Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

Ahmed Salem Lebsir, battalion chief and director of the Polisario Front Military School, stands beside an installation marking Morocco’s invasion of the territory 50 years ago. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS

By Karlos Zurutuza
ROME, Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

Ehmudi Lebsir was 17 when he trudged more than 50 kilometres across the desert to stay alive. Half a century on, the Sahrawi refugee still has not gone home to what was then Spanish province of Western Sahara.

On 6 November 1975, six days after Moroccan troops pushed into the territory, hundreds of thousands of Moroccan civilians streamed south under military escort. Branded the “Green March”, it was, in effect, an invasion and the start of a military occupation of Sahrawi land.

The UN has now set aside a principle it has long held sacrosanct: the right of peoples to self-determination. That was the framework that had guided its approach to the Sahrawis for more than three decades

Dubbed “Africa’s last colony,” Western Sahara is roughly the size of the United Kingdom and remains the continent’s only territory still awaiting decolonisation. Yet on 31 October this year, that goal slipped further from reach.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Morocco’s incursion, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that, by endorsing Rabat’s autonomy plan, lent weight to Morocco’s sovereignty claim over the territory.

The UN has now set aside a principle it has long held sacrosanct: the right of peoples to self-determination. That was the framework that had guided its approach to the Sahrawis for more than three decades.

Lebsir speaks to IPS by videoconference from the Tindouf camps in western Algeria. Nearly 2,000 kilometres southwest of Algiers, this harsh desert where summer temperatures can touch 60C has been the closest thing to home the Sahrawi people have known for 50 years.

“We faced a choice: remain in Algeria as refugees, or build the machinery of a state, with its ministries and a parliament,” recalls Lebsir, now a senior representative of the Polisario Front. Founded in 1973, it is recognised by the United Nations as the “legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people”.

 

A man walks past a mural in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, where the Polisario Front has managed life in exile while building state institutions. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS

 

On arriving in Tindouf in 1975, Lebsir was tasked with setting up schools in the camps. He later oversaw cohorts of Sahrawi students in Cuba, spent a decade in the Sahrawi Parliament and served in the SADR’s Ministries of Justice and Culture.

It was in that parliament that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed in February 1976.

“After a century of Spanish presence, we never imagined Madrid would leave and abandon us to our fate,” he says. “There’s no going back: either we have an independent state, or our people will be buried.”

After the Polisario declared independence in 1976, the UN reaffirmed the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination. But the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), created in 1991, has never delivered the vote it was set up to hold.

Tomás Bárbulo was also 17 when Moroccan forces moved in. The son of a Spanish soldier based in Laayoune —Western Sahara’s capital, 1,100 kilometres south of Rabat—, he had returned to Madrid three months before that 6 November.

“The Sahrawis have survived napalm and white phosphorus, persecution, exile, the systematic plunder of their natural resources, and attempts to erase their identity through the influx of hundreds of thousands of settlers,” the journalist and author tells IPS by phone from Madrid.

Bárbulo, whose La Historia Prohibida del Sahara Español (Destino, 2002) is a standard work on the conflict, lays the stalemate chiefly at the door of “Morocco’s unyielding position, often blessed by the Security Council’s major powers.” The UN, he says, “has capitulated to Rabat”.

Ironically, even the UN does not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The occupied territory has been on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963. In legal terms, the decolonisation of Western Sahara remains “unfinished.”

 

Mohamed Dadach in Laayoune, the capital of occupied Western Sahara. Released in 1999 after 24 years in prison, he is known as the “Sahrawi Nelson Mandela.” Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS

‘Open-air prison’

The UNHCR estimates that between 170,000 and 200,000 Sahrawis live in Algeria’s desert camps. However, life inside the Moroccan-held territory itself is harder to gauge, since Rabat does not even acknowledge the Sahrawi people exist.

Understanding living conditions there is equally difficult. Senior observers such as Noam Chomsky have labelled the territory as a “vast open-air prison”.

In a report released last July, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that Morocco has blocked visits by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since 2015.

“OHCHR continues to receive allegations of human rights violations, including intimidation, surveillance and discrimination against Sahrawi individuals, particularly those advocating for self-determination,” he wrote.

Despite restrictions, international rights groups continue to document abuses. Amnesty International’s 2024 report says Rabat curtails “dissent and the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly in Western Sahara” and “violently represses peaceful protests”.

Human Rights Watch denounced that courts hand down long sentences based “almost entirely” on activists’ confessions, without probing claims they were extracted under police torture.

At 36, Ahmed Ettanji is one of the most prominent Sahrawi activists in the occupied zone, something he has paid for with 18 arrests and repeated torture.

Speaking by phone from Laayoune, he says the visibility afforded by international NGOs is the only thing keeping him out of prison, or worse.

“We are marking fifty years of a harsh military blockade, extrajudicial killings and every kind of abuse,” he says. “There are thousands of disappeared and tens of thousands of arrests. The economic interests of world powers always trump human rights.”

After five decades, entire generations have been born in the Algerian desert, many families knowing each other only through video calls. Yet Ettanji insists not all is bleak.

“Born under occupation, people my age were expected to be the most assimilated, the most pro-Moroccan. That has not happened. The desire for self-determination is very much alive among the young.”

 

Sunset on a beach in occupied Western Sahara. In addition to a coastline rich in fishing resources, Sahrawis watch helplessly as Rabat exploits the rest of their natural wealth with the complicity of powers like the US, France, and Spain. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS

‘Autonomous Region of the Sahara’

The autonomy plan that the UN has now effectively endorsed is Rabat’s sole political offer in five decades. First floated in 2007, it was backed by the Trump administration in 2020.

How this “Autonomous Region of the Sahara” would actually work is left largely undefined, beyond talk of local administrative, judicial and economic powers.

Polisario rejects the scheme, but rejection has not brought the Sahrawis any closer to deciding their own future.

For many Sahrawis, the timing of the Security Council’s move, on the very anniversary of Morocco’s 1975 incursion, felt less like coincidence than calculated cruelty.

People like Garazi Hach Embarek, daughter of a Basque nurse who treated the first displaced families half a century ago and a founding member of the Polisario Front. The 47-year-old has spent years taking the cause into classrooms, universities, town halls and any forum that will listen.

In an interview with IPS in Urretxu, 400 kilometres north of Madrid, Hach Embarek does not hide her dismay. “Active resistance is extremely difficult, and the Moroccan lobby remains highly influential,” laments the Sahrawi activist.

“We live in turbulent times, where anything seems to go, but this is neither just nor legal. Under the guise of peace, the real aim is simply to legitimise injustice,” she adds, before stressing the need “to forge new alliances.”

“Colonialism is far from over, and we’re merely the casualties of continued misgovernance in Africa’s last colony.”

Related Articles

• Ahmed Salem Lebsir, battalion chief and director of the Polisario Front Military School, stands beside an installation marking Morocco’s invasion of the territory 50 years ago. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
• Sunset on a beach in occupied Western Sahara. In addition to a coastline rich in fishing resources, Sahrawis watch helplessly as Rabat exploits the rest of their natural wealth with the complicity of powers like the US, France, and Spain. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
• Mohamed Dadach in Laayoune, the capital of occupied Western Sahara. Released in 1999 after 24 years in prison, he is known as the “Sahrawi Nelson Mandela.” Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
• A man walks past a mural in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, where the Polisario Front has managed life in exile while building state institutions. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS

A session titled Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

By Zofeen Ebrahim
BANGKOK, Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

The message is clear: today’s youth are not “wishy-washy.” They are not just the future—they are the present, full partners in shaping it, and “power-sharing” is the new mantra. The veterans of activism are being reminded not merely to listen but to hear and to leave their egos at the door.

These were among the many resonant takeaways from the five-day International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University.

Yet beneath the optimistic rhetoric, a different mood lingered. Many young participants seemed despondent, feeling short-changed by their elders—empowered in words, but excluded in practice.

At a session titled “Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia,” young voices from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Nepal shared their frustrations and fears for the future.

Student activist Ammad Talpur at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

In Pakistan, said student activist Ammad Talpur, nepotism runs deep, inequality is horrific and brutal, and the powerful break laws with impunity. “We long for change, but fear silences us, as those in power will not brook dissent.”

A similar sense of frustration echoes beyond Pakistan.

“Though sometimes its exercise may come at a cost, youth in India are free to say anything and freedom of speech does exist,” Adrian D’ruz, another panelist, told IPS after the session. And journalists, academics, students, and comedians who questioned those in power, he said, reportedly faced legal action, online harassment, or institutional pressure.

To curb dissent, legal provisions are misapplied, resulting in people “leaning towards self-censorship rather than risking consequences,” said D’Cruz, a member of a network of NGOs in India called Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, which promotes governance accountability and inclusion of marginalized communities.

While Pakistan and India illustrate the pressures youth face under entrenched power, in Nepal the response has taken a more visible, street-level form, riding a wave of unrest that began in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

In Kathmandu, “rising unemployment, corruption, nepotism, and broken promises” fueled the unrest, said Tikashwari Rai, a young Nepali mother of two daughters, worried for their future.

Tikashwari Rai, a Nepali mother of two daughters, at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

“We don’t want to work as domestic help in the Middle East; we want opportunities here, in our own country. But because there are none, many young people are forced to leave,” she explained.

Yet, she admitted, the protests came at a heavy cost—lives lost and infrastructure destroyed. “Our youth need guidance and stronger organization to lead social movements effectively,” she added.

Beyond the immediate triggers of street protests, some activists argue that deeper systemic issues fuel youth disenchantment.

Melani Gunathilaka, a climate and political activist from Sri Lanka, at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

Melani Gunathilaka, a young climate and political activist from Sri Lanka, who was also on the panel, believed the roots of disenchantment ran deeper. “While these protests are often labeled as anti-government, at their core, they demand systemic change and true accountability from those in power.”

The immediate triggers seem to spread across corruption, authoritarian governments, repression, lack of access to basic needs and more,” she said.

A closer look at the situation in countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kenya, however, exposed economic hardship, debt burdens, and deepening inequalities. And this trend is also observed globally, she pointed out.

Despite these frustrations, the conference also explored how young and older activists can work together, not just to protest, but to reshape movements constructively.

“Across civil society, there is growing recognition that youth must be meaningfully included in development and nation-building. While progress varies from group to group, the direction of change is unmistakably forward,” said D’cruz.

Talpur further fine-tuned D’Cruz’s sentiment. “It’s not about taking over; it’s about working together through collaboration.” He also found it “unfair for the boomers to create a mess and leave it to the millennials and Gen Z to fix it.”

Interestingly, the sentiment found an echo among the older generation itself. Founder of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, Debbie Stothard, said it was unfair to leave the mess her generation had created to the young and then expect them to “fix it.”

Speaking at the closing plenary titled “Futures We’re Building: Youth, Climate and Intergenerational Justice, she noted that she had been talking about “intergenerational equity” for 40 years, yet many in her generation of activists still fail to “walk the talk” in how they live and lead. Still, she added, it is not too late: “We can still make space.”

That space, she explained, begins with a change in mindset. “It’s not our job to empower the youth; it’s recognizing that they have power,” she said—a reminder that true equity lies not in giving power away, but in acknowledging it already exists.

This shift in perspective is already reshaping how movements operate. Youth no longer need to “look up to” traditional authority figures for inspiration, said D’cruz. Many within their generation are already leading change.

Mihajlo Matkovic, a member of the Youth Action Team at CIVICUS, from Serbia, also at the closing, demonstrated how real change required innovation and persistence. “Because our generation did not have any great example of what a direct democracy looks like,” he said, adding, “We had to basically reinvent it.”

But success depends on civil society letting go of their ego and letting the youth enter the arena, he pointed out.

Matkovic’s example showed the potential of youth-led innovation—but for such change to succeed, civil society must genuinely make space and resist old hierarchies it claims to challenge, because these patterns have also fueled a climate of mistrust. “It’s hard to trust civil society,” said Rai. “They’re not sincere to the causes of ordinary people.”

Gunathilaka echoed this sentiment, noting that civil society has often been co-opted by the very systems the youth seek to change. “Ignoring the influence of private capital and international financial structures that prioritize the needs of global trade while sidelining the needs of communities has only deepened the mistrust among youth,” she added.

