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Amir Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East (Syria). Credit: UN Photo/ Evan Schneider

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2025 (IPS)

As sectarian violence rises in Syria, the number of displaced people has climbed exponentially since Syrian forces joined clashes between the Druze and Bedouin groups in the Sweida region.

Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric reported in the daily press briefing this Wednesday, “More than 145,000 people have now been displaced due to hostilities in the Suweida governorate.” This marks a rise of over 50,000 people since Monday, when the spokesperson reported 93,000 displaced.

The conflict originated as a dispute between the Druze and Bedouin, two minorities in southern Syria. In Sweida, a Druze-majority city, armed government forces were deployed to quell the violence and regain control of local government structures primarily led by Druze people.

However, after Israel bombed Damascus, citing harms against Druze civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined a new plan to demilitarize Syrian territory from “south of Damascus and the Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain.”

This decision was widely criticized by global actors, including Secretary-General António Guterres, who called it “essential that these attacks stop and that Israel respect Syria’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and independence.”

Israel is just one of the many countries involved in Syria’s politics and violence. During the Syrian civil war, a period of general pro-democracy political uprising in the Middle East, countries like Iran and Russia backed the current regime in efforts to prevent further Western influence. Supporting various rebel groups were Turkey, the United States, and Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, each with their own strategic and ideological goals.

As a result, Syria has become a battleground not only for internal factions but also for foreign powers vying for regional influence—often with devastating consequences for the civilian population.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 15.8 million people across Syria were in need of humanitarian assistance as of March 2025, the highest number recorded since the conflict began in 2011. The escalating violence in Sweida further intensifies the crisis and strains an already overstretched aid network.

Medical services have been especially hard-hit. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centers are operating at full capacity, many others struggling due to damaged infrastructure, medicine shortages and the departure of medical personnel.

According to UNDP assessments, there is only one doctor per 2,000 people due to migration over the past decades. Due to the sharp decline in public health spending, these flaws in healthcare infrastructure are particularly glaring in a time when violence has worsened.

However, problems in Syrian infrastructure extend beyond the immediate crisis. UNDP also reported that 30 percent to 50 percent of schools are out of service, damaged, destroyed or repurposed due to war-related destruction or lack of maintenance. Schools that are still operational often do not receive state funding for basic utilities like water, electricity, or heating.

UNICEF has raised alarms about the impact of the conflict on children. The agency estimates that over 2.4 million children are out of school, many of them having been displaced multiple times.

“Years of war and violence have shattered the lives of Syria’s children, with many enduring a lifetime of hardship,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. This has caused stagnation in Syria’s growth—without children to help rebuild infrastructure in education and healthcare, the system remains weakened.

Due to such precarious federal institutions, humanitarian access has similarly lessened. In past years, the UN Security Council has been unable to renew critical cross-border aid mechanisms due to vetoes from permanent members, leaving much of the aid delivery dependent on unstable domestic routes.

In a recent Geneva press briefing, it was confirmed that humanitarian convoys have been delayed or blocked from reaching Sweida and Daraa due to active fighting and lack of security guarantees.

As the power vacuum deepens in Syria, with the central government’s grip weakening and local militias and foreign actors carving out zones of influence, civilians are increasingly left without protection or basic services. The latest violence in Sweida illustrates the high cost of this fragmentation: an already fragile region now overwhelmed by displacement, cut off from aid, and exposed to indiscriminate attacks.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

The Syrian humanitarian crisis is on the rise. The infrastructure remains precarious since the civil war and sectarian violence continues.

Leaders, policymakers, and partners unite at Africa Day 2025. Credit: Shreya Komar/IPS

By Shreya Komar
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2025 (IPS)

Africa is making progress on over two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the pace remains far too slow to meet the 2030 targets, especially in areas like decent employment, gender equality, and access to social protection.

This was the central warning of the newly released Africa Sustainable Development Report (ASDR), launched during the 2025 Africa Day session at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum.

The report, which tracks alignment between the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN’s 2030 Agenda, offers a sobering yet actionable picture: Africa’s development efforts are gaining traction, but deep structural barriers, ranging from inadequate financing and data gaps to high youth unemployment and gender-based exclusion, continue to stall momentum.

Despite being home to several of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the continent faces an annual sustainable development financing gap of up to USD 762 billion, according to the report. Social protection coverage remains alarmingly low, with only 19 percent of vulnerable populations benefiting from any form of safety net. Public investment in social protection across most African countries is below 3 percent of GDP, significantly under the global average.

“The current pace of progress is insufficient to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” the report warns, prompting leaders to explore actionable strategies for scaling up inclusive growth, regional integration, and institutional capacity building across the continent.

Health outcomes have improved in areas like life expectancy and disease control, but maternal mortality and unequal access to care persist. Gender equality remains constrained by legal barriers, high rates of violence, and the burden of unpaid care work.

On SDG 8, the continent struggles with low productivity, informality, and youth unemployment, emphasizing the need for inclusive job creation and economic transformation. While the continent has seen some recovery in sectors like tourism, key indicators such as GDP growth per capita (down from 2.7 percent in 2021 to 0.7 percent in 2023) and youth employment remain weak. Over 23 percent of African youth are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), with women disproportionately affected. Despite its potential, tourism contributed just 6.8 percent to GDP in 2023.

Economic shocks, climate change, and geopolitical instability continue to undermine job creation and sustainable growth. The report calls for data-driven strategies, innovative financing, and integrated policies to bridge development gaps and build resilient, equitable systems aligned with both global and continental agendas.

“It is not enough to just create jobs, but we must ensure safe working conditions,” said H.E. Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed acknowledged the uneven starting point for African countries, stating, “too often, Africa isn’t at the table where decisions are made but is the first to feel the impact.” She added, “Our young people deserve more than we give them,” highlighting the pressing need for inclusive investment in youth education.

Central to the discussion was the need to mobilize greater technical and financial support, scale up climate financing, tackle illicit financial flows, and reduce social and economic inequalities. Participants emphasized stronger partnerships (SDG 17), inclusive social protection systems, and youth- and women-led innovation as key enablers for transformational change. The launch of the ASDR marked a major milestone, offering data-driven insights to support national strategies.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Rescue workers line up body bags in Tal Al Sultan, in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Credit: UNOCHA

By James E. Jennings
ATLANTA, USA, Jul 30 2025 (IPS)

Why is a grinning Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, wildly cheered by both Democrats and Republicans whenever he addresses the US Congress, while at the same time in Gaza countless innocent civilians are being killed by American bombs and bullets—and now babies are starving?

Shamefully, Israel’s leader, a certified genocidaire, is one of the few global leaders to have ever been granted the privilege of speaking to Congress, which he has done frequently. But the world sees and will remember his Big Lie that “There is no starvation in Gaza.”

The mantle of righteousness that once adorned the American flag after WW II is shredded, perhaps beyond repair. President Roosevelt’s global goal of “Four Freedoms”—freedom of speech, of religion, of want, and of fear, are no longer defended or even recognized by the US government.

US presidents from Kennedy to Obama have asserted American exceptionalism by using the Biblical “City on a Hill,” as a figure of speech. President Ronald Reagan frequently claimed in his speeches during the Cold War that the United States is like that city, a position so prominent that all the world can see our purity of motives and good works in the struggle against the Evil Empire. That might have been true once but today is laughable.

Most of the jet planes and bombs Israel has used over the past months to kill and wound civilians have come from the United States. They have been instruments to pulverize a high percentage of the buildings in Gaza and torment with fire and death unarmed families seeking handouts of food or just huddling in their tents.

The Israeli army’s dominance of Gaza’s tiny territory is total, with no military objectives left, yet they keep bombing despite the worldwide outcry that this is not truly a war but a genocide against the civilian population. US citizens have mostly ignored the fact that for nearly two years President Biden and President Trump have merrily kept feeding the Israeli war machine’s Turkey Shoot.

So far, the result of nearly twenty-two months of unremitting bombing of Gaza’s homes and tents with US-supplied money and weapons has been killing and wounding more than 100,000 mostly unarmed, innocent, unprotected civilians, the greatest number of them women and children.

By now Hamas has no power to resist, if they ever did in the past. They have repeatedly agreed to release the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. No deal. The Likud government is greedy for land for new settlements and is down to three options for the millions of people in Gaza—either kill them by continued bombing; blockade and starve them as now; or forcibly remove them.

But forcible transfer is the very definition of genocide. Another option—to enslave them, has already been tried on a smaller scale before the Hamas outbreak of October 7, 2023. Many Gazans used to travel to jobs in Israel under punishing and humiliating low wage conditions, but no longer.

The US government and people cannot continue to deny the plain fact of what has happened and is happening daily and nightly in Gaza. We Americans must choose the high road of civilized behavior or else forever be classed with the some of the most rapacious, bloody, and evil regimes in history.

James E. Jennings PhD is President of Conscience International. A former professor of Middle East History, he has led numerous aid teams to Gaza since 1987.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By CIVICUS
Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS speaks with Matthew Renshaw, a partner at a UK law firm that represents Nigerian communities taking legal action against Shell over environmental damage caused by its operations in the Niger Delta.

Matthew Renshaw

Two Nigerian communities, Bille and Ogale, are suing Shell in the UK over decades of oil spills in the Niger Delta that have devastated their land, water and way of life. The High Court has ruled that Shell and its former Nigerian subsidiary can be held liable for ongoing environmental damage, even if caused by oil theft or sabotage, and regardless of how long ago the spills occurred. The decision builds on a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that allowed UK-based parent companies to be sued for harm abroad. A full trial is set for March 2027.

How has oil pollution affected these communities?

Each of the three communities we represent in the Niger Delta have been affected by Shell’s operations in different ways.

The Bodo community endured two major oil spills from Shell pipelines in 2008 that released over half a million barrels of oil, causing the largest devastation of mangrove habitat in history. Families who once depended on fishing can no longer provide for themselves. Even swimming in the waterways is dangerous due to oil contamination. Despite bringing the case before UK courts in 2011, the community is still demanding a proper cleanup that they say has never materialised.

As for the Bille and Ogale communities, they brought their cases against Shell in the UK in 2015. The Ogale community depends primarily on farming and fishing, but since the 1980s, Shell has recorded around 100 spills in and around the area that have resulted in serious contamination of the drinking water. The United Nations conducted tests in 2011 and declared a public health emergency, but very little was done in response. Shell briefly provided safe water to residents, but that ended years ago. With no alternative sources available, many people have been forced to use visibly polluted water to drink and bathe their children.

The Bille community lives on islands in a riverine area where residents depend heavily on fishing and harvesting shellfish. A major pipeline runs directly through the community, very close to where people live. Between 2011 and 2013, multiple oil spills from Shell destroyed mangrove habitats. As with the Bodo community, fishing has become impossible for many people, forcing some to abandon their homes and communities entirely.

Why sue in the UK rather than Nigeria?

The decision to sue Shell in the UK came from our clients. While Shell operates in Nigeria through a local subsidiary, the parent company is based in the UK and has profited immensely from its Niger Delta operations, so our clients view it as equally responsible for the pollution in their communities.

They also believe they can’t get justice in Nigeria. The Nigerian legal system is notoriously slow: cases can take decades to reach judgement due to automatic rights of appeal. Many people won’t live to see justice. Bringing this type of case before Nigerian courts is also prohibitively expensive, because it requires extensive expert evidence that’s inaccessible to most affected communities.

In contrast, UK funding mechanisms make it far more feasible for our clients to pursue justice. They also trust they’ll receive a fairer hearing in London. This approach has already shown results: in the Bodo case, Shell finally brought in international experts to attempt cleanup. International litigation generates meaningful outcomes that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

Even when Shell argued that the case should be heard in Nigeria, in 2021 the UK Supreme Court ruled that because Shell PLC may share responsibility with its subsidiary, the case could proceed in London.

How is Shell defending itself?

Shell claims that most Niger Delta pollution stems from oil theft by local criminals, commonly known as ‘bunkering’. According to Shell, these criminals steal oil from pipelines to sell directly or refine into fuel. The company insists its operations are clean and criminals are to blame, arguing it’s doing its best to stop theft and therefore shouldn’t be held responsible.

This defence is fundamentally flawed. While oil theft is certainly a significant problem in Nigeria, Shell’s claims are overstated. Numerous spills have nothing to do with theft. They’re caused simply by poorly maintained infrastructure and decades-old pipelines that are not fit for purpose. This stands in stark contrast to other countries where maintenance is taken far more seriously.

Even accepting Shell’s argument, our clients contend that Shell should have taken reasonable precautions to prevent foreseeable theft. In other countries, pipelines are buried, fitted with detection systems and monitored closely to detect intrusion attempts or spills. Our clients contend that Shell has failed to implement these basic measures in the Niger Delta.

