Africa

Faure Gnassingbé may no longer be president but he still pulls the strings - and no longer has to face elections.

Faure Gnassingbé may no longer be president but he still pulls the strings - and no longer has to face elections.

International Court of Justice at the announcement of its advisory opinion on climate change. Credit: Cecilia Russell/IPS

By Cecilia Russell
THE HAGUE & JOHANNESBURG, Jul 23 2025 (IPS)

The case was “unlike any that have previously come before the court,” President of the International Court of Justice Judge Yuji Iwasawa said while reading the court’s unanimous advisory opinion outlining the legal obligations of United Nations member states with regard to climate change. This case was not simply a “legal problem” but “concerned an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet,” Iwasawa said.

“A complete solution to this daunting and self-inflicted problem requires the contribution of all fields of human knowledge, whether law, science, economics or any other; above all, a lasting and satisfactory solution requires human will and wisdom at the individual social and political levels to change our habits, comforts, and current way of life to secure a future for ourselves and those who are yet to come,” the opinion read.

The opinion was welcomed by Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology & Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management for the Republic of Vanuatu.

“Today’s ruling is a landmark opinion that confirms what we, vulnerable nations have been saying, and we’ve known for so long, that states do have legal obligations to act on climate change, and these obligations are guaranteed by international law. They’re guaranteed by human rights law, and they’re grounded in the duty to protect our environment, which we heard the court referred to so much,” Regenvanu said.

Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, legal counsel for Vanuatu’s ICJ case and international lawyer at Blue Ocean Law, hailed the opinion, saying it even held the United States, which recently under President Donald Trump recently withdrew from the Paris Agreement, as it bound all states within the United Nations.

Wewerinke-Singh said the opinion meant that the “era where producers can freely produce and can argue that their climate policies are a matter of discretion—they’re free to decide on the climate policies—that era is really over. We have entered an era of accountability, in which states can be held to account for their current emissions if they’re excessive but also for what they have failed to do in the past.”

The detailed advisory opinion dealt with obligations of states under various climate conventions and treaties and humanitarian law.

The court concluded that in terms of the climate agreements, state parties

• To the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have an obligation to adopt measures with a view to contributing to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.
• Have additional obligations to take the lead in combating climate change by limiting their greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing their greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs.
• To the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, have a duty to cooperate with each other in order to achieve the underlying objective of the convention.
• To the Kyoto Protocol must comply with applicable provisions of the protocol.
• To the Paris Agreement have an obligation to act with due diligence in taking measures in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities capable of making an adequate contribution to achieving the temperature goal set out in the agreement.
• To the Paris Agreement have an obligation to prepare, communicate and maintain successive and progressive, nationally determined contributions, which, when taken together, are capable of achieving the temperature goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
• State parties to the Paris agreement have an obligation to pursue measures which are capable of achieving the objectives set out in their successive nationally determined contributions.
• State parties to the Paris agreement have obligations of adaptation and cooperation, including through technology and financial transfers, which must be performed in good faith.

In addition, the court was of the opinion that customary international law sets forth obligations for states to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

These obligations include the following:

• States have a duty to prevent significant harm to the environment by acting with due diligence and to use all means at their disposal to prevent activities carried out within their jurisdiction or control from causing significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
• States have a duty to cooperate with each other in good faith to prevent significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment, which requires sustained and continuous forms of cooperation by states when taking measures to prevent such harm.
• State parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the ozone layer and to the protocol and to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete ozone layer and its Kigali amendment, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, have obligations under these treaties to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
• State parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea have an obligation to adopt measures to protect and preserve the marine environment, including from the adverse effects of climate change, and to cooperate in good faith.

However, the court did not end there; it was of the opinion that states have obligations under international human rights law and are required to take “measures to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team looks at every Premier League player who could feature at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco

BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team looks at every Premier League player who could feature at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco

The BBC revisits the city of Goma six months after it was seized by M23 rebels.