This climate of mistrust, while not explicitly mentioned in the final declaration of the ICSW—which urged governments to protect democracy, human rights, the rights of minorities and excluded groups, and to ensure environmental protection and climate justice—nonetheless underscored a broader challenge: civil society itself must look inward, confront its shortcomings, and reimagine how it engages meaningfully with the next generation.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Belém - View from the Convention Center where the COP30 summit is to be held. Credit: Sergio Moraes/COP30 Brazil Amazonia

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SRINAGAR, India, Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

The world is falling dangerously short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals, with global greenhouse gas emissions rising to record levels and current national pledges still far off the mark, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in its Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target.

The report, marking ten years since the Paris Agreement’s adoption, concludes that even with full implementation of all existing pledges, global temperatures are projected to rise between 2.3°C and 2.5°C this century. Should current policies persist, global warming could potentially reach 2.8°C.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his video message posted after the report launch on November 4, said that the new Emissions Gap Report, issued by the United Nations Environment Programme, is clear and uncompromising. If nationally determined contributions, the national action plans on climate, are fully implemented by 2035, global warming would reach 2.3 degrees Celsius, down from 2.6 degrees in last year’s projections. That is progress, but nowhere near enough.

He said that the current commitments still point to climate breakdown. Scientists tell us that a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees is now inevitable, starting at the latest in the early 2030s. And the path to a livable future gets steeper by the day. “But this is no reason to surrender. It is a reason to step up and speed up. 1.5 degrees by the end of the century remains our North Star. And the science is clear: the goal is still within reach. But only if we meaningfully increase our ambition. Our mission is simple, but not easy,” he said.

Only about one-third of countries have submitted new or updated climate pledges (NDCs) by the September 2025 deadline. The report warns that despite some progress in renewable energy deployment, overall global emissions reached 57.7 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent (GtCO₂e) in 2024—a 2.3 percent increase from 2023, the steepest annual rise in over a decade.

According to UNEP, deforestation and land-use change accounted for more than half of the increase in 2024’s emissions, with fossil fuels contributing 36 percent. The G20 nations remain responsible for 77 percent of total global emissions, and only the European Union recorded a decline last year. India and China saw the largest absolute increases, while Indonesia registered the fastest relative growth.

Despite the Paris Agreement’s requirement that all parties submit new or revised NDCs by early 2025, only 60 parties, covering 63 percent of global emissions, have done so. Of these, just 13 updated their 2030 targets. Most new NDCs offer little improvement in ambition, with many missing commitments to double energy efficiency or triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. “Costs are falling, investments are rising, innovation is surging, and clean power is now the cheapest source of electricity in most markets and the fastest to deploy. It strengthens energy security, cuts pollution, and creates millions of decent jobs. Leaders must seize this moment and waste no time,” Guterres  said.

He added that tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, building modern grids and large-scale storage, and ending all new coal, oil and gas expansion in a just and equitable manner. “The clean energy revolution must reach everyone, everywhere. But developing countries face crippling capital costs and a fraction of global investment,” he added.

UNEP’s analysis indicates that the new NDCs narrow the emissions gap for 2035 only marginally. The world would still emit 12 GtCO2e more than what is consistent with a 2°C pathway and 23 GtCO2e above the level required for 1.5°C. The gap widens further by 2050 unless countries drastically change course.

Overshoot of 1.5°C Now Inevitable

The report warns that global temperatures are set to exceed the 1.5°C limit within the next decade, with 2024 already marking the hottest year on record at 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. The remaining carbon budget for a 1.5°C future without overshoot is just 130 GtCO₂, which is enough for barely three more years of current emissions.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said the findings show governments have “missed the target for a third time.” She called the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement a major setback that would add roughly 0.1°C to projected warming.

“The task now is to make this overshoot as brief and shallow as possible,” Andersen said. “Every fraction of a degree matters. Each 0.1°C increase brings more droughts, floods, and losses, especially for the poorest.”

What Needs to Happen

To have a 66 percent chance of returning global warming to 1.5°C by 2100, the world must cut 2030 emissions by 26 percent and 2035 emissions by 46 percent compared with 2019 levels. This would require reducing global greenhouse gas output to about 32 GtCO₂e by 2035.

The “rapid mitigation from 2025” scenario explored in the report shows that immediate and deep reductions starting next year could still limit peak warming to around 1.7–1.9°C before gradually returning to 1.5°C by the end of the century. But UNEP warns that each year of delay makes the path “steeper, costlier, and more disruptive.”

The report emphasizes two imperatives: implementing aggressive near-term mitigation to minimize temperature overshoot and scaling up carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to reach net-zero and eventually net-negative emissions.

Unequal Progress and Missed Opportunities

Seven G20 members are on track to meet their current NDC targets, but most are far from achieving their net-zero pledges. Many developing countries still lack financing and technical support to implement their climate commitments. The report urges developed nations to provide “unparalleled increases in climate finance” and to reform international financial systems to make green investments accessible.

Despite setbacks, UNEP highlights that 70 percent of global emissions are now covered by net-zero pledges, a sharp increase from zero in 2015. Falling costs of wind and solar energy, along with advancements in battery storage, have made clean energy transition more viable than ever.

“Climate action is not charity,” Andersen said. “It is self-interest. It delivers jobs, energy security, and economic resilience.”

Science and Legal Mandates

The report also references the July 2025 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which ruled that states have legal obligations to protect the climate system under human rights law. It reaffirmed that limiting warming to 1.5°C remains the primary goal of the Paris Agreement, despite temporary exceedance.

UNEP scientists caution that even brief overshoots of 1.5°C could trigger irreversible tipping points, including the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet and thawing of permafrost releasing methane. Each 0.1°C rise beyond current levels increases risks of extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and health impacts, particularly in vulnerable regions.

Path Ahead to COP30

The findings come ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where nations are expected to present enhanced NDCs. UNEP urges governments to treat the conference as a turning point.

“The Paris Agreement has driven progress, but ambition and delivery have lagged,” the report states. “Each missed opportunity now adds to future costs, instability, and suffering.”

Guterres said that COP30 in Belém must be the turning point, where the world delivers a bold and credible response plan to close the ambition and implementation gaps, to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in climate finance for developing countries, and to advance climate justice for all. “The path to 1.5 degrees is narrow but open. Let us accelerate to keep that path alive for people, for the planet, and for our common future,” he said.

The 2025 report was prepared by 39 scientists from 21 institutions in 16 countries, coordinated by UNEP’s Copenhagen Climate Centre. It states that while 1.5°C is still technically achievable, the window is “narrow and closing fast.”

“Global warming will exceed 1.5°C, very likely within the next decade,” it says. “The challenge now is to ensure that this overshoot is brief and reversible. Every year, every policy, every ton of CO2 counts.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target concludes that even with full implementation of all existing pledges, global temperatures are projected to rise between 2.3°C and 2.5°C this century. Should current policies persist, global warming could potentially reach 2.8°C.

A portrait of President Samia Hassan hangs on a pole as thick smoke from burning tires fills the air during protests over her disputed candidacy in Dar es Salaam. Credit: Zuberi Mussa/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

At dawn in Manzese, a dusty township on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, silence hangs where the sounds of commerce once roared. The township, usually crowded with street cooks, vegetable vendors, mechanics, and motorcycle taxis snaking through the morning rush, stood eerily empty. Shutters are pulled down, wooden stalls abandoned, and the air is heavy with the smell of burnt rubber. For five days, the township’s bustling economic life has been paralyzed—leaving residents unable to buy food or access basic services.

“I still can’t believe what I saw,” says Abel Nteena, a 36-year-old tricycle rider, his voice trembling as he recalls the horror that unfolded on October 31. “Masked men in black with red armbands came out of nowhere. They started shooting at us as we queued for fuel. They spoke Swahili, but their accent was strange—and their skin was unusually dark. They shouted at everyone to run and opened fire.”

Nteena says three of his colleagues were hit by bullets and are now fighting for their lives in a local hospital. “One was shot in the chest, another in the leg. I don’t even know if they will make it,” he says.

A City Under Siege

The attack was one of several that rocked Dar es Salaam following the disputed presidential elections, which many observers described as deeply flawed. The unrest has claimed hundreds of lives nationwide, with the government imposing a 12-hour curfew to quell the violence. But in doing so, it has paralyzed the country’s economic heart.

For the millions who rely on informal trade to survive, the curfew has been a nightmare. Shops and markets close by mid-afternoon, public transport halts, and banks and mobile money agents are often shuttered long before sunset.

“I was just buying milk when I heard gunshots,” recalls Neema Nkulu, a 31-year-old mother of three from the Bunju neighborhood. “People screamed and fell to the ground. I saw a man bleeding near the shop. I dropped everything and ran.” She says. “A sniper’s bullet hit the shop’s glass right where I had been standing. I thank God I’m alive.”

With financial services disrupted, Neema and many others cannot access money stored in mobile wallets. “I have cash in my phone, but the agents are closed, and I can’t withdraw it,” she says. “My children have gone without proper food for two days.”

Daily Struggles Amid Curfew

In Dar es Salaam, where nearly six million people depend on daily earnings, the curfew has created cascading hardships. Food prices have soared as trucks bringing supplies from upcountry regions remain stranded due to insecurity and fuel shortages. The cost of maize flour, a staple food, has doubled in a week. Fuel scarcity has sent public transport fares skyrocketing—with commuters paying twice the normal price to reach work.

“I used to sell fried fish every evening,” says Rashid Pilo, 39, who runs a roadside stall in Bunju. “My customers are mostly office workers who buy food on their way home. But now, because of the curfew, everyone rushes home early. I have lost almost everything. One night’s curfew means no income and no food for my family.”

At Mwananyamala and Mabwepande hospitals, morgues are reportedly overwhelmed by bodies of those killed in the violence. Health workers, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, say they have run out of space and body bags. The government has released no official casualty figures, but human rights groups estimate that hundreds have died since election day.

“The bodies keep coming,” says one morgue attendant, visibly shaken. “Some have bullet wounds; others were beaten. Families are scared to claim them.”

Fear and Silence

Across the city, the presence of heavily armed soldiers on the streets has instilled deep fear among residents. Armored vehicles patrol major intersections, and random house searches have become routine. Most city dwellers have chosen to remain indoors, venturing out only when necessary.

“I went to three ATMs, but none were working,” says Richard Masawe, a 46-year-old computer specialist at InfoTech  company. “The internet was down, and even mobile banking was offline. I couldn’t buy anything or send money to my family. It felt like we were cut off from the world.”

The government says the internet shutdown was a “temporary security measure,” but rights groups argue it was an attempt to silence dissent and block the flow of information about the violence.

Transport in Dar es Salaam has also been crippled. Long queues of vehicles snake around petrol stations, while most buses remain grounded.

“We have fuel for only half a day,” says Walid  Masato a Yas station manager. “Deliveries have stopped coming. The roads are unsafe.”

An Economy on the Brink

According to economist Jerome Mchau, the post-election crisis has exposed Tanzania’s economic fragility. “The informal sector, which employs more than 80 percent of Tanzanians, is the hardest hit,” he explains. “When people can’t move, can’t trade, and can’t access cash, the entire economic system grinds to a halt.”

Mchau estimates that the economy could lose up to USD 150 million per week if the unrest continues. “Inflationary pressure is already visible,” he adds. “Food and fuel prices are climbing fast, and consumer confidence is collapsing.”

The curfew has also paralyzed logistics networks. Trucks carrying essential goods from the central regions of Dodoma, Morogoro, and Mbeya have been unable to reach the coast, creating artificial shortages in urban centers. “We are seeing panic buying,” Mchau notes. “People are stockpiling rice, pasta, and flour because they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

Shattered Trust, Deep Divisions

Beyond the economic toll, the violence has eroded trust between citizens and the government. Many Tanzanians feel betrayed by a system they once considered a model of stability.

“Tanzania was long regarded as a beacon of peace and democracy in Africa,” says Michael Bante, a political commentator based in Dar es Salaam. “But what we’re seeing now is unprecedented—people losing faith in state institutions, opposition voices being silenced, and communities turning against each other.”

Bante says the government faces a monumental challenge in restoring public confidence. “President Samia’s administration must act decisively to unite the nation,” he says. “This means not only investigating human rights abuses but also engaging in genuine dialogue with opposition leaders and civil society.”