What did the recent court ruling say, and what do you hope to achieve?

The High Court sided with our position, ruling that if Shell failed to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm, it can be liable for pollution caused by bunkering. Significantly, the court also rejected Shell’s claims that it couldn’t be held liable for spills older than five years, ruling that if a spill has still not been cleaned up – even if it happened decades ago – the company can still be held accountable.

This ruling has far-reaching implications. It’s particularly significant for the Ogale case where pollution dates back to the 1980s, and it opens the door for many other Niger Delta communities affected by legacy spills dating to the 1970s or earlier. Beyond Nigeria, the ruling sends a warning to multinational companies attempting to divest from polluting operations without accepting responsibility for the damage left behind.

Our clients seek three main outcomes from the 2027 trial: proper cleanup and environmental remediation of their polluted lands, emergency provisions such as access to clean drinking water and compensation for lost livelihoods and damaged property.

A pressing concern is Shell’s recent divestment from its onshore operations in Nigeria. The company has sold its assets to a consortium and is attempting to walk away from decades of pollution. While the communities we represent have at least secured court proceedings, many others have been left behind with no cleanup and no accountability.

We’re determined to prevent Shell and other multinational companies from abandoning polluted sites without taking responsibility. Success in holding Shell accountable, including for decades-old spills, could establish crucial legal precedents. Legally, it would confirm that companies remain responsible for long-term environmental damage. Morally, it’s about basic fairness: after decades of extracting resources and making huge profits, companies shouldn’t be allowed to leave behind a toxic legacy.

While our case won’t create internationally binding precedents, it could significantly influence how similar claims are litigated in other countries, particularly in common law jurisdictions.

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Four-year-old Ma July Phyo sits in a makeshift shelter in Mandalay with her mother, Ma Khin Phyo Kai, on April 2, 2025, five days after the deadly earthquake that struck Myanmar. Despite a ceasefire announced after the earthquake, the Tatmadaw continued its aerial attacks on local villages in its fight against armed resistance groups across the country, which continues to have deadly consequences for civilians. Credit: Maung Nyan/UNICEF

By Naomi Myint Breuer
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

In Myanmar, airstrikes occur almost daily. The phenomenon has become common since civil war broke out following the 2021 military coup that replaced the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) with the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military. Several human rights organizations report that these airstrikes are disproportionately targeting civilians and harming lives.

The Tatmadaw uses airstrikes to fight armed resistance groups, such as the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), and regain control of areas from these groups, who control about 42 percent of the country’s territory, according to a BBC investigation published December 19, 2024.

After the March 28 earthquake, the Myanmar military and other groups involved declared a ceasefire, but attacks continued. Myanmar Witness reported 80 airstrikes occurred between March 28 and April 24, including in emergency-declared areas.

The Karen Human Rights Group reports that airstrikes are part of a broader attack on civilians in the country. Human rights groups and the UN found that the military disproportionately targets civilians with not only bombs but also mass executions of detained people and large-scale burning of homes.

Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric said these strikes are part of a pattern of attacks across the country.

“There are frequent reports of people being killed, injured or displaced by violence—as well as increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure,” he said at a July 16 press briefing.

Recent airstrikes, such as a July 11 strike on a monastery in Lin Ta Lu village, which killed 23 and injured 30, have redrawn attention to the country’s ongoing conflict. The Lin Ta Lu attack came weeks after the military began an offensive to reclaim territories controlled by resistance groups.

Public and religious sites have become targets. Myanmar Witness, a Centre for Information Resilience project investigating human rights in Myanmar, reported a trend of military operations hitting large civilian gatherings, with 109 cases of airstrikes damaging religious sites in 2024. A wedding held in a monastery in Magway Region was bombed on Feb. 25 after an invitation was posted on social media. They estimate that 11 people were killed.

“These trends highlight that religious and cultural sites are becoming increasingly at risk of complete destruction as a result of internal conflict in the country,” Myanmar Witness reported.

Dozens of schools have also been attacked, resulting in deaths and injuries of children. Many children have stopped attending school due to safety concerns. An aerial attack on a school in Oe Htein Kwin village in the Sagaing region on May 12 killed around 20 students and wounded dozens.

A Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD) school principal told the Karen Human Rights Group that all four of the school’s buildings were destroyed by bombs in a March 23, 2024 airstrike in a village in Doo Tha Htoo District. The cost of rebuilding is expensive, and they did not know whether anyone would be able to help rebuild it.

“I am sad to see the destruction of my school and worry that children will not be able to go to school…” the principal said. “I do not know how to describe my feelings of extreme fear. My whole heart breaks when I see the destroyed school. I cannot do anything now.”

Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, an activist group, accused international governments and corporations that fund, arm and train the Tatmadaw of empowering the military’s violent actions.

“The Myanmar military’s escalating violence against civilians, including through the intensification of airstrikes that target children, is not happening in a vacuum,” Maung told IPS.

Maung praised Airbus’ recent divestment from AviChina Industry & Technology Company Limited due to its links to the violence in Myanmar.

“Others must follow,” Maung said. “Governments must also act with stronger targeted sanctions on the military, its businesses, cronies and partners.”

The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar is investigating whether the Tatmadaw’s actions can be classified as crimes against humanity. The Mechanism called for information on aerial attacks for its investigation. They are prioritizing investigating attacks on children.

“Airstrikes that are indiscriminate or which target civilians may be war crimes or crimes against humanity,” the Mechanism wrote.

The airstrikes make it difficult for the UN to deliver humanitarian assistance to people in need. Currently, one in three people in Myanmar face acute hunger, according to Dujarric.

“We urgently, and once again, call on all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law,” he said.

Myanmar receives far less attention than other regions undergoing conflict and distress. Without the same level of attention, the war cannot end and the humanitarian situation will not be alleviated. Myanmar Witness said that it is important to continue reporting on the situation in Myanmar so as to keep other nations updated. They said the situation is complex and can be difficult for foreigners to understand.

“The international community isn’t as aware of this continuing internal conflict due to other important conflicts taking media attention, particularly in Western news outlets,” Myanmar Witness wrote to IPS. “It is important to continuously push to get news about Myanmar out to the international community as much as we can.”

 

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Elders Advisory Group - Juan Manuel Santos, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, and Mary Robinson. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

Dignitaries across the international community have convened in New York to promote the two-State Solution – the coexistence of Israel and Palestine as sovereign states – as the only path forward to shared sustainable peace in the Middle East. Former and current leaders from 145 countries and independent groups will speak at the United Nations to demonstrate their ‘near-universal support’ and discuss the steps that need to be taken to achieve it.

The UN high-level conference on the two-state solution, which is co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is taking place at UN Headquarters from 28-30 July. The conference includes thematic discussions on issues relating to regional security and the reconstruction of Gaza and statements from member states and regional stakeholders.

There is a shared spirit of cooperation and consensus from the participating member states to move forward with the two-state solution, according to representatives of The Elders. Founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, The Elders are an independent advisory group of global leaders working towards peace, justice and a sustainable future.

Members from the group, including its current chair and former president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, spoke to the press on Monday afternoon on this “interesting and exceptional moment for the UN, for the Middle East, for the world,” as Santos remarked.

“The position that The Elders have taken has, in a way, generated some kind of reaction, especially from the [present] Israeli government. That has made our task a bit more difficult, but we persevere,” said Santos. “My own experience is that every conflict sooner or later has a resolution.” He further noted that the “circumstances may be right” to negotiate the two-state solution in light of the urgency of the “humanitarian tragedy” unfolding in Gaza and expressed his hope that this would “facilitate a process” for long-term peace and stability in the Middle East.

“It’s a moment built on when we can hopefully see a real commitment to the two-state solution in practical, real terms,” said Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and former chair of The Elders. Robinson noted the opportunity this would present going into the UN General Assembly in September.

At present, more than 59,000 deaths have been reported in Gaza since October 2023. In recent weeks, reports from the UN and humanitarian aid partners have warned of mass starvation and acute malnutrition in Gaza, where at least 74 people have died due to malnutrition and one in five children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Within Israel and Palestine, there are also advocates for the two-state solution, and they already have their own approach to this, according to Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He referred to one initiative led by Israeli and Palestinian advocates calling for a “Two States, One Homeland” framework, which includes an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian states, careful negotiation over territorial adjustments instead, and the freedom of movement and residence for all Israelis and Palestinians.

“I think the very strength of it is that it is being driven by Israelis and Palestinians themselves, activists and lawyers,” said Al-Hussein. “We thought that it’s important that the conference understand the creative thinking that’s going on outside the UN.”

“We want to see a two-state solution as an end goal but understand it in practical terms of how to actually take place, so we gave expression to that.”

Both Israel and the United States have boycotted the conference, citing reasons relating to the ongoing hostage situation in Gaza and ceasefire negotiations stalling due to Hamas’ refusal to cooperate.

There was significant pressure to finally move forward on this matter. “You know, there is a real sense of urgency,” Robinson said regarding the international community’s response. “And I think that can’t be ignored, even by a powerful United States supporting Israel, the current Israeli government. And of course, they particularly can’t ignore the widespread sense now of an unfolding genocide.”

Robinson further suggested that the U.S. could exert its influence over Israel to pull back from the war and end the mass starvation campaign, which runs the risk of straining relations between the historic allies if Israel does not listen to the U.S.’s demands, and the “realization that the U.S. is becoming complicit in a genocide.”

Apart from the U.S., other players in the geopolitical landscape, notably members of the European Union (EU), could take clear measures to halt the fighting. Robinson reported that countries responsible for arms transfers, such as the United Kingdom and France, could halt their operations and prevent them from getting into the hands of Hamas or Israeli military forces. Further sanctions could be imposed on Israeli leaders responsible for the “systemic violations” and illegal settlements, as well as a review of their trade agreements with Israel.

Hamas’ involvement in negotiations has also been a point of debate, with France calling for their demilitarization. Santos said that the “cause that moved Hamas” could become “obsolete” once an agreement is reached. He further remarked that Hamas would need to “evolve” into a force that could participate in the Palestinian structure and would allow them to be part of the solution without being a “spoiler or disruptive force.”

Santos also remarked, “Hamas is more of a cause. For every militant that is killed, two more are born.”

In reference to the “strategic mistake” Israel made in declaring its intention to destroy the group. In their efforts to do so and project a certain image, the war in Gaza that has raged on for nearly two years will likely cost Israel and its standing with its own people, the international Jewish community, and even the United States. This could pressure Israel into joining negotiations.

Further support for the two-state solution could also be cemented as more countries recognize the state of Palestine. Prior to the conference, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would officially recognize the state of Palestine in September during the UN General Assembly. This is significant because, as Robinson noted, it is the first member of the Group of 7 to recognize Palestinian statehood. This has the potential to “create much more momentum” should other EU members make the same move.

The Elders were consistent in their hope for the enthusiasm and global consensus for the two-state solution displayed so far during this conference. How far these negotiations can proceed after this week would also be dependent on the willing participation of all parties and states. In this case, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza underpins this conference with a sense of urgency to take action sooner rather than later, however unlikely it seems under the current circumstances.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Activists march in the street of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo to demand climate justice and an end to oil exploration in the Virunga National Park. Credit: MNKF Creatives

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SRINAGAR, India & KINSHASA, DRC, Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stands on the precipice of a profound environmental and social crisis, as the government prepares to auction 55 new oil blocks that cover more than half the country’s landmass.

Touted as a pathway to economic growth, the move has triggered fierce backlash from scientists, civil society groups, Indigenous leaders, and international conservationists, who warn that the proposed fossil fuel expansion threatens some of the most ecologically and culturally significant landscapes on Earth.

According to a new report by Earth Insight and its partners, titled “Forests to Frontlines: Oil Expansion Threats in the DRC,” the 2025 licensing round—covering a staggering 124 million hectares—poses catastrophic risks to biodiversity, climate stability, Indigenous rights, and global environmental commitments.

The DRC is home to the world’s second-largest rainforest and the largest tropical peatland complex, known as the Cuvette Centrale. These ecosystems are not just national treasures—they are global climate regulators, storing billions of tonnes of carbon and sustaining rainfall patterns across Africa. But with 66.8 million hectares of intact forest—64% of the country’s remaining wilderness—now within the new oil block boundaries, experts fear the irreversible collapse of one of Earth’s last ecological strongholds.

“The Congo Basin is nearing an ecological tipping point. Further fragmentation could flip its forests from carbon sinks to carbon sources, triggering climate feedback loops with devastating planetary consequences,” the report warns.

