of the most intense battles fought during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. But while Allied troops departed on the heels of victory, the military forces of both sides left a massive legacy of unexploded ordnance (UXO) which is still scattered across the country and others in the region.

In September, ageing UXO was highlighted as a “multidimensional threat to sovereignty, human security, environment and economic development” by Pacific Island leaders during their annual summit held in Honiara, the Solomon Islands’ capital.

Maeverlyn Pitanoe would agree with that. Four years ago, she was with a church youth group organizing a fundraising event in Honiara.

“We wanted to raise some funds by selling boxes of locally cooked food,” Pitanoe, the 53-year-old youth mentor told IPS. Large holes were dug in the ground and fires lit to make ovens for cooking. Late in the day, Pitanoe and two youths, aged in their 30s, had been cooking for several hours.

“We were standing around the pot on the fire. I was putting the cabbage into the hot boiling water as the two boys held the pot from both ends,” Pitanoe recounted. “Then the bomb exploded on us from under the pot. The boys, I can see them rolling down the hill, struggling to pull their legs together because it blasted their legs. I was thrown backwards, then I realised I was twisting, like there was a whirlwind throwing me around.”

Maeverlyn Pitanoe. Credit: Bomb Free Solomon Islands-Honiara 2025

Both young men died within a week following the incident. One left behind a wife, who was also injured, and four children. Pitanoe, who is married with a family, lost fingers on her hand and spent nearly two months in hospital being treated for injuries to her legs, thighs and abdomen.

“What happened to me has been very, very devastating and it has changed my life and my family’s life one hundred percent. I used to have a very free life, but after the accident I don’t feel free,” she said, explaining her anxiety now of going out to social gatherings or walking along the beach.

Unexploded ordnance, or UXO, are explosive weapons and devices that did not detonate when they were used in a conflict. They are often buried in the ground or lodged in places where they can remain hidden from view and undetected for decades. Yet their capacity to explode can be triggered at any time by physical pressure or disturbance.

Not all the country’s more than 900 islands, that are today home to more than 720,000 people, were affected by the war. But, at the time, they were a British Protectorate and geopolitically crucial after World War II spread to the Pacific region in 1941. The year after attacking Pearl Harbour, Japanese forces advanced in the Pacific and troops allied with Britain and the United States converged on the islands to wage a counteroffensive.

Abandoned WWII Japanese knee mortars awaiting disposal in Munda, Western Province. Credit: HALO TRUST

Major battles were waged on the main Guadalcanal Island. But there was fighting on land, sea and in the air across central and northern areas of the country until the Japanese retreated in 1943. Solomon Islanders, with their local knowledge of the terrain, were vital partners in the conflict, working alongside Allied forces.

Today the islands harbour abandoned tanks and fighter planes and sunken battleships in tropical waters attract diving tourists. But every year islanders are killed and injured by the accidental detonation of ageing ordnance.

In 2023, the Solomon Islands government partnered with The Halo Trust to begin a nationwide survey and collect comprehensive data of where UXO are located. Emily Davis, Halo Trust’s Programme Manager in the country, told IPS that investigations are currently focused on Guadalcanal Island and Western Province to the northwest, with extensive consultations taking place with local communities aided by historical records.

“We’ve reported over 3,000 items so far, but that doesn’t take into account over ten times that amount that has already been destroyed by the Solomon Islands police,” she recounted. When ordnance is discovered, the explosives ordnance disposal team in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force is notified to conduct its safe removal. Last year alone, they removed 5,400 potentially lethal items, including a large buried cache of projectiles in the grounds of a school in Honiara.

The Trust’s work in the country, which is funded by the United States, also extends to educating local communities about the risks and what to do if any devices are found. Schools are a particular focus, as “there are young children who have been known to play around and discover these things and sometimes they accidentally handle ordnance,” Peter Teasanau, a Halo Trust Team Leader in Western Province told IPS.

HALO Surveyor taking coordinates of UXO found near Betikama Power House, Guadalcanal Province. Credit: HALO TRUST

But organizing clearance of unearthed ordnance can take longer in remote rural areas, Teasanau explained. In Honiara, resources are close to hand, but in the outer islands, the police face the logistical challenges of difficult terrain and fewer roads and infrastructure.

Yet, wherever it happens, the human toll of explosions can be crippling, whether in injuries and disability or loss of livelihoods. Before the incident, Pitanoe had a job in the distance education department of the Solomon Islands National University, but afterwards she could no longer endure the arduous travel to rural areas.

“Physically, I am not fit for that now,” she said. Instead, she decided to turn her plight into an opportunity. “I have experienced something that no one would like to experience in their life, but I came out of it and I’d like to raise awareness,” she said.

This year, Pitanoe launched a civil society organization, called Bomb Free Solomon Islands, to support UXO victims and “feed hope and fund recovery.”

Despite still seeking funding, the organization has 20 members, all of whom are facing hardships. Some are widows who struggle to find the money to continue sending their children to school. Others face disability and have less money to pay for food and living expenses.

There are broader impacts of UXO in the country, too. The Solomon Islands is a developing country that has been striving to recover and rebuild following a civil conflict, known as the ‘Tensions,’ which occurred from 1998-2003. Ageing UXO contamination is an extra burden that can restrict access to agricultural land, diminishing rural incomes and food security, and disrupt national development. And as ordnance decays, it can leak toxic substances, such as heavy metals, into the surrounding soil and waterways with detrimental consequences for human, plant and aquatic life.

However, Davis says that, while there is a lot of work ahead, it will be impossible to find and remove every piece of ordnance in the country. “The scale [of contamination] is too severe, but we are supporting the reduction of risk,” she said. And the UXO map they are completing “will guide future efforts to more systematically clear ordnance and this can help develop infrastructure or community development projects,” she continued.

It is difficult and painstaking work that requires specialized expertise and major funding, and securing access to the resources needed is an issue facing other countries in the region as well. Papua New Guinea and Palau, for instance, are also grappling with UXO contamination and regional leaders argue that, as the ordnance was imposed on their nations, the responsibility of dealing with it should be shared.

Speaking at the United Nations in New York in June, Benzily Kasutaba, the UXO Director of the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Police, called for increased international assistance to low-income affected nations, so that “together we can create safer communities, protect our environments and build a more secure future for generations to come.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa, European Union

Our Teachers, Our Heroes

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 10:19

HALO Surveyor taking coordinates of UXO found near Betikama Power House, Guadalcanal Province. Credit: HALO TRUST

By External Source
NEW YORK, Oct 6 2025 (IPS-Partners)

As we celebrate this year’s World Teachers’ Day – with the central theme of recasting teaching as a collaborative profession – Education Cannot Wait (ECW) calls on people everywhere to provide teachers and the communities they serve with the resources they need to succeed in their crucial profession.

Today’s teachers need holistic teaching and learning methods, training on technology and the use of Artificial Intelligence, and other cutting-edge practices. And teachers cannot do their work without safe working conditions, fair pay and integrated support at the local, national and international level.

On the frontlines of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises – in places like Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Sudan – teachers face unimaginable challenges, low pay – and sometimes no pay – overcrowded classrooms, limited technology, inadequate financial support and life-threatening violence.

To address these interconnected challenges, ECW and its donors are investing in teachers across the globe.

In 2023 and 2024, ECW invested in our strategic partners to train over 144,000 teachers (56% of them female) on topics including pedagogy, gender and disability inclusion, disaster-risk reduction, and mental health and psychosocial support services. 35,000 teachers (48% female) were also financially supported with salary assistance, renumeration of volunteer teachers and social provisions such as health care insurance or daycare facilities for teachers with children.

Together with national and international investments in education, ECW supports crisis-affected girls and boys with the foundational skills – such as reading, writing and mathematics – needed to become productive members of society.

Together, we must create enabling policies and provide adequate funding to ensure teachers everywhere have the safety, training and support they need to thrive in their profession. Teachers are frontline heroes tasked with educating our next generation of leaders.