The opposition has accused the ruling party of manipulating the vote and using excessive force to suppress protests. The government, in turn, blames “foreign-funded elements” for inciting violence. The truth, analysts say, likely lies somewhere in between—in the deep mistrust that has been festering for years.

A Nation in Mourning

In many parts of Dar es Salaam, grief and uncertainty define daily life. At the Manzese Market, women gather quietly in small groups, whispering about missing relatives. The charred remains of kiosks and motorcycles litter the streets. A faint smell of smoke still hangs in the air.

“Life will never be the same,” says Nkulu, the young mother who narrowly escaped sniper fire. “We used to feel safe here. Now, every sound of a motorbike makes me jump. I can’t even send my children to school.”

Schools across the city remain closed indefinitely. Hospitals report rising cases of trauma and anxiety. Religious leaders have called for calm and reconciliation.

Searching for Stability

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has publicly condemned the violence, faces her toughest political test yet. In a televised address, she called for unity and promised to investigate the attacks. Yet, critics argue that the government’s heavy-handed security response risks inflaming tensions further.

“Tanzania is at a crossroads,” says Bante. “The leadership must choose between repression and reform. The world is watching.”

International partners, including the African Union and the United Nations, have called for restraint and dialogue. However, diplomatic sources say mediation efforts have stalled as both sides harden their positions.

For ordinary Tanzanians like Rashid, the fish vendor, politics has become a matter of survival. “I don’t care who wins or loses,” he says, frying a handful of tilapia over a small charcoal stove. “I just want peace so that I can work and feed my family.”

A Fragile Hope

As dusk settles over Dar es Salaam, the city remains cloaked in tension. The once-bustling bus stands and food stalls are deserted, the only movement coming from military patrols sweeping through dimly lit streets.

Yet, amid the fear and uncertainty, some still cling to hope. “We’ve seen hard times before,” says Masawe, the computer specialist. “If we can rebuild trust, maybe we can rebuild our country too.”

For now, that hope feels distant. Tanzania’s post-election crisis has left deep scars in a nation once hailed for its calm. Whether President Samia’s government can heal those wounds remains to be seen.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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In the arid and dry region of Isiolo in Kenya, a new irrigation scheme is helping communities to learn and adopt new ways and to find an alternative to livestock keeping in order to diversify sources of income to attain self-reliance and resilience to recurring droughts. Credit: EU/ECHO/Martin Karimi
 
The 30th "Conference of the Parties" (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place from 6-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

By Martha Bekele and Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia / ABUJA, Nigeria , Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

Three decades after the first Climate COP, the multilateral climate process – which was intended to serve as an instrument of justice and a guardian of the planet’s atmosphere – has fallen far short of its goals.

Over the past 30 years, climate change has arrived and intensified, while the COP process has become a tiresome bureaucratic exercise that continually fails to hold the most responsible to account. It has also become an industry unto itself – and an exclusive one at that.

Without urgent and radical reform to its structure, financial architecture, and participatory mechanisms, the COP will continue to perpetuate the very injustices it was created to address. For the poorer and more vulnerable countries of the world – those that are least responsible for the climate crisis, yet most acutely affected – this situation is untenable.

The next 30 years will not be any different from the first 30, because the climate crisis will continue to worsen. In order to survive, we need a fundamental shift on three fronts: the financial architecture, knowledge sovereignty and accountability. And the changes need to start now.

First, we need a new structure for climate finance

Time and again, we have argued that the climate financial injustice epitomizes the need for a reformed approach to climate finance across the board. There is need for a new system that reduces the cost of capital, provides direct access to climate finance, minimizes transaction costs and bureaucratic barriers, and increases the share of grant-based support.

We must also operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund with equitable governance and resource allocation and to ensure the climate financing plans include clear sub-targets for adaptation, loss and damage, and finance for energy transition – all aligned with energy sovereignty and green industrialization. Climate finance must be seen not merely as a quantum to be delivered, but as a means of achieving justice.

Related to finance, and what is not much talked about, is the exorbitant cost attached to attending the COP itself. Everything related to this process comes at a price. For example, many negotiators, especially from Africa’s least developed nations, rely on external funding just to attend COP.

Civil-society actors are expected to pay exorbitant costs to observe a process and protest injustice. In Belém, hotel rates are reportedly touching $900 per night, the cost of a modest climate-adaptation project in a rural community. An African Participation Fund, supporting both negotiators and non-state actors, could ensure that representation and resistance are not privileges of means.

Second, we need knowledge sovereignty

The data and science shaping global climate targets are still largely produced in the North, leaving Africa to depend almost entirely on foreign research institutions for its climate models and risk assessments. Without their own data repositories and regional research capacity, African delegates are forced to negotiate with borrowed evidence. This cannot stand.

We must build Africa’s knowledge sovereignty by investing in Indigenous knowledge systems, local research institutions and South-South cooperation to generate solutions that are adapted to local needs. It is essential to build African climate-data infrastructure and regional research capacity, enabling negotiators to advocate with their own evidence.

Challenging the dominance of external technical assistance by fostering homegrown expertise and enhancing climate diplomacy capacity is vital. Capacity building for African research institutions and integrating local expertise into COP processes are necessary steps toward equitable participation.

Third, we need accountability

We must develop robust monitoring and reporting frameworks, such as the African Climate Finance Taxonomy and the Africa Climate Finance Strategy, to safeguard against greenwashing and ensure transparency. These tools should provide clear definitions of climate-aligned investments, ensuring that financial flows are directed toward projects meeting both climate and local development priorities.

The taxonomy serves as a countermeasure to the ambiguity of the multilateral process – verifying that mobilized funds are high quality, non-debt-creating, and genuinely transformative. Enforceable commitments, with clear timelines and consequences for non-compliance, are essential for restoring trust and ensuring accountability from developed countries.

As the world looks to COP30 and beyond, the call for urgent, empathetic and authoritative action must be answered with tangible change on these three fronts – climate finance, knowledge sovereignty and accountability. Incremental change will no longer suffice. We need transformation and accountability – and justice for Africa.

Martha Bekele is the co-founder and Director at DevTransform; Dr. Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe is an Associate Professor of Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and a former lead climate negotiator for Nigeria.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek
 
The 30th "Conference of the Parties" (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place from 6-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

By Joan Russow
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Canada, Nov 5 2025 (IPS)

At COP15, the developing countries were calling for the temperature to not rise above 1.5 degrees and they ignored the Copenhagen Accord which agreed to 2.0 degrees

Then at COP21, while the developing countries were still calling for the temperature to not arise above 1.5, they were ignored again. And then, the developing countries praised for their resilience for adapting to the climate change, which has been caused by developed states. In 2024, the United Nation General Assembly sought a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on Climate change

The response was the following:

“Not only what states are required to do under international law to avert further climate change through both now and in the future, but they also have to assess the legal consequences under these obligations both through what they do and fail to do have caused significant harm to climate systems in other parts of the environment and harm to future generations as well as for those countries by virtue of geographical circumstances are vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change.”

However, a legal opinion from the court is not binding. The court can, however, provide interpretations of international law via customs or treaties such as the UN Framework on Climate Change UNFCCC.

All states are parties to UNFCCC. The objective of the Convention in Article 2 is: “stabilization of greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

‘Such a level should be achieved within a time frame to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to ensure food production is not threatened and to enable economic development is done in sustainable way.’“

Under Article 4, the principles include the following:

“The parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, and minimize any adverse effects on developing countries. Lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures.”

Given that the developing countries are the most affected, but least responsible for climate change, perhaps developing countries could launch a case to seek an interpretation by the ICJ of both the article 2 and the precautionary principle

Dr Joan Russow is founder of the Global Compliance Research Project, formed in 1995 to document state non-compliance with international law.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The closing ceremony held against the backdrop of the ancient Roman ruins, the Colosseum Credit: Community of Sant'Egidio

By Katsuhiro Asagiri
ROME / TOKYO, Nov 4 2025 (IPS)

In the shadow of Rome’s Colosseum — once a monument to imperial violence — religious leaders from across the world gathered this week to deliver a message that felt both ancient and urgent: peace must once again become humanity’s sacred duty.

Colosseo Credit: Kevin Lin, INPS Japan

The occasion was “Dare Peace,” the International Meeting for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue, hosted by the Community of Sant’Egidio. For three days, priests, rabbis, imams, monks and scholars debated what it means to uphold faith in an era defined by fear, nationalism and war.

The meeting concluded Tuesday evening with Pope Leo XIV presiding over a ceremony that was equal parts prayer service and political statement.

 

“War is never holy,” the pope said. “Only peace is holy — because it is willed by God.”

 
A Call for Moral Courage

Speaking beneath the Arch of Constantine, Pope Leo urged governments and believers alike to resist what he called “the arrogance of power.”

“The world thirsts for peace,” he said. “We cannot allow people to grow accustomed to war as a normal part of human history. Enough — this is the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.”

Hirotsugu Terasaki, vice president of Soka Gakkai with Pope Leo XIV. Credit: Vatican News

The crowd, several thousand strong, included representatives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Among them was Hirotsugu Terasaki, vice president of Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist organization with a long record of peace advocacy.

They stood together in silence as candles were lit around the ancient amphitheater — small lights flickering against the stone, symbolic of a shared prayer for reconciliation.

Faith and Accountability

The pope’s speech drew a clear line between faith and political responsibility.

“Peace must be the priority of every policy,” he said. “God will hold accountable those who failed to seek peace — for every day, month and year of war.”

Those words, delivered as fighting continues in Ukraine and Gaza, carried a deliberate edge. The Vatican under Leo XIV has increasingly positioned itself as a moral counterweight to political paralysis on global crises — speaking of peace not as abstraction but as obligation.

Pope John Paul II Credit: Gregorini Demetrio, CC BY-SA 3.0

Lessons From Assisi

This year’s meeting marked nearly four decades since John Paul II convened the first interreligious gathering for peace in Assisi in 1986. Since then, the Sant’Egidio Community has maintained that dialogue among faiths can temper political divides.

“We have dared to speak of peace in a world that speaks the language of war,” said Marco Impagliazzo, the group’s president. “To close the paths of dialogue is madness. As Pope Francis said, the world suffocates without dialogue.”

Session on the Dignity of Life

Earlier Tuesday, Soka Gakkai delegation took part in Session 22 titled “Justice Does Not Kill: Abolishing the Death Penalty,” held at the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Professor Enza Pellecchia of the University of Pisa, representing Soka Gakkai, took the stage and spoke about the movement’s efforts to abolish the death penalty, referring to the words of its founder, President Daisaku Ikeda, from his dialogue with the British historian Dr. Arnold Toynbee.

“The sanctity of life cannot be judged by guilt or merit — all lives are equal. Therefore, no one has the right to take a life, even in the name of justice. Accepting the death penalty is a form of institutionalized violence that assigns different values to human life, and President Ikeda has described it as ‘a manifestation of the prevailing tendency in modern times to devalue life”.

Professor Enza Pellecchia of the University of Pisa, representing Soka Gakkai, delivering her speech during the Forum titled “Justice Does Not Kill: Abolishing the Death Penalty,” held at the Austrian Cultural Forum. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun

Professor Pellecchia said that President Ikeda’s humanistic philosophy deeply resonates with Pope Leo XIV’s recent statement that “one cannot claim to be pro-life while accepting the death penalty or any form of violence.” Both, she noted, confront the same moral error — the belief that some lives are expendable.

When Religion Refuses Silence

For decades, the Colosseum has hosted symbolic gatherings for peace. Yet this year’s ceremony, participants said, carried a sharper urgency. The wars in Europe and the Middle East, the displacement of millions, and rising authoritarianism have all given moral language new weight.

“Peace begins with the transformation of the human heart,” said Terasaki of SGI. “Interfaith cooperation is not symbolic — it’s a method for changing history.”

A Plea That Still Echoes

As night fell, the trumpeter Paolo Fresu performed a mournful solo. Children stepped forward to deliver a Peace Appeal to diplomats and officials — a reminder that the next generation will inherit the choices made now.

The pope’s final words were brief, almost whispered:

“God wants a world without war. He will free us from this evil.”

The candles continued to burn as the crowd dispersed — a fragile constellation of light against the ruins of Roman empire, and a quiet act of defiance in a world still learning to dare peace.