Oil Blocks vs. Protected Areas

While the DRC government claims to have spared high-profile protected zones like Virunga National Park from direct overlap with oil blocks, the report reveals that this is a smokescreen. Roughly 8.3 million hectares of protected areas and 8.6 million hectares of Key Biodiversity Areas are still overlapped by the new blocks.

What’s more, even oil blocks positioned just outside protected zones can cause significant harm. Road construction, pipeline development, and increased human encroachment lead to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and growing tensions between local communities and conservation authorities.

The report underscores that environmental protection on paper means little if the surrounding buffer zones are sacrificed to industrial expansion.

The Green Corridor Betrayed

In January 2025, the DRC government declared the establishment of the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor, an ambitious conservation initiative spanning 540,000 km²—an area the size of France. It was praised as a groundbreaking step toward landscape-scale conservation and sustainable development.

Just months later, however, 72% of this same corridor has been overlapped by newly designated oil blocks.

“The overlap between oil blocks and the Green Corridor undermines the very ecosystems the project was designed to protect. This is a betrayal of community rights, climate action, and biodiversity promises,” Emmanuel Musuyu, Executive Director of CORAP said.

Moreover, local communities whose lands fall within the corridor were not properly consulted. Now, they face the double threat of exclusion under conservation frameworks and degradation from extractive industry—without benefiting from either.

Peatlands in Peril

Perhaps the most dire warning in the report concerns the Cuvette Centrale, the largest tropical peatland on Earth. This region stores an estimated 30 gigatons of carbon—roughly equivalent to global emissions over three years.

The new oil blocks span nearly the entire DRC portion of these peatlands, putting them at imminent risk of degradation. Activities such as drilling, road-building, and seismic testing could drain the wetlands, exposing carbon-rich peat to oxygen and unleashing vast quantities of CO₂ and methane into the atmosphere.

“Even small disturbances in peatlands can trigger runaway emissions. If degraded, they are almost impossible to restore within human timescales,” reads the report.

The Cuvette Centrale is a globally irreplaceable carbon sink. To drill there would not just be short-sighted—it would be a global catastrophe.

“Peatlands are extremely important ecosystems, and the Cuvette Centrale peatlands represent one of the largest terrestrial carbon sinks on the planet. More safeguards need to be established to ensure the integrity of this vital ecosystem is maintained and industrial activities are limited,” Tyson Miller, Executive Director for Earth Insight, who is also one of the report authors, told IPS News.

The Human Cost: 39 Million Lives at Risk

Beyond ecosystems, the oil expansion endangers people—millions of them. The report estimates that 39 million people, nearly half the DRC’s population, live within the newly auctioned oil blocks. These communities rely on forests, rivers, and lands for their survival, livelihoods, and cultural identity.

Especially vulnerable are community forests, legally recognised lands governed by local populations. As of mid-2025, over 4 million hectares of such forests exist—and 63% now fall within oil block boundaries.

These forests represent not just environmental assets but legal victories and instruments of self-determination. Their incursion by oil development violates both national laws and international protections, including the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Contrary to promises of economic upliftment, past oil projects have shown that wealth rarely trickles down to local communities. Instead, they inherit contaminated water, degraded lands, and shattered livelihoods.

“We estimated the number of people living within the boundaries of the newly proposed oil blocks using 2020 UN adjusted constrained population estimate raster data (100m resolution) from WorldPop, a research program based at the University of Southampton. This data uses remotely sensed data to estimate the number of people living in each pixel, which we in turn use to calculate the population under threat. Outdated and missing census data, especially in rural areas, require that we use modelled population datasets,” Miller told IPS News.

Muanda: A Grim Glimpse of the Future

The coastal town of Muanda, home to the DRC’s only active oil operations, serves as a cautionary tale. Despite decades of extraction, Muanda remains among the country’s poorest regions. Locals suffer from polluted mangroves, shrinking fish stocks, and chronic illnesses—while oil revenues enrich foreign companies and Congolese elites.

“Muanda is the least developed oil town in the world. We breathe poisoned air, our natural livelihoods are gone, and there’s no health care to treat our illnesses,” said Alphonse Khonde, a resident.

The DRC now risks exporting this failed model across half its territory.

Civil Society Resists

Congolese civil society is not staying silent. In June 2025, a Week of Action saw protests, press briefings, and international advocacy from Kinshasa to London. At the forefront is the Our Land Without Oil coalition—a powerful alliance of grassroots organisations, Indigenous networks, and legal advocates.

Their message is resolute: “This government cannot claim to be a climate leader while auctioning off our forests and futures. We have a choice: dig our grave with oil or build a livable, dignified, and sovereign future,” said Pascal Mirindi, Campaign Coordinator.

The report also contains several urgent recommendations: cancel the 2025 oil licensing round and halt future hydrocarbon expansion; protect the Cuvette Centrale as a non-negotiable conservation priority; revoke oil blocks within the Green Corridor to honour its original vision; uphold Indigenous and community rights by ensuring free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and legal land recognition; invest in low-carbon development, including renewables and sustainable mineral extraction; and align international finance with climate goals rather than fossil fuel interests.

The Road Ahead

As the world races to combat climate change, the DRC faces a critical decision. Will it become a model of green leadership or fall into the familiar trap of extractive exploitation? The stakes couldn’t be higher—not just for the Congolese people, but for the planet.

The Congo Basin’s fate is the Earth’s fate. What happens next in the DRC will echo for generations.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Nadia Malyanah Azman
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

US President Trump has successfully used tariff threats to achieve economic, political and even personal goals. These threats, reminiscent of colonialism, have secured submission and concessions.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

After hearing the 2024 US elections, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto respectfully stood up in his Jakarta office to call to congratulate the winner.

Trump bragged about his tariff offer to Indonesia in mid-July 2025, flattering its president profusely. After hesitating initially, former General Prabowo had agreed to join BRICS, despite Trump’s clear disapproval.

“I spoke to their really great president, very popular, very strong, smart. And we made the deal. We will pay no tariffs…they are giving us access to Indonesia … the other part is they are going to pay 19% and we are going to pay nothing.”

An Indian commentator noted, “Those words say it all. This deal is clearly one-sided, and it should bother the whole world.” Americans, not Indonesians, will pay tariffs on imports from Indonesia.

The US is Indonesia’s second-largest export market, importing apparel, palm oil, footwear, and cosmetics. Initially, Trump had threatened a 32% tariff on such imports.

This has been reduced to 19%, still almost four times more than last year! In 2024, Indonesian exports to the US were taxed at 5% on average. The Indonesian president has not complained but instead seemed relieved.

Nadia Malyanah Azman

Indonesia will lose not only exports, but also growth and jobs. As Trump loves to brag, he added insult to injury as he could not resist reiterating: “They will pay 19%, and we will pay nothing.”

Guaranteed sales
Indonesia will also buy $15 billion of US oil and gas, $4.5 billion of farm produce, and 50 Boeing jets. But the 2019 Lion Air plane tragedy, which the US plane manufacturer quickly blamed on Indonesian pilots, is still alive in the national memory.

Boeing’s reputation worldwide has not recovered from the investigation into the Nairobi air crash involving the same plane model, which led to its grounding.

Indonesia is among the US’s top 25 trade partners. The deal secures American access to the Indonesian market, allowing US goods to be sold tariff-free.

Last year, Indonesia shipped $28 billion worth of goods to the US. Higher tariffs are now expected to cut Indonesian exports by a quarter, GDP growth by 0.3%, and many jobs!

Other Southeast Asian lessons?
The Philippines’ Marcos II government is the most pro-US in Southeast (SE) Asia, hosting 11 American military bases.

Yet it was the only one without a US tariff offer before Secretary of State Rubio’s SE Asian visit earlier this month. The Philippines has since been offered a new US trade deal with the same 19% tariff rate despite its loyalty to Washington.

Loyal long-term support for the US, 11 military bases and serving as an additional ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ just south of Taiwan did not secure a better trade deal for the other archipelagic nation in SE Asia.

Trump wants trade deals even more favourable to the US than existing ones. With deadlines passing, the US is expected to announce more trade deals.

The tariff threats have been more effective for Trump, thanks to decades of trade liberalisation forced on the Global South, undermining earlier import-substituting industrialisation and food security measures.

Washington has already revised earlier demands, sometimes not just once, but typically to the chagrin of US trade partners. Vietnam’s Communist Party leader was initially thought to have negotiated a better deal than other SE Asian governments.

Lessons for others?
Will the US offer to Indonesia become a template for others? Or even for countries of comparable significance in the world economy? Nobody knows Trump’s strategy, let alone how it may still change.

Perhaps it begins with the threat of high tariffs, shock and awe. Then, a less painful deal is offered, dressed up as a concession.

This may be worse than the status quo ante, but it still seems preferable to the original threat. Nations will also be required to buy US goods that may not be needed or offer the best value for money.

Thus, US offers to SE Asia are being studied worldwide for lessons on better negotiating with Washington. Meanwhile, the US refuses to negotiate collectively except with the European Union.

All over the world, policymakers will continue to debate Trump’s tariff war strategy after Monday’s agreement in Scotland, which included a 15% baseline tariff on most EU exports to the US.

The US-EU deal makes clear the West, including Europe, has never really been committed to a rules-based international order, including multilateral trade liberalisation.

As American buyers pay the tariffs, imported goods become more expensive. US trading partners will lose exports, related growth and jobs. This will mean less expansion, employment and exports worldwide, accelerating stagnation.

Meanwhile, most SE Asian governments believe they have little choice but to continue negotiating with the US, which is driving them to others willing to engage them on more favourable, if not fairer, terms.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A woman and child walk through the heavily bombed town of Khuza’a in the Gaza Strip. Credit: UN Women/Samar Abu Elouf

By Stephanie Hodge
NEW YORK, Jul 29 2025 (IPS)

In Geneva, nearly 600 UN staff based at the UN Office there held an Extraordinary Staff Union meeting on July 24, 2025, passing a unanimous motion of no confidence in the UN80 reform initiative, the Secretary General António Guterres, and Under Secretary General Guy Ryder—with no abstentions and no dissenting voices (source).

Meanwhile, Gaza is being flattened. The war has become the deadliest ever for UN personnel: over 200 UNRWA staff have been killed since October 2023 (UNRWA). At Least 116 Staff Members of United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency Killed in 2024, Bringing Total to 263 Staff Fatalities Since War in Gaza – UN Staff Union Committee – Question of Palestine

Aid starvation is mounting. UN agencies warn Gaza faces mass starvation, with children visibly wasting away and some aid workers joining food lines themselves (Amnesty International). Reports describe scenes of “walking corpses” due to critical shortages of food, water, and medicine (The Times).

As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away – Amnesty International ‘Walking corpses’ haunt Gaza streets: UN says children dying of starvation, India urges emergency relief – The Economic Times

Despite the conditions, famine has not been officially declared—due to access constraints and the politicization of humanitarian data (Associated Press). Experts say Gaza is at risk of famine but haven’t declared one. Here’s why. | AP News

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirms collapse of health and water services, especially in Rafah (OCHA Flash Update #165). Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #165 | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Occupied Palestinian Territory

Enter UN80, a sweeping internal reform launched in mid 2025 to mark the UN’s 80th anniversary. Promoted under the veneer of “modernization” and “efficiency,” the plan cuts junior-level positions, consolidates decision-making in the Secretary-General’s office, and accelerates centralization—without transparent evaluation of previous reform cycles or external oversight (IPI Commentary). UN80 and the Reckoning Ahead: Can Structural Reform Deliver Real Change? – IPI Global Observatory

The UN’s own Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) warned in its 2023 report that widespread use of affiliate workers and non-staff consultants had undermined accountability. In earlier reports, the JIU criticized prior reforms for concentrating authority without improving transparency or including field voices. JIU/REP/2023/8

This is not a system in crisis—it’s a system functioning as designed: to protect reputation, manage political risk, and suppress the dissent of its own workforce. It prioritizes control over service, and branding over substance.

Meanwhile, global crises—from Ukraine to Sudan—are exposing the UN’s deepening credibility crisis. A 2022 High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) report recognized growing internal distrust and institutional fatigue (UN CEB HLCM Report). Microsoft Word – 2211281E.docx

So, what now?

We need truth-tellers inside the system. Staff who document abuses. Analysts who refuse to whitewash data. Leaders who resist sanitizing the truth to please donors. These are the ones who can restore integrity to institutions that have lost their compass.

There is a moral precedent in the figure of Job. He did not suffer because he failed, but because he refused to lie. In the face of collapse, he remained grounded in truth. That refusal—not obedience—is what sustained him.