The BBC revisits the city of Goma six months after it was seized by M23 rebels.

Ethiopia has repeatedly said the megadam, a major source of pride in the country, was totally self-funded.

By Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
NARAYANGANJ, Bangladesh, Jul 23 2025 (IPS)

Nikli Upazila, located in the Kishoreganj district of Bangladesh, is part of the haor region, a vast wetland ecosystem characterized by bowl-shaped depressions. This unique geography subjects the area to significant climatic challenges, particularly recurrent flooding. The haor region, including Nikli, experiences a subtropical monsoon climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. During the monsoon season, heavy rainfall often leads to extensive flooding. Flash floods have become increasingly unpredictable and severe in recent years, causing substantial damage to agricultural lands and affecting the livelihoods of local communities. These people, trapped by water and driven by poverty, journey from the Haor to brickfields, where their lives become an endless cycle of hardship.

Agriculture, especially boro rice (a kind of a rice) cultivation, is the primary livelihood for many residents of Nikli. However, the unpredictability of flash floods poses a significant threat to crop yields. The high seasonality of the haor-based economy forces local people to remain out of work for a considerable period, leading to food insecurity. Faced with these challenges, many families from Nikli engage in seasonal migration to urban and peri-urban areas such as Dhaka, Savar, Narayanganj, and Munshiganj. They seek employment opportunities in sectors like brickfields, where both adults and children often work under strenuous conditions. The city is expanding and this migration is not just a means of income but a survival strategy to cope with the economic hardships imposed by environmental vulnerabilities.

The migration of entire families, including children, to work in brickfields highlights the severe socioeconomic pressures faced by communities in Nikli. While this migration provides temporary financial relief, it also exposes individuals, especially women and children, to exploitative labor practices and adverse living conditions. Moreover, the absence of family members during significant portions of the year disrupts community cohesion and affects the social fabric of the region.

The cyclical nature of flooding in Nikli Upazila, compounded by the lack of local employment opportunities, necessitates seasonal migration as a coping mechanism for many families. Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including improved flood management, diversification of local livelihoods, and the implementation of social protection measures to reduce the necessity for distress-driven migration.

Migrants from the flood-prone haor region, like her, seek survival in the hazardous conditions of brick kilns after recurrent flash floods devastate their agricultural lands. Their journey from waterlogged villages to smoke-filled industrial landscapes is one of resilience and hardship.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

An elderly migrant laborer from the flood-prone haor region of Nikli, Kishoreganj, stacks bricks in a kiln in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Recurrent flash floods have destroyed his agricultural livelihood, forcing him into the backbreaking work of the brickfields. Cloaked in dust and framed by the smoke of industrial chimneys, his presence reflects the quiet resilience and enduring hardship of climate-displaced communities.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Amid smoke-belching chimneys, migrant workers women and men from the flood-devastated haor region pass sunbaked bricks down a human chain in a brickfield in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Climate-induced displacement has driven these families from their waterlogged farmlands into the grueling labor of the kilns. Their synchronized movements, though born of necessity, reflect both survival and solidarity under harsh industrial skies.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A laborer, his face and body cloaked in red dust, balances a heavy stack of baked bricks on his head inside a brick kiln in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Originally from the climate-stricken haor region, he is one of many who migrate seasonally in search of survival. The symmetry of his burden mirrors the unyielding weight of economic desperation and environmental displacement.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Surrounded by dust and decay inside a brick kiln in Narayanganj, two children—siblings of migrant workers from the flood-hit haor region lean into each other, their foreheads touching in quiet connection. In a world shaped by displacement and labor, their moment of tenderness stands in stark contrast to the harshness around them, echoing a fragile sense of care and continuity amidst upheaval.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A young man leans against the scorched walls of a brick kiln in Narayanganj, his face marked by dust and determination. Wearing a football jersey far from any field of play, he is among the thousands who migrate each year from Bangladesh’s flood-prone haor region, where the intensifying impacts of climate change rising temperatures, erratic monsoon patterns, and recurring flash floods have made agriculture increasingly untenable. Once a farmer’s son, he now survives by toiling in the suffocating heat of the kilns, his gaze a quiet reminder of the futures being reshaped by a warming world.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A young girl flashes a radiant smile while helping her mother push a heavy cart of raw bricks in a kiln in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Behind the smile lies a story shaped by climate catastrophe her family, once farmers in the flood-ravaged haor region, was displaced by unpredictable monsoon floods worsened by climate change. Now, in the dusty heat of the brickfields, survival is a collective effort where even childhood is burdened with labor.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Covered in dust and sweat, laborers in a Narayanganj brickfield balance stacks of bricks on their heads, their bodies bearing the weight of both labor and survival. These workers, many of whom migrated from flood-stricken haor regions, endure grueling conditions to earn a living. The reddish haze of dust fills the air, a testament to the relentless toil in this harsh, unforgiving landscape.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Under the shadow of a towering chimney, men, women, and even children pass bricks hand to hand in a relentless chain of labor at a brickfield in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. These workers, many displaced by climate-induced floods in the haor region, endure extreme conditions in search of survival. The unity in their movements reflects both resilience and struggle, as smoke billows above, symbolizing the cost of their toil.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