INPS Japan

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By External Source
Nov 4 2025 (IPS-Partners)

 
Dr. David Edwards is the General Secretary of Education International, the voice of teachers and other education employees around the world. Through its 386 member organizations, Education International represents over 32.5 million teachers and education support personnel in 178 countries.

Dr. Edwards has led the organization since 2018, after seven years as Deputy General Secretary directing education policy, advocacy, research and communications. Prior to joining Education International, Dr. Edwards was an Associate Director at the National Education Association of the United States. He has worked as an Education Specialist at the Organization of American States and began his career as a public high school teacher.

Education International leads the teachers’ constituency within Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW) governance and, accordingly, Dr. Edwards represents the constituency within the Fund’s High-Level Steering Group.

ECW: Education International is a founding member of ECW. Together with our strategic partners, ECW investments have reached more than 14 million children with the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education. Why should donors prioritize funding for education through multilateral funds such as ECW?

Dr. Edwards: Multilateral funds are essential to ensuring coordinated and sustainable support for education in emergencies. Let’s remember that they emerged in response to duelling agencies which led to duplication and wasted partners’ time. By pooling resources and aligning efforts across contexts and organizations, they reduce duplication and enable efficient use of funds. For donors facing shrinking aid budgets, this should be a top priority.

Multilateral mechanisms not only ensure that support is not fragmented, they also ensure that it meets local needs. This is thanks to the fundamentally democratic nature of multilateral mechanisms: funds like ECW provide a platform for inclusive decision-making with representation of all stakeholders, from global institutions and national governments to the teaching profession and civil society. From our perspective, it is critical that teacher organizations can meaningfully shape priorities and interventions, including in crisis settings. It ensures that funding decisions reflect the lived realities of teachers on the ground. Democratic representation of teachers also strengthens accountability: transparent and inclusive governance structures make a real difference in monitoring and tracking progress, to ensure that support actually reaches education communities that are most affected. You want to know if a school was built, a resource delivered or impact felt? Ask a teacher.

ECW: We will need 44 million additional primary and secondary teachers worldwide by 2030. On the frontlines of humanitarian crises – where teachers work in dangerous conditions with low pay – the challenges are daunting. How can the global community help we fill this gap?

Dr. Edwards: Millions of the most vulnerable children in the world are being condemned to a life of hardship because they don’t have access to a teacher. Stella Oryang Aloyo, a South Sudanese refugee teacher working in a refugee settlement in Uganda, asked the fundamental question we must keep in mind: “What is education without teachers?”

Classrooms are important but they are not enough. Books are important but they are not enough. Teachers are the heart of any education system and, in crisis contexts, they are all the more important. For children in emergency settings, access to a qualified and well-supported teacher can make the difference between hope for a better future and lifelong destitution and deprivation.

To address this shortage, the global community must invest in teachers in crisis settings as a top priority. This means ensuring that enough teachers are trained, recruited, and paid sufficiently and regularly. This last point is essential. Over the past few years, Education International has consistently warned that delayed, partial or irregular salary payment is one of the most pressing challenges facing teachers in emergencies and we have started documenting this issue. In South Sudan, at the time of publication of our study released in April 2025, teachers on government payroll had not been paid in over a year. In Yemen, Nigeria and many other contexts affected by crises, teachers experience severe delays and issues with the disbursement of their salaries.

These issues stem from fragmented funding, weak payroll systems, but also a lack of prioritization: a study published by INEE in 2022 revealed that the payment of teacher salaries is by far the most challenging area for which to secure funding in education in emergencies.

The impact on the continuity of education is huge because teachers have to look for other sources of revenue to support their families or they leave the profession altogether. As a result, education is disrupted.

This is also a matter of professional dignity: if we all agree that education cannot wait, then we have to acknowledge that teachers cannot wait either, and must take action accordingly.

Governments hold the primary responsibility to support and remunerate their workforce but, when everything falls apart, it is our responsibility as a global community to step up and support teachers. This requires flexible, multi-year funding mechanisms. It also means integrating teacher compensation into both emergency response and long-term recovery plans. If we are serious about ending the global teacher shortage and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), we must start by ensuring that every teacher, especially in crisis settings, is paid fully, fairly and on time.

ECW: Teachers are essential in achieving the goal of ensuring quality education for all by 2030 (SDG4). In the face of fast-changing technologies, budget constraints and other converging challenges, how can education be better delivered with coordination, speed and agility on the frontlines of fast-evolving humanitarian crises?

Dr. Edwards: To deliver education effectively in humanitarian crises, we must empower teachers and trust them. Coordination among all humanitarian and development actors is key, and teachers, through their organizations, must have a seat at the table. This will ensure that teachers are part of integrated response plans, not an afterthought.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole world saw how teachers that had the tools, time, training and connectivity were able to adapt quickly and innovate to meet the needs of their students – regardless of the circumstances in which they were teaching. In the rush to deliver agile and cost-effective solutions, we must resist the temptation to prioritize technology over teachers. Speed and agility in education delivery must build upon teacher leadership at all levels, from engaging teacher organizations in designing responses, to trusting and empowering teachers to innovate as they deem appropriate for their students.

Digital technologies will never replace the human connection, contextual understanding and emotional support that teachers provide. This is particularly important in crisis settings, where children often face trauma, displacement and instability. A trained, caring teacher may be the only constant adult presence in children’s lives, offering not just education, but a sense of safety, psychosocial support and, most importantly, hope. I have seen teachers protect their students by creating human tunnels ushering them to safety. I have seen resource-strapped teachers give their own lunch to hungry students. And I have spoken with teachers who have had to throw themselves on top of students to protect them from a bomb blast. I am still waiting for an AI chatbot to outperform us in the area of caring and sacrifice.

ECW: Localization is a hallmark of the UN80 Initiative and Grand Bargain Agreements. How can ECW, Education International and other leading global organizations work together to tap the vast potential of local delivery models?

Dr. Edwards: From our perspective, localization is not just about shifting delivery, it is about shifting power. It begins with trust: global organizations must shift from directing to enabling local actors to lead response efforts. This means investing in local capacity by establishing and supporting mechanisms for social and policy dialogue that bring together education authorities and teacher unions. Such mechanisms ensure that education responses are not only contextually relevant, but also that those who are in charge of implementing them feel a sense of ownership and are fully on board. While funding must reach schools and students, it is equally important to invest in the institutional capacity of local actors to lead, coordinate and monitor implementation on the ground.

At Education International, we are committed to strengthening our members’ capacities, to ensure that teachers and their representatives participate actively and meaningfully in education policy development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. We have seen multiple micro-innovations blossom into full-scale programmes and badly designed programmes collapse by failing to recognize local realities that any teacher could spot. We systematically and purposefully build spaces for local expertise to be shared and strengthened. By working together in this direction, we can contribute to building education systems that are more resilient, sustainable and accountable.

ECW: We all know that ‘readers are leaders,’ and that reading skills are key to every child’s education. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally?

Dr. Edwards: On a personal level, I think Herman Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund came at a seminal moment because of both where I read it and what I learned from it.

Being from a small, rural Midwest town in the US, the chance to study abroad in high school helped me develop an opportunities mindset. Studying in Austria meant immersion in German around the clock with peers who pressed me for my views on politics and philosophy in ways I was unaccustomed to in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Reading Narcissus and Goldmund in the original German and then discussing it with a close friend who wanted to know which character I identified more with fundamentally rewired my understanding of what was possible. The book itself, set in medieval Europe, beautifully illustrates one of humanity’s most fundamental post-Enlightenment tensions and debate about whether we are led by our passions or our intellect. It is also a touchstone for me about my friendships and relationships, the beauty of diversity and friendships that don’t fit neatly into a world that demands we fit in boxes and take sides.

Professionally, I love the writing of Andy Hargreaves and also when he writes together with Dennis Shirley. I was going to suggest their Global Fourth Way but I think I will land on Andy’s latest book – The Making of an Educator – which tells the story that all educators can relate to those first few years, and the deafening volume of the educational politics around us. What I love about Andy, who is one of the most quoted and well-known educational leadership researchers in the world, is the accessibility of his writing and the humanity it exudes. When I read his books, I imagine myself hiking a trail with him while he spins a yarn into a narrative web that’s part Bryson, part Bunyan and always illuminating.

Lastly, and this is really hard, I think reading I, Rigoberta by Rigoberta Menchu inspired me to study in Guatemala and learn its history. The book is told through the eyes of a young girl who questions the injustice of the horror she and her community are being subjected to; a realized and learned sense of justice from a place of deep sadness that moves from bystander to agency, resilience and bravery. People like Rigoberta, Mandela and Pepe Mujica who suffer unimaginable injustice and still wage peace, these are the stories we need right now, more than ever.

 

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By External Source
Nov 4 2025 (IPS-Partners)

From the 10th to the 21st of November 2025, the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) will be hosted in Belém, Brazil.

The world gathers in the Amazon’s gateway city to chart a course for climate action.

This edition of COP is more than a summit. It is set in the heart of the Amazon, the “lungs of the Earth,” symbolising the link between forest protection and climate justice.

Here, nearly 198 countries under the UNFCCC will negotiate climate policy, financing, adaptation and mitigation.

At the center, the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels remains the guiding star of the Paris Agreement and the COP process.

Yet current commitments put us far from that trajectory. The upcoming global stocktake and new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) will be scrutinized here in Belém.

One of the defining agenda items is climate finance. At COP29, parties agreed to a US$300 billion per year target by 2035 for developing countries. But civil society and many Global South delegates call this “insufficient,” as the real need runs much higher.

For example, in 2022, developed nations pledged about US$116 billion – yet only USD 28 to 35 billion was delivered; nearly two-thirds of that came as loans, often on commercial terms.

Belém offers another unique spotlight: tropical forests and Indigenous rights. The Amazon Basin remains the epicenter of global forest loss. Brazil alone accounted for roughly half of all tropical forest degradation in the basin in recent assessments.

Indigenous leaders and civil society insist that the emerging “Loss & Damage” fund and climate finance models must recognize rights, agency and self-determination—not just top-down flows.

Innovation and technology transfer are also on the table: the UNFCCC has opened submissions for climate technology innovations that will be showcased at COP30.

And the Brazilian COP30 Presidency has launched more than 30 thematic days for inclusion and implementation – a shift toward action-oriented gatherings.

What does success look like in Belém?

Strong, visible commitments on new or enhanced NDCs aligned with the 1.5 °C goal. A credible roadmap from USD 300 billion to USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for climate finance.

Operationalization of the loss and damage fund with meaningful access for the most vulnerable. Forest finance instruments that reward conservation and respect Indigenous stewardship.

Belém is more than a meeting place. It is a moment of choice—for equity, ambition and the planet’s future.

When the delegates leave Belém, the proof will not be in the words. It will be in the changed pathways: more finance flowing, forests standing, and carbon dropping. The world will be watching.

 

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Rajagopal P.V. at the International Civil Society Week (ICSW2025) in Bangkok. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

By Zofeen Ebrahim
BANGKOK, Nov 4 2025 (IPS)

“If nations can have defense ministries, why not peace ministries?” asks Rajagopal PV, the soft-spoken yet formidable founder of Ekta Parishad. “We are told to see issues through a gender lens—why not a peace lens? Why can’t we imagine a business model rooted in non-violence or an education system that teaches peace?”

Founded in 1989, Ekta Parishad—literally Forum for Unity—is a vast people’s movement of more than 250,000 landless poor, now recognized as one of India’s largest and most disciplined grassroots forces for justice.

To Rajagopal, these aren’t utopian dreams—they’re blueprints for a possible world.

Over the decades, Ekta Parishad has secured land rights for nearly half a million families, trained over 10,000 grassroots leaders, protected forests and water bodies, and helped shape key land reform laws and policies in India.

All this has been achieved not through anger, but through disciplined, nonviolent marches that stretch across hundreds of kilometers. Along the way, many leaders have walked beside him—among them, the current Prime Minister of Armenia.

In an age marked by deep disorder—where wealth concentrates in few hands, poverty spreads, and the planet itself trembles under human greed—the 77-year-old Gandhian remains unshaken in his belief that peace alone can redeem humanity.

“We must rescue peace from the clutches of poverty and all its evils,” he told IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week, standing on the football ground of Bangkok’s Thammasat University.

“And it can be done,” he insists—and his life is proof. In 1969, the centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, the Government of India launched a unique exhibition on wheels, a ten-coach train carrying Gandhi’s life and message across the nation. Rajagopal was part of the team that curated and travelled with it.