Not every fight is winnable. But silence?

That’s not an option.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

If the UN is to survive the 21st century, it must retake its soul. That begins with truth. Not PR. Not spin. Truth that costs something.

Stephanie Hodge is an international evaluator and former UN advisor who has worked across 140 countries. She is a former staffer of UNDP 1994-1996 & 1999- 2004 and UNICEF 2008-2014. She writes on governance, multilateral reform, and climate equity.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Demonstration against Trump-era policies in Seattle, May 1, 2025. Credit: Peter Constantini

By Peter Costantini
SEATTLE, USA, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

President Donald Trump reportedly wants to add his own head to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. But the National Park Service says there’s no room next to the four current presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. [Branch & White 6/27/2025] Here’s an innovative proposal for how to immortalize him right there in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On the backside of the same rocky bluff where the monument is located, the President will unveil a full-body statue of himself. His combover is made of gold-plated carbon fiber that scintillates in the breeze. He bestrides an imposing masonry wall fronted by a moat filled with alligators and poisonous snakes, an idea that he purportedly floated during his first term. [Shear & Davis 10/2/2019]

The statue is as dynamic as its subject. Starting at dawn, Trump’s nose gradually grows out all day into a long, Pinocchio-like proboscis.

The soundtrack features the greatest hits from the President’s vast playlist of falsehoods – the Washington Post counted 30,573 false or misleading claims over his first term, around 20 per day. [Kessler et al 1/24/2021]. And veteran White House correspondent Peter Baker has analyzed them extensively in the New York Times. [Baker 2/23/2025] The nose grows proportionately to the magnitude and creativity of each whopper. Then it retracts at night.

The grand finale comes at sundown, when the President’s pants suddenly catch fire. In honor of his “Drill, Baby, Drill” energy policy, we’re not talking an LED or laser light show here. This has got to be something with a respectable carbon footprint, like methane. The blaze illuminates the whole monument and can be seen from outer space.

At this point, you may be wondering whether the President would embrace this sort of monument to his mendacity. Well, don’t underestimate his passion for inspired grifting (for example, see his pardon of Steve Bannon). [Costantini 10/4/2021]

As one pundit put it: “His superpower is his shamelessness.” [The 11th Hour 5/22/2025] The President once notoriously joked that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” [Dwyer 1/23/2016]

The Supreme Court later backed his boast with a king-size get-our-of-jail-free card in Trump v. United States, in which it ruled that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office. [Congressional Research Office 7/5/2024]

Why would he not take equal pride in his ability to pull the most brazen prevarications out of his ample posterior and watch some of his base worship them as gospel, while others just revel in “owning the libs”.

Don’t miss the other entertaining features. Every couple of hours during the day, one of Trump’s arms extends out, the palm of his massive hand facing upward. A drone tricked out as a model of his new Air Force One 747 lands on it like a falcon, accompanied by fireworks and martial music. Look! The plane has a new name emblazoned on it: “The Emperor of Emoluments”!

At alternate hours, Trump’s other arm rises up with the palm facing down, sporting a gold-plated ring with giant zirconium jewels. Actors impersonating public figures approach, kiss the ring, and tell him their troubles.

He agrees to help, adding: “I’d like you to do me a favor, though.” Somber music from The Godfather amps up the gravitas. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, visitors can ask for pardons and other favors on a cell-phone app. An AI Trump entity reads the petitions and responds with appropriate noblesse oblige or scorn. But if he asks if you’re a public employee, beware: if you say “Yes”, his favorite reply is “You’re fired.”

Below the statue, a small herd of human heads on toad bodies greets visitors. These are talking robots representing Trump’s toadies: cabinet members, advisors, political allies, business partners, even tech bros. They sing extravagant praises of the President with quotes from his North Korea-style cabinet meetings. One group asks guests to sign a petition to award the President the Nobel Peace Prize. [CNN 7/7/2025]

On some evenings the lighting changes, and Trump’s statue is costumed as Czar Donald the Impaler. If you’re very lucky, you may catch a glimpse of a shadowy Stephen Miller whispering in his ear, cosplaying in monk drag as his Mini-Rasputin. He’s just a hologram, too.

However, someone did recruit a special force of live ICE agents who roam the monument in plain-clothes packs. As long as you don’t “look foreign”, you have nothing to fear from them. If you do “look foreign”, you could win an all-expenses-paid open-ended vacation to El Salvador or South Sudan.

Looking for fun for the kids? Saddle up for an immigration rodeo. Holograms of immigrant families climb over the wall and try to cross the moat.

Players mounted on robot horses can “shoot them in the legs” with laser tags, as Trump suggested, and then herd them into two virtual concentration camps bristling with razor wire: one for kids, one for parents. [Shear & Davis 10/2/2019]

The more families you separate, the more points you earn. You can also bump your score up by denying the captives water or medical care. Then you can use your accumulated points to score Trump merch like golden watches, golden sneakers, and Holy Bibles.

But the fun is not just for kids. For adult fans of Trumponomics, there’s the Tariff Shoot. Who knew that tariffs are not really economic policies? As Trump has demonstrated, they are weapons you can use to blast countries you just don’t like.

For example, even though virtually no fentanyl enters the U.S. through Canada, the Big Guy has imposed crippling tariffs on our northern neighbor until they end all fentanyl smuggling. [Zahn 7/11/2025] The Tariff Shoot turns this boring trade tool into a dope game.

You shoot virtual tariff arrows from an electronic bow at a rotating holographic globe. When you hit a country, your game controller shows what goods you can put tariffs on and how much you can raise prices. You can also loot mineral rights and expropriate territory for your own private virtual country.

If you bankrupt a country, you can acquire outright ownership. Then at the end, you receive your winnings in Trump-backed cryptocurrency tokens. Best of all, if you hit the capital of a country, say Ottawa or Mexico City, you win a kewpie doll of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney or Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

And then there are other kinds of fun after the sun goes down. Away from the plebeian hurly-burly, there’s a secret part of the Trump monument open only to very rich men. It’s concealed behind a stone door located somewhere on a neighboring bluff. You have to buy the GPS coordinates and entry codes for a price starting well over seven figures.

And security? Let’s just say word on the Dark Web is that Erik Prince’s mercenaries enforce the non-disclosure agreement. Once you find it and enter the codes, the hidden door opens briefly and then slams shut behind you with a metallic clang. You’ve just gained entry into a virtual re-creation of Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. We’ll leave the rest to your imagination. But hey, big spender, not to worry. Counsel advises that it is not legally possible for holograms to be underage.

As magnificent as it will be, the Trump Monument at Mount Rushmore is just the opening play. It will serve as the spearhead of a much broader blitzkrieg to disrupt Big Park. A revamped DOGE will be called in to root out inefficiencies and corruption from national parks and monuments and finally to sell them off to private equity.

Plans are hatching to redevelop the tired old presidential faces. Move over, El Capitan: imagine rock climbing up Honest Abe’s nose. Join the kids hurtling down the bomb water slide in the gap between OG Washington and TJeff. And Trump’s real estate hounds are sniffing out a site to build a 50-story hotel on top of one of the surrounding bluffs.

Picture the majestic Trump Golden Calf Resort and Casino, featuring crossover themes from the Old West and the Old Testament. It will enforce the signature Trump policy of pay-to-play: if you want access to the premium features of the Trump Monument, why wouldn’t you want to stay at the premium lodging on-site?

And did someone mention links? If you’re looking for Trump-class golfing during your stay, plans are afoot to turn a nearby patch of the Black Hills into valleys full of putting greens.

Some may call it tacky totalitarianism, but the markets are jonesing at the prospect of an Orlando of the Prairies.

A final word to the wise: President Trump will decree that birthright citizenship does not apply on the grounds of his national monument. So don’t forget to bring birth certificates for the whole family. And for their moms.

 

See also

Peter Baker. “Trump Uses Lies to Lay the Groundwork for Radical Change”. New York Times, February 23, 2025.
https://nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/trump-alternative-reality.html

Peter Baker. “Trump’s Wild Claims, Conspiracies and Falsehoods Redefine Presidential Bounds”. November 3, 2024.
https://nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/trump-alternative-reality.html

Congressional Research Office. “Presidential Immunity from Criminal Prosecution in Trump v. United States”. Washington, DC: July 5, 2024.
https://congress.gov/crs_external_products/LSB/PDF/LSB11194/LSB11194.2.pdf

Peter Costantini. “The Roadrunner and the Wall”. Ciudad de México: Americas Migration, October 4, 2021.
https://americasmigration.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-roadrunner-and-wall.html

John Branch & Jeremy White. “Room for One More on Mount Rushmore? (The President Wants to Know.)”. New York Times, June 27, 2025.
https://nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/27/us/mount-rushmore-trump.html

CNN. “’It’s a great honor’: Trump receives Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Netanyahu”. CNN Politics, July 7, 2025.
https://cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/video/trump-netanyahu-nobel-nomination-letter-digvid

Colin Dwyer. “Donald Trump: ‘I Could … Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn’t Lose Any Voters’”. National Public Radio, The Two-Way, January 23, 2016.
https://npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/23/464129029/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters

Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo & Meg Kelly. “Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years”. Washington Post, January 24, 2021.
https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years

Michael D. Shear & Julie Hirschfeld Davis. “Shoot Migrants Legs, Build Alligator Moat: Behind Trumps Ideas for Border”. New York Times, October 2, 2019.
https://nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/trump-border-wars.html

The 11th Hour. “’His superpower is his shamelessness’: A look at Trump’s crypto dinner” (interview with Salman Rushdie). MSNBC, May 22, 2025.
https://msnbc.com/11th-hour/watch/-his-superpower-is-his-shamelessness-a-look-at-trump-s-crypto-dinner-240173637966

Max Zahn. “What to know about Trump’s new tariffs on Canada”. ABC News, July 11, 2025.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/trumps-new-tariffs-canada/story?id=123678621

 

A Sudanese mother and her child at a shelter in Tawila, North Darfur. Credit: UNICEF/Mohammed Jamal

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

Earlier this month, Sudanese civilians began facing a considerable escalation of hostilities, with the most recent attacks from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) claiming dozens of lives. Amid a rapidly growing scale of needs and an overwhelming lack of funding, the United Nations (UN) and its partners have struggled to deliver adequate amounts of humanitarian aid.

On July 23, the RSF coordinated an attack on the Brima Rashid area in West Kordofan State, with combatants entering on assault vehicles and indiscriminately firing at homes and a market. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this attack killed over 30 people and severely injured 40 others, with a significant amount of these casualties being women and young children.

“Medical sources say many of the wounded need urgent surgical care,” said Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General at a press briefing. “OCHA stresses that events in Brima Rashid underscore the growing risks facing civilians in the Kordofan region and the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and safe, sustained access to humanitarian assistance and services.”

This is just the latest in a series of attacks that have marked a sharp rise in violence across the Kordofan and North Darfur regions. Between July 10 and 13, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a series of attacks on North Kordofan’s Bara locality. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) estimates that these attacks resulted in 60 civilian deaths, while figures from independent civil society groups estimate up to 300 deaths.

Concurrently, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched a series of attacks on the Al Fula and Abu Zabad villages in West Kordofan State, including an airstrike on a school that was being used as a makeshift displacement shelter, killing over 20 people. On July 17, the SAF also targeted a family in an airstrike in Bara, killing at least 11 civilians. Additional attacks and civilian casualties were recorded in El Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp.

“An escalation of hostilities in North Darfur and Kordofan will only further aggravate the already severe risks to civilians and the dire humanitarian situation in a conflict that has already wrought untold suffering on the Sudanese people,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “I urge those with influence to act to prevent such an escalation, and to ensure that both parties uphold their obligations under international law, including on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as of July 14 there have been over 3,400 internal displacements as a result of the recent attacks in North Kordofan. These numbers were further inflamed by a period of heavy rain and flooding from July 14 and 15, resulting in 400 additional displacements.

The majority of these displaced individuals are currently residing with host communities and face a dire lack of access to basic services, such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 30 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection, which is roughly half of Sudan’s population.

Conditions are particularly dire in the Tawila locality of North Darfur, which currently hosts over 560,000 internally displaced civilians. OCHA’s partners report that a significant amount of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs are not being met, as there is a critically low ratio of one latrine for every 150 people. Humanitarian experts have expressed concern due to the rising cases of cholera in Tawila. According to figures from Sudan’s Health Ministry, there have been over 1,300 cases of cholera and 18 related deaths recorded across 35 localities, with 519 of these cases being recorded in Tawila alone.