Categories: Africa, European Union

From Storm to Strength: Odisha’s “Zero Casualty” Model for Community-Centered Disaster Resilience

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 10:05

A young boy was standing in front of a flooded area in Thuamul Rampur, Odisha, India. Disaster shelters are vital to ensure the normal livelihood in disaster-prone areas. Credit: Pexels/Parij Photography via ESCAP

By Rajan Sudesh Ratna, Jing Huang and Sanjit Beriwal
BANGKOK Thailand, Oct 6 2025 (IPS)

South Asia is home to nearly two billion people and ranks among the most disaster-prone subregions in Asia and the Pacific. Every year, millions face exposure to floods, cyclones and other extreme events. The Bay of Bengal alone accounts for nearly 80 per cent of global cyclone-related deaths, with storms striking Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka with growing frequency.

Although South Asia hosts one-quarter of the world’s population, it also contains nearly half of the global population living in poverty conditions that magnify vulnerability across the subregion. Building disaster resilience is therefore not only urgent but existential.

Odisha, with its long coastline, has repeatedly faced severe cyclones that have taken lives and destroyed property. The devastation of the 1999 super cyclone, which exposed the absence of coordinated warning systems, resilient shelters, and effective relief mechanisms, became the turning point for the state.

When Cyclone Phailin struck in 2013, the state evacuated more than one million people, saving thousands of lives compared to 1999. In 2019, Cyclone Fani brought extensive destruction, but fatalities remained under 100. These outcomes illustrate Odisha’s transformation from one of India’s most disaster-affected states into a pioneer of anticipatory disaster governance.

This success did not occur by chance. Odisha pursued a “zero casualty” model and created the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) in 2000, invested in cyclone shelters, early warning systems and a specialized disaster response force. Most importantly, Odisha placed communities and local governance at the center of its approach.

The state redefined preparedness by integrating local governments into disaster planning, building resilient infrastructure and mobilizing social capacity through women’s groups, village committees and trained volunteers. This people-centered model turned disaster management from a top-down directive into a community movement.

Comparative cyclone outcomes in Odisha

Sources: Government of Odisha (2013); OSDMA (2019; 2025c); UNDRR (2019); Pati (2019).

Building disaster resilience and beyond

The Odisha experience is more than a local success, it offers a global lesson. Climate change is intensifying storms, floods and heatwaves across Asia and beyond, and countries from Bangladesh to the Philippines face similar risks. Odisha demonstrates that resilience depends not only on high-tech forecasting systems but also on empowered local institutions, trust and participation.

Learning from Odisha highlights two critical aspects for disaster risk management:

(i) Local leadership and community group support:

(ii) Resilient infrastructure with rapid response and technology support: A combination of robust infrastructure, a specialized rapid response force, and technology-driven early warning systems enables faster evacuations, safer shelters, and timely relief during major cyclones.

The way forward: From local action to global responsibility

Odisha’s story shows that resilience is strongest when every actor plays a role. National governments, local authorities, communities, international organizations and the private sector each contribute in distinct ways, and together they can turn effective practices into global standards.

● Governments build the backbone of resilience.

● Local communities provide the foundation of disaster preparedness.

● International organizations connect local success to global progress.

● The private sector drives innovation and investment in resilience.

Odisha’s experience illustrates how deliberate reforms, paired with strong community participation, can save thousands of lives. As climate change intensifies hazards across Asia and the Pacific, Odisha’s model demonstrates that resilience depends not only on technology and infrastructure but also on trust, participation and local capacity.

Rajan Sudesh Ratna is Deputy Head, ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia; Jing Huang is Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia; and Sanjit Beriwal is Research Intern, ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Határon túli magyar portálok összesített hírei

Afghanistan: Ban on Girls’ Education Linked to Rise in Forced and Child Marriage

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 17:50

It is estimated that the Taliban have enforced over 5,000 forced marriages over the past four years. Thousands of girls have not only been stripped of their right to education but compelled into marriages over which they had no choice. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
KABUL, Oct 3 2025 (IPS)

After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, they banned girls’ education beyond the sixth grade. Human rights groups say the policy is a major driver of the rise in underage and forced marriages involving Afghan girls.

Zarghona, 42, a widowed mother of four, says her three underage daughters were taken from her and forcibly married to former classmates. After schools and universities for girls were closed, all three daughters, who hoped to become nurses and midwives, were deprived of education and confined to their home.

“To prevent my daughters from becoming depressed, I sent them to a madrasa (religious school) near our house, on the advice of neighbors,” Zarghona says. They received religious education for a year, but things soon began to change.

“One day, a woman came to our house under the pretext of renting a room, and after that, the frequency of her visits increased. I gradually realized that she was targeting my daughters.”

One day a Taliban recruiter, a classmate of theirs at the madrassa, followed the girls to her house and demanded the two younger daughters as wives to his brothers.

“When I rejected their proposal, they told me, either I marry off my daughters to the older men or they would harm my son, they threatened”.

Under pressure, Zarghona says she was forced to consent to the marriages without her daughters’ approval.

“For me and my daughters, the wedding was not a celebration, it was a mourning ceremony” Zarghona lamented, adding, “I had no choice but to surrender.”

The wedding was not a formal Afghan ceremony, but rather a simple religious ceremony conducted by the Mullahs. Her oldest daughter was not forcibly married.

Afterwards, Zarghona was barred from seeing her daughters. She said money had to be secretly sent to them through prepaid mobile transfers. Life became even harder for the daughters.

“Each day came with more restrictions on how they dressed and where they could go. I couldn’t defend them, and my heart was never at peace, she said, sad and embittered.

The older of the two daughters is now 19. She already has one child and is expecting another. The younger daughter has not yet become pregnant and because of that she was permitted to see a doctor, which also enabled Zarghona to meet her secretly in the doctor’s reception area. She said both had lost weight and were shadows of their former selves. Both had bruises and looked scared.

After being forced to marriage many young girls in Afghanistan are not allowed to go out. Credit: Learning Together.

Zarghona decided to go to Iran for a while to ease herself from the painful reality of her daughters’ situation. But when she heard their cries over the phone, she returned to Afghanistan. She says, “Less than three days after I came back, they beat me up and my daughters and even locked us inside our home.”

Zarghona adds that she now has no contact with her daughters and believes their situation remains critical. “All doors for seeking help are closed to me. The government is patriarchal, and no organization supports women’s rights,” she says.

Human rights organizations and the United Nations have warned that the ban on girls’ education is fueling domestic violence, poverty, suicides, forced marriages, and Afghanistan’s political isolation.

According to recent assessments by UNICEF and the World Bank, more than one million girls have been denied the right to education since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

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

Categories: Africa, European Union

Mali’s Blocked Transition: Five Years of Deepening Authoritarianism

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 11:33

Credit: Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Oct 3 2025 (IPS)

When Mali’s former Prime Minister Moussa Mara stood trial in Bamako’s cybercrime court on 29 September, charged with undermining state authority for expressing solidarity with political prisoners on social media, his prosecution represented far more than one person’s fate. It epitomised how thoroughly the military junta has dismantled Mali’s democratic foundations, five years after seizing power with promises of swift reform.

Just a week before Mara’s trial, Mali joined fellow military-run states Burkina Faso and Niger in announcing immediate withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Although the withdrawal won’t take effect for a year and the ICC retains jurisdiction over past crimes, the message was unmistakable: Mali’s military rulers intend to operate beyond international legal constraints.

This follows a pattern of escalating repression, including arrests of senior generals and civilians over alleged conspiracy in August, coming months after sweeping decrees outlawed political parties and dissolved all organised opposition. Rather than preparing for the democratic handover initially promised for 2022 and repeatedly postponed, the junta is methodically shutting down what remains of Mali’s civic space.

A transition derailed

When General Assimi Goïta first seized power in August 2020 following mass protests over corruption and insecurity, he pledged to oversee a quick return to civilian rule. But less than a year later, he staged a second coup to sideline transitional civilian leaders. In 2023, the junta organised a constitutional referendum, claiming it would pave the way to democracy. The new constitution, supposedly approved by 97 per cent of voters, provided for significantly strengthened presidential powers while conveniently granting amnesty to coup participants. Deadlines for elections kept slipping, and they’re now effectively off the table until at least 2030.

A national consultation held in April, boycotted by virtually all major political parties, recommended appointing Goïta as president for a renewable five-year term until 2030, obviously contradicting any pledges to restore multi-party democracy.

An all-out assault on political parties ensued. Presidential decrees in May suspended all parties, revoked the 2005 Charter of Political Parties that provided the legal framework for political competition and dissolved close to 300 parties, forbidding all meetings or activities under threat of prosecution. Courts predictably rejected appeals, having become beholden to the executive under the 2023 constitutional changes that gave Goïta absolute control over Supreme Court appointments. The regime announced a new law on political parties to sharply restrict their number and impose stricter formation requirements, making clear it wants a tightly managed political landscape stripped of genuine pluralism.

Crushing civic freedoms

The assault on civic space extends beyond political parties. The junta has suspended civil society groups receiving foreign funding, imposed stringent regulatory controls and introduced draft legislation aimed at taxing civil society organisations. Independent media face systematic silencing through licence suspensions and revocations, astronomic increases in licence fees and weaponised cybercrime laws targeting journalists with vague charges such as undermining state credibility and spreading false information. Religious figures, opposition leaders and civil society activists have faced arrests, enforced disappearances and show trials.

The crackdown sparked the first major public resistance to military rule since 2020, with thousands protesting in Bamako in early May against the party ban and extension of Goïta’s mandate, only to be dispersed with teargas. Planned follow-up protests were cancelled after organisers received warnings of violent retaliation. The regime has made clear it won’t tolerate peaceful dissent.

What lies ahead

Five years after seizing power, Mali keeps taking the opposite path to democracy. The initial coup enjoyed some popular support, fuelled by anger at corruption and the civilian government’s failure to address jihadist insurgencies. But no improvements have come. Jihadist groups are still killing thousands every year, while the Malian army and its new Russian mercenary allies, following the departure of French and allied forces, routinely commit atrocities against civilians. Meanwhile the freedoms that would allow people to voice grievances and demand accountability have been systematically stripped away.

Mali’s trajectory matters beyond its borders. It was the first in a series of Central and West African countries to fall under military rule in recent years and is now spearheading a regional pushback against global democracy and human rights standards. The international community has responded with condemnations from UN human rights experts and documentation from civil society groups, but these statements carry little weight. Economic Community of West African States sanctions lost their leverage when Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdrew to form the rival Alliance of Sahel States, creating a bloc of authoritarian military regimes that coordinate to suppress dissent across borders, backed by stronger ties to Russia.

What began as a supposed corrective to civilian misrule has hardened into outright authoritarianism dressed in the language of national security and public order. The junta has eliminated any domestic institution that might constrain its power and is now casting aside even international accountability mechanisms.

In this bleak context, Malian civil society activists, journalists and opposition figures continue speaking out at tremendous personal risk. Their courage demands more than statements of condemnation. It calls for tangible support in the form of emergency funding, secure communication channels, legal assistance, temporary refuge and sustained diplomatic pressure. The international community’s commitment to human rights and democratic values, in Mali and across Central and West Africa, must translate into meaningful solidarity with those risking everything to defend them.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Head of Research and Analysis, 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

Categories: Africa, European Union

More than 42,000 Gazans Suffer Life-Changing Injuries as Health System Nears Collapse

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 10:50

On 26 September 2025, children stand outside a tent being used for medical services at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah in the Gaza Strip. Credit: UNICEF/James Elder

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3 2025 (IPS)

In recent months, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has sharply deteriorated, with escalating hostilities driving mass civilian displacement and overwhelming the already fragile healthcare system, pushing it to the brink of collapse. UN officials are warning that thousands of civilians have been left with life-altering injuries without treatment.

As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues its ground offensive into Gaza City, a series of evacuation orders have forced civilians to flee from the north of the enclave to the south. As of October 1, all remaining health facilities in Gaza are operating at partially functional capacities, facing critical shortages of medical supplies, straining access to basic, emergency services. Thousands of patients are crowded into shelters with poor sanitation, left vulnerable to explosives, and face malnutrition and life-altering injuries.

“Families in southern Gaza are squeezed into these and other overcrowded shelters or makeshift tents along the coast,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. “Many others are sleeping out in the open, often amid rubble. New arrivals in the south face poor sanitation, no privacy or safety, and a high risk of children being separated from their families – all while being exposed to explosive ordnance.”

On October 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) released an update on its findings related to trauma and the scale of medical needs in Gaza. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, gave a virtual briefing to reporters at UN Headquarters noting that trauma is widespread, with some 42,000 civilians sustaining life-changing injuries—about one-quarter of them children.

“These life changing injuries account for one quarter of all reported injuries, of a total of over 167,300 people injured since October 2023,” said Peeperkorn. “Survivors struggle with trauma, loss and daily survival where psychosocial referral services remain scarce.”

According to the report, the estimated number of civilians requiring long-term rehabilitation for conflict-related injuries has nearly doubled, rising from 22,500 in July 2024 to at least 41,844 by September. WHO has recorded high numbers of blast-related trauma, including amputations, burns, spinal cord injuries, maxillofacial and ocular damage, and traumatic brain injuries. These conditions often result in severe impairment and disfigurement, with many patients unable to access lifesaving care.

The report highlights a severe lack of access to reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation services, compounded by famine, unsanitary living conditions, disease outbreaks, and a critical shortage of psychosocial care—all of which disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations. People with disabilities and chronic health conditions bear the heaviest burden, lacking critical access to sustained, long-term support.

The recent surge in cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome—an autoimmune disorder that attacks peripheral nerves outside the brain and spinal cord—has further intensified these challenges. Additionally, medical experts project that the long-term impacts of famine, disease, and displacement will be particularly challenging for Gazans to recover from in the foreseeable future.

Peeperkorn informed reporters that long-term recovery will be difficult for the vast majority of civilians due to rampant food insecurity. “If you talk to the physicians and medical specialists in hospitals, they said even the simple trauma wounds did not recover quickly because almost all of them had a level of malnutrition. The whole recovery process was very extended,” said Peeperkorn.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), humanitarian organizations delivered just over 14,400 metric tons of food to Gaza through the UN-coordinated aid system—less than 26 percent of what is needed to meet basic daily needs. More than 77 percent of this aid was lost in transit, severely limiting the amount that reached partner warehouses for distribution.

“There’s a bit more food, that’s definitely true,” said Peeperkorn. “Prices are still way too high for many of the families and the food is still not diverse enough if you have a number of specifically vulnerable groups.”

Currently, less than 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, with 8 of them being in Gaza City. Between September 11-28, WHO recorded 44 health services points that went out of service. Peeperkorn noted that approximately 200,000 to 300,000 civilians fled from the north of the enclave to the south, while roughly 800,000 to 900,000 remained in the north, where access to basic services is particularly strained.

“Health services in the north Gaza governorate are only provided through one particularly functioning medical point. We see fast declining shortages for essential items such as dressing kits, particularly gauze, but also essential post-operative wound care materials critically impact the ability for trauma cases.”

Peeperkorn noted that WHO has positioned a range of medical supplies for delivery to Gaza, widespread insecurity and access restrictions continue to impede their distribution. As a result, health facilities in Gaza remain unable to provide specialized care beyond basic emergency treatment.

WHO has emphasized the urgent need for medical evacuations, particularly for severe cases such as brain injuries, as many patients are suffering from multiple forms of trauma. It is estimated that over 15,000 people, including 3,800 children, urgently require specialized care outside of Gaza. “We need many more countries to accept patients, and the restoration of the West Bank and East Jerusalem referral pathway,” Peeperkorn said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa, Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

Justice for Palestinians Can’t Wait for a Peace Deal

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 10:33

Nearly 42,000 people in Gaza are living with life-changing injuries from the ongoing conflict – including more than 10,000 children – as the health system collapses under relentless strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned October 2025. Credit: UN News

Concrete Action by Governments Is Urgently Needed, Human Rights Watch

By Louis Charbonneau and Bénédicte Jeannerod
NEW YORK, Oct 3 2025 (IPS)

The calamitous situation in Gaza, with Palestinian civilians facing extermination and ethnic cleansing by Israeli forces, was a major focus of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week. Along with recognition of the state of Palestine by France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, among others, states made key commitments on human rights and accountability that were overwhelmingly adopted by the UNGA and now need to be fulfilled.

On September 29, US President Donald Trump released his 20-point “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” which makes no mention of either human rights or justice. But states should not wait for the adoption of a peace plan to fulfill their commitments on rights. They should take immediate action, using their leverage as required as parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to stop Israel’s escalating atrocities against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Governments should suspend arms transfers to Israel and their preferential trade deals, ban trade with illegal settlements, and impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing crimes against Palestinian civilians.