“For an entire year, we journeyed from state to state. Thousands of schoolchildren would gather at railway platforms, their faces lit with curiosity, waiting to meet Gandhi through our displays,” he recalls.

Yet somewhere along those long railway tracks, Rajagopal began to feel that displaying Gandhi’s ideals wasn’t enough. “The exhibition was beautiful,” he says, “but what was the use of preaching non-violence if we couldn’t live it, breathe it, and bring it to life?”

That realization led him to one of the most daring experiments in peacebuilding India had ever seen—negotiating with the feared bandits of the Chambal valley. “It was 1970,” he recalls. “We moved cautiously, first meeting villagers on the periphery to build trust. Once we had their confidence, we sent word to the dacoits: we wanted to talk. With the government’s consent, we ventured into what we called a ‘peace zone’—often by night, walking for hours through deep ravines—to meet men the world only knew as outlaws.”

The dialogues continued for four years. Eventually, as many as 570 bandits laid down their arms before a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi—a sight India had never seen before. The government, in turn, promised they would not face the death penalty and would receive land and livestock to rebuild their lives. Rehabilitation took another four painstaking years, but it was a victory of conscience over fear.

“They didn’t just surrender their weapons—they surrendered their anger,” Rajagopal says quietly. “There was real repentance, and that takes time—but it lasts.” His commitment came at a cost. At his ashram—a spiritual retreat he had founded—he was threatened, beaten, and ordered to abandon his peace efforts. He talked them through to accepting his presence.

“Today that same region is heaven,” he smiles, his eyes crinkling with memory. “Fifty years ago, people trembled at sunset—terrified of the bandits. Today, you can travel at 2:00 pm in the night, where fear ruled once.”

The mass surrender may have looked like a triumph for the state, but Rajagopal urges people to look deeper. “It’s the invisible violence—poverty, injustice, and oppression—that breeds the visible one: dacoities, kidnappings, and killings,” he explains.

Though Rajagopal and his companions had ended one form of violence, the deeper, quieter kind—born of poverty and neglect—still festered. Until that was confronted, he knew, peace would remain incomplete.

Years of working alongside the poor had taught him one truth: non-violence needs structure. If India’s Indigenous and landless communities were to be heard, they had to be organized.

“We began training young people from dozens of villages,” he says. “They went door to door, teaching others not only about their rights—especially the right to land—but also how to claim them peacefully.”

With that foundation, a five-year plan took shape. Each village home chose one member to take part. Every day, the family set aside one rupee and a fistful of rice—a humble but powerful act of commitment.

They even created a “playbook” of possible scenarios—how to stay calm under provocation, how to respond to setbacks, and how to practice non-violence in thought and action. “In one of our marches, a truck ran over three of our people, killing them,” he recalls softly. “There was grief, but no retaliation. Instead, they sat in silence and meditated. That was our true test.”

In 2006, 500 marchers walked 350 kilometers from Gwalior to Delhi, demanding land rights. Nothing changed. But they didn’t stop.

A year later, in 2007, 25,000 people—many barefoot—set out again on the national highway. “Imagine that sight,” Rajagopal says, eyes gleaming. “Twenty-five thousand people walking for a month, powered only by hope.”

The march displayed not just India’s poverty but also its power—the quiet power of the poor united. It was among the most disciplined mobilizations the country had ever seen. “There was one leader for every hundred people,” Rajagopal explains. “We walked by day and slept on the highway by night. Those in charge of cooking went ahead each morning so that by sundown, a single meal was ready for all.”

In a later march, Rajagopal recalls, the government sent a large police force. “I was worried,” he admits. “I called the authorities to tell them this was a non-violent protest—we didn’t need protection. The officer replied, ‘They’re not there for you; they’re here to learn how disciplined movements should be.’”

Along the route, villages greeted them like family—offering bags of rice, water, and prayers. “There was never a shortage of food,” Rajagopal smiles. “When your cause is just, the world feeds you.”

By the time the march reached Delhi, the government announced a new land reform policy and housing rights and agreed to enact the Forest Rights Act.

The government dispersed the marchers with hollow promises and the reforms never happened.

So Ekta Parishad planned an even larger march—a Jan Satyagraha of 100,000 people in 2012.

“Halfway through, the government came running.”

Rajagopal’s face lights up as he recalls the event. “They agreed to our ten-point agenda and signed it in front of the people. That moment was historic—governments almost never do that; the Indian government certainly never does it!”

The agreement included land and housing rights, a national task force on land reform, the prime minister’s oversight of policy implementation, and fast-track courts to resolve land disputes.

Today, because of these long, barefoot marches, more than three million Indigenous people in India now have legal rights to land and housing. The struggle also gave birth to India’s Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act—a landmark in people’s movements.

“The Act also safeguards fertile land,” Rajagopal explains. “Before the government can acquire any area, a social impact study must be done. And if farmland is taken, the owners receive four times its value in compensation.”

“The purpose of our marches,” Rajagopal says, “is not to fight the government, but to win it over. The government is not the enemy; injustice is. We must stand on the same side of the problem.”

For Rajagopal, peace is not a sentiment but a system—something that must be built, brick by brick, through dialogue and respect. “Non-violence,” he says, “isn’t passive. It’s active patience—listening, accepting differences, never policing thought.” The same principle, he believes, can heal families, neighborhoods, nations—and the world itself.

His next mission is to create a Youth Peace Force, ready to enter conflict zones and resolve disputes through dialogue. He has also launched the Peace Builders Forum, or Peace7, uniting seven countries—South Africa, Japan, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Canada, India, and Armenia. His dream is to expand it to Peace20, where, as he smiles, “wealth will never be a criterion for membership.”

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An official explained the role of Indian National Centre on Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) as a regional tsunami service provider for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS). Credit: ESCAP/Nattabhon Narongkachavana
 
The World Tsunami Awareness Day is commemorated annually on November 5.

By Temily Baker and Michel Katrib
BANGKOK Thailand, Nov 4 2025 (IPS)

On a quiet July morning in Severo-Kurilsk, a coastal town in the East of the Russian Federation, the sea began to retreat unnaturally fast. Within minutes, tsunami sirens blared and 2,700 residents evacuated to higher ground. Waves up to five meters inundated the port and fish factory, but no lives were lost. The town’s survival reflected years of investment in early warning systems, community drills, and resilient infrastructure. The 2025 Kamchatka tsunami demonstrated what preparedness can achieve when science, governance, and community action align.

These efforts build on a broader regional commitment. The functioning Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) and the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) have enabled real-time seismic and sea-level monitoring, coordinated drills, the expansion of tsunami service providers, and integration of tsunami preparedness into national disaster management frameworks across 46 ESCAP coastal countries.

As we mark World Tsunami Awareness Day under the theme “Be Tsunami Ready: Invest in Tsunami Preparedness”, this achievement reminds us that resilience is possible, but only with persistent and consistent investments and cooperation.

A shared oceanic challenge

Tsunamis remain one of the most devastating natural hazards, capable of wiping out entire communities in minutes. In the Indian Ocean, over 20 million people across 13 ESCAP member countries live in tsunami-exposed zones. In the Pacific, where 70 per cent of all recorded tsunamis have occurred, Small Island Developing States face existential risks even from moderate events.

However, tsunami risk is rarely isolated. It is compounded by coastal flooding, cyclones, landslides, and volcanic eruptions, risk now intensified by climate change. Rising sea levels reduce evacuation time and increase the reach of tsunami inundation. In the Pacific, a 50cm rise in sea level could expand tsunami flooding areas by up to 30 per cent, while in the Indian Ocean, urban centers such as Jakarta, Chennai and Colombo face cascading threats from cyclones, floods and tsunamis.

This interconnected hazard landscape demands integrated solutions. Tsunami preparedness must be embedded within broader multi-hazard frameworks, urban planning and climate adaptation strategies.

A regional effort and a new standard for measuring preparedness

Across both oceans, countries are conducting tsunami capacity assessments using a standardized, regionally endorsed methodology developed with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and supported by the Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness.

Far more than technical exercises, they reflect two decades of progress since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami—highlighting remaining vulnerabilities and galvanizing political commitment. The push for a unified approach stems from the need to celebrate achievements, strengthen preparedness, and enable countries to evaluate their capacities across six key pillars: risk knowledge, monitoring and forecasting, warning dissemination, preparedness and response, governance and financing.

Figure 1: Map of Indian and Pacific Ocean tsunami warning systems, and country participation in the Tsunami Preparedness capacity assessments 2024-2025 (Source: ESCAP).

Bridging the gaps: Priorities for investment

Despite progress, the assessments revealed persistent gaps that must be addressed to ensure every community is tsunami ready:

1. Sustain national operations: Expand monitoring infrastructure in underserved coastal areas and ensure 24/7 operational readiness in all National Tsunami Warning Centres, through public financing and investments in human resources.

2. Strengthen risk knowledge and community awareness: Only 18 per cent of Indian Ocean countries and 31 per cent of Pacific countries, that completed the assessment, conduct hazard assessments at the community level. Public access to hazard maps, evacuation plans and culturally relevant education materials must be improved.

3. Enhance warning dissemination and communication: Whilst significant advances have been made on internet connectivity, multi-channel communication networks and infrastructure upgrades, only 32 per cent of countries in the Indian Ocean basin have robust warning dissemination infrastructure such as satellite phones and VSAT systems communication infrastructure to reach remote communities. The Pacific Ocean faces similar problems with reaching remote island communities where local communication infrastructure is limited.

4. Empower community-led preparedness initiatives: Invest in inclusive, locally driven tsunami preparedness efforts. Support communities to develop evacuation plans, conduct drills and integrate traditional knowledge with scientific risk assessments. The UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Programme offers a valuable framework to build awareness, strengthen local leadership, and foster ownership of preparedness actions to ensure that early warnings translate into life-saving action.

5. Mobilize multi-hazard financing: Global, regional and national cooperation has proven essential to share resources, data, and knowledge for effective tsunami and multi-hazard preparedness. Yet only 32 per cent of countries have actionable plans based on tsunami risk assessments. Investment gaps should be filled to accelerate progress on community preparedness, through private sector engagement and integration of efforts with a multi-hazard approach.

The ocean connects us, but it also challenges us. Tsunamis cross borders, and so must our preparedness. The 2025 Kamchatka tsunami showed that lives are saved when communities are empowered, systems are in place, and warnings are heeded. Resilience is more than a goal, it is a choice we must make together.

Temily Baker is Programme Management Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction Section, ESCAP; Michel Katrib is Intern, Disaster Risk Reduction Section, ESCAP

SDGs: 11, 14, 17

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The 30th "Conference of the Parties" (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place from 6-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

By Gabriel Labbate
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 3 2025 (IPS)

A new global study has challenged a key assumption in climate planning: that the planet’s geological “carbon vault” is vast enough to hold all the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we might one day choose to bury underground after we remove it from the atmosphere. It isn’t.

After accounting for seismic zones, protected areas, and densely populated regions, researchers estimate that the prudent planetary limit for geological carbon storage is about 1,460 GtCO₂—still a significant amount, but a fraction of the 11,800 GtCO₂ often cited as “technical” potential.

That finding merits a rethink of any strategies that hinge on essentially limitless underground storage. It also strengthens the case for a diversified portfolio approach that utilizes every credible tool at our disposal, rather than placing too much reliance on a single bet.

We need to adopt a pragmatic approach to achieve both integrity and scale. For too long, the debate has been framed as “permanent” versus “non-permanent” climate solutions—as if the only climate value that counts is storage measured in centuries or millennia. Regardless of the geological storage available, that is a cardinal mistake. Climate risk unfolds across multiple time horizons; therefore, our response must also be multifaceted.

There is real value in decadal-scale reductions and storage. Lowering atmospheric CO₂ over the coming years reduces peak warming, a key driver most associated with triggering irreversible tipping points—from forest dieback to ice-sheet instability and shifts in ocean circulation.

Even if some carbon is later re-emitted, the avoided heat during those crucial decades buys time for technologies to scale, protects people and nature from compounding impacts, and lowers the probability of crossing dangerous thresholds.

Engineered removals and geologic storage may deliver ultra-long-lived storage, but, as this report shows, there is still much to be learned. At the same time, nature-based solutions—especially forests and other ecosystems—can deliver large, near-term emission reductions and removals while providing irreplaceable co-benefits: biodiversity, water security, community resilience, and livelihoods.