In the sweltering heart of a brick kiln in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, a chain of men and women many displaced by climate-induced flooding in the haor region pass bricks hand to hand, cart to cart, with rhythmic precision. Their synchronized labor sustains a city’s expansion while their own homes sink under water year after year. The smoke rising from the chimney behind them mirrors the slow burn of environmental injustice that forces thousands into this grinding cycle of survival.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Displaced men and women from Bangladesh’s climate-hit haor region haul carts overloaded with raw bricks inside a kiln in Narayanganj. With their farmlands submerged season after season due to erratic flash floods, they have no choice but to migrate for survival. In this tightly choreographed world of labor, the boundary between exhaustion and endurance fades—brick by brick, they build not just cities, but the story of a nation navigating climate crisis.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A woman pushes a heavily loaded cart of bricks with all her strength as her male counterpart pulls from behind in a kiln in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Once farmers in the haor wetlands, now rendered uninhabitable by intensified monsoon flooding and erratic climate patterns, they have become climate migrants trading green fields for red dust. In this unrelenting choreography of labor, survival is carved into every gesture, every step forward in the sweltering heat.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A woman, her face covered in dust, offers a resilient smile amid the harsh realities of brickfield labor in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Behind her, another woman strains to push a heavy cart loaded with bricks. Like many migrant workers from the flood-ravaged haor region, they endure backbreaking work under the sun to support their families. Their strength and determination shine through, even in the toughest conditions.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A woman strains to push a heavy cart loaded with bricks, her hands gripping the worn metal frame as dust clings to her skin in a brickfield in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Behind her, men balance stacks of bricks on their heads, while a young child, her face marked by dirt and exhaustion, watches the scene unfold. This is the reality for many families who migrate from flood-ravaged haor regions, where survival means enduring relentless labor in the burning sun.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Kneeling on sunbaked earth, a migrant laborer from Bangladesh’s haor wetlands balances a stack of bricks on his head inside a kiln in Narayanganj. Once dependent on farming, he was forced to abandon his village after repeated flash floods amplified by climate change wiped out his crops and home. Now, in a world built of dust and survival, he carries the burden of a collapsing environment on his shoulders, one brick at a time.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Mohammad Saown, a teenage boy from the flood-affected haor region of Bangladesh, pauses for a moment atop a stack of bricks in a kiln in Narayanganj. Like many children of climate-displaced families, Saown now spends his days working instead of attending school. Seasonal flash floods, worsened by climate change, forced his family to leave behind their village and seek survival in the unforgiving world of brickfields. His quiet smile belies a childhood shaped by hardship and resilience.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Children from flood-affected families in Bangladesh’s haor region find moments of joy while living near a brickfield in Narayanganj. Displaced by climate-induced flooding that devastates their agricultural livelihoods, these families migrate annually to brickfields, where life is defined by hardship and strenuous labor. Despite their circumstances, the children’s play reflects resilience and hope amidst challenging conditions.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