Additionally, Sudan’s hunger crisis has taken a considerable turn for the worse in recent weeks, with food prices having skyrocketed immensely. According to OCHA, South Darfur had been hit particularly hard, with flooding cutting off critical supply routes from Chad and the north of Sudan. Over the course of a month, the price of wheat has risen by 31 percent and the price of sugar has risen by 21 percent, pushing these essential items out of reach for thousands.

Figures from the World Food Programme (WFP) show that famine has been confirmed in 10 states across Sudan, with nearly half of the population facing extreme levels of hunger. OCHA projects that women are disproportionately impacted by the hunger crisis, with rates of food insecurity among female-headed households nearly doubling from 14 percent in 2024 to 26 percent in 2025.

The persistence of widespread hunger and disease across Sudan is a testament to Sudan’s fragile healthcare system. According to OCHA, heightened insecurity has resulted in the closures of over 32 health facilities in Sudan. The centers that are still functional face a critical shortage of essential supplies such as vaccines, medication, and surgical equipment. It is estimated that thousands lack access to life-saving care.

On July 25, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IOM released a joint report that analyzed the conditions facing Sudanese refugees who had returned home after fleeing to Egypt and South Sudan. According to the report, roughly 320,000 refugees had returned to Sudan throughout the past year, with many struggling to access basic services .

“Without urgent action, people will be coming back to cities that are in ruins,” said Abdallah Al Dardari, Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “We are in a race against time to clear the rubble and provide water, power and healthcare.”

The report underscores the vast array of dangers that await Sudanese returnees, including the risk of injury or death from unexploded ordnance, high rates of gender-based and sexual violence toward women and girls, as well as a lack of psychosocial support services for traumatized individuals.

The UN and its partners remain hopeful that the current influx of returnees is an indication of stabilization in Sudan. “Those heading home are not passive survivors. They are vital to Sudan’s recovery,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Yes, the humanitarian situation is dire, but with the right support, returnees can revive local economies, restore community life and foster hope where it’s needed most”.

Despite this, increased funding for humanitarian affairs and a sustainable end to hostilities is the only way to ensure lasting peace and stability in Sudan. The UN projects that approximately USD 4.2 billion dollars is needed to keep up aid operations in Sudan for the next year. However, only 23 percent of the required funds have been met, indicating that services may need to be scaled back next year.

“More than evidence of people’s desire to return to their homeland, these returns are a desperate call for an end to the war so that people can come back and rebuild their lives,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan crisis, shortly after returning from Khartoum and Wadi Halfa at the border with Egypt. “Not only do they mark a hopeful but fragile shift, they also indicate already stretched host countries under increasing strain. We urge stronger international solidarity with the Sudanese people uprooted by this horrifying war and with the countries that have opened their doors to them.”

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Oil tankers entering and departing a busy port. Credit: Unsplash/Ramona Flwrs

By Maximilian Malawista
NEW YORK, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

Two-thirds of the developing world, or ninety-five out of 143 economies, are dependent on commodities for export value, making up 60 percent of their merchandise exports. For the least developed world, this number rises to 80 percent, leaving entire nation’s revenue vulnerable to price swings, fiscal shocks, and evolving trade compositions. Hidden behind the numbers lies a deeper transformation, one disrupting fossil fuel trade, triggering a higher reliance on mineral exports, particularly on mining essential for green technologies.

In 2024, during a special climate panel, on critical energy transition minerals, UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked, “A world powered by renewables is a world hungry for critical minerals. For developing countries, critical minerals are a critical opportunity – to create jobs, diversify economies, and dramatically boost revenues. But only if they are managed properly.”

Guterres signaled a clear message that this change can indeed boost economies and create jobs, especially in the places which need it most, but only if those countries are then willing to invest in diversification strategies through proper economic management.

At this year’s UN High Level Political Forum Guterres reaffirmed his stance on July 22, stating: “Fossil fuels are outdated. The sun is rising on a new era − the era of clean energy.” Guterres present a six-point action plan forward, which would phase out fossil fuels and secure energy access to all, by outlining methods of financing green transition.

A shift in the tides: oil to ore

Between 2012-2014 and 2021-2023, the share of commodity exports in of global trade have slightly declined, from 35.5 percent to 32.7 percent. At the same time, overall merchandise trade grew by 25.6 percent, with commodity exports growing by 15.5 percent. This 10 percent gap accounts for a 619 billion dollar shortfall due to declining and stagnating energy exports, which currently dominate the commodity trade.

Energy exports once led the commodity trade but are now showing obvious signs of stagnation and future decline. From 2021 to 2023, global energy exports amounted to 3.16 trillion on average, slightly decreasing 1.3 percent from the 2012-2014. The acceleration of renewable energy projects and the UN’s 2030 Agenda have been main proponents in this, driving down the reliance on oil and coal, and improving energy efficiency through global investment in green technologies.

Western Asia, once a dominant region in energy exports, particularly oil, saw its share fall from 31.3 percent to 24.7 percent over the past decade. Russia, once the world’s top energy exporter saw its export value drop by 26.6 percent.

However, in this same period, the United States became the world’s leading energy exporter, driven by its massive quantities of liquefied natural gas and shale oil mining. This shift too even reflects a greener transition, as liquefied natural gas is seen increasingly as a bridge to clean energy, as it presents cleaner effects on the environment, and is overall considered cleaner than oil and coal by a large margin.

In contrast to this overall decline in energy demand, mining exports have been surging. In Asia and Oceania, the regions’ share grew from 33.8 percent to 37.6 percent. Looking at Australia alone, they grew their mining export value from USD 105.7 billion to USD 171 billion due to higher demand from China and other global consumers for metals like copper, cobalt, and lithium. These materials are necessary for solar panels, wind turbines and electric car batteries, which are all considered essential components to a green economy.

Suppliers of the green future: Africa

While much of the world is expanding looking towards the future, Africa is still largely behind in development, creating lags in green agendas. Most of the continent lacks basic access to electricity. Africa is home to twenty of the world’s thirty-three mining export-dependent economies, making them the provider of many materials for green technologies, but not the constructors.

In Western and Eastern Africa, these mining exports make up 65 percent and 57 percent of all merchandise exports. Southern Africa is also particularly reliant, with nations like Botswana presenting mining exports of 91.5 percent. This lack of diversification makes African economies extremely vulnerable to supply chain shifts and price volatility, especially in the event of value chain swaps. Even in countries where mining is not as prevalent like Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, the lowering of oil prices by 20 percent in economies with an 80 percent export value on energy, shows early signs of dangerous fiscal dependency on a lacking financial flow.

The inevitable shift

Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebecca Grynspan said: “There is now an opportunity to leverage these new commodities to update our trade regime, promote structural diversification and turn the tide of commodity dependence once and for all.”

The clean energy shift is not theory, it is happening real time and its reshaping supply chains fast. Countries like the U.S. and Australia have successfully adapted their economies to this shift, preparing for a new landscape of green domination. The rise in mining exports supports a demand from advanced economies needing critical minerals, but this financial flow for the exporting countries might not stay forever, especially if more competitors break into the market driving down the price further and further: much like what is happening to oil. A country’s path to clean energy now lies as an indicator of working economic models and the ablution of outdated financial flows.

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Plastic pollution from Amadi River by Iwai-Dialax. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

By Michael Stanley-Jones
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

The UN80 Initiative, unveiled in March by Secretary-General António Guterres, is a system-wide effort to reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world.

The Initiative comes at a time of brutal budget cuts across the UN system. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is cutting 3,500 jobs and making reductions in senior positions and offices to manage budget shortfalls. The World Health Organisation is expected to cut 20-25% of its global staff. Cuts at The World Food Programme range up to 30%.

And yet the needs served by the United Nations remain stark. The UN appealed for US$29 billion funding for the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 to assist nearly 180 million vulnerable people, including refugees, in December 2024. Near the midpoint of the year, just $5.6 billion – less than 13 per cent – had been received.

Facing this harsh fiscal environment, the Secretary-General established seven thematic clusters under the UN80 Initiative covering peace and security, humanitarian action, development (Secretariat and UN system), human rights, training and research, and specialised agencies to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, and realign functions where needed.

The UN80 Task Force is scheduled to release its recommendations at the end of July.

In their timely opinon piece, “UN Reform: Is it Time to Renew the Idea of Clustering the Major Environmental Agreements?”, Felix Dodds and Chris Spence advocate for “clustering key conventions and bringing scientific bodies to strengthen international environmental governance, while also offering potential cost savings.”

“Currently, there are hundreds of different multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in force but perhaps only 20-30 core global MEAs with broad international participation,” Dodds and Spence write.

Bringing the fragmented set of environmental conventions together in clusters to address the interconnected issues they address could strengthen their work, reduce inefficiencies, and fill significant gaps in how the UN approaches the triple plenary crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.

There is one experience which suggests how such a clustering of MEAs secretariats could be accomplished. In 2009, on an ad interim basis, the Joint Convention Services of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions was set up, preparatory to a decision by an extraordinary conferences of the parties of the three chemicals and wastes conventions to establish a joint Secretariat in February 2010.

I was hired as the first staff member assigned to serve the three conventions equally in December 2009, holding the position of Public Information Officer in the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat while acting on behalf of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions until August 2014. This gave me a ring-side view of the process of “synergies” between the three clustered conventions.

The experience of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions with clustering their instruments provides a proof of concept of the benefits that may be gained by other closely related MEAs joining forces. The conventions addressing biological diversity and climate change may be ripe for applying the lessons learned from the three global chemicals and waste conventions.

The “synergies process” streamlined the three conventions’ implementation, reduced administrative burdens, and maximized the efficient use of resources.

Future conferences of the Parties (COPs) of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions are now held back-to-back on a biennial schedule. For the more than 180 governments which attend the ‘SuperCOPs’, the efficiencies gained in time, travel and expense are obvious. The joint nature of the conferences also allows for a greater exchange of information and views between the parties to the conventions, helping close gaps in implementation and increasing at the technical and scientific level understanding of how the actions of any one MEA impact the others.

The listing of a chemical in the Stockholm Convention’s annexes may trigger classification of products containing the substance as hazardous under the Basel Convention. Hazardous constituents that may be found in plastic waste due to their use as additives in various applications include halogenated organic compounds used as flame retardants. Several halogenated organic compounds used as flame retardants are listed under the Stockholm Convention’s Annex A to be eliminated or severely restricted. The adoption of amendments to the Basel Convention in 2019) sought to enhance the control of the transboundary movements of plastic waste and clarify the scope of the Convention as it applies to such waste.

Close coordination between the two instruments is therefore welcome.

Another important lesson concerns how the groundwork was successfully laid for the establishment of a joint ‘BRS’ Secretariat. The process needs to be owned and embraced by the Parties to the Conventions themselves. As legally independent entities, they must be the drivers of any envisioned reform.

A series of decisions taken by the parties to the conventions in 2008 and 2009 established an ad hoc joint working group on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. Under co-chairs nominated by the parties and drawn from the North and the South to steer the process, the ad hoc working group was mandated to prepare joint recommendations on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the three conventions at the administrative and programmatic levels. This ensured that the changes would have the political backing of the parties themselves.

A further lesson is that the leadership of the newly formed cluster of conventions’ secretariat needed to be placed in one team. In practice, this meant consolidating the executives of the three conventions (on the UNEP side, as Rotterdam has a joint secretariat shared by UNEP and FAO). Having multiple executives hindered the synergies process. Reducing three executive posts down to one brought coherence as well as additional cost savings. The streamlining of secretariat staff further contributed to creating a more efficient, less costly secretariat.

My assignment in the ‘BRS’ Secretariat covered media relations, public information and outreach, including helping manage the joint conventions’ synergies website. Public information provided a fertile ground for joint activity between the three legally independent conventions.

The benefits brought by such administrative measures are minor when placed alongside the larger structural reforms of the synergies process which serve the ultimate purpose of promoting exchange of information, environmentally sound management, and the restriction or elimination of a broad range of undesirable hazardous substances from the planet.

Ultimately, this may be the highest benefit the clustering of the thematically-related hazardous chemical and wastes instruments bring to global environmental governance.

Felix Dodds and Chris Spence (July 17, 2025). UN Reform: Is it Time to Renew the Idea of Clustering the Major Environmental Agreements? Inter Press Service.

United Nations (June 16, 2025). Brutal cuts mean brutal choices warns UN relief chief, launching ‘survival appeal’. UN News.

United Nations (June 23, 2025). UN80 Initiative: What it is – and why it matters to the world | UN News.