Both are essential. Pitting them against each other wastes time we do not have.

Uncertainty about the long-term stability of land carbon stocks does not mean all nature “will go up in smoke.” It means we need risk management, not exclusion. Take, for example, the permanence standard that was recently adopted for Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which equates “negligible risk” with storage effectively guaranteed over a 100-year horizon.

Framed that way, most nature-based solutions are ruled out because uncertainties accumulate over time. The right test is whether systems deliver real, additional, and durable climate benefits over relevant timeframes—and whether risks are transparently accounted for and continually reduced.

Every financial advisor teaches the same lesson: diversify to manage risk and improve returns. Climate strategy is no different. No single approach—technological or nature-based—can deliver the speed, scale, and durability we need. The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report underscores that nature-based solutions, particularly forests, can cost-effectively close a substantial share of the near-term ambition gap—on the order of 4–6 GtCO₂ per year by 2030.

That is a vast climate asset if stewarded with integrity and social safeguards. It is also a necessary condition for the success of the Paris Agreement.

A portfolio approach matches tools to time horizons, hedges systemic risk, and multiplies co-benefits. Durable geologic storage should be prioritized for the hardest-to-abate residual missions and for genuinely permanent removal needs; and high-integrity natural climate solutions should be accelerated now for the heavy near-term lifting that lowers peak warming and keeps tipping points out of reach.

If any strand underperforms, the others continue delivering climate benefit. And by investing in nature, societies gain adaptation, biodiversity, and development dividends that pure storage cannot provide.

Policy must catch up to this reality. Integrity and oversight should be strengthened across all solutions so markets function with trust—robust baselines, conservative accounting, credible buffer pools, insurance against reversal risk, high-quality MRV, and clear liability rules.

Standards should move away from effectively impossible definitions of “negligible risk” and toward recognizing decadal climate value, requiring strong safeguards, and using diversified portfolios. Governments should incentivize innovation across the full spectrum of solutions rather than picking winners; technology-neutral frameworks that reward verified climate outcomes—and that recognize different but complementary durability profiles—will channel capital where it does the most good.

The science does not give us permission to wait for perfect solutions. It calls for an “everything, everywhere, all at once” approach—applied wisely. The new storage estimates should focus minds, not fuel fatalism. Scarcity is a guide to strategy: use geologic capacity where it delivers the greatest long-term value, and scale high-integrity nature-based and demand-side actions now to bend the curve this decade and reduce the chances of dangerous tipping points.

That is what a prudent, diversified climate portfolio looks like.

We will not solve a multidimensional crisis with one lever. We will solve it by pulling all credible levers at once, with integrity, urgency, and a bias for learning.

The toolbox is full. It’s time to use it.

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Just like every financial advisor teaches the same lesson: diversify to manage risk and improve returns. Climate strategy is no different. No single approach—technological or nature-based—can deliver the speed, scale, and durability we need, argues Gabriel Labbate, head of the Climate Mitigation Unit at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Sally Ncube, Equality Now, addresses the Standing Committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF). Credit: Equality Now

By Cecilia Russell
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 3 2025 (IPS)

Closing the chapter on child marriages is still a distant ambition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and despite great strides at developing and passing legislation to eradicate it, existing and emerging drivers are still at play, making youngsters vulnerable to the practice.

These were key messages from Equality Now at the Standing Committee Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) held in Kempton Park, South Africa, from October 24 to November 1, with the theme of Enhancing the Role of Parliamentarians in Advocating for the Signing, Ratification, Accession, Domestication, and Implementation of SADC Protocols.

Equality Now, in partnership with SADC-PF, launched two policy briefs—Protection measures for children already in marriage in Eastern and Southern Africa and Addressing emerging drivers of child marriages in Eastern and Southern Africa—for Parliamentarians’ consideration during a session aimed at sensitizing and increasing their knowledge on child marriage legislation and trends.

SADC countries adopted the Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children in Marriage in 2016; however, its domestication is uneven, children already in marriages need protection, and emergent drivers of child marriage need to be factored into the legal frameworks and policies.

Equality Now’s Divya Srinivasan addresses the Standing Committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF). Credit: Equality Now

Equality Now’s Divya Srinivasan elaborated on the context of the domestication of the SADC model law on child marriage, noting that seven out of 16 countries (or about 45 percent) set the minimum age of 18 without exceptions. Five out of the 16 SADC countries set the age of 18 with some exceptions, with, for example, Botswana specifically excluding customary and religious marriages from the protection.

“Four countries, or around 25 percent, including Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa, and Tanzania, provide for the minimum age of between 15 and 18. In these countries, the minimum age of marriage is different for boys and girls, with boys invariably having a higher age limit. In addition to these differences, all four countries allow for traditional and parental consent to lower the age of marriage,” Srinivasan noted.

Bevis Kapaso from Plan International said that since 2016, child marriage has dropped by 5 percentage points, going from 40 percent of all marriages to 35 percent in 2025, making it unlikely that the region will achieve SDG target 5.3, which aims to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as child marriage, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation” by 2030.

Most concerning was that the decrease was mainly urban, with the practice remaining fairly entrenched in rural areas.

This meant that children in marriages should be protected, and parliamentarians sensitized the drivers that were halting progress toward ending the practice.

Lawmakers should strive to ensure that married children have the right to void their marriages, retain their rights, access the property acquired during marriage, and not have their citizenship revoked, said Nkatha Murungi, an Equality Now Consultant.

“Children (in these circumstances) often end up stateless,” she said. While child marriage was a “symptom and a driver of entrenched inequality, poverty, and rights violations,” parliamentarians had a role to play in ensuring immediate, targeted measures to protect and empower children already in marriage, including the right to custody of their offspring and access to sexual and reproductive services.

Nkatha Murungi, an Equality Now Consultant, addresses the Standing Committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF). Credit: Equality Now

Murungi suggested that lawmakers should also become aware of emerging issues, such as climate change. She said that after the 2019 floods in Malawi, which affected more than 868,900 people and displaced 86,980 individuals, child marriage spiked. Parliamentarians, according to Equality Now, should integrate child marriage prevention into national climate change adaptation and disaster risk management strategies.

It also suggested a gender-sensitive approach to economic empowerment by “supporting climate-resilient economic opportunities and programs for women and girls in affected communities.”

Other concerning emergent and persistent drivers include conflict and insecurity and increased migration and displacement, which often remove children from protective oversight while persistent poverty and inequality drive children into marriage.

The policy brief also warned about the rapid growth of technology, which, “while enabling advocacy and awareness, also facilitates misinformation that normalizes harmful practices, including child marriage.”

Sylvia Elizabeth Lucas, a South African parliamentarian and Vice President of the SADC parliamentary forum, on the sidelines of the meeting, stated that protecting children is non-negotiable; she emphasized that practical legislation and implementation, guided by the “spirit of ubuntu” (compassion and humanity), can effectively protect girl children.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Murungi elaborated that it was important to look at why the traditional approaches were not resulting in the ending of child marriages. Poverty has always been considered a driver, but traditional efforts to end child marriage have not benefited those living in poverty. Education was key to empowerment, not only for keeping children in school and out of marriage but also for giving them options for their futures.

The forum was reminded that it was imperative that the SADC Model Law be updated in their countries to reflect some of these emerging drivers.

“It is also necessary for Parliament and the Executive at the national level to work together to promote anti-child marriage policies and laws and ensure that targeted policy responses fill all prevailing gaps,” the policy brief on emergent drivers concluded.

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The Amazon River in Brazil. Credit: Jhampier Giron M
 
The 30th "Conference of the Parties" (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place from 6-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

By Keith Tuffley
VILLARS, Switzerland, Nov 3 2025 (IPS)

As the world prepares for COP30 in Belém, all eyes are on Brazil’s proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) – a bold plan to reward countries for keeping forests standing. It represents a vital part of the long-term vision we need for global forest protection.

But while TFFF builds the architecture for the decades ahead, a proven solution is already delivering results today through large-scale forest protection programmes – initiatives that link public policy, community leadership and carbon finance.

Known as jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+), these programmes are designed to mobilise finance now, where it matters most.

The world doesn’t have time to wait. Forests are disappearing at the rate of 10 million hectares a year. To stay on track for 1.5°C, UNEP estimates that tropical regions need $66.8 billion in annual investment in forests by 2030. The good news is that the framework to mobilise that capital is already in motion, through the Forest Finance Roadmap and a portfolio approach that aligns multiple, complementary tools – including TFFF, JREDD+, and restoration finance.

The roadmap is clear – and it’s already working

The Forest Finance Roadmap, launched by 34 governments and partners under the Forest Climate Leaders Partnership, provides a practical framework for aligning policy, capital and accountability. It recognises that no single mechanism can close the gap: we need a suite of solutions that reward both reduced deforestation and long-term forest maintenance.

That portfolio already exists in Brazil. The federal government’s commitment to launch TFFF demonstrates long-term ambition. Meanwhile, states such as Tocantins, Pará and Piauí – among others – are advancing JREDD+ programmes that can channel private finance directly to communities, Indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers – with independent monitoring, benefit-sharing, and verified results under the ART-TREES standard. Tocantins alone covers 27 million hectares across the Amazon and Cerrado, one of the most biodiverse yet threatened regions on Earth.

Why JREDD+ matters now

JREDD+ is a state- or nation-wide approach that rewards verified reductions in deforestation. It links finance directly to government policy and land-use planning, helping entire regions shift from deforestation to sustainable production. Crucially, it also ensures transparency, permanence and equity: credits are issued only after independent verification, and benefits are shared with local communities through Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes.

In practice, JREDD+ allows public and private capital to flow into credible, measurable results – the kind of results that investors, regulators, and communities can trust. It also provides the connective tissue between policies like the EU Deforestation Regulation and the voluntary carbon market, helping companies meet emerging disclosure requirements under TNFD and SBTN while supporting real-world impact.

Complementary, not competing

It’s tempting to frame TFFF and JREDD+ as alternatives. In reality, they are complementary – two sides of the same forest finance coin. TFFF will reward nations for maintaining low deforestation rates, creating long-term incentives for forest-rich countries. JREDD+, on the other hand, generates near-term performance-based finance for verified emissions reductions. Together, they form the backbone of the Forest Finance Roadmap’s portfolio approach: one tool builds long-term durablity, the other creates immediate impact.

This complementarity is already visible on the ground. In Tocantins, upfront investment from Silvania, the nature finance platform backed by Mercuria, has helped establish the state’s environmental intelligence centre (CIGMA), enabling real-time deforestation tracking, and supported more than 40 consultations with Indigenous and traditional communities. These investments are already helping reduce deforestation pressures and build the systems that will sustain long-term forest protection – exactly the kind of early action TFFF will later reward.

From promises to performance

As COP30 approaches, the conversation about forests must shift from ambition to execution. Brazil’s leadership – from national policy to state implementation – is already delivering a blueprint for others to follow. We have the plan. We have the proof of concept. What’s needed is action – to channel capital into JREDD+ now, while supporting the long-term vision of TFFF. Together, these approaches can close much of the forest finance gap by 2030 and anchor a new era of durable, high-integrity nature finance.

The world will gather in Belém to discuss the future of the Amazon. But the real test is what happens after. Whether COP30 is remembered as a turning point or a missed opportunity depends on how quickly we act on the solutions already in our hands

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Keith Tuffley was Partner at Goldman Sachs Australia, Managing Director at UBS, and CEO of The B Team. He is current CEO of Race to Belém

In Pakistan, journalism is a risky profession—and the danger only intensifies if you’re a woman, young, and a freelancer, says 30-year-old Saba Chaudhry, a journalist from a village near Narowal, in Punjab province. “You have to be careful about what you write and who might read it—you can become the target of a malicious campaign […]

Parliamentarians from the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAPPD) met in Cairo. Credit: APDA

By Hisham Allam
CAIRO, Nov 3 2025 (IPS)

Inclusive legislation, empowered youth, and anti-violence policies are inseparable aspects of sustainable development and were the key messages at a conference of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Asian and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development held in Cairo on October 24, 2025.

The forum spotlighted urgent regional collaboration on sexual and reproductive health, youth inclusion, gender-based violence, and sustainable development. The gathering underlined the pressing need for legislative reform and multi-sector engagement to tackle complex social challenges amid shifting demographics and development imperatives.