After hours of relentless labor under the blazing sun, a young brickfield worker washes away the dust and fatigue with a splash of cold water. Behind him, the worn concrete wall bears silent witness to the daily rituals of survival. Originally from the climate-ravaged haor region of Bangladesh, he is among thousands who now endure punishing heat, poor sanitation, and long hours in kilns like this one in Narayanganj pushed by floods, held by necessity.
Narayanganj, Bangladesh – 17 February 2025
Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

— VIDEO —

Mothers in the US are dying from pregnancy-related causes at much higher rates than mothers in any other affluent country. Credit: Shutterstock.

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Jul 23 2025 (IPS)

The recent legislation passed by the US Congress, oddly named the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), and signed by the US President, reveals that Republican lawmakers in the nation’s capital do not care about excessive and premature mortality in the United States.

If Republican representatives and senators were genuinely concerned about the expected increase in deaths, the OBBB would not have displayed such disregard for its potentially harmful impact on human life and wellbeing.

In the coming months, the OBBB is likely to result in a rise in excess and premature deaths in the United States, particularly affecting vulnerable groups, such as low-income individuals and families, children, people with disabilities, and seniors.

The lack of concern from Republican lawmakers about the expected excess and premature mortality resulting from the OBBB is evident in the candid remark made by an Iowa Republican senator during a recent town hall meeting.

The millions of US citizens without health insurance coverage and access to care will likely result in people skipping preventative care, treatments and prescriptions, all of which will contribute to increased illness and preventable deaths

When a constituent expressed concerns about potential deaths resulting from cuts to Medicaid in the proposed budget bill, the Republican senator responded by saying, “People are not … well, we’re all going to die, so for heaven’s sakes.”.

The senator’s comment, stating “we’re all going to die”, exemplifies the lack of concern and empathy among federal Republican officials towards the life-threatening impact of the OBBB’s cuts to Medicaid, food assistance (SNAP), changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and other crucial government services.

In fact, the budget cut in Medicaid, approximately a $1 trillion reduction over the next 10 years, far exceeds any other cut the United States has made in its social safety net. The US Congressional Budget Office predicts that the cuts to Medicaid will result in millions of people losing health insurance coverage.

The various cuts and changes resulting from the OBBB are expected to increase uninsured rates, reduce access to healthcare services, exacerbate health disparities, and lead to higher mortality rates nationwide. The millions of US citizens without health insurance coverage and access to care will likely result in people skipping preventative care, treatments and prescriptions, all of which will contribute to increased illness and preventable deaths.

Public health and policy researchers from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania have informed Congressional lawmakers that the OBBB could lead to over 51,000 preventable deaths in the US annually. This would be a result of disenrollments from Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplace coverage, reductions in nursing home care, and the loss of drug subsidies for low-income seniors.

Additionally, imposing work requirements on individuals receiving health insurance through programs like Medicaid has not been shown to lead to increased employment levels. Instead, it restricts access to necessary medical care.

With expanding subsidies for fossil fuels and biofuels, the OBBB could also lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, potentially causing more life-threatening weather events and contributing to an estimated 900 annual premature US deaths from local air pollution by 2035.

Apart from the OBBB, budget cuts by the US administration have also been implemented in agencies and departments related to justice, health, education, housing, environment, basic scientific research, and weather forecasting.

The administration has laid off meteorologists, frozen critical positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and reduced coordination grants at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Additionally, they have reduced staff, including call center workers, and cut funding for agencies essential for issuing emergency warnings of extreme weather events and coordinating timely responses, likely leading to more deaths.