Michael Stanley-Jones is an Environmental Policy and Governance Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

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An UNRWA school turned shelter in Al Bureij, Gaza, lies in ruins following a missile attack in May 2025. Credit: UNRWA

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

The West, led by the Trump administration, has enabled the Netanyahu government to commit crimes against humanity and became complicit in the unfathomably horrific disaster that is being inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza

The war in Gaza has crossed many red lines, rendering Palestinian lives worthless, trivial, and of no consequence. Much of the horrific crimes against humanity being committed against the Palestinians in Gaza by the Netanyahu government could have been prevented had it not been for the nearly unconditional and continuing political, economic, and military support of Western powers, led by the US.

If this does not constitute complicity in war crimes perpetrated against tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, then I don’t know what does.

Western powers’ claims of high moral grounds seemed to have withered completely, as evidenced by the fact that even though most of Gaza lies in utter ruin, and over 59,000 people have been killed, Western support remains shamelessly unabated.

And while the majority of the 2.1 million Palestinians are starving to death, the supplies of killing machines continue to flow, while the suppliers pay less than lip service to the intensifying human cataclysm on the entire population of Gaza.

Before I elaborate on the US’ indispensable role in ending the war in Gaza, a brief review of what other Western powers have failed to do is in order.

Children in Gaza wait in the hope of receiving food. Credit: UN News

France, the UK, and Germany’s Dereliction

The Western powers, especially the UK, France, and Germany, have consistently supported Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, claiming Israel’s right to defend itself. Only during the past few weeks have they started to contemplate addressing the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They have considered measures— from suspending trade and imposing sanctions to public criticisms and diplomatic efforts—to force Netanyahu’s hand.

In addition, recently the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement threatening “concrete reactions,” including targeted sanctions, if Israel fails to end its renewed offensive and allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and insisting on immediate improvements in humanitarian access. The UK and France have also co-hosted international conferences to advance a ceasefire and a two-state solution, and pledged diplomatic and financial support for peace initiatives.

Sadly, Western threats and limited actions fall far short of what is critically needed to end these mind-boggling war crimes being committed by Netanyahu and his government. They must impose an immediate embargo on all supplies of military equipment and spare parts, and, being the largest trading partners, they must freeze all trade with Israel where it hurts. Only by taking these measures can Netanyahu and his corrupt government realize the magnitude of the European ire.

US Complicity in Netanyahu’s Crimes Against Humanity

The US can wield far greater pressure on Israel than what other Western powers can exercise combined. Sadly, though, neither the Biden nor the Trump administrations have used their immense leverage to force Netanyahu to end the horrific war that is on the verge of destroying what’s left of Gaza and devastating nearly entirely its inhabitants.

The US commitment to Israel’s national security has been a given since Israel’s establishment in 1948. But then, even though successive American administrations have and continue to adhere to this commitment, 77 years later, Israel does not feel secure due to the continuing conflict with the Palestinians.

That is, if the US cares about Israel’s national security, which it does, it should have mitigated the source of Israel’s sense of insecurity by relentlessly pushing Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, where Israel’s ultimate national security rests.

For decades, successive American presidents, including Trump, have championed the notion of a two-state solution. Although they have made repeated efforts over several decades to forge peace between the two sides, they have never taken concrete steps to pressure both sides to accept the only realistic outcome that they have been advocating, which could have ended the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Not once have the Biden and the Trump administrations threatened, let alone imposed, sanctions on Israel, to stop the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the deliberate chokehold on the supplies of food, medicine, and water, which is causing mass starvation and even famine. To the contrary, both continued to supply Israel with the weapons and munitions it was asking for with no reservations.

Military aid to Israel

According to the Costs of War Project, which tracks US military aid and expenditure, since the war began in October 2023, the US has provided Israel $22.76 billion in military assistance. In January 2025, Trump authorized the release of 1,800 MK-84 bombs (2,000-lb weapons) that the Biden administration had previously withheld as a protest against Israel’s actions in Rafah.

Instead of realizing that this heinous Gaza war only reinforces the idea that only a two-state solution would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump offered to take over Gaza and build a ‘luxury riviera’, which would only perpetuate the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict for another generation.

Instead of disabusing Netanyahu and his government of the notion of planning to rebuild new Jewish settlements in Gaza, Trump has been pushing the idea of relocating the Palestinians to a third country. This is nothing but music to Netanyahu’s ear, praising Trump for his “ingenuity” because nothing will quench Netanyahu and his government’s appetite more than seizing more Palestinian land and getting rid of the Palestinians once and for all.

Instead of insisting on an immediate ceasefire and developing a clear exit strategy from Gaza, Trump is still tiptoeing around, careful not to antagonize his political base, especially the evangelicals. For these religiously devout Christians, Israel can do no wrong, even though thousands of innocent women and children have been killed and hundreds more are added weekly to the roster of the dead, while Netanyahu is destroying what’s left of Gaza’s infrastructure to render it unlivable.

Now, the Netanyahu government is forcibly displacing the Palestinians in Gaza to the south and building a concentration camp on top of the ruins of Rafah. From there, the government is planning to commit a total ethnic cleansing by exiling the Palestinians to a third country. Yes, another Nakba (catastrophe), à la 1948, is in the making.

Trump Can End the War If He Wills It

Trump’s focus on a ceasefire as a first step is imperative and immediately needed, but it must only be a first step. He must make it unequivocally clear to Netanyahu that, during the cessation of hostilities, he must develop and submit an exit strategy from Gaza. The war must stop and cannot be resumed under any circumstances, and the flow of humanitarian assistance must begin immediately in sufficient quantities to prevent mass starvation.

Yes, given Israel’s dependence on the US on a host of issues, including political cover, economic assistance, and military aid, Trump is in a position not to ask but to demand that Netanyahu adhere to the US’ demand to end this horrifying war, the ultimate consequences of which are hard even to imagine.

Trump, who is clamoring to win a Nobel Peace Prize, is facing a crossroad. At the first road, remaining silent in the face of this pending catastrophe. He will be complicit, before the law, in the war crimes being committed in Gaza. The other road could potentially help him to realize his dream by ending the war in Gaza and beginning an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that would lead to the only viable solution—a two-state solution.

Will he rise to the occasion and do what all of his predecessors failed to achieve?

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

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A nuclear test that was carried out on an island in French Polynesia in 1971. Credit: CTBTO

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 28 2025 (IPS)

The rising nuclear threats over Europe and East Asia are increasingly ominous—particularly in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine military conflict and in the North- South political confrontation in the Korean Peninsula.

The appointment last week of a 21-member Panel of scientists, following a General Assembly resolution, has been described as “a response to a global environment in which the risk of nuclear war is higher than at any point since the depths of the Cold War”.

The move comes ahead of the 80th anniversary, in early August, of the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which claimed the lives of between 150,000 and 246,000, mostly civilians– and still remains the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.

As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week: “Nuclear weapons are wielded as tools of coercion and nuclear arsenals are being upgraded. A nuclear arms race is once again a very real possibility. The guardrails against nuclear devastation are being eroded.”

A more authoritative warning, in the current context, may come from the new “Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War.”

Guterres announced the appointment of “an independent scientific panel of experts tasked with examining the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale in the days, weeks and decades following a (future) nuclear war.”

The panel will study the possible impact of a nuclear war on everything “from public health to ecosystems, agriculture, and global socioeconomic systems”. The last cross-sectional United Nations study of this kind was undertaken almost four decades ago in 1988.

The link to the list of scientists:
https://press.un.org/en/2025/dc3900.doc.htm

Randy Rydell, a former Senior Political Affairs Officer in the UN’s Office for Disarmament Affairs (1998-2014) and Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace (2014-2025), told IPS: “The General Assembly deserves credit for creating this panel, an action well within its Charter mandates for commissioning studies and deliberating disarmament issues.”

Amid new threats to use such weapons, soaring nuclear-weapons budgets, and the lack of disarmament negotiations, he said, such a panel will help to educate the public, and hopefully their leaders, about the full scope of the horrific consequences from any use of such weapons.

“I hope it will encourage all parties to appreciate the need for disarmament as the most effective way — actually the only way — to eliminate such threats all together. By clarifying nuclear weapon effects using the most recent scientific tools, the panel can help to restore disarmament to its rightful place, high on the global and national public agendas,” he said.

The panelists are described as leaders in their fields, across a range of scientific disciplines, and come from all regions of the world. They will seek input from a wide range of stakeholders, from international and regional organizations to the International Committee of the Red Cross to civil society and affected communities. The Panel will hold its first meeting in September and will submit a final report to the General Assembly in 2027.

Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute told IPS the unleashing of the destructive capacity of nuclear weapons, by any of the nine states (UK, US, Russia, China, France, Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea) with these devices, would result in consequences of such horror that our imaginative capacity would be vastly inadequate.

The Panel’s hard science approach might help open the eyes of our minds to this reality, he pointed out. “Not only would devastation of the web of human life be shocked, threaded, and possibly damaged beyond repair but we would be annihilating millions of other living forms — insects, plants, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds”.

The arrogance of such injury to the animal kingdom to protect an invention of our human hands, states, is an arrogance rarely reflected upon. Objective scientific understanding of the specific effects of these weapons, hopefully, will compel greater cooperation in the efforts of nations to stop their spread, stop the current arms race making uses more likely, and re-enliven disarmament efforts, said Granoff.

“The value of more people and especially decision makers having trustworthy empirical knowledge as well as far greater public awareness might lead to a revival of the process that reduced arsenals, in the past recent decades, from over 70,000 to less than 13,000, a proof that progress can be made when the will for sanity, safety and realism prevail.”

The scientific dimension of nuclear weapons, he argued, is understandably difficult to comprehend.

“The UN in its 1991 report found the ‘(n)uclear weapons represent a historically new form of weaponry with unparalleled destructive potential. A single large nuclear weapon could release explosive power comparable to all the energy released from the conventional weapons used in all past wars.’” (quoting the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, UNITED NATIONS, EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WAR ON HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES 7 (2d ed. 1987)); see also DEPARTMENT FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS, UNITED NATIONS, NUCLEAR WEAPONS: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY 7 (1991).

In 1995, the prestigious Canberra Commission, convened by the government of Australia, stated, “The destructiveness of nuclear weapons is immense. Any use would be catastrophic. . . . There is no doubt that, if the peoples of the world were more fully aware of the inherent danger of nuclear weapons and the consequences of their use, they would reject them, and not permit their continued possession or acquisition on their behalf by their governments, even for an alleged need for self defence,” declared Granoff.

Professor Zia Mian, Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University told IPS the University’s Program on Science and Global Security, back in 2015, launched a process to seek a UN General Assembly resolution for a UN study on the effects and humanitarian impacts of nuclear war.

In 2023, the Scientific Advisory Group of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in its report to the Second Meeting of TPNW states recommended a new UN General Assembly mandated study on the consequences of nuclear war, he pointed out.

The Group suggested a “global scientific study on the climatic, environmental, physical and social effects in the weeks to decades following nuclear war,” one that examined “whether and how the interactions of these different physical, environmental and social effects over various timescales might lead to cascading humanitarian consequences,” said Professor Mian, who is also co-director of the Princeton Program on Science and Global Security and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Group of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The panel is tasked with publishing a comprehensive report, making key conclusions, and identifying areas requiring future research. The report will be considered by the UN General Assembly at its eighty-second session in 2027.

The last cross-sectional United Nations study of this kind was undertaken almost four decades ago in 1988 (Study on the Climatic and Other Global Effects of Nuclear War, United Nations publication, Sales No. E.89.IX.1).

Questions regarding the panel can be addressed to nweffectspanel@un.org.

Zia Mian, We Need a U.N. Study of the Effects of Nuclear War, Scientific American, October 28, 2024; Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research: Time for a 21st Century UN Study, First Committee Monitor, Reaching Critical Will, New York, October 4, 2024.

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The blue trousers are hemp woven into denim, which is a warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. The black and white outfit is from hemp as well. Credit: Nimco Adam / qaaldesigns

By Michael Stanley-Jones and Claire Egehiza Obote
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada / Trollhättan, Sweden, Jul 25 2025 (IPS)

Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Since the mid-20th century, over 8 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced globally (UNEP, 2021). Shockingly, more than 90% of this plastic waste has not been recycled. Instead, it has been incinerated, buried in landfills, or leaked into the environment where it can persist for hundreds of years, fragmenting into microplastics.

Among the most insidious threats within this overwhelming tide of waste are microplastics: plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters. These tiny fragments often originate from the breakdown of larger plastic items or are directly released through industrial processes, personal care products, and increasingly, from textiles. Though they represent a smaller portion of total plastic waste by weight, their impact is disproportionately severe and persistent

Michael Stanley-Jones

Recent scientific findings have shown that micro- and nanoplastics are now entering human bodies. These particles have been detected in bloodstreams, lungs, feces, testes and placentas. While the full health implications are still being studied, early concerns suggest these particles may disrupt hormone regulation, immune response, and cellular function.

