Africa

Best intentions to create a green wall to capture millions of tons of carbon while tackling desertification are up against a lack of funding and banditry in Jigawa State, northwestern Nigeria.

A damaged classroom and school equipment at Dahilig Elementary School in the Municipality of Gainza, Camarines Sur, Philippines, weeks after Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami) wreaked havoc in October 2024. Credit: UNICEF/Larry Monserate Piojo

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 30 2025 (IPS)

In 2024, the climate crisis has disrupted schooling for millions of students worldwide, weakening workforces and hindering social development on a massive scale. With extreme weather patterns preventing students from accessing a safe, and effective learning environment, the United Nations (UN) and the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) continue to urge the international community to assist the most climate-sensitive areas in building resilient education systems that empower both students and educators.

On October 28, members of the EiE Hub released a statement that calls on stakeholders and world leaders to center children’s education at the forefront of global discussions at COP30 to be held in Belém, Brazil in November. It is projected that without urgent intervention, tens of millions of children are at risk of falling behind on their education, which threatens long-term economic development and stability.

“Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heatwaves, storms, droughts and flooding,” said Catherine Russell, Executive-Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in January. “Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away. Last year, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class, threatening their health and safety, and impacting their long-term education.”

According to figures from UNICEF, approximately half of the world’s school-aged children receive access to quality education, with an estimated 1 billion children residing in countries that are described as “extremely high-risk” to climate shocks and natural disasters. Members of the EiE Hub estimate that at least 242 million students experienced disruptions to their education in 2024 due to climate-related events, with more than 118 million affected by heatwaves in May alone. Beyond hindering learning quality and teachers’ ability to effectively instruct, climate-induced disasters and shocks also increase the risk of school dropouts and expose children to heightened protection risks.

These risks are especially severe in communities across the Global South, where the impacts of climate-induced disasters are most pronounced. Frequent climate shocks devastate local economies, undermine adaptation efforts, and exacerbate pre-existing inequalities. Women, girls, displaced persons, and individuals with disabilities are disproportionately affected—facing higher risks of violence, adverse health impacts, loss of livelihood opportunities, and increased rates of child, early, and forced marriage.

In August, a report published by UNICEF and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) found that roughly 5.9 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean could be pushed into poverty by 2030 due to loss of education as a result of climate change if governments do not intervene soon. This represents the most optimistic scenario as the projected number of young people pushed into poverty could be as high as 17.9 million.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Asia-Pacific region is considered to be the most climate-sensitive environment in the world, in which communities in coastal and low-lying areas are disproportionately impacted by rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns. Additionally, these communities rely on fisheries and agriculture, which are climate-sensitive economies, putting them at further risk.

A World Bank report titled Gender Dimensions of Disaster Risk and Resilience highlights the heightened vulnerability of boys and girls during climate-related shocks and how this impacts them differently. In Fiji, numerous households that lost one or both parents to natural disasters intensified by climate change, underscoring the link between families who experienced the loss of a parent and increased rates of school dropouts and child labor.

The report also found that girls who lost both parents were 26 percent less likely than boys to join the workforce within five years of a disaster and were 62 percent more likely to be married during the same period. In Uganda, the World Bank recorded that the likelihood of engaging in child labor often increases for both boys and girls following a natural disaster.

“If children and young people don’t have the resources to meet their basic needs and develop their potential, and if adequate social protection systems are not in place, the region’s inequalities will only be perpetuated,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Despite this, education systems receive only a small percentage of available climate and government funding. From 2006 to March 2023, it is estimated that only 2.4 percent of funding from multilateral climate action budgets go toward climate-resilience programs for schools. According to EiE Hub, during the last cycle of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 2.0), less than half of the NDCs met the standards for being child-sensitive, and have therefore been largely overlooked by governments.

EiE Hub calls on governments, donors, and civil society groups to make education a key part of climate action dialogue going forward, particularly in discussions at COP30. The organization highlights the importance of increased investment in climate-resilient education systems—especially in vulnerable and conflict-affected areas—as every USD $1 a government invests in education, national GDP can increase by approximately USD 20.

Additionally, the organization also stresses the need to involve children and youth in climate policymaking and to invest in resilient school infrastructure and climate education. By integrating green skills and climate learning into curriculum, education can become a powerful tool for resilience and climate action.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Yona Sabri Ellon cannot see the ball at his feet, but he can hear it. A faint rattle guides him past a defender and he fires into the back of the net. Ellon has taken his South Sudanese blind football team a step closer to their dream of playing at the 2028 Paralympics in California.

The French Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill defining rape and sexual assault as any non-consensual act, making France the latest European country to enshrine the principle of consent in law.

In Bamako's business district, hundreds of cars and motorcycles sit stranded day and night on a boulevard, waiting for one of three side-by-side petrol stations to finally have fuel. Jihadists have rendered everyday life in Mali increasingly impossible in recent weeks via a fuel blockade that has brought the west African country to its knees.

The head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries vowed on Wednesday Sudan would be unified by peace or through war and expressed sympathy after reports of mass killings by his group in the newly captured El-Fasher.

Two men arrested on Saturday in connection with the Louvre Museum heist have partially admitted their part in the raid, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau revealed on Wednesday. The two men are suspected of being the ones who entered the Apollo Gallery to seize jewels, she told reporters.

Hadush Kebatu was given the money to avoid a "slower, more expensive process", Downing Street said.

Several people have been injured in demonstrations that saw roads blocked and vehicles set on fire.

RSF troops executed a number of unarmed people after seizing el-Fasher, videos reviewed by BBC Verify show.

RSF troops executed a number of unarmed people after seizing el-Fasher, videos reviewed by BBC Verify show.

Sudan was thrown into disarray in 2023 when its army and a paramilitary group began a power struggle.

Sudan was thrown into disarray in 2023 when its army and a paramilitary group began a power struggle.

Jamaica in the eye of Hurricane Melissa, the strongest tropical cyclone on record. Credit: X

By Cecilia Russell
NAIROBI & JOHANNESBURG, Oct 29 2025 (IPS)

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica yesterday—the strongest hurricane to impact the island on record since 1851—with expectations of tens of thousands of people being displaced and devastating damage to infrastructure. The tropical storm, slightly downgraded but nevertheless devastating, made landfall in Cuba today as UNEP’s newly released Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty shows that the finance needed for developing countries to adapt to the climate crisis is falling far behind their needs.

The report estimates the adaptation finance needs of developing countries will range from between USD 310 billion to USD 365 billion per year by 2035.

But international public adaptation finance from developed to developing countries fell from USD 28 billion in 2022 to USD 26 billion in 2023. The data for 2024 and 2025 is not yet available.

“This leaves an adaptation finance gap of USD 284-339 billion per year—12 to 14 times as much as current flows,” the report released ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, says.

However, adaptation finance plays a crucial role in countries and communities coping with the impacts of the climate crisis.

“Climate impacts are accelerating. Yet adaptation finance is not keeping pace, leaving the world’s most vulnerable exposed to rising seas, deadly storms, and searing heat,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message on the report. “Adaptation is not a cost—it is a lifeline. Closing the adaptation gap is how we protect lives, deliver climate justice, and build a safer, more sustainable world. Let us not waste another moment.”

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, at the launch of Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty. Credit: IPS

Yet investments in climate action far outweigh the costs of inaction, the report points out. For instance, every USD 1 spent on coastal protection avoids the equivalent of USD 14 in damages; urban nature-based solutions reduce ambient temperatures by over 1°C on average, a significant improvement during the summer heat; and health-related capacity-building can further reduce symptoms of heat stress.

“Every person on this planet is living with the impacts of climate change: wildfires, heatwaves, desertification, floods, rising costs and more,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “As action to cut greenhouse gas emissions continues to lag, these impacts will only get worse, harming more people and causing significant economic damage.

The report finds:

• The adaptation finance needs of developing countries by 2035 are at least 12 times as much as current international public adaptation finance flows.
• The Glasgow Climate Pact goal of doubling 2019 USD 40 billion will be missed if current trends continue.
• The new collective quantified goal for climate finance (NCQG) is insufficient to meet developing countries’ adaptation finance needs in 2035.
• There is evidence of improving adaptation planning and implementation, but it is limited.

The Brazilian COP 30 Presidency has called for a global “effort”—mutirão global—to implement ambitious climate action in response to accelerating climate impacts. This includes bridging the finance gap and requiring both public and private finance to increase their contributions.

When asked at a press conference how Jamaica will fare in terms of adaptation, Anderson said, “The reality is that in the sort of low-income bracket of developing countries, no one is prepared, unless they are on very high ground and have no tendency for fires, landslides, floods, etc.

“The reality is also that those who are the small island developing states exposed to high winds, those who are with
front towards the ocean, or those that have lots of human population in exposed areas are obviously the most at risk, and so when we are looking at countries like Jamaica or other small island developing states, clearly they stand to be very, very hard hit, as we are seeing; some are losing territory due to sea level rise, others are being hit again and again and again by these storms.”

She called for a broad discussion on adaptation at COP30.

While the report reflects on the opportunities presented by the Baku to Belém Roadmap to achieve 1.3 trillion, clear evidence of accelerating climate impacts, along with geopolitical priorities and increasing fiscal constraints, is making it more challenging to mobilize the necessary resources for climate mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.

The adaptation report also notes that the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance, agreed at COP29, which called for developed nations to provide at least USD 300 billion for climate action in developing countries per year by 2035, would be insufficient to close the finance gap.

• Projected inflation rates extended to 2035 the estimated adaptation finance needed by developing countries goes from USD 310-365 billion per year in 2023 prices to USD 440-520 billion per year.
• The USD 300 billion target is for both mitigation and adaptation, meaning that adaptation would receive a lower share.

The report also warns that while the Baku to Belém Roadmap to raise USD 1.3 trillion by 2035 could make a huge difference, care must be taken not to increase the vulnerabilities of developing nations. Grants and concessional and non-debt-creating instruments are essential to avoid increasing indebtedness, which would make it harder for vulnerable countries to invest in adaptation.

The private sector is urged to contribute more to closing the gap. Private flows estimated at USD 5 billion per year could reach USD 50 billion—but this would require “targeted policy action and blended finance solutions, with concessionary public finance used to de-risk and scale-up private investment.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Excerpt:

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty puts the adaptation finance gap at about USD 284-339 billion per year—12 to 14 times as much as current flows.

Reigning champions Nigeria qualify for next year's tournament alongside Cape Verde and Malawi who will make their Women's Africa Cup of Nations debut.

Reigning champions Nigeria qualify for next year's tournament alongside Cape Verde and Malawi who will make their Women's Africa Cup of Nations debut.

The 91-year-old Nobel laureate in literature has been a critic of Trump's immigration policy.

Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By I. R. King and Janeel Drayton
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 2025 (IPS)

In June 2025, the international community celebrated the 80th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter. On October 24, we celebrated UN Day, commemorating its ratification. This is an opportune moment to reflect on how far we have come, and the ground we have yet to traverse.

Countries of the Global South particularly find themselves at a critical juncture, as we experience firsthand the shifts of the multilateral system and bear the brunt of its effects.

The UN Charter, as the foundational document of the United Nations (UN), affirmed belief in a multilateral system and formally established an international organization aimed at curtailing future suffering in a post-World War context. The UN’s Security Council, one of the principal organs created by the Charter, which is primarily tasked with the maintenance of peace, became the cornerstone of the international peace and security framework.

Comprised of five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) with veto power, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms, the Council has locked into place a power imbalance, which perpetuates the historical injustices of a bygone era.

Today, the world is not as it was in 1945. We are witnessing escalating conflicts in real time – from Ukraine to Gaza to Sudan, unprecedented global security threats, and rapidly shifting geopolitics – all challenging the lofty ideals and aspirations that underpinned the UN’s founding.

In light of the critical mandate of the UN Security Council, and the far-reaching consequences of its decisions, (and its paralysis), it is necessary to ask: is the United Nations Security Council currently equipped to meet these evolving challenges and retain its legitimacy?

There may be varied views on the way forward, but for a majority the short answer to this question is “No.” It is not equipped in its current form.

The L.69, a diverse pro-reform coalition of developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, views reform as both urgent and essential. Our group is united by the call for comprehensive reform of the Security Council, specifically by expanding the membership in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership.

We believe that we must confront the reality that developing countries, which are home to the majority of the world’s population and are often on the frontlines of global crises, remain unrepresented and underrepresented on the Council.

The power to influence war and peace, to enforce international law, to decide where injustice is condemned or overlooked, and where humanitarian aid is delivered, should not continue to rest in the hands of a few powers, which includes those with a colonial past, who once held dominion over the very nations now seeking representation.

The exclusion of the perspective of those populations most affected by the conflicts is not only unjust, but also dangerous.

There is now a kind of ennui around the discussions on Security Council reform, which may be inevitable in a conversation that has been ongoing in various forms for decades. However, though the road to reform may be difficult we cannot afford to give up. The cost of inaction for the peoples of the world is a weighty matter that states will have to answer for.

There are pathways that have been identified for how the United Nations can go forward. The process can build on the only successful reform achieved in 1965, when the Council, in response to the growth of the UN membership, expanded from 11 to 15 members with the addition of four non-permanent seats.

The case is simple. Just as the world has changed, so too must the Security Council evolve. This is not only necessary to reflect today’s geopolitical realities, but to create a world where every voice counts. Security Council reform is about the global community fulfilling their commitment to the foundational promise of the United Nations: to uphold peace, dignity, and equality. Time is running out.

The question is not whether the Security Council will be reformed, but whether it will be reformed in time to remain relevant.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Ambassador I.R. King is Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Chair of the UN Security Council Reform Group L69

The threat against Issa Tchiroma Bakary comes a day after he was declared the runner-up in disputed presidential polls.

Sainey Mboge was labelled a "bad influence" as a child, just for playing football. But now the Gambian is having the last laugh, having built a career in the game.