The cuts to Medicaid, which is the dominant source of coverage for children in the US, are expected to devastate pediatric care in rural and underserved areas. US administration officials are dismantling science-based vaccine policies and pediatric care, which will result in increased deaths, especially among children, from preventable causes.

With the anticipated increase in deaths resulting from the OBBB, the mortality ranking of the United States among developed countries will likely deteriorate. Even before the adoption of this problematic budget legislation, the US’s position on mortality levels among wealthy developed countries was mediocre at best.

For example, consider deaths that occur during the first year of life. The US infant mortality rate is significantly higher than the average of other developed nations. In recent years, the United States has ranked 33rd out of 38 OECD countries on this crucial mortality measure. In 2023, the US infant mortality rate was 6 infant deaths per 1,000 births, compared to an infant mortality rate of about 2 for Italy, Japan, and Sweden (Figure 1).

 

Source: National governments.

 

Additionally, the US has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations. Mothers in the US are dying from pregnancy-related causes at much higher rates than mothers in any other affluent country. In 2022, the US maternal mortality rate was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above rates for other high-income countries. For example, the maternal mortality rate was 3.4 in Japan, 7.6 in France, and 8.4 in Canada.

Regarding longevity, life expectancy at birth in the US in 2023 was 78 years. However, life expectancy varied significantly based on income levels, with the gap widening. In 2023, the richest individuals in the top 1% of US counties lived 84 years, while those in the bottom 50% of counties averaged 77 years.

Many countries surpass the US in terms of life expectancy. For example, Japan has a life expectancy of 87 years, Italy 84 years, and Sweden 83 years (Figure 2).

 

Source: National governments.

 

If one is fortunate enough to reach the age of 65 in the US, life expectancy at that age is lower compared to many other wealthy developed countries. While life expectancy in the US at age 65 is nearly 20 years, it is higher in other countries, such as Australia, France, Japan, and Sweden, where it is approximately 22 years (Figure 3).

 

Source: United Nations.

 

It is crucial to acknowledge that the expected increase in excess and premature mortality in the United States is not due to a foreign government or overseas enemy. Instead, it is self-inflicted by the policies, actions and choices of a Republican-led government.

How will the Republicans respond to the anticipated rise in premature deaths? History suggests they will probably react with their three D’s: Denial, Dismissal, and Distraction.

In conclusion, considering the expected increase in excess and premature deaths due to the OBBB and related policies of the US administration, as well as the likely response from Republican lawmakers, including the president, it appears that they simply do not care about mortality in the United States. (Fertility, on the other hand, is a completely different matter.)

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials”.

Rice field in Bali Indonesia. Credit: Unsplash/Eystetix Studio

By Maximilian Malawista
NEW YORK, Jul 23 2025 (IPS)

As incomes rise in middle-income countries, so does the demand for animal-sourced calories, resulting in large increases to global food production, and raising the importance for sustainable agriculture amidst growing concerns of climate change.

According to a new joint report from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), projections of global per capita calorie intake from livestock and fish will increase by 6 percent from 2025 to 2034. This aggregate demand increase is largely driven by lower- and middle-income countries, where intak is expected to exceed to 24 percent, four times the global average.

To emeet this demand, global fish production is projected to grow by 14 percent, particularly in middle income nations: leaving room for increased agricultural humanitarian support. In this same swing, meat, dairy, and eggs are expected to increase by 17 percent, supported by an inventory expansion of 7 percent in global cattle, sheep, poultry, and pig.

While these gains mean more food will be on the plate for most people, it comes with an environmental price tag. Greenhouse gas emissions due to agricultural activity are expected to rise by 6 percent in the next decade. However, FAO estimated that emissions could be reduced by 7 percent if productivity can be boosted by 15 percent, pegged to the adoption of emission-reduction technologies.