All governments should support accountability for Israeli authorities’ war crimes, crimes against humanity, including extermination, apartheid, and persecution, and acts of genocide. They should also pursue accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and unlawful imprisonment, committed by Palestinian armed groups against Israelis during the October 7, 2023, attacks and the holding of hostages.

They should rally behind the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is combating impunity for atrocity crimes globally, and condemn and act to counter US sanctions against ICC judges and officials, prominent Palestinian rights organizations, and a UN expert.

States approved the UNGA resolution ahead of a high-level conference that marked the passing of the September 2025 deadline for states to comply with a landmark July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The vote this year should not be an empty gesture as Israeli authorities expand illegal settlements and further displace and exterminate Palestinians. Respect for Palestinians’ basic rights is not dependent on reaching agreement on a peace plan. Countries should move ahead quickly with steps that advance justice and accountability.

Louis Charbonneau is UN director, Human Rights Watch and Bénédicte Jeannerod is Director, HRW, France.

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

Israel, Gaza, and the Erosion of International Order

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 10:20

A young boy walks through the rubble of his home in Al Nusirat, Gaza, September 2025. Credit: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

The effectiveness and credibility of the international rules-based order depend on whether leading states hold rule-breakers accountable, be they friends or foes.

By Daryl G. Kimball
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 3 2025 (IPS)

As a world leader and beneficiary of the international system, the United States should be at the forefront of efforts to enforce rules and laws to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, protect civilians in conflict, and block weapons transfers to states that engage in war crimes or genocide.

Since the heinous October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas, the Israeli military has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 168,000 in its two-year bombing campaign in Gaza. Many thousands more are dying from starvation and disease. The campaign is disproportionate and illegal by many measures.

There is overwhelming evidence that U.S. weapons, and weapons from other states, have been used by the Netanyahu government in its war on Gaza in violation of humanitarian law and that Israel has blocked humanitarian assistance from the U.S. government, other nations, and nongovernmental aid groups.

In the name of defeating Hamas, the Israeli government—using U.S.-supplied weaponry and ammunition—has systematically bombed population centers, including schools, hospitals, water and sanitation infrastructure, and aid workers and has forcibly displaced of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Yet President Donald Trump, his predecessor Joe Biden, and the majority of Congress have failed to uphold U.S. and international law. They have refused to use their considerable leverage to withhold military aid from Israel to protect innocent lives, facilitate a ceasefire, and secure the release of surviving Israeli hostages.

As a result, the United States is complicit in one of the most horrific chapters in human history. Its reputation as a defender of the international rules-based system is in tatters.

In July, B’Tselem—the independent Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories—released a detailed report that finds that “for nearly two years, Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” In July, UN world hunger experts declared that the besieged civilian population in Gaza was at risk of famine.

A September report from Democratic U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, based on their regional fact-finding trip, concluded that: “The Netanyahu government has used a two-pronged strategy—the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and the use of food and humanitarian assistance—as a weapon of war. The goal is, in effect, to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population.”

The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act—and basic human decency—require withholding military aid when U.S. weapons are used by any government that engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights or that restricts the delivery of U. S. humanitarian assistance.

Despite the war’s devastating toll on civilians, the Trump administration has accelerated military aid to Israel and reversed earlier Biden restrictions on the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs, which have indiscriminate effects when dropped in populated areas.

In February, the Trump administration notified Congress of seven major arms sales to Israel amounting to over $11 billion of lethal weapons. Immediately afterward, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally broke the phased ceasefire that had been negotiated between Israel and Hamas before the last two phases could be negotiated.

Since then, Israeli violence against civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank has escalated, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has only worsened.

Following another notice of arms transfers to Israel in July, some members of Congress put forward joint resolutions of disapproval that could have blocked the Trump administration’s proposed $675 million weapons transfer to Israel.

Although more than 60 percent of the American people oppose further U.S. military aid to Israel, the measure won the support of just 24 senators, all Democrats.

In the face of U.S. inaction, Netanyahu defied international calls to end the war, ordered a new military offensive against Gaza City, and rejected Palestinian statehood.

Not only is it past time for Congress to enforce U.S. laws designed to protect civilians; the desperate situation also demands that other international actors step up to enforce the most basic international rules to protect civilians.

As a distinguished group of UN experts proposed Sept. 5, the General Assembly should adopt a “Uniting for Peace” resolution, demanding and enforcing a cessation of Israel’s bombardment and displacement of civilians in Gaza, the release of remaining Israeli hostages by Hamas, an immediate arms embargo on Israel and Hamas, and the unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid by UN and independent nongovernmental aid groups.

A robust Uniting for Peace initiative would pressure U.S. and Israeli leaders to act within the international rules and help enforce any plan to end the war, including the U.S.-Israeli brokered plan they demand that Hamas accept or else Israel’s assault will continue.

Such resolutions, which carry greater legal and political weight and can authorize a UN emergency force, have been used in rare cases when Security Council members fail to maintain international peace and security. If there has been any occasion for bolder action, it is now.

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director Arms Control Association, Washington DC.

The Arms Control Association, founded in 1971, is a national nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies.

Source: Arms Control Today

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

Weaving Wisdom and Science: Pacific Voices Call for Ocean Protection

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 07:37

In the packed conference hall of the Heritage Hotel, the sound of Pacific voices filled the air—not just through speeches, but in song, rhythm, and poetry. The Dreamcast Theatre Performing Arts group opened the Second Pacific Island Ocean Conference with an evocative performance, reminding leaders and practitioners why they had gathered: to listen. To listen […]

Categories: Africa, Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

The Ranch Fighting to Save Nigeria’s Endangered Drill Monkeys

Thu, 10/02/2025 - 10:14

A drill monkey in an electric enclosure at the ranch. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

By Promise Eze
BOKI, Nigeria, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

For the past 23 years, Gabriel Oshie has started his mornings at Drill Ranch in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Boki, Cross River state, southern Nigeria.

At sunrise, he walks through an electric enclosure at the ranch, giving bananas and other fruits to the over 200 endangered drill monkeys he watches over.

Drill monkeys are among the world’s rarest primates, known for their brightly coloured faces and short tails. They live in large groups led by a dominant male and are found only in parts of Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon and Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea.

However, their numbers have fallen sharply due to deforestation, hunting and the illegal wildlife trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates fewer than 4,000 remain in the wild.

“Wildlife is the beauty of nature,” Oshie said, explaining what motivated him to work at the ranch. “When you see the drill monkeys, the forests, and other animals, you can’t help but appreciate their beauty. But it’s sad that people are destroying wildlife despite its importance.”

Gabriel Oshie has been working at the ranch for the past 23 years. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

Wildlife Crime

Wildlife crime is the fourth most profitable illegal trade globally, worth billions of dollars each year. Nigeria has become a key hub, with porous borders and weak enforcement enabling traffickers to move ivory, pangolin scales and other endangered species.

Authorities have tried to curb the trade by shutting bushmeat markets and seizing smuggled wildlife. In July, officials announced the country’s largest wildlife-trafficking bust, intercepting more than 1,600 birds bound for Kuwait at Lagos International Airport.

But experts warn these efforts could fail if weak conservation laws, poor enforcement, limited public awareness and the lack of arrests or convictions persist.

“The state of biodiversity in Nigeria is in serious crisis,” said Rita Uwaka, Interim Administrator for Environmental Rights Action. “Much of our forested landscape has been depleted due to industrial plantations expansion, leading to significant loss of plant and animal species with devastating impacts on people and climate. We are also seeing concession agreements awarded to large-scale agro-commodities companies contributing to increased biodiversity loss. They arrive with promises of development, but vast forested areas, family farms, and ancestral lands are handed over to them amidst social, environmental, and gender impacts. In the process, they cut down forests that should serve as vital hubs for ecological conservation.

“The biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in Nigeria are in the agro-commodity sector, where large tracts of forest and wildlife sanctuaries are allocated to corporations at the expense of local communities, especially women and vulnerable groups who suffer differentiated impacts when forests and biodiversity are destroyed,” she added.

Preserving the drills

Two American conservationists, Liza Gadsby and Peter Jenkins, founded Drill Ranch in 1991 through their non-profit group Pandrillus. Now home to over 600 drills, it is the world’s most successful breeding project for the species.