The meeting, jointly organized by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAPPD), with close collaboration from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with the support of the Japan Trust Fund (JTF) and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), convened a high-profile roster of leaders and experts.

Key figures included Dr. Abdel Hadi al-Qasby, member of the Egyptian Senate and chair of the meeting; Dr. Mohamed Al-Samadi, Secretary General of the FAPPD; Professor Takemi Keizo, former Japanese Health Minister and Chair of APDA; and Dominic Allen, Deputy Regional Director for UNFPA Arab States Office.

Sessions homed in on strengthening sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as a cornerstone of social and economic progress, with UNFPA’s Dr. Hala Youssef highlighting SRH’s role in boosting productivity and well-being.

“Healthy individuals contribute to a more productive economy,” she said. The forum candidly addressed the region’s demographic challenges, barriers in access to care, and declining donor funding that threaten gains in maternal health and family planning.

Youth empowerment emerged as a strategic priority throughout the forum, with policymakers acknowledging that the region’s overwhelming majority under 30 must be engaged as active partners in shaping their future, rather than passive recipients of policy decisions.

Dr. Rida Shibli, former member of the Jordanian Senate, underscored this shift in mindset, stating, “Youth are partners, not just beneficiaries,” and advocating for structured, inclusive platforms that effectively empower young people to influence policy.

Tunisia’s progressive reforms—featuring the establishment of youth councils and vocational training programs—were highlighted as leading examples of meaningful youth engagement fostering both opportunity and participation.

The forum’s candid discussion on gender-based violence (GBV) underscored its pressing public health implications.

Mohamed Abou Nar, Chief Programs and Impact Officer at Pathfinder International, warned that despite the existence of comprehensive legal protections, enforcement remains inconsistent and inadequate.

He declared, “GBV is a public health emergency,” emphasizing the need to implement survivor-centered health services and legal reforms grounded in robust community involvement and multisectoral collaboration.

Hibo Ali Houssein, MP from Djibouti, reflected on the tension between progressive laws and enduring cultural norms that limit justice access for GBV survivors, while Bahrain’s Dr. Mohammed Ali called for legislative alignment to optimize private sector contributions, stating, “The private sector must provide capital, spark innovation, and create jobs within frameworks mandating sustainability.”

Country-specific achievements illustrated the forum’s depth. Cambodia is swiftly moving towards graduating from Least Developed Country status by 2027, with economic and regional partnerships propelling its long path to upper-middle-income status.

MP Chandara Khut stated plainly, “Peace has brought stability, which in turn nurtures development and growth.”

Sarah Elago, the representative from the Philippines, made a clear call on funding for adolescent pregnancy and maternal health, stating that “development is measured by dignity, equality, well-being, and everyday experiences of women, youth, and the people—not merely by numbers.”

The delegates called on parliamentarians, governments, and partners to convert dialogue into concrete action, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and regional solidarity as key drivers toward shared goals.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Amitabh Behar speaks to IPS at ICSW2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. Credit: Zofeen

By Zofeen Ebrahim
BANGKOK, Nov 2 2025 (IPS)

Speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week in Bangkok (November 1–5), Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International and a passionate human rights advocate, highlighted his concerns about rising inequality, growing authoritarianism, and the misuse of AI and surveillance. Yet, he expressed optimism that, even as civic spaces shrink, young people across Asia are driving meaningful change. He also shared his vision of a just society—one where power is shared, and grassroots movements lead the way.

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: What does civil society (CS) mean to you personally in today’s global context?

Behar: In an age of grotesque and rising global inequality, civil society is ordinary people challenging elites and the governments that are elected to serve them. It’s the engine that keeps democracy from being just a mere formality that happens at a ballot box every four years.

IPS: What was the role of CS society in the past? How has it evolved? How do you see it in the next decade?

Behar: During Asia’s economic miracle, governments invested in public services while civil society worked alongside unions to defend workers’ rights and speak up for communities. Today, with austerity and rising authoritarianism around the world, civil society is stepping in where governments should be but are currently failing. It runs food banks, builds local support networks, and defends citizens and workers even as basic freedoms and the right to protest are increasingly under attack.

IPS: What do you see as the greatest challenge facing CS today?

Behar: A tiny elite not only controls politics, media, and resources but also dominates decisions in capitals around the world and rigs economic policies in their favor. Rising inequality, debt crises, and climate disasters make survival even harder for ordinary people, while repressive governments actively silence their voices.

IPS: What’s the most significant challenge activists face when it comes to democracy, human rights or inclusion? 

Behar: Authoritarian governments crush dissent and protests with laws, surveillance, and intimidation. AI and digital tools are now being weaponized to track and target and illegally detain protestors, deepen inequality, and accelerate climate breakdown, all while activists risk everything to defend democracy and human rights.

IPS: How can civil society remain resilient in the face of shrinking civic spaces or restrictive laws?

Behar: From protests in Kathmandu to Jakarta, from Dili to Manila, one encouraging theme is emerging: the courage, inspiration, and defiance of young people. Gen Z-led movements, community networks, and grassroots campaigns are winning real change, raising wages, defending workers’ rights, improving services, and forcing action on climate disasters. Despite the immense odds, we will not be silenced. This is our Arab Spring.

IPS: Can you give examples from recent days that indicate that the work of CS is making a difference? Has the outcome been (good or bad) surprising?

Behar: In cities across Asia, Gen Z-led protests are winning higher wages, defending workers’ rights, and forcing local authorities to respond to youth unemployment and climate threats.

IPS: In your experience, what makes partnerships between civil society actors most effective?

Behar: Partnerships work when civil society groups trust each other and put the people most affected at the center. When local networks, youth groups, and volunteers coordinate around community leadership, as in cyclone responses in Bangladesh, for example, decisions are faster, resources reach the right people, and the work actually makes a difference.

IPS: How can civil society collaborate with the government and the private sector without losing its independence?

Behar: Civil society can work with governments and businesses strategically when it genuinely strengthens people’s rights rather than erodes them. But the moment politicians or corporations try to co-opt, stage manage or greenwash their work, civil society can be compromised. Real change only happens when communities set the priorities, not politicians or CEOs.

IPS: What are the biggest strategic choices CSOs need to make now in this shrinking civic space or rising pushback?

Behar: When governments erode rights across the board, from reproductive freedom to climate action, to the right to protest, civil society can’t just stay on the back foot. It must fight strategically, defending civic space, backing grassroots movements, and focusing power, time, and resources where they matter most. The core struggle is inequality, the root of nearly every form of injustice. Striking at it directly is the most strategic way to advance justice across the board.

IPS: In your view, what kinds of alliances (across sectors or geographies) matter most for expanding citizen action in the coming years?

Behar: The alliances that matter are the ones that actually shift power and resources away from the elites. Young people, women, Indigenous communities, and workers linking across countries show governments and corporations they can’t ignore them. When those on the frontlines connect with the wider world, people’s movements stop being small and start changing the rules for everyone.

IPS: How can the marginalized voices be genuinely included in collective action?

Behar: Marginalized voices aren’t there to tick a box or make up the numbers. At spaces like COP in Brazil this year, they should be calling the shots. Indigenous people, women, and frontline communities live through the consequences of rampant inequality every day in every way conceivable. It’s time we pull them up a chair at the table and let them drive the decisions that affect their lives.

IPS: Are emerging technologies or digital tools shaping the work of CS? How? Please mention both opportunities and risks.

Behar: Across Asia, Gen-Z activists are leading protests against inequality and youth unemployment, using digital tools to mobilize, amplify, and organize. But AI and intrusive surveillance now track every post and monitor every march, giving governments even greater powers to violently clamp down on civil society.

IPS: How do you balance optimism and realism when facing today’s social and political challenges?

Behar: I’m optimistic because I see ordinary people, especially young people, refusing to accept injustice. They’re striking, protesting, and building communities that protect each other. But we have to be realistic about the challenge, too. Obscene levels of inequality, worsening climate disasters, and repressive governments make change hard. Yet, time and again, when people rise together, they start to bend the rules in their favor and force the powerful to act.

IPS: What advice would you give to young activists entering this space?

Behar: Keep your fire but pace yourself. Fighting for justice is exhausting, and the challenges can feel endless. Look after your mental health, lean on your community, and celebrate the small wins that can keep you energized for the next challenge. The fight is long, and staying strong, rested, and connected is how you’ll keep on making a difference.

IPS: If you could summarize your vision for a just and inclusive society in one sentence, what would it be?

Behar: A just and inclusive society is one where the powerful can’t rig the rules, the most vulnerable set the agenda, and fairness runs through every policy.

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Sônia Guajajara, Brazil's minister for Indigenous peoples, addresses an official Pre-COP Opening Ceremony. Credit: Rafa Neddermeyer/COP30 Brasil Amazônia

By Tanka Dhakal
BLOOMINGTON, USA, Nov 2 2025 (IPS)

Strengthening Indigenous land rights will protect more forest in Brazil’s Amazon and avoid large amounts of carbon emission, according to new research released ahead of COP30.

An analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) finds Indigenous lands and protected areas are key in solving deforestation; without them, Brazilian Amazon forest loss would be 35 percent higher. This would result in nearly 45 percent higher carbon emissions.

At a time when the Amazon forest is constantly losing its forest cover and an irreversible tipping point, the report says, “placing more forests under Indigenous or government protection would prevent up to an additional 20 percent of deforestation and 26 percent of carbon emissions by 2030.”

The analysis, “The Importance of Protected Areas in Reducing Deforestation in the Legal Amazon,” also finds that current protected areas—indigenous lands and conservation units will prevent an estimated total of 4.3 million hectares of deforestation between 2022 and 2030 in the nine Brazilian states. The impact would mean that 2.1 GtCO₂e (gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent) will be avoided—more than the annual carbon emissions of Russia, or approximately 5.6 percent of the world’s annual emissions.

Approximately 63.4 million hectares of Brazilian Amazon forests remain unprotected, and should this land be designated as Indigenous lands or protected, the loss of forest due to land grabbing, cattle ranching, soy farming or other destructive activities could be avoided.

“The Amazon, as all the climate scientists now clearly agree, is approaching a tipping point, which, if it passes, will mean that a large part of the ecosystem will unravel and transform from forest into scrub Savannah,” said Steve Schwartzman, Associate Vice President for Tropical Forests at EDF.

“How close we are to the tipping point is not clear, but it’s very clear that deforestation needs to stop and we need to begin restoring the areas that have been deforested.”

He says that the future of the already struggling world’s largest rainforest—the Amazon—depends on protecting this vast area of Indigenous territories, protected areas, and Quilombola territories.

“As delegates gather for COP30, it’s critical that they’re armed with evidence that points to the most effective solutions,” he added.

Belém, a Brazilian city in the Amazon region, is hosting the annual UN climate talks from November 10-21.

The research shows that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples have lower deforestation rates and store significantly more carbon than other areas. Between 1985 and 2020, 90 percent of Amazon deforestation occurred outside of Indigenous lands, with just 1.2 percent of native vegetation lost over that period.

The Amazon territories managed by Indigenous communities with recognized land rights have stored far more carbon than they have emitted. Between 2001 and 2021, they released around 120 million metric tons of carbon (CO₂) annually while removing 460 million metric tons.

The nine states of Legal Amazon-Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins-contain approximately 60% of the entire Amazon rainforest, which spans eight South American countries. Of the region’s total area of 510 million hectares, in 2022, around 393 million hectares would be covered by native vegetation in the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal biomes. By the end of 2021, the region had deforested 112.5 million hectares.

“Protected areas in the Brazilian Legal Amazon are critical for the preservation of native vegetation, carbon stocks, biodiversity, the provision of ecosystem services and the livelihoods of indigenous people and local communities. Our model captures that protected areas avoid deforestation inside their boundaries and beyond due to spatial interactions across the landscape,” said Breno Pietracci, an environmental economist consultant and lead report researcher.

As countries prepare to present their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at COP30, Indigenous Peoples in Brazil have pushed for governments to include the recognition of Indigenous lands, support Indigenous-led climate solutions, and greater legal protections for Indigenous lands in their plans.