The report also emphasized the key role international trade has in feeding the world. By 2034, it is estimated that 22 percent of all calories consumed globally are expected to cross through international trade, maintaining the same trend of the past decade. Managing or expanding the 22 percent will require multilateral cooperation and a rules-based trade system, bolstering security, and safeguarding supply chains from potential disruptions.

“We have the tools to end hunger and boost global food security,” said OECD Secretary General Mathais Cormann. “Well-coordinated policies are needed to keep global food markets open, while fostering long-term productivity improvements and sustainability in the agricultural sector.”

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu made similar remarks to Cormann, adding that while the outlook indicates improved nutrition for many lower-income nations, persistent food insecurity in some of the world’s least developed countries remains an unsolved problem. On the same note, it was observed that low-income countries will remain at a damaging per capita daily intake of animal-based calories at just 143kcal, less than half of that which lower-middle-income countries have, far below the FAO’s 300 kcal benchmark for a healthy and even affordable diet.

The aggregate increase in agricultural productivity is expected to reduce commodity prices globally, putting more pressure on small-scale farmers. This comes as larger operations benefit far more from growing economics, making smallholders struggle to compete unless they adapt to the growing climate in the agricultural industry.

Two women harvesting paddy plants in Bali, Indonesia. Credit: Unsplash/Maurice Gerhardt

Key Projections in the 2025-2034 Outlook

· Cereal production is expected to grow 1.1 percent annually, driven by a modest 0.9 percent increase in crop yields. Harvest area will only expand 0.14 percent per year, which is less than half the rate of the previous decade.
· In high-income countries, among shifting dietary preferences, health concerns, and targeted food policy, per capita consumption of fats and sweeteners is projected to decline.
· By 2034, 40 percent of cereal crops (wheat, rice, corn, barley, etc.) will be consumed directly, while 33 percent will be used for animal feed, and the remaining 27 percent on biofuel and industrial uses.
· Demand for biofuel in this period will grow 0.9 percent annually, led by Brazil, India, and Indonesia
· India and Southeast Asia will make up 39 percent of global consumption growth by 2034, up from 32 percent in the last decade. In contrast, the Chinese share is expected to decline from 32 percent to 13 percent.

The report concludes with a call to action; that to achieve global good security, a boosting of agricultural efficiency in line with proper environmental devices amidst production will be necessary to reach global goals of zero poverty, and net zero emissions.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A Foreign Office report shows the biggest cuts will come in Africa with less spent on women's health and water sanitation.

Dreams amid the rubble: Gaza’s women speak of homes, loss and hungry children. Displaced people in Gaza are living among the ruins of destroyed buildings. Credit: UN News

By Human Rights Watch
NEW YORK, Jul 23 2025 (IPS)

United Nations member countries should use the ministerial-level conference on Palestine on July 28-29, 2025, to publicly commit to concrete actions aimed at ending decades of impunity for Israeli authorities’ violations of international humanitarian and human rights law against Palestinians, Human Rights Watch said today.

The High-Level Conference on the Two-State Solution and Peace in the Middle East, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, was initially scheduled for June, but was postponed when Israel initiated a military operation against Iran.

The conference will now have two segments, the ministerial meeting on July 28-29 and a second segment to include heads of state and government ahead of the UN General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders in September.

“It’s essential for governments to address Israel’s grave abuses by committing to concrete, timebound measures, including targeted sanctions, arms embargoes, suspending preferential trade agreements, and a clear commitment to support the enforcement of all International Criminal Court arrest warrants,” said Bruno Stagno, chief advocacy officer at Human Rights Watch. “More platitudes about a two-state solution and peace process will do nothing to advance the conference’s goals, nor to halt the extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.”

The conference is a response to the landmark July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory, which determined that Israel’s decades-long occupation is unlawful and breaches Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

The court found that Israel was responsible for apartheid and other serious abuses against the Palestinians, and reiterated that its settlements are illegal and should be dismantled. It also said the Palestinians were entitled to reparations.

A September 2024 UN General Assembly resolution endorsed the ICJ ruling and set a one-year deadline for Israel to end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).”