En route to Botswana with only a tourist visa, Gadsby and Jenkins arrived in Nigeria where they learned of a gorilla conservation project in Boki. There, they discovered not only gorillas but also drill monkeys, thought before the 1980s to be nearly extinct outside Cameroon.

“Less was known about drills at the time, and they were more endangered than gorillas across Africa. Of course, the local people knew they were there all along, but the international community had only recently rediscovered them. So, we became quite interested in them,” Gadsby explained to IPS.

For over three years, their tourist journey took a different turn as they travelled across southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, gathering information and persuading locals to surrender captive drills.

They established a sanctuary in Calabar, the capital of Cross River state, later expanding it into a natural habitat in Boki. They worked closely with 18 Boki communities, each contributing rangers who were often former hunters, to patrol the forests and deter poaching. Their efforts paid off, with locals surrendering as many as 90 drills to the project.

Today, the ranch houses both captive-bred and wild-born drills, each with a name and tattoo number. Alongside the drills, it cares for 27 chimpanzees, a soft-shell turtle and 29 African grey parrots seized from traffickers in 2021. In 2024, 25 parrots were released back into the wild.

The presence of Pandrillus in Boki, one of Nigeria’s largest green canopies, helped drive conservation gains in the area. In 2000, after a decade of lobbying, part of the forest reserve, where the ranch is located, was declared a wildlife Sanctuary by the government.

“We had been lobbying for over ten years, proposing that a portion of the forest reserve be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary status,” Gadsby said.

Bleak Future?

Rehabilitating drills into the wild is the main goal of the project, but rapid deforestation in Boki and Cross River is making this increasingly difficult, said ranch manager Zach Schwenneker.

With the thriving cocoa trade in the region, many people turn to farming for a living, often cutting down forests, including protected areas, for cultivation and exposing drills and other animals in the ranch to poachers.

Government support is also dwindling. Pandrillus once received monthly subventions to care for the animals, but the suspension of this funding has hindered conservation efforts. Today, the ranch relies largely on international aid and individual donations.

Uwaka told IPS that Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan would have effectively addressed these issues, but she argues that “The problem lies in enforcement. While the laws look impressive on paper, they are often ineffective in practice due to weak monitoring systems. Even where such systems exist, they are insufficient to ensure compliance. Policies should be put in place not to encourage poaching, and there should be strong regulatory frameworks to curb deforestation.”

For Oshie at the ranch, the project can only succeed if people value wildlife and biodiversity and no longer feel the need to hunt drills.

“But I’m here because I want to protect nature. If we are not here, logging activities could take over, destroying the trees and harming the animals,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa, Határon túli magyar portálok összesített hírei

Are Youth-led Revolutions in South Asia a Cause for Concern?

Thu, 10/02/2025 - 08:04

Kathmandu’s Singha Durbar in flames

By Jan Lundius
ROME, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

In the Global South, where people under the age of 18 comprise more than 50 percent of the population, youth activism is increasing rapidly. Youngsters are more agile and volatile than older people, less restrained by family, prestige and work. However, many suffer from marginalisation, lack of employment, and poverty. Furthermore, insecurity and limited life experience make young people an easy target for manipulating and unscrupulous politicians, criminal networks, and religious fanatics.

Students and young citizens come together by using social media to make their presence felt and mount protests in public spaces. The role of new media technologies as an organising tool has led besieged authorities to ban online platforms, though imposed restrictions have rather than contain protests accelerated them.

Rebellious youth generally belong to the Gen Z, which refers to “digital native”, the first generation fully immersed in a digital world, with constant access to internet and social media. An upbringing that has shaped their world view, making them independent, pragmatic and focused on social impact.

South Asia has recently experienced massive protest movements involving crowds of young people. In July 2022, after an economic collapse in Sri Lanka, a rebellion forced its president to flee the country. In July 2024, upheavals ended the long rule of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, and in September this year, violent protests in Nepal forced Prime Minister Khadga Oli’s government to resign.

Even though specific incidents triggered these upheavals, they were all due to long-term, shared grievances evolving from stark wealth gaps, rampant nepotism, and unlimited corruption. Above all, youngsters protested against members of powerful dynasties, favouring a wealthy and discredited political elite.

Sri Lankans were in 2022 faced with a galloping inflation, daily blackouts, as well as shortages of fuel, domestic gas, food, medicines, and essential imports. Amid massive desperation, huge crowds of mostly young people did on 25 March take to the streets under the slogan Aragalya, Struggle.

Political power had by then become embedded within the Rajapaksa dynasty. From 2005 to 2022, two brothers – Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had alternately shared the presidency and prime minister post, while another brother headed their political party; a fourth was speaker of the parliament, and other relatives occupied influential political positions.

While Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as defence minister, he was credited with ending the twenty-six-year-long civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. After churches and luxury hotels in April 2019 had been targeted by ISIS-related suicide bombers, killing 270 people, Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who at the time were in opposition, accused the current government of leniency. When Gotabaya ran for the presidency the same year, he based his campaign on his record as a militant leader, embracing a Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism inspired by his brother Mahinda’s ethno-nationalist rhetoric, favouring the Buddhist establishment. Gotabaya was elected with an overwhelming majority and six ministries were then headed by members of the Rajapaksa clan.

Most Aragalaya protesters considered their personal hardships to be a result of the mismanagement and corruption of the Rajapaksa-led government. They demanded that the president be deposed and a thorough “system change” brought about. After appointing an astute insider, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as acting president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to Singapore. Wickremesinghe’s government refused to hold elections and persistently portrayed Aragalaya as a chaotic movement, captured by militants, fascists, and terrorists.

Several Aragalaya supporters were wary of being used by partisan or militant groups, particularly those with leftist ideologies which had a long history of organizing protests and strikes. One exception could have been the leftist National People’s Power (NPP), established in 2019. The 2024 elections, which Wickremesinghe had been forced to accept, was won by a NPP coalition lead by Anura Dissanayake.

So far, Dissanayake and his NPP coalition have not introduced any radical political or economic changes. They have largely continued the Wickremesinghe government’s economic and foreign policies, raising questions about the extent to which the NPP coalition is willing, or able, to depart from established governance patterns and deliver the systemic change that has been promised. Deep set divisions and ethnic-religious tensions continue to harass the nation and NPP is apparently trying to tread lightly to avoid stirring up any violent disaccord.

The same could be said about Bangladesh, where an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus seems to be cautious not to cause any antagonistic violence. Yunus’ group of personal supporters and experts presides over a nation with a chilling rise in mob violence and political discord; women are often being targeted, as well as there are reports of attacks on religious minorities.

The formerly dictatorial, but secular and highly corrupt political party, the Awami League, has been banned and democratic elections are promised by the interim government in February 2026. Some are optimistic about democratic elections, described by Yunus as becoming the most “beautiful elections ever”. However, others are unsure if elections will actually be held within a political scenario where violence is a common-day affair.

In Bangladesh, it was a quota system for jobs that forced youngsters into the streets. It was mainly students who led the protests. Student politics had for several years been ferocious, especially since religious and political fractions used them as a mobilising force. Violent feuds within educational institutes had killed many and seriously hampered the academic atmosphere.

Student anger became unified through a common resentment of reserved positions in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), a cherished field of government service. The reserved positions were destined to “freedom fighters, i.e. veterans from the 1971 liberation war, as well as their children and grandchildren. Protests erupted in full force on 1 July after the Supreme Court in June 2024 had reinstated a 30 percent quota reserved for veteran descendants, generally interpreted as an intent by the governing party to favour its traditional supporters.

Bangladesh became a sovereign nation in December 1971, after a war against Pakistan, which was supported by India. Sheik Mujibur Rahman was until his assassination in 1975 president and prime minister. Following further turmoil with counter coups, General Ziaur Rahman eventually took over as president; he was in May 1981 assassinated in yet another coup. Ziaur Rahman’s widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, served from 1991 to 1996 as the second female prime minster in the Muslim world (after the Pakistani Benazir Bhutto) and again between 2001 and 2006, when Bangladesh, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index was listed as the most corrupt country in the world. Following the end of her government’s term, a military-backed caretaker government charged Khaleda Zia and her two sons with corruption and in 2018 she was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Sheikh Hasinah, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was prime minister between 1996 and 2001, and again from 2009 to 2024, following several controversial elections. Her tenure as prime minister was marked by economic mismanagement, rampant corruption, leading to a rising foreign debt, increased inflation, youth unemployment, banking irregularities and an enormous wealth gap. The Financial Times reported that more than an estimated USD 200 billion was allegedly plundered from Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasinah’s time as prime minister, with a lot of these money ending up in countries such as the UK.

As the case had been in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, several members of the Nepalese political elite considered themselves as privileged and not accountable, while favouring family members and supporters to syphon wealth from overprized building endeavours.

Khadga Prassad Oli, a communist who began his political career as “spokesman for the oppressed”, seemed to be unaware of the anger accumulating around him within a nation where some two thousand men and women daily left to look for livelihoods in other countries (remittances from Nepalis working abroad constitute a third of the country’s GDP). Of those who stayed behind, more than 80 percent work in the informal sector, while youth unemployment in the formal sector is more than 20 percent.

On 4 September this year, the government ordered authorities to block 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, Signal and Snapchat, for not complying with a deadline to register with the country’s ministry of communication. The measure was explained as a means to tackle fake news, hate speech, and online fraud.

By then, youngsters had with increasing anger accessed platforms where politicians’ children posted photos of their opulent existence, awash with designer clothes, luxury holidays, and lavish parties. The close down of all media platforms, except the Chinese TikTok, further inflamed the resentment of Nepalese youth.

Soon Kathmandu was burning – Singha Durbar, i.e. Nepal’s administrative headquarters; the health ministry; the parliament building; the Supreme Court; the presidential palace; the prime minister’s residence, offices of the governing communist party, and the Kathmandu Hilton, were all set ablaze.

Nepal, the oldest sovereign, and until 2008 only Hindu state in South Asia, was for 250 years, under a strict caste system, ruled by the Shah dynasty. After internal power struggles and murders within the “Royal House of Gorkha” the monarchy was abolished and it was only in 1990 that it had ceded partial power to political parties. After that, a series of failing civilian governments gave in 1996 rise to a “Maoist” insurgency, which took sixteen thousand lives.

The leader of that rebellion, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was in 2008 elected prime minister. However, he and his erstwhile revolutionaries proved incapable of improving Nepalese living standards and soon indulged themselves in corruption. After the September Gen Z-led upheaval a caretaker Prime Minister has been appointed. Sushila Karki, has a good record after being Nepal’s first female Chief Justice, between 2016 and 2017.

While new leaders seem to have emerged in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, the general public is now asking itself if these recently arrived politicians will be more prudent, corruption free and restrained in controversial actions, than their predecessors.

Much of the outcome depends on the “big brother” in the area – The Republic of India, where millions of migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka reside and work. Indian democracy has, with all its shortcomings, been characterized by a collective political discourse in which concerns of a diversity of all Indians could find a space. However, under prime minister Modi we now witness the rise of Hindu nationalism, rooted in homogeneity and exclusion, questioning who really belongs in the Hindutva community, while marginalizing those who don’t, among them migrants, Muslims, and many others. A dangerous polarization that could worsen the situation in neighbouring countries, particularly considering the huge number of their emigrants being present in a country prone to discriminate against them, as well as forcing them back to a tumultuous situation in their countries of origin.

This is part 1 of an analysis of the connection between youth movements and political change, part 2 will analyse how youth-led revolutions have changed political scenarios globally.

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Határon túli magyar portálok összesített hírei

West Bank: Record Number of Demolitions over Building Permits as Israel Furthers Annexation Agenda

Thu, 10/02/2025 - 07:33

This two-storeyed residential building was one of 12 structures demolished by Israeli authorities in Area C of Al Judeira village, in Jerusalem governorate, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Credit: community via UNOCHA

By the Norwegian Refugee Council
OSLO, Norway, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

In less than nine months, Israel has demolished more Palestinian homes and structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over building permits than in the whole of last year.

By 30 September, Israeli authorities had demolished 1,288 structures over building permits, nearly five a day, including 138 funded by international aid. More than 1,400 Palestinians were displaced and nearly 38,000 affected through the loss of livelihood, agricultural and water and sanitation infrastructure.

This marks a 39 per cent increase in demolitions over building permits compared with the same period last year, when 929 structures were torn down due to lack of permits. Israeli authorities demolished a total of 1,281 structures over building permits in 2024.

“Families are being stripped of homes, water and livelihoods in a calculated effort to drive them from their land and make way for settlements,” said Angelita Caredda, NRC’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This is not accidental destruction. It is a deliberate policy of dispossession.”

The demolitions are rooted in a planning system that denies Palestinians the right to build in Area C, which covers more than 60 per cent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control. Palestinians must apply for permits that are almost never granted.

Since October 2023, 282 applications have been submitted. Not a single one was approved.

Israel has also carried out 37 punitive demolitions this year, matching the record set in 2023. These demolitions involve destroying or sealing the homes of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis. The practice punishes entire families and constitutes collective punishment, prohibited under international law.

At the same time, Israeli military operations in Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps have left destruction not captured in official demolition figures. The UN reports at least 245 buildings destroyed and 157 severely damaged, with nearly 32,000 refugees displaced. With limited access to the camps, the real toll is likely far higher.

These developments come a year after the UN General Assembly endorsed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and said it must end as rapidly as possible.

In its 18 September 2024 resolution, the Assembly gave Israel 12 months to withdraw and called on states not to recognise annexation, not to aid violations, and to act together to end them. That period has now lapsed, yet Israel has only tightened its grip.

“Instead of ending its occupation, Israel is entrenching it and accelerating its annexation agenda,” Caredda said. “Over 150 states have recognised Palestine, yet the land that state needs to survive is disappearing. Governments must urgently act to protect Palestinians from the relentless erosion of their rights.”

OCHA

• Israeli authorities demolished 1,281 structures citing lack of permits in 2024. (OCHA).

• Since October 2023, 282 applications have been submitted. None have been approved. (Israel Planning Council)

• Between 2016 and 2021, Palestinians in Area C submitted 2,550 requests for building permits. Only 24 were approved, less than one per cent (Bimkom).

• Between 1 January and 30 September 2025, Israeli authorities carried out 37 punitive demolitions of homes belonging to Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis. This equals the record number set in 2023 (OCHA).

• Israeli authorities have denied humanitarian monitors access to Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps in the northern West Bank, where widespread destruction has occurred during military operations. A UNOSAT satellite assessment recorded at least 245 buildings destroyed, 157 severely damaged, and 750 moderately damaged.

• In 2024, Israeli authorities demolished 452 Palestinian structures during military operations (OCHA).

• Between 1 January and 30 September 2025, the UN verified the destruction of 1,384 Palestinian structures by Israeli authorities in total (OCHA).

• In 2024, Israeli authorities and forces demolished 1,768 structures across the West Bank (OCHA).

• At least 31,919 Palestine refugees have been displaced from Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps, based on self-registration by affected families. The real number is likely higher, reflecting displacement on a scale beyond what has been verified (UN).

• Area C comprises more than 60 per cent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control.

• Under the Oslo II Interim Agreement, powers in Area C were meant to be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction within 18 months of the inauguration of the Palestinian Council in 1996. Nearly three decades later, Area C remains under Israeli control.

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa, Határon túli magyar portálok összesített hírei

International Community, Civil Society Urge Minority Rights and Accountability Amid Ongoing Violence Against Rohingyas in Myanmar

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 19:14

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, addresses the high-level conference of the General Assembly on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 1 2025 (IPS)

On September 30, the United Nations (UN) convened a high-level meeting on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar shortly following the end of the 80th session of the General Assembly (UNGA80). The conference was an opportunity to draw global attention once more to the Rohingya refugee situation with dialogue from UN officials, world representatives and civil society organizations.

Since the 2017 military crackdown on the rights and citizenship of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, over one million refugees have fled to Bangladesh, most settling in Cox’s Bazar which became the world’s largest refugee camp. Despite repeated repatriation efforts by the Bangladeshi government, ongoing insecurity in Myanmar makes a safe return impossible, with refugees still at risk of persecution and discrimination.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that Rohingya Muslims and minorities face widespread insecurity and discrimination, especially in Rakhine State. “Minorities in Myanmar have endured decades of exclusion, abuse and violence,” Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray said, delivering Guterres’ statement on his behalf. “The Rohingya have been stripped of their right to citizenship, targeted by hate speech, terrorized with deadly force and destruction, confined to displacement camps in Myanmar, with severely limited freedom of movement and little access to education and health services.”

Rattray added that minorities are routinely subjected to forced displacement, conscription, aerial attacks, and extrajudicial killings. Sexual and gender-based violence remain pervasive, with women and girls facing heightened risks of trafficking, child marriage, and other forms of exploitation.

With humanitarian aid budgets shrinking and conflict escalating in Myanmar, delegates discussed mechanisms to ensure the protection of Rohingya refugees and minorities, as well as strategies to facilitate a safe and dignified return home. Many speakers urged for increased accountability measures, in hopes of addressing the root causes of insecurity in Myanmar and ending the cycle of impunity.

“To create a conducive environment for repatriation, first and foremost we must end this military dictatorship and its atrocities against civilians, and we all need to double every effort to build trust and unity among us,” said Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the UN. “Resolving the situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar will not be possible unless we address the root cause. We can yield results only by acting together to end the military dictatorship, its unlawful coup, and its culture of impunity.”

Numerous member state and civil society representatives also emphasized the need for stronger accountability measures, warning of significant risks to regional stability. Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to the UN, noted that tensions have grown considerably between refugees and host communities, with minors often joining armed groups, risking further violence in the region.

“This crisis is not only a Myanmar crisis,” said Nabhit Kapur, the Permanent Observer of the Pan-African Intergovernmental Agency for Water and Sanitation in Africa (WSA) to the UN. “Its implications stretch far beyond borders, affecting regional peace, stability, and trust in the very foundations of multilateralism…The longer uncertainty prevails, the greater the risk of radicalization, human trafficking, and destabilization across the region.”

Several speakers also underscored the urgency of increased funding, particularly for essential services such as food assistance, protection, and education, which are vital in enabling a dignified return to Myanmar. The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that if additional funding is not secured soon, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh risk falling into acute food insecurity, with monthly food rations potentially being reduced to just USD 6 per person.

Dylan Winder, a representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), informed the room about conditions in the Cox’s Bazar settlement, describing the situation as “fragile” and entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance. “Families continue to live in shelters beyond capacity and are exposed to disasters. Protection and security risks are serious and growing. And the hard truth is that shrinking funding is accelerating these risks—threatening food rations, healthcare, including maternal and child health, and water and sanitation services—driving disease, violence, and trafficking, and pushing families toward dangerous coping strategies.”

Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Yunus, stressed that Bangladesh cannot bear this burden alone as it already faces the challenge of supporting a densely populated nation and cannot “afford to allow employment of Rohingyas inside Bangladesh”. Refugees continue to face severe shortages of resources along with alongside reoccurring security challenges, such as clashes with host communities. “We are forced to bear huge financial, social and environmental costs. Criminal activities, including narco-flows into Bangladesh through Rakhine, threaten our social fabric,” Yunus said.

Speakers also emphasized the need for a comprehensive political framework that guarantees minority rights and citizenship, and fosters inclusion, particularly for women and children—the most vulnerable among the persecuted population.With Rohingya Muslims rendered stateless and largely silenced, many underscored the urgency of ensuring their meaningful representation in decisions that will shape their future.

“The 2021 military coup halted democratic aspirations of Myanmar’s people and the Rohingya’s hopes to participate in shaping Myanmar’s future,” said the Ambassador for International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) to the UN. “The Rohingya crisis is not only a humanitarian and human rights crisis; it is a crisis of democracy and inclusion…Without inclusion, there can be no reconciliation; without democracy, there can be no justice.”

While this conference was meant to center the direct perspectives of Rohingya refugees from the camps, very few of the speakers were refugees or came from the camps. The conference did not include statements from Rohingya refugees currently living in the camps. In previous years, Bangladesh and the UN had sponsored trips for Rohingya refugees to represent themselves in discussions that could shape their own futures. This year, there were none, with Bangladeshi officials citing difficulty in obtaining clearance and security concerns.

“Peace in Myanmar rests on the recognition that the Rohingya are equal members of Burmese society, equally deserving of education, citizenship, human rights and justice,” said the Representative of the Independent Diplomat to the UN. “True action has been lacking. As diplomatic experts and activists have convened in these halls, the Rohingya have remained stateless, displaced, and denied their own fundamental rights. The gap between our stated principles and our collective responsibility has allowed atrocities to continue with impunity and it deepens the suffering of far too many people.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa, Határon túli magyar portálok összesített hírei

UN Conference Recommits to Solidarity With Rohingyas, People of Myanmar

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 15:31

Maung Sawyeddollah, Founder of the Rohingya Students Network, addresses the high-level conference of the General Assembly on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 1 2025 (IPS)

The international community convened for a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters, this time to mobilize political support for the ongoing issue of the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.

On Tuesday September 30, representatives from Rohingya advocacy groups, the UN system and member states convened at the General Assembly to address the ongoing challenges facing Rohingya Muslims and the broader context of the political and humanitarian situation in Myanmar.

UN President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock remarked that the conference was an opportunity to listen to stakeholders, notably civil society representatives with experience on the ground.

“Rohingya need the support of the international community, not just in words but in action,” she said.

Baerbock added there was an “urgent need for strengthened international solidarity and increased support,” and to make efforts to reach a political solution with unequivocal participation from the Rohingyas.

“The violence, the extreme deprivation and the massive violations of human rights have fueled a crisis of grave international concern. The international community must honor its responsibilities and act. We stand in solidarity with the Rohingya and all the people of Myanmar in their hour of greatest need,” said UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk.

In the eight years since over 750,000 Rohingyas fled persecution and crossed the border into Bangladesh, the international community has had to deal with one of the most intense refugee situations in living memory. Attendees at the conference spoke on addressing the root causes that led to this protracted crisis—systematic oppression and persecution at the hands of Myanmar’s authorities and unrest in Rakhine State.

Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the interim Government of Bangladesh, addresses the high-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

The military junta’s ascension in 2021 has only led to further unrest and instability in Myanmar and has made the likelihood of safe and sustained return far more precarious. Their persecution has only intensified as the Rohingya communities still residing in Rakhine find themselves caught in the middle of conflicts between the junta and other militant groups, including the Arakan Army.

At the opening of the conference, Rohingya refugee activists remarked that the systemic oppression predates the current crisis. “This is a historic occasion for Myanmar. But it is long overdue. Our people have suffered enough. For ethnic minorities—from Kachin to Rohingya—the suffering has spanned decades,” said Wai Wai Nu, founder and executive director of the Women’s Peace Network.

“It has already been more than eight years since the Rohingya Genocide was exposed. Where is the justice for the Rohingyas?” asked Maung Sawyeddollah, founder of the Rohingya Student Network.

For the United Nations, the Rohingya refugee crisis represents the dramatic impact of funding shortfalls on their humanitarian operations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres once said during his visit to the refugee camps in Bangladesh back in April that “Cox’s Bazar is Ground Zero for the impact of budget cuts”.

Funding cuts to agencies like UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) have undermined their capacity to reach people in need. WFP has warned that their food assistance in the refugee camps will run out in two months unless they receive more funding. Yet as of now, the 2025 Rohingya Refugee Response Plan of USD 934.5 million is only funded at 38 percent.

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the high-level conference of the General Assembly on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

“The humanitarian response in Bangladesh remains chronically underfunded, including in key areas like food and cooking fuel. The prospects for funding next year are grim. Unless further resources are forthcoming, despite the needs, we will be forced to make more cuts while striving to minimize the risk of losing lives: children dying of malnutrition or people dying at sea as more refugees embark on dangerous boat journeys,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

As the host country of over 1 million refugees since 2017, Bangladesh has borne the brunt of the situation. Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus said that the country faces its own development challenges and systemic issues with crime, poverty and unemployment, and has struggled to support the refugee population even with the help of aid organizations. He made a call to pursue repatriations, the strategy to ensure the safe return of Rohingyas to Rakhine.

“As funding declines, the only peaceful option is to begin their repatriation. This will entail far fewer resources than continuing their international protection. The Rohingya have consistently pronounced their desire to go back home,” said Yunus. “The world cannot keep the Rohingya waiting any longer from returning home.”

Along with the UN, Myanmar and Bangladesh, neighboring and host countries also have a role to play. Regional blocs like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are also crucial in supporting the Rohingya population as well as leading dialogues with other stakeholders across the region.

“In my engagements with Myanmar stakeholders, I have emphasized that peace in Myanmar will remain elusive until inclusive dialogue between all Myanmar stakeholders takes place,” said Othman Hashim, the special envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar. “For actions within Myanmar, the crucial first step is stopping the hostilities and violence. Prolonged violence will only exacerbate the misery of the people of Myanmar, Rohingya and other minorities included.”

“Countries hosting refugees need sustained support. Cooperation with UNODC [UN Office of Drugs and Crime], UNHCR, and IOM [International Organization for Migration] must be deepened,” said Sugiono, Indonesia’s foreign minister.

Supporting the Rohingya beyond emergency and humanitarian needs would also require investing resources in education and employment opportunities. Involved parties were encouraged to support resettlement policies that would help communities secure livelihoods in the long-term, or to extend opportunities for longterm work, like in Thailand where they recently granted long-staying refugees the right to work legally in the country.

“Any initiative for the Rohingya without Rohingya in the camp, from decision making to nation-building is unsustainable and unjust. The UN must mobilize resources to empower Rohingya. We are not only victims; we have the potential to make a difference,” said Sawyeddollah.

As one of the few Rohingya representatives present that had previous lived in the camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Sawyeddollah described the challenges he faced in pursuing higher education when he applied to over 150 universities worldwide but did not get into any of them. He got into New York University with a scholarship, the first Rohingya refugee to attend. He reiterated that universities had the capacity to offer scholarships to Rohingya students, citing the example of the Asian University of Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where it has been offering scholarships to Rohingya girls since at least 2018.

The conference called for actionable measures that would address several key areas in the Rohingya refugee situation. This includes scaling up funding for humanitarian aid in Bangladesh and Myanmar, and notably, pursuing justice and accountability under international law. Türk and other UN officials reiterated that resolving the instability and political tensions in Myanmar is crucial to resolving the refugee crisis.

Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the UN, blamed the military junta for the country’s current state and called for member states to refuse supporting the junta politically or financially. “We can yield results only by acting together to end the military dictatorship, its unlawful coup, and its culture of impunity. At a time when human rights, justice and humanity are under critical attack, please help in our genuine endeavour to build a federal democratic union that rooted in these very principles.”
IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa, Afrique

Drought-hit Tanzania’s Villages Confront Harshest Reality of Climate Change

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 12:10

A resident of Bahi, Dodoma, in Tanzania adopts drip irrigation to grow vegetables as part of a climate change adaptation scheme. Credit: Zuberi Mussa

By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct 1 2025 (IPS)

The dust was already swirling when Asherly William Hogo lifted himself from a makeshift bed before dawn. The 62-year-old pastoralist, lean from a lifetime of walking these plains, slipped into his sandals and stepped outside. Stars glittered over Dodoma, but the air was warmer than it used to be, Hogo swears. He whistled for his cows. Years ago, this hour meant an arduous trek to distant waterholes.

“Sometimes we’d find only mud,” Hogo recalls.

Today, though, his herd drinks from a solar-powered borehole that hums quietly behind Ng’ambi village. Nearby, a rain-fed reservoir gleams faintly under the moonlight.

“Now we don’t go far like we used to,” he says.

This change is part of a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative rewriting the story of survival in Tanzania’s drought-hit Dodoma region—while offering a potent message for global negotiators heading to COP30 in Brazil: climate justice is not an abstract slogan. It is a water trough filled close to home, a tree shading a schoolyard, and a beehive buzzing with possibility.

A Land of Extremes

Dodoma’s landscape is a mosaic of brittle acacia trees and windswept soil. Droughts here are not new, but villagers say they have grown harsher and less predictable. The Tanzania Meteorological Agency reports rainfall across the central plateau has declined by 20 percent over the last two decades. When rain does arrive, it often falls in violent bursts that tear through gullies and sweep away topsoil.

In April, parched pastures turned to tinder, and cattle carcasses littered the plains. Then came the deluge: flash floods drowned fields, destroyed homes, and contaminated water sources.

“This year is the biggest wake-up call we have seen in Tanzania in terms of what climate change is doing to rural families,” says Oscar Ivanova, Liaison for Africa, Global Adaptation Network. “We need fast action on mitigation and adaptation. Otherwise, it won’t only be the climate that is breaking down but also the communities themselves.”

For Hogo’s neighbour, 48-year-old farmer and father of five Mikidadi Kilindo, the crisis is grim. “The situation is very scary. The drought kills our crops, and when the rain comes it washes everything away,” he says.

A technician inspects solar panels in Bahi, Dodoma, Tanzania. Credit: Zuberi Mussa

The UNEP-led Adaptation Programme

Launched in 2018 and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with support from Tanzania’s government, the UNEP-led Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Rural Resilience project has helped thousands of smallholder farmers build resilience to climate change.

Since its launch, the programme has drilled 15 boreholes—12 powered by solar energy—bringing clean water to over 35,000 people, built earthen dams with capacity to trap three million cubic metres of rainwater, planted 350,000 trees to restore 9,000 hectares of degraded forest and rangeland, placed 38,000 hectares under sustainable land management, and trained thousands of farmers, particularly women and youth, in drought-resilient farming and alternative livelihoods.

“When villagers no longer have to fight over a single muddy waterhole, you ease conflicts and give people hope,” says Fredrick Mulinda, a project coordinator with the National Environment Management Council (NEMC). “Most of the conflicts have been settled.”

Water as Justice

Water is an important resource in Dodoma. Women once trekked more than five kilometres with jerry cans on their heads. Children skipped school to fetch water.

“Before, we would leave at sunrise and return at noon,” says Zainabu Mkindu, who grows vegetables near a borehole in her village. “We are very thankful to those who brought this project to us.”

The boreholes are solar-powered, eliminating the need for polluting, costly diesel pumps. Engineers laid underground pipes to protect water lines from vandalism and evaporation. Villagers formed committees to collect small fees for maintenance to ensure sustainability.

Restored reservoirs now double as micro-ecosystems, replenishing groundwater, attracting birds, and even supporting small fish farms.

“We can irrigate without fuel pumps, and now my children eat fish we never had before,” says Hogo.

Healing Communities

Tanzania loses about 400,000 hectares of forest each year—one of Africa’s highest deforestation rates—as impoverished farmers cut trees for charcoal and firewood, intensifying droughts and floods.

UNEP’s project taught villagers to manage tree nurseries and plant drought-tolerant species like baobab, acacia, mango, and orange.

“We plant more trees to create shade and attract rain. The dam became completely silted because farmers cultivated too close,” says Paul Kusolwa, who supervises tree planting at Bahi village.

Globally, UNEP notes that restoring ecosystems can provide up to 30 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.

Women at the Forefront

In these traditionally patriarchal communities, women have long been confined to domestic chores. But the project deliberately placed women in leadership positions—on borehole committees, tree nursery groups, and even livestock health teams.

Mary Masanja, 34, learned to build fuel-efficient brick stoves, a craft once reserved for men. “I’m happy to be a craftswoman. Women are no longer denied certain jobs because of gender,” she says.

In Bahi, women manage beehives and earn income from honey sales. They also run block farms, rotating through plots of drought-resistant tomatoes, onions, and plantains. The farm supplies markets across Dodoma.

Despite promising projects, uncertainty looms over Dodoma as rising temperatures—forecast to climb 0.2–1.1°C by 2050—threaten crops, livestock, and food security. Warmer conditions fuel pests, disease, and crop.

For villagers like Hogo, the conversation at COP30 may feel distant—but its outcome could decide whether his grandchildren inherit a viable livelihood.

“We don’t need promises,” he says. “We need water, trees, and respect for our knowledge.”

Note: This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Excerpt:

Farmers in Tanzania’s drought-hit Dodoma region offer a potent message for negotiators heading to COP30 in Brazil: climate justice is not an abstract slogan. It is a water trough filled close to home, a tree shading a schoolyard, and a beehive buzzing with possibility.

Categories: Africa, Afrique

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