Each year, it is estimated that 9 to 14 million metric tons of plastic waste escape into aquatic ecosystems, including rivers, lakes, and oceans (Pew Charitable Trusts & SYSTEMIQ, 2020). Moreover, it is not just our oceans or bodies at risk; microplastics have been found in terrestrial soils, affecting agricultural productivity and soil health. They hinder the activities of key organisms like earthworms, which are vital for nutrient cycling. At every level, from soil to sea to self, microplastics are infiltrating our ecosystems.

The story does not end with pollution. Plastic’s contribution to climate change spans its entire life cycle from fossil fuel extraction and chemical manufacturing to transportation and disposal.

The Hidden Culprit: Synthetic Textiles

Amid this crisis, one significant contributor remains relatively overlooked: textiles. Textiles are estimated to account for 14 percent of global plastics production (Manshoven et al., 2022). Synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic ubiquitous in fast fashion shed tiny plastic particles during production, daily use, and washing. These particles escape wastewater treatment systems and flow directly into natural water bodies.

Claire Egehiza Obote

In fact, microplastics from textile washing are estimated to make up 8% of primary microplastics in the oceans, making textiles the fourth-largest source globally. The implications are far-reaching, affecting marine life, food security and human health.

But it was not always this way.

In 1960, 95% of textile fibres were natural and biodegradable. Today, demand for textiles has skyrocketed by over 650%, while the share of synthetic fibres has ballooned from 3% to 68% (Carus & Partanen, 2025). Fast fashion’s dependence on cheap, fossil-fuel-based synthetics has turned the textile industry into one of the planet’s most polluting sectors.

This intertwined crisis of microplastic pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity calls for a comprehensive rethinking of how we produce and consume textiles. A critical part of that solution lies in rebuilding the natural fibre markets we once relied on.

Reviving Natural and Renewable Fibres

Research scientists Michael Carus and Dr. Asta Partanen of the German nova-Institute have called for a significant increase in renewable fibre production.

Bast fibres from flax, hemp, jute, kenaf and ramie are promising but remain expensive due to complex processing needs. Investments in their scalability could help them rival synthetics.

Man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) such as viscose, lyocell and modal are biodegradable and scalable but rely on virgin wood and chemical-intensive processes, posing threats to forests and ecosystems. Recycled MMCFs make up only 0.5% of the market, but they could grow significantly with the right incentives.

Bio-based polymers (or “biosynthetics”) offer alternatives to fossil-based synthetics, yet adoption is still low. Marine biopolymers from seaweed for textiles may provide yet another source of natural fibre.

In the Global South, informal textile economies provide livelihoods for millions and often operate outside formal regulation. In addition to technological innovations, traditional knowledge systems and indigenous fibre cultivation practices such as the use of sisal, coir, or abacá can offer scalable, low-impact alternatives.

What Can Be Done?

Governments, industries and consumers all have roles to play in turning the tide:

Policy Action: Governments could implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes that require manufacturers to cover the full lifecycle costs of textile waste. The European Union has recently taken steps towards this by introducing harmonised EPR rules for textiles and incentivising producers to design products that promote sustainable design.

Market Incentives: Public and private investment should prioritize R&D into preferred cotton and bast fibres to reduce costs and improve competitiveness with synthetics. Supporting transitions to natural fibres in the Global South through microgrants, capacity building, and market access can help reduce plastic leakage at scale while enhancing socio-economic resilience.

Regulatory Levers: Boosting the proportion of sustainably sourced MMCFs is critical. Regulators should further encourage the shift to certified forestry and recycled content. 60 to 65% of MMCFs are now FSC and/or PEFC-certified, an upward trend since at least 2020 that should further be encouraged (Carus & Partanen, 2025).

Innovation in Waste Processing: Converting post-harvest waste from bast fibres like kenaf, flax, hemp, jute, and sorghum into textile-grade yarn could be a game-changer for local economies and sustainability.

Corporate Transparency: Mandatory disclosures under frameworks like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the International Sustainability Standard Board (ISSB) IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 can guide investors away from carbon-intensive fashion and toward more sustainable alternatives. Once risks from unsustainable production are baked into market valuations, investment flows into more sustainable production will inevitably follow.

Consumer Choices: Individuals can help shift demand by buying natural fibres, choosing durable apparel, and consuming less overall. Consumer pressure has historically influenced corporate behavior textile sustainability is no exception.

Community-led initiatives: Supporting community-led initiatives that revive local textile production not only reduces reliance on synthetics but also preserves cultural heritage and supports sustainable rural development. These models are often more circular and regenerative by design.

The Global Plastics Treaty: The ongoing negotiations for a global plastics agreement offer an opportunity to recognize and prioritize the shift toward biodegradable natural fibres as part of international plastic pollution solutions.

If governments, industries and consumers work in concert to rebuild natural fibre markets, the share of synthetics in clothing could decline to 50% from today’s 67%, according to nova-Institute’s analysis (Carus & Partanen, 2025).

Without such action, we risk a future defined by escalating microplastic contamination, irreversible biodiversity losses and a worsening climate crisis. The ongoing global plastics treaty negotiations also offer a timely opportunity to recognize natural fibre transitions as part of systemic plastic pollution solutions. But an alternative future, one that is more sustainable, biodiverse and resilient, is still within reach. We must act to reclaim natural fibres and reject a plastic-saturated future.

Michael Stanley-Jones, Environmental Policy and Governance Fellow United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health

Claire Egehiza Obote, Graduate Student in Sustainable Development University West, Sweden

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The biodigester at the Renig plant in Jayaque, southwestern El Salvador, processes 200,000 tons of chicken manure annually from the farms of the company El Granjero. This serves as the raw material for producing biogas, which is used to generate electricity injected into the national grid. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
JAYAQUE, El Salvador, Jul 25 2025 (IPS)

Still in its early stages and with few players, the poultry sector in El Salvador is taking small steps toward environmentally sustainable production by using its biological waste to generate biogas and, in turn, electricity –an equation that benefits the natural environment, communities, and the farms themselves.

El Granjero is the second-largest egg-producing company in the country, with over one million chickens distributed across its eight farms. After an investment of US$2.5 million, it created the subsidiary Renig to build a biogas plant in 2017.“I thought biodigesters were the most suitable because you solved the environmental problem right away, and the possibility of being profitable” –Bernhard Waase.

A year later, it began processing 200 000 tons of chicken manure and other organic waste annually.

This waste serves as the raw material for producing biogas, the fuel used to generate electricity, which the company then injects into the national power grid.

“Back around 2010 or 2012, we discussed what to do with all the chicken manure because the way it was being handled—by poultry farmers in the country and, I’d say, around the world—was that it was dumped in the open air,” Bernhard Waase, director of Renig, told IPS. The facility is located in La Labor, within the district of Jayaque, in the southwestern department of La Libertad.

At least five of El Granjero’s eight farms, which are dedicated exclusively to egg production, are situated in this rural settlement.

Bernhard Waase, director of Renig, a subsidiary of the Salvadoran company El Granjero, where chicken manure from eight farms is converted into biogas. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

An Environmentally Friendly Solution 

The environmental pollution caused by the poultry sector has been a source of tension for rural communities living near the farms that were established in their territories or expanded around them over time, as was the case with El Granjero, founded in 1968.

“When the company was established, there wasn’t a single house nearby; it was completely uninhabited,” Waase noted before showing IPS around the plant facilities. But the issue of environmental pollution remained.

“I thought biodigesters were the most suitable because they solved the environmental problem immediately, but there was also at least a possibility of being profitable,” said Waase, referring to the potential for generating electricity.

The country’s poultry sector produces approximately 1.2 billion eggs and 342 million pounds of chicken meat annually, according to data from the Salvadoran Poultry Association.

However, despite being crucial in food production for the country, its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) is low, at just 0.79%, though within the agricultural GDP, it accounts for 16%.

Few companies in the poultry sector have chosen to invest in environmentally friendly solutions for biological waste.

One of them is Grupo Campestre, one of the largest chicken producers, which invested seven million dollars to set up its biogas plant and process the 40,000 tons of biological waste generated annually by its farms, processing plant, and fried chicken restaurants owned by the consortium nationwide.

Laying hens at the San Jorge farm, one of eight owned by the egg producer El Granjero. The manure from these farms in southwestern El Salvador is used for biogas production. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Biogas production in El Salvador is minimal compared to other renewable energy segments. In fact, its share is so small that it does not appear in the national energy matrix, which is dominated by hydropower (33.7%), geothermal (23%), and natural gas (16%).

Meanwhile, photovoltaics account for 8.5%, and wind power barely represents 2.1%.

In recent years, there has been notable interest in El Salvador, a country of six million people, in promoting clean, renewable energy production, which represents 70% of the country’s energy matrix, according to official figures.

The Renig executive stated that producing electricity from biogas is expensive and complex, as it not only requires investment in facilities and personnel but the process itself is extremely complicated.

“It’s costly because of the equipment and the operation of production. It’s not like solar—that’s child’s play: you have the land, you install the panels, you make the connections that any university student can do, and that’s it,” said Waase.

The complexity of biogas production also lies in dealing with bacteria, living organisms that can behave unpredictably and affect gas production, explained Melissa Ruiz, in charge of the digester and secondary processes.

Sometimes the bacteria get “sick,” she noted, and they must be carefully tended to.

“The digester works like our stomach, and the bacteria are very sensitive to the elements we provide them—just like us: if we suddenly eat too much meat or an unbalanced diet, our stomach reacts, and we feel sluggish or get sick. The same thing happens with the digester,” Ruiz told IPS.

The biogas produced by the Renig plant’s biodigester, using waste from a Salvadoran poultry company, powers two engines with a generation capacity of 425 kilowatts each. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

An Eco-Friendly Plant 

Once El Granjero decided to bet on biogas production through its subsidiary, it began working on the technical, operational, and financial details of what would become the Renig plant, where a biodigester measuring 92 meters long, 17 meters wide, and 5 meters deep—with a capacity of 5,300 cubic meters—would be built.

The biodigester is the centerpiece of any biogas plant. Inside, bacteria break down the biological waste from the farms—in El Granjero’s case, chicken manure.

This decomposition process generates gases, including methane, which become the fuel to power the plant’s two engines, each with a generation capacity of 425 kilowatts.

If not used for electricity production, these gases would rise into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential 80 times greater than carbon dioxide.

This gas is also the main contributor to ground-level ozone formation, a dangerous air pollutant whose exposure causes 1 million premature deaths worldwide each year.

The Renig plant’s biodigester began producing biogas in 2018, but it only started generating electricity in 2021, as that was the year it participated in a government tender for renewable energy production.

During the period when no electricity was generated, the biogas had to be “flared” to prevent the gases from escaping into the atmosphere, using a combustion torch the company had to purchase for US$40,000.

“This torch basically burned all the biogas, and I thought: I’m literally burning money. Since February 2021, this torch hasn’t been lit because I’ve been generating energy,” said Waase.

As part of its production processes, the Renig biogas plant also produces high-quality fertilizer, which it markets to the agricultural sector. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

The Business Moves Slowly but Surely 

Two years earlier, in 2019, Renig won the contract to inject 0.85 megawatts into the national grid—a modest amount but significant as a starting point.

For reference, the Nejapa biogas plant, built in 2011 and operated by AES El Salvador at a cost of US$58 million, has an installed capacity of six megawatts.

Waase stated that, environmentally, the plant has achieved its primary goal of preventing pollution, which is already a cause for celebration and pride, as few large companies in the poultry sector have taken this step. Specifically, in the egg industry, El Granjero is the only one that made this investment.

However, financially, expectations have not been fully met.

“From an environmental standpoint, it’s been a total success, but financially speaking, it’s much more complicated. We haven’t lost money in any year, but we’re nowhere near the return we had projected,” he said.

A mother and daughter wading through the flood waters in Feni, Bangladesh in 2024. Catastrophic floods disrupted employment, trade and economy. Policymakers should stand ready to implement policies for speedy recovery. Credit: UNICEF/Sultan Mahmud Mukut

By Shuvojit Banerjee
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jul 25 2025 (IPS)

In the past year, Asia and the Pacific has faced intensifying climate pressures, from extreme heat in Bangladesh and India to devastating floods in northern Thailand and rising food insecurity across the Pacific.

But these are just the most visible signs. Beneath the surface, increasing temperatures, shifting rainfall and rising sea levels are quietly eroding fiscal space, distorting prices of goods and services, and weakening long-term economic resilience. Climate risks, both sudden and slow, are also reshaping the region’s macroeconomic landscape.

The latest ESCAP Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific explores how this evolving threat is affecting jobs, inflation, public finance and long-term economic resilience. To better understand countries’ readiness to confront these risks, ESCAP developed a new assessment framework that evaluates the intersection of climate exposure and macroeconomic coping capacity.

It focuses on two core dimensions: exposure, which is measured through potential output losses, agricultural risk, carbon intensity and climate-driven inflation; and macroeconomic coping capacity, which is captured through indicators of fiscal space, financial sector health, and institutional effectiveness.

When plotted on a two-axis matrix, countries fall into four quadrants depending on their exposure and macroeconomic coping ability. This matrix serves as a comparative tool to guide targeted policymaking.

Resilience is a balance: Exposure and coping must go hand in hand

Countries in the higher exposure-lower capacity quadrant face the most pressing risks. For example, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Nepal fall in this category due to both geographic and structural vulnerabilities, including recurrent climate events, limited fiscal buffers, and weaker institutional capacity.

The higher exposure-higher capacity quadrant includes countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Viet Nam. While each faces different forms of climate stress, they share stronger governance and macroeconomic fundamentals that support more effective responses.

Countries such as China, Malaysia and Thailand fall into the lower exposure-higher capacity quadrant. These economies benefit from current low climate exposure and resilient financial systems. Nevertheless, they need considerable investment in adaptation to prevent future vulnerability, especially given regional interdependence and evolving risks.

Finally, the lower exposure-lower capacity quadrant includes countries such as Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. These countries may face fewer direct climate threats today but remain vulnerable to disruption due to weak institutional and fiscal capacity. Even moderate shocks can have severe macroeconomic consequences.

Taken together, the quadrant framework underscores the need for differentiated policy approaches. For example, countries with high exposure and low capacity should focus on boosting fiscal space, strengthening financial sector resilience including through climate-aligned regulation and risk tools, and enhancing economic institutional capacity.

In contrast, countries with low exposure and strong capacity are well-placed to invest in adaptation innovation and support other regional peers.

Climate stress is a core economic risk

Climate change is already disrupting employment, trade, investment and public finance across the region. It is no longer an external shock but a defining macroeconomic challenge.

Governments must respond with sustained, systemic reform. Macroeconomic planning across Asia and the Pacific must place resilience at its core – not only to manage immediate shocks but to navigate a slower-moving, climate-shaped economic future.

Shuvojit Banerjee is Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 25 2025 (IPS)

The growing opposition to the UN80 restructuring plan -– which has come under heavy fire from staff unions – has now reached the upper echelons of the world body.

A motion, adopted at an Extraordinary General Assembly meeting, held July 24, by the Staff Union Council in Geneva (UNOG), reads “The staff have no confidence in UN80, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Under Secretary General Guy Ryder” (who is heading the UN restructuring process).

The meeting was attended by nearly 600 staff members (the quorum being 200), who expressed their concerns over the UN80 initiative. The motion was adopted without opposition.

Asked for his comments, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told IPS: “We remain committed, as we have been from the beginning of the UN80 Initiative, to consultation with staff representatives and engagement with them through the procedures in place for this purpose”.

“We hope that staff representatives will approach the issues before us in a similar spirit”.
Undoubtedly, he pointed out “we have difficult decisions ahead of us”.

“Management and staff need to work together to mitigate the negative impact of those decisions on our colleagues and to navigate the current challenges in the interests of assuring a stronger and more effective UN,” said Haq.

UN Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

According to a memo to staffers from Laura Johnson, Executive Secretary and Ian Richards, President of the Staff Union in Geneva, the support for the motion was based on:

The lack of vision around UN 80 which has been done in a panic and with no evaluation of earlier reforms.

The decision to present budget proposals for 2026 with 20 percent fewer posts, without any evidence that this will address the current crisis, even as other organisations approve zero-growth budgets.

The reinforcement of the UN’s existing top-heavy structure. Most cuts are taking place at junior levels, no Under-Secretaries-Generals (USGs, the third highest ranking officials in the UN hierarchy) are being cut and an instruction to cut senior positions appears to have become optional.

The decision by the Secretary-General to extend USG contracts by 2 years, in some cases beyond his mandate, and promote his own staff, while restricting normal staff to extensions of one year with the intention of denying them termination indemnities in case of separation.

The refusal to consult with staff representatives on post cuts.

The proposal to multiply headquarters locations, which in time will increase costs.

The impression that staff are taking the blame for the challenges of the organization, which may in part stem from the organization’s lack of visibility in matters of peace and security.

A new Secretary-General with their own vision may undertake further reforms that contradict UN 80.

The UNOG Staff Union plans to transmit the adopted motion, along with the reasons behind it, based on the various concerns expressed by staff, to the Secretary-General and subsequently to Member States.

The memo to UN staffers also says: “We also encourage you to express your views by completing the survey being run by our staff federation CCISUA. You have until Sunday 27 July to fill it in here. Please note that, for the question “What is your organization?” there is a single response for UN Secretariat, which is the relevant option for all staff represented by the UNOG Staff Union.”

“In addition to completing the survey, please continue to write to us directly with your concerns and ideas.

Meanwhile, under the UN80 Initiative, according to Guterres, a dedicated internal Task Force led by Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder will develop proposals in three key areas.

These include identifying efficiencies and improvements, reviewing the implementation of mandates from Member States, and a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment.

These efforts go “far beyond the technical,” Guterres said. “Budgets at the United Nations are not just numbers on a balance sheet – they are a matter of life and death for millions around the world.”

The key objectives, according to the UN, include:

• Increased Efficiency and Effectiveness:
The reforms aim to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve the UN’s ability to deliver on its mandates.
• Mandate Review:
The task force is reviewing the implementation of mandates given to the UN by member states, many of which have increased significantly in recent years.
• Structural Reforms:
The initiative explores deeper, more structural changes within the UN system, potentially including the consolidation of departments and agencies.
• Strategic Review:
A strategic review of the UN’s programs and their alignment with current needs and priorities is also underway.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The withdrawal or scaling down of funding by agencies like USAID, FCDO, the Dutch MFA, and Germany’s BMZ raises critical questions about the future of development finance and the feasibility of locally-led development. Credit: WFP/Desire Joseph Ouedraogo

By Tafadzwa Munyaka
HARARE, Jul 24 2025 (IPS)

In recent years, major international donors such as the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), USAID, and other bilaterals (such as BMZ, Sida, the Netherlands among others) have significantly reduced development funding to global majority countries.

These shifts are occurring in the midst of rhetorical commitments to localization and ‘shifting the power’ to local civil society organizations. This article looks at the paradox of decreasing official development assistance (ODA) alongside the growing emphasis on localization.

It explores the rise of remittances as an alternative flow of capital, asking whether this signals a structural transformation in global development finance or reinforces already existing inequalities.

The Grand Bargain committed donors and aid organizations to channel 25% of funding to local actors by 2020, a target that remains unmet five years past the initial deadline. In practice, only 1.2% of total humanitarian funding went directly to local organizations in 2022

Drawing on academic literature, donor trend analyses, and policy discourse, this article argues that while localization remains a compelling imperative, the reduction in traditional aid risks hollowing out the resourcing base necessary to realise it meaningfully.

The international development sector is witnessing a contradictory moment. On one hand, the calls for localization – the transfer of resources, decision-making power, and leadership to local actors – have grown louder, particularly after the Grand Bargain of 2016 and more recently through decolonizing aid discourses.

On the other hand, bilateral and multilateral donors that once underwrote the bulk of development financing are retrenching, citing domestic fiscal constraints, geopolitical realignments, and prioritization of emergency spending.

The withdrawal or scaling down of funding by agencies like USAID (in certain regions), FCDO, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Germany’s BMZ raises critical questions about the future of development finance and the feasibility of locally-led development.

Here, I look at these shifts through a power-sensitive lens, exploring whether the decrease in ODA and the increase in remittances and private flows mark a reordering of global development relations.

1. The decline in traditional donor funding

Traditional donors, particularly from the OECD (DAC), have been reducing long-term development assistance. FCDO has slashed aid to many African countries since 2020, citing Brexit-related restructuring and domestic budget pressures.

The Netherlands announced in 2023 it would refocus its development cooperation on fewer thematic and geographic areas, withdrawing from several African partnerships. USAID has signalled a shift toward more geopolitical objectives under the Indo-Pacific strategy, with programs in Sub-Saharan Africa quietly closing or transitioning to local ownership with fewer resources.

Data from the OECD (2024) indicates that while ODA rose nominally in 2023 (USD 223.7 billion), the increase was largely due to in-donor refugee costs and Ukraine-related support – not sustainable investments in development programming. Long-term, country-programmed ODA has either stagnated or declined in many contexts.

 

2. Localization: rhetoric vs. resourcing

The localization agenda broadly defined as empowering local actors to lead humanitarian and development efforts remains a policy priority in theory. The Grand Bargain committed donors and aid organizations to channel 25% of funding to local actors by 2020, a target that remains unmet five years past the initial deadline. In practice, only 1.2% of total humanitarian funding went directly to local organizations in 2022.

This discrepancy between rhetoric and resourcing reveals the structural inertia of the international aid system. Large INGOs and UN agencies continue to dominate funding channels due to perceived capacities, fiduciary standards, and donor risk aversion. The result is what Featherstone (2021) calls “localization without power” – where local actors are asked to lead without the corresponding control over financial or strategic resources.

Yet the rhetoric of localization often conceals the lack of structural commitment to resource redistribution. Donors have increasingly placed the burden of localization on intermediaries or local partners without adjusting funding mechanisms to support this transition.

Many local organizations remain trapped in subcontracting arrangements, where they are implementers of externally designed projects, with little influence over priorities, timelines, or metrics of success. This reflects what some scholars have termed the “isomorphic mimicry” of localization – adopting the language of power shift without ceding actual power.

In the absence of core, flexible and multi-year financing, localization becomes performative. Donors must move beyond tokenistic inclusion of local actors in funding chains and instead dismantle the bureaucratic and compliance-heavy models that prevent equitable access to funding. Without financial restructuring, localization risks becoming a vehicle for austerity – a means of exiting aid rather than transforming it.

 

3. Remittances: a parallel flow?

Remittances to low- and middle-income countries reached an estimated USD669 billion in 2023, up from USD 647 billion in 2022. In countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Nepal, remittances exceed the value of total ODA, becoming critical for household consumption, healthcare, and education. While remittances are typically private, unprogrammed funds, their increasing scale raises questions about their developmental potential.

Some scholars (Kapur, 2005; Clemens & McKenzie, 2018) argue that remittances offer a more direct, accountable, and less bureaucratic form of development finance. Others warn that remittances reinforce neoliberal withdrawal of the state, transferring responsibility for public services to the diaspora.

Unlike ODA, remittances do not fund systemic change, advocacy, or civic engagement – areas where donor aid is often essential. Thus, the rise of remittances, while cushioning households, does not replace the strategic role of public development financing in promoting rights-based, transformative change.

 

4. Implications for local organizations and civic space

The contraction of traditional donor funding, especially in civic space, women’s rights, and environmental justice programming, for example, is creating funding vacuums for local organizations.

Simultaneously, the ante is being upped on questions relating to the value-add of intermediary organizations, most of them INGOs on the efficacy of their role when funding can be directed to local NGOs bypassing them. This creates a burden and pressure on local CSOs who must professionalize rapidly while absorbing risk without the necessary core or multi-year funding.

However, it goes without saying that without predictable funding flows, local partners are unable to invest in staff development, financial systems, or advocacy infrastructure. This creates a paradox – localization is promoted without reconfiguring the upstream political economy of aid.

 

5. Conclusion: toward a just transition in aid

The current moment demands a rethinking of both funding modalities and power structures. Localization, if it is to be transformative, requires more than shifting delivery – it must entail shifting money, mandate, and decision-making authority. The decline in traditional aid funding risks undercutting this agenda unless alternative financing such as pooled funds, solidarity philanthropy, and diaspora engagement among others are explicitly aligned with local ownership.

Development actors must resist the tendency to frame localization as a cost-saving exit strategy. Instead, a just transition in aid must foreground equity, reparative justice, and co-governance between donors and recipients.

 

Tafadzwa Munyaka is a nonprofit/social change professional with crosscutting expertise in fundraising, business development, grants and compliance management, program management, and child rights advocacy. He is committed to contributing to the African narrative on philanthropy and giving, driving impactful change across the continent.