The conference is taking place in the context of ongoing hostilities in Israeli-occupied Gaza, including war crimes, the crimes against humanity of extermination and forced displacement, and acts of genocide.

These crimes are in contravention of three binding ICJ rulings in a genocide case brought by South Africa. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

States parties to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) have an obligation to “employ all tools reasonably at their disposal” to prevent genocide. That obligation is triggered when a state learns, or should normally have learned, of a serious risk that genocide may be committed.

That threshold of a serious risk of genocide was crossed long ago, Human Rights Watch said. This has been clear from the ICJ rulings ordering provisional measures in South Africa’s genocide case. South Africa brought the case in response to Israeli forces’ systematic destruction of homes, apartment buildings, orchards and fields, schools, hospitals, and water and sanitation facilities in Gaza, as well as Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war.

Recently, some governments have taken long overdue steps that others should emulate. On July 16, 12 countries committed to concrete measures to “break the ties of complicity with Israel’s campaign of devastation in Palestine,” including preventing the transfer of arms to Israel.

The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Slovenia, and Norway have imposed targeted sanctions on two Israeli government ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The UK has suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and announced a review of the 2030 Road Map for UK-Israel bilateral relations.

The European Union recently found Israel in breach of the human rights clause of the bilateral EU-Israel Association Agreement, though EU governments remain divided on whether to suspend the agreement. Nine EU governments have asked the EU Commission to introduce a ban on trade and business with illegal settlements, while Irish authorities have proposed a unilateral ban.

Some governments have moved to join the many that recognize a Palestinian state, which is already a state party to key human rights and criminal law treaties, including the Rome Statute.

Much more is needed, though, to stop the Israeli authorities’ extermination, persecution, and apartheid against Palestinians.

At the conference, UN member governments should commit to concrete, time-bound steps to comply with their own obligations under international law, including the Genocide Convention, and to increase pressure on Israeli authorities to comply with theirs, including:

Suspending military assistance and arms sales to Israel.

Imposing targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials and others credibly implicated in ongoing serious violations.

Banning all trade and business with illegal settlements.

Suspending political, economic, and trade deals with Israel.

Publicly expressing support for the ICC, strongly condemning efforts to intimidate or interfere with its work, and committing to support the execution of all its warrants.

Publicly supporting and fully funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinians.

Addressing root causes, including by recognizing Israeli authorities’ crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.

Reconstituting the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid or creating a new version based on its model focused on Israel/Palestine and other contemporary situations for which there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of apartheid is being committed.

Pressing the Israeli government to recognize the right of Palestinians, including refugees, to return to their homes.

Supporting the creation of an international register of damages caused by unlawful Israeli action to persons in Israel and the OPT, to calculate reparations.

During the conference, the UN General Assembly should adopt a resolution that spells out these commitments with a clear timetable for their implementation. The assembly should periodically report on compliance with its commitments and hold public meetings on those reports. The conference should not be a one-off event.

The General Assembly has already proven it can take meaningful steps on Syria, Myanmar, Russia, and Israel/Palestine. The assembly has already called on states to restrict arms sales to Israel. But it can go further by endorsing a comprehensive, global arms embargo and regularly reporting on which governments continue to supply Israeli authorities with arms and munitions.

The UN Security Council should have taken such steps long ago but is paralyzed by the United States, which is complicit in Israel’s war crimes with its ongoing arms transfers and determined to ensure impunity for Israeli abuses. The US sanctions against ICC officials and the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the OPT, Francesca Albanese, are examples.

“This conference should demonstrate that governments have finally decided to get serious about human rights and international law when it comes to Israel and Palestine,” Stagno said. “Without clear action from governments, Israeli authorities will only continue to exterminate and expel Palestinians.”

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/22/un-end-impunity-for-israeli-crimes-against-palestinians
https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/north-africa/israel/palestine

IPS UN Bureau

 

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