“We think that it is not possible to protect the Amazon, where we have Quilombola people and Afro-descendant people, without recognizing their rights in terms of climate negotiations at the UN,” said Denildo “Bico” Rodrigues de Moraes, executive coordinator of the National Coordination of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (CONAQ). “It is very important for us to be recognized, for this to be recognized in the climate negotiations at the UN.”

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Excerpt:

Research shows that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples have lower deforestation rates and store significantly more carbon than other areas.

Secretary General of CIVICUS, Mandeep Tiwana, at International Civil Society Week 2025. Credit: Civicus

By Zofeen Ebrahim
BANGKOK, Nov 1 2025 (IPS)

It is a bleak global moment—with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.

Once the site of the 1976 massacre, where pro-democracy students were brutally crushed, the campus—a “hallowed ground” for civil society actors—echoed with renewed voices calling for defending democracy in what Secretary General of CIVICUS, Mandeep Tiwana, described as a “topsy-turvy world” with rising authoritarianism—a poignant reminder that even in places scarred by repression, the struggle for civic space endures.

“Let it resonate,” said Ichal Supriadi, Secretary General, Asian Democracy Network. “Democracy must be defended together,” adding that it was the “shared strength” that confronts authoritarianism.

Despite the hopeful spirit at Thammasat University, where the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) is underway, the conversations often turned to sobering realities. Dr. Gothom Arya of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development and the Peace and Culture Foundation reminded participants that civic freedoms are being curtailed across much of the world.

Citing alarming figures, he spoke bluntly of the global imbalance in priorities—noting how military expenditure continues to soar even as civic space shrinks. He pointedly referred to the United States’ Ministry of Defense as the “Ministry of War,” comparing its USD 968 billion military budget with China’s USD 3 billion and noting that spending on the war in Ukraine had increased tenfold in just three years—a stark illustration of global priorities. “This is where we are with respect to peace and war,” he said gloomily.

Ichal Supriadi, Secretary General, Asian Democracy Network. Credit: Civicus

At another session, similar reflections set the tone for a broader critique of global power dynamics. Walden Bello, a former senator and peace activist from the Philippines, argued that the United States—especially under the Trump administration—had abandoned even the pretense of a free-market system, replacing it with what he called “overt monopolistic hegemony.” American imperialism, he said, “graduated away from camouflage attempts and is now unapologetic in demanding that the world bend to its wishes.”

Dr. Gothom Arya of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development and the Peace and Culture Foundation. Credit: Civicus

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani physicist and author, echoed the sentiment, expressing outrage at his own country’s leadership. He condemned Pakistan’s decision to nominate a “psychopath, habitual liar, and aggressive warmonger” for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying that the leadership had “no right to barter away minerals and rare earth materials to an American dictator” without public consent.

Hoodbhoy urged the international community to intervene and restart peace talks between Pakistan and India—two nuclear-armed neighbors perpetually teetering on the edge of renewed conflict.

But at no point during the day did the focus shift away from the ongoing humanitarian crises. Arya reminded the audience of the tragic loss of civilian lives in Gaza, the devastating fighting in Sudan that had led to widespread malnutrition, and the global inequality worsened by climate inaction. “Because some big countries refused to follow the Paris Agreement ten years ago,” he warned, “the rest of the world will suffer the consequences.”

That grim reality was brought into even sharper relief by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a Palestinian physician and politician, who delivered a harrowing account of Gaza’s devastation. He said that through the use of  American-supplied weapons, Israel had killed an estimated 12 percent of Gaza’s population, destroyed every hospital and university, and left nearly 10,000 bodies buried beneath the rubble.

“Even as these crises unfolded across the world, the conference demonstrated that civil society continues to persevere, as nearly 1,000 people from more than 75 organizations overcame travel bans and visa hurdles to gather at Thammasat University, sharing strategies, solidarity, and hope through over 120 sessions.

Among them was a delegation whose presence carried the weight of an entire nation’s silenced hopes—Hamrah, believed to be the only Afghan civil society group at ICSW.

“Our participation is important at a time when much of the world has turned its gaze away from Afghanistan,” Timor Sharan, co-founder and programme director of the HAMRAH Initiative, told IPS.

“It is vital to remind the global community that Afghan civil society has not disappeared; it’s fighting and holding the line.”

Through networks like HAMRAH, he said, activists, educators, and defenders have continued secret and online schools, documented abuses, and amplified those silenced under the Taliban rule. “Our presence here is both a statement of resilience and a call for solidarity.”

“Visibility matters,” pointed out Riska Carolina, an Indonesian woman and LGBTIQ+ rights advocate working with ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC). “What’s even more powerful is being visible together.”

“It was special because it brought together movements—Dalit, Indigenous, feminist, disability, and queer—that rarely share the same space, creating room for intersectional democracy to take shape,” said Carolina, whose work focuses on regional advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights within Southeast Asia’s political and human rights frameworks, especially the ASEAN system, which she said has historically been “slow to recognize issues of sexuality and gender diversity.”

“We work to make sure that SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) inclusion is not just seen as a niche issue, but as a core part of democracy, governance, and human rights. That means engaging governments, civil society, and regional bodies to ensure queer people’s participation, safety, and dignity is part of how we measure democratic progress.”

She said the ICSW provided ASC with a chance to make “visible” the connection between civic space, democracy, and queer liberation and to remind people that democracy is not only about elections but also about “who is able to live freely and who remains silenced by law or stigma.”

Away from the main sessions, civil society leaders gathered for a candid huddle—part reflection, part reckoning—to examine their role in an era when their space to act was shrinking.

“The dialogue surfaced some tough but necessary questions,” he said. They asked themselves: ‘Have we grasped the full scale of the challenges we face?’ ‘Are our responses strong enough?’ ‘Are we expecting anti-rights forces to respect our rules and values?’ ‘Are we reacting instead of setting the agenda? And are we allies—or accomplices—of those risking everything for justice?’

But if there was one thing crystal clear to everyone present, it was that civil society must stand united, not fragmented, to defend democracy.

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Crops growing at farmers’ cooperative, Baidoa, Southwest State, Somalia. Credit: FAO / Arete / Mahad Saed Dirie

By George Conway and Stefanos Fotiou
MOGADISHU / ROME, Oct 31 2025 (IPS)

Food has always been political. It decides whether families thrive or fall into poverty, whether young people see a future of opportunity or despair, whether communities feel included or pushed aside. Food is also a basic human right – one recognized in international law but too often unrealized in practice. Guaranteeing that right requires viewing food not as a form of emergency relief, but as the cornerstone of sustainable social development.

Despite this, food systems rarely feature in discussions of social policy, even though they underpin the same goals world leaders will take up at the World Social Summit in Doha this November: eradicating poverty, securing decent work, and advancing inclusion.

 

Food as social infrastructure

Food is often treated as a humanitarian issue, a matter for relief in times of drought or war. But look closer, and it is the ultimate social policy.

Food systems mirror our societies – where women bear the greatest burden of unpaid work, where child labour denies children education, and where Indigenous and marginalized communities are excluded

Food systems sustain half the world’s population – around 3.8 billion people – through farming, processing, transport, and retail, most of it informal and rural. They determine how families spend their income, who can afford a healthy diet, who learns and thrives in school, and who is left behind. Food systems mirror our societies – where women bear the greatest burden of unpaid work, where child labour denies children education, and where Indigenous and marginalized communities are excluded.

Seen through this lens, food is social infrastructure: the invisible system that underpins poverty reduction, livelihoods, and inclusion. When it functions, societies grow more equal and resilient. When it falters, inequality and exclusion deepen.

 

Pathways out of poverty

Across low-income countries, agriculture and food processing remain the single largest source of livelihoods. National food systems transformations are showing that targeted investments here can have outsized effects on poverty reduction.

In Rwanda, investment in farmer cooperatives and value chains has enabled smallholders to capture more of the value of their crops, lifting entire communities. In Brazil, school feeding programs that source from family farmers have created stable markets for the rural poor while improving child nutrition.

And in Somalia, the work of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and national partners is helping to strengthen pastoralist value chains and improve access to markets. By connecting local producers with regional buyers and embedding resilience into social protection systems, Somalia is charting a path out of chronic vulnerability toward sustainable livelihoods.

This approach combines food systems transformation with climate-smart social protection – linking producers and markets with safety nets that improve nutrition, boost inclusion, and attract investment. It is a model built on social and economic partnerships between government, civil society, and the UN, and is designed for lasting impact.

These examples highlight a simple truth: inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems can be among the most powerful anti-poverty tools available.

 

Work that is productive – and dignified

Food systems already employ one in three workers worldwide. But too many of these jobs are precarious, low-paid, and unsafe. The transformation now underway is beginning to change that.

Digital and market innovations are linking small producers to buyers directly, bypassing exploitative middlemen. Climate-resilient practices are reducing the boom-and-bust cycles that devastate rural incomes.

In Somalia, where livelihoods are often informal and climate shocks are frequent, strengthening food systems can expand opportunity and stability. By linking pastoralist value chains to markets and building skills for youth in food production and trade, food systems can turn subsistence into sustainable, resilient futures.

This shift matters: food systems can and must become a primary engine of decent, dignified employment in the global economy – particularly for women and youth.

 

Food as inclusion

Food is also identity and belonging. Policies that make nutritious diets affordable, protect Indigenous knowledge, and integrate marginalized producers into value chains are acts of social inclusion. In many countries, universal school meal programs have emerged as one of the most powerful equalizers. They reduce child hunger, keep girls in school, and support local farmers. A single meal can nourish, educate, and empower all at once.

Another powerful tool for inclusion, resilience, and sustainability are the social safety nets designed to enable smallholder producers to shift towards more nutrition-sensitive and climate-smart production. Thanks to support from the UN system – directed through the Food Systems Window of the Joint SDG Fund, jointly coordinated by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub and the Fund Secretariat – Somalia is strengthening its delivery of basic social services by linking Early Warning Systems to the Unified Social Registry, and accompanying its cash transfers with livelihood graduation pathways involving microinsurance companies. This effectively transforms producers from beneficiaries into agents of change.

However, to be impactful, at scale, and long-lasting, food system interventions must be guided by strong political vision and coordinated through inclusive governance – bringing women, youth, and marginalized groups into decision-making. When communities most affected by policies help shape them, the results are more effective and more enduring.

In Somalia, the Council on Food, Climate Change, and Nutrition is taking shape thanks to the Joint SDG Fund Programme and the leadership of the Office of the Resident Coordinator, FAO, and WFP. Hosted under the Office of the Prime Minister and steered jointly by the OPM and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Council will bring together 11 ministries and oversee the implementation of the Somali National Pathway.

 

The case for Doha

Why does this matter for the World Social Summit? Because food systems provide a bridge across its three pillars. They are a direct lever for eradicating poverty, creating decent work, and advancing inclusion – in practice, not just in principle.

Yet food often remains on the margins of social policy. Ministries of labor and finance overlook it. Social protection debates focus on cash transfers and safety nets, rarely on food systems, markets, or rural cooperatives. The Doha Summit is the moment to change this.

Leaders should recognize food systems as core social infrastructure – as important as schools, hospitals, and roads. This means embedding food in national social policies, scaling financing for inclusive programs, and protecting food from the cycle of neglect that follows each crisis.

 

A new way of thinking

What if we reimagined the role of food in social policy? Instead of responding to food crises as humanitarian emergencies, we could invest in food systems as the foundation of long-term social development.

Progress should be measured not only by GDP or employment rates, but by whether every child eats a healthy meal each day, whether rural youth see farming as a path to prosperity, and whether no mother has to choose between buying medicine or buying bread – feeding her family today or tomorrow.

That is the lens the World Social Summit needs. Because poverty, unemployment, and exclusion are experienced daily through empty plates, insecure jobs, and the quiet despair of being shut out of opportunity.

 

The way forward

Food systems are already delivering – in farmers’ cooperatives, women- and youth-led businesses, and in national efforts like Somalia’s to link food transformation with social protection and employment. But they remain under-recognized in the social development agenda.

Doha offers the chance to correct that. If leaders are serious about eradicating poverty, creating decent work, and advancing inclusion, they should start with food. It is the system that connects households to hope, work to dignity, and communities to resilience.

 

George Conway, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, and Deputy Special Representative to the UN Secretary General, Somalia 

Stefanos Fotiou, Director of the Office of Sustainable Development Goals at the Food and Agriculture Organization, and Director of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub