Biztonságpolitika

Pékin pourrait faire pression sur Téhéran pour qu'il reprenne les négociations, mais les analystes estiment peu probable qu'il cesse d'acheter du pétrole iranien.

Secretary-General António Guterres (second from left) addressing the high-level segment of the General Assembly to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. Also visible (from left to right) are Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Khalilur Rahman, President of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly; and Chee Yoke Ling, Executive Director of the Third World Network (TWN). Credit: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

By Busani Bafana
UNITED NATIONS & BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sep 25 2026 (IPS)

World leaders have warned that the most vulnerable people have been left behind as the right to development has promised more than it has delivered, with development seemingly the preserve of the superrich and powerful.

Addressing a session on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York to commemorate the occasion, global leaders marked the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development with a call to do more to eliminate deep inequality resulting from uneven development in the world.

The Declaration, adopted by the General Assembly in December 1986, proclaims that “the right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.” But the Declaration, espoused as a fundamental shift in humanity’s progress, has not delivered on its promise.

“For millions around the world, promises made in the declaration remain unfulfilled, yet we know how to make it real,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told world leaders, noting that the declaration’s anniversary is a call to action and pointing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the blueprint to leave no one behind.

“Development, human rights and peace are not separate ambitions. They advance together. In today’s divided world, this vision can still unite us, and the Sustainable Development Goals are the roadmap to get us there.”

Under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 17 SDGs contain goals and targets that are lifting people out of poverty and protecting their rights. However, 36% of 139 SDG targets are on track or have made moderate progress.

Guterres said the promise of development faces new tests today, from widening inequalities and persistent food insecurity to rising debt, conflicts and economic instability that are impeding development and economic growth.

“The climate crisis is reaching devastating new levels each year, reminding the world that there can be no development on a degraded and unhealthy planet,” said Guterres, warning that while the digital revolution and artificial intelligence hold enormous potential to improve lives, they can also be drivers of exclusion and division.

“The declaration unequivocally establishes development as a right and puts people at the centre of the development process,” he said.

Ensuring food security forms part of the right to development, according to the United Nations. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Some Progress, but More Needs to Be Done

Development is not about economic growth but about the constant improvement of human well-being through their active, free and meaningful participation in development, said Khalilur Rahman, President of the 81st UN General Assembly.

“We measure progress not only by aggregate growth but by whether people can live in dignity, exercise their rights and shape their own futures,” he said, emphasising that the Declaration should be honoured through action and by protecting the “hard-won gains of the past four decades” and addressing the inequalities and structural barriers that persist.

“Let us make multilateralism more representative, more responsive and more capable of delivering for all,” he emphasised.

Citing that global life expectancy has increased, along with access to education and health for many, Rahman said 1.5 billion people have escaped poverty in the past four decades. However, he bemoaned that many countries suffer from unsustainable debt burdens and unequal participation in global decisions, which have provided lessons over the last 40 years: development is inclusive and cannot be separated from human rights, environmental concerns, peace and security.

The cost of debt is $1.4 trillion in developing countries, and 3.4 billion people are currently living in countries that spend more on debt interest than on education or health.

Noting that the goal of development was broader and calling for the elimination of several barriers to development, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the current financial system was grotesquely out of balance and squeezed human rights out of budgets. Budget cuts, he said, affected the poorest more, calling for the elimination of human misery alongside insatiable military and economic power.

Türk said 2025 marked the 11th consecutive year in which military spending hit $2.8 trillion, which is eight times more than the cost of ending poverty globally.

“Development must be equitable and environmentally sustainable,” he said. “Sustainability cannot be equated to economic growth achieved at any cost to people and the planet. We need a strong shift to greater equality, participation, dignity, freedom and mutual respect, and we need to recommit to the principle of international cooperation, which is at the core of the right to development.”

Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. Credit, Oxfam International

The Rich Growing Richer and the Poor, Poorer

According to Oxfam’s 2026 report, Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power, the unprecedented rise of the ultra-wealthy has deepened the global divide. Billionaire wealth surged by $2.5 trillion last year—an amount roughly equal to the total assets held by the bottom 4.1 billion people combined.

Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, said the right to development remains in principle, despite progress made in the 1990s and 2000s, but there has been some regression in the last few years. The right to development was being questioned because, for instance, the right to education and health were being converted into commodities and privatised.

Behar said rights arising from agreements at international platforms should be translated at the national level to ensure people understand their rights and that there is a movement towards their realisation.

“For any right to become a real right, it’s really important that we build it from the bottom up. If we do not invest time, energy and resources in building from the bottom up, the realisation of these rights will remain inadequate,” Behar said.

Behar noted that the right to development speaks to the indivisibility of human rights and that governments have demonstrated the political will to start delivering on these rights, but this progress can only be realised when people start demanding their rights.

“We are seeing an economic system where the money is going upward and getting concentrated in the hands of the few super-rich billionaires, so the government must tax them and get revenues for the people and ensure that they are investing in making sure the right to development is a reality for everyone,” Behar said.

Harjeet Singh, global convenor of the Fill the Fund campaign, warned that “we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the dominant global economic model has spent four decades betraying the core of that declaration.”

Singh, who is also the founding director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation and engagement director at the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, warned that “we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the dominant global economic model has spent four decades betraying the core of that declaration.”

“Development was meant to be an emancipatory project centred on the human person, affirming everyone’s right to active, free and meaningful participation and an equitable share in economic and social progress,” Singh told IPS. “Today, however, global finance capital has hijacked it, serving multinational corporations and private bondholders rather than smallholder farmers, indigenous peoples, or urban workers.”

Singh highlighted that developing countries that contributed least to climate change are forced to divert significant portions of their budgets to disaster recovery, driving them deeper into debt. “On this 40th anniversary, governments in the Global South and their allies should demand a Binding Fossil Fuel Treaty and create an explicit international framework to equitably phase out fossil fuels, end expansion, and fund a global just transition.”

“The 1986 Declaration was designed as a charter for liberation and justice. Unless the UN General Assembly anchors development in human rights, climate reparations, a fossil fuel phaseout, and systemic economic reform, this milestone will mark four decades of unfulfilled promises.”

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

The pipeline would strengthen energy security in landlocked Ethiopia, while creating jobs at Djibouti's port.

Participants at the fourth UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health (NCDs), held in September 2025. Credit: UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein

By Shreya Komar
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 25 2026 (IPS)

On September 21, just prior to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly Debate (UNGA81), the NCD Alliance held its fifth Multi-stakeholder Gathering, “Strategies for a Sustainable NCD and Mental Health Response,” during the UN High-level Week.

“This meeting may be on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but the issues discussed here are central to the global health agenda,” emphasized Mary-Ann Etiebet, President and CEO of Vital Strategies and moderator of the event. She opened by highlighting the continuing global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the gap in funding and resources dedicated to addressing it.

The discussion centered on how countries can sovereignly lead, scale, sustain and strengthen their responses, with a particular emphasis on country ownership and “putting the country in the driver’s seat”.

The gathering focused on how countries can move from policy commitments to implementation and build sustainable responses to NCDs and mental health through governance, financing, and cross-sector partnerships.

Fleming Kondradsen, a panelist and Chief Scientific Officer at Novo Nordisk Foundation, emphasized the importance of supporting more horizontal approaches to health. Rather than creating parallel systems and new structures, he argued for strengthening and integrating NCD prevention and care into existing health systems wherever possible.

For Paula Johns, another panelist from Brazil and Executive Director of ACT Health Promotion Brazil, meaningful participation begins with a fundamental question: How do we include the public in public health? Maintaining strong relationships with communities, she argued, is essential to ensuring that health policies and interventions reflect the realities of the people they are intended to serve.

Johns also raised concerns about the growing pressures affecting young people in Brazil, describing a “mental health global pandemic”. Among the issues she highlighted were social media and sports betting, calling for greater attention and regulation of environments that can affect young people’s health and wellbeing.

The discussion reinforced the importance of looking beyond the health sector itself. Addressing NCDs and mental health requires collaboration across government, civil society, communities and other sectors that shape the environments in which people live.

For Prisca Githuka, founder of the Pink Hearts Cancer Support Foundation from Nairobi, Kenya, one of the most important questions when it comes to addressing NCDs and mental health is meaningfully engaging people with lived experience. Consulting people who have experienced a disease, she said, is only the beginning. Meaningful engagement means involving people with lived experience in co-creating solutions and participating directly in decision-making structures. This distinction, she noted, separates genuine participation from tokenism.

People with lived experience should not simply be invited to share their stories. They should have a meaningful role in shaping decisions that impact their health, and their contributions should be fairly compensated. Githuka also stressed the importance of measuring whether people’s input actually influences outcomes. Engagement should not end when feedback is collected. Instead, stakeholders should ask: What changed as a result of that feedback? And did the final implementation actually benefit the people with lived experience?

Her own advocacy work has included petitions and efforts to secure funding and support for cancer patients, including advocacy around oncology packages and the National Health Insurance Fund.

The emphasis on advocating for lived experience at the forefront of decision-making also highlighted the impact of smaller organizations and community-based groups. For many of these organizations, their most important contribution is their proximity to the communities affected by NCDs and mental health conditions. Their stories can provide insight into gaps that may not be visible in national strategies or global commitments.

For people with lived experience with NCDs and mental health conditions, being in the room is only the first step. The measure of meaningful engagement is whether they have a voice in decisions, whether that voice influences what happens next, and whether the resulting policies and services improve their lives.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

Moderator Arif Ullah of Anthropocene Alliance joins LaTricea Adams of Young, Gifted, and Green; Dionne Delli-Gatti of Continuum Strategies; and Dr. Katlyn Turner of CU Boulder Information Science and KTLN Consulting to discuss AI’s environmental justice impacts and how frontline communities can maintain agency as data center development expands. Credit: Pillar Projects / Grayson Wise

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 25 2026 (IPS)

On September 21, Frontline Resource Institute (FRI) hosted its Climate Justice Hub at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City under the theme “Building a Stronger Climate Coalition.”

As part of Climate Week, and coinciding with the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, the event united advocates, researchers, policymakers, and frontline leaders to address the intensifying threat of climate change to global public health, while highlighting the need for stricter guardrails on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, particularly in their impacts on frontline communities.

Arif Ullah, Executive Director of Anthropocene Alliance (A2) and a moderator at the event, referenced Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by journalist Karen Hao, noting her warning that AI functions as a “new form of colonialism.” Ullah emphasized that AI’s impacts on frontline communities and their environments is multifaceted and far-reaching, requiring far more robust physical infrastructure to be sustainable.

“In July, nearly 1,400 tech company employees signed an open letter urging the [U.S.] government to regulate AI. Recently, an Anthropic researcher quit his job warning that the people building AI believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade,” said Ullah. “When you consider the many ways in which [resources are] extracted, it’s hard to disagree. Hyperscale data centers are among the ways it’s most extracted, not to mention destructive. We are seeing them proliferate, unchecked and unregulated across the country.”

Numerous speakers at the event underscored that natural resources are routinely extracted from frontline communities with little regard for public health or the stability of local ecosystems. To meet the rapidly growing demands for continuous power, data centers around the world have increasingly implemented methane gas turbines. These measures have led to a surge in toxic chemical emissions—such as formaldehyde and benzene—driving widespread air and water pollution while consuming vast amounts of water.

Sarah Vogel, Senior Vice President of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and another moderator of the event, warned that extreme weather patterns—including intense heatwaves, prolonged flooding, destructive wildfires, degraded air and water quality, and the spread of infectious diseases—are among the most alarming and common consequences of AI-exacerbated climate change.

She emphasized that these impacts present heightened risks of lung cancer, heart disease, and strokes, particularly for frontline communities. Young people are uniquely vulnerable, as their developing bodies face continuous strain from pollutants without the opportunity to grow up in healthy environments. Those with pre-existing conditions also face a heightened risk of exacerbated health outcomes.

“For communities in this country and around the world who have experienced the legacy and ongoing impacts of environmental injustices, climate change and the related pollution is a threat magnifier,” said Vogel. “We know that when our health is impaired, it’s like a domino effect. Everything is impacted. Our ability to work, our ability to take care of children, the costs associated with it. The ability to just enjoy our lives. That is what we mean when we say that the climate crisis is a health crisis”

It is these frontline communities, oftentimes primarily composed of people of color, that are entrenched in severe environmental degradation and pushed further into poverty while others reap the financial benefits. Bearing the brunt of extreme pollution, these communities often lack the healthcare infrastructure required to withstand such environmental shocks.

LaTricea Adams, Founder, CEO, and President of Young, Gifted, and Green, noted that frontline communities are often left ill-equipped to adapt to AI-driven climate shocks, describing it as a “point of reckoning.” She emphasized that many residents are often unaware that they are on the frontlines of environmental degradation, going a “significant amount of time” without understanding the full extent of how these developments directly impact their lives.

“We as a collective are still not taking public health seriously. That also has an economic implication,” said Adams. “While you may bring in millions of dollars, if people are consistently sick, does that not have an impact on healthcare, which we know is lacking in our country and in our society?”

“What you’re not gonna do is come into our community and give us nothing but pollution while we remain in poverty. But at the same time, we do have to make sure that we protect the people that have been neglected for centuries in disinvestment.”

Several panelists underscored the importance of centering frontline communities in AI reform, with cooperation between governments, community leaders, corporations, and the health sector imperative in preventing harm and establishing sustainable practices that can uplift these communities. Vogel noted that in order to build healthy and resilient communities, approaches in AI regulation must prioritize health and equity to effectively minimize risks.

Panelist Ali Abazeed, Chief Public Health Officer and Director for the city of Detroit warned that the international community must not become “sophisticated witnesses” to preventable harm, noting that progress hinges on empowering communities and providing them with the data that affects their lives.

“Public health doesn’t happen inside an office. Comfort is comfortable. The ivory tower—the research generated there is hugely important but it has to roll out to the communities,” said Abazeed, emphasizing that action is critically important amidst widespread cuts to funding for research and potential hostile takeovers of national institutes for health.

“Speaking as a government official, we need to recognize that the work that we do and the powers that we have can help uplift and elevate communities. The charge is to be outside, to be in the clinic lobby for public health, in the church basement, for us to be meeting the fence-line communities.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

Der frühere US-Filmproduzent Harvey Weinstein ist in New York wegen eines Sexualverbrechens aus dem Jahr 2006 zu 15 Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. Der 74-Jährige sitzt bereits wegen anderer Verurteilungen im Gefängnis.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed the review after Donald Trump told Andy Burnham the deal was "terrible".

South Sudan has not held elections since independence in 2011 - polls have twice been postponed.

Former Afcon winner Segun Odegbami has slammed those running Nigerian football after the country missed out on the men's and women's World Cups.

Former Afcon winner Segun Odegbami has slammed those running Nigerian football after the country missed out on the men's and women's World Cups.

Young voters are being courted with football slogans, promises of jobs and anti-Israel rallying calls.

Doyle was best known for reporting on African conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s, notably in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Ahogy az már megszokott, a szeptember idén is az Air Wolf Hunting kutató-mentő gyakorlattal kezdődött a Mátrában. Az MH 86. Szolnok Helikopterdandár H145M, H225M és AS350-es helikopterei mellett a légimentők EC135 P2+ gépe is a Gyöngyös melletti pipishegyi repülőtérre települt, hogy a pilóták, illetve a légimentő és kutató-mentő szakszemélyzetek közösen gyakorolják a különböző eljárásokat. 

A fotókért ezúttai is a környéken élő Colin Pennynek tartozom köszönettel.

[...] Bővebben!

Kissé visszafogottabb részvétellel, de nem csituló népi érdeklődés közepette rendezte meg idén is a NATO-napokat az euroatlanti Jagello-szövetség.

Szlovák Block 70-es háton Ostrava különleges, betonra merőleges sótengelyén.

A tíz év után újra különleges vendég Németország VIP A319-ese a vendéglátó tango riasztásának Gripen-géppárjával.

Spanyol Tájfun forszázzsal .

Látványfokozó fuel dump az EF függőleges vezérsíkjából.

A BW Tiger UHT-je függesztménnyel demózott...

...ami megegyezett a statikusra kihelyezett gép 2xFZ225, 4xTrigat, 1xHMG konténer konfigurációjával.

Egy magyányos török füstölgő csörgőkígyókkal és nagy állásszögű vortexbajusszal.

Dowty örvények a Reparto Sperimentale di Volo C-27-esének légcsavarvégeit se kìmélik 

Zord

As governments increasingly prioritise national interests, security concerns and geopolitical competition over collective global responsibilities, traditional development finance mechanisms are being weakened, repurposed or redirected towards advancing narrow strategic objectives. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projects a 23 per cent decline in official development assistance (ODA) between 2024 and 2025 (OECD, 2026). This reduction not only has immediate consequences for the lives and livelihood of millions of people in low-income countries (LICs) who depend on external assistance, but also creates uncertainty for partner countries, disrupts long-term development planning, and undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of development cooperation. At the same time, development finance needs have risen sharply and continue to rise due to the climate crisis, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and rising food and energy prices. Together, these pressures have contributed to a projected USD 6.4 trillion financing gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (OECD, 2025a). Against this backdrop, mobilising greater volumes of private capital aligned with the SDGs has become increasingly important (on the need for the European Union to become more adept at facilitating private investment, see the contribution by Keijzer & Furness in this volume). In particular, blended finance has frequently been promoted as one key instrument to achieve this objective (on domestic revenue mobilisation as another key approach, see the contribution by Sen & von Haldenwang in this volume). However, despite growing attention from policy-makers and development institutions, the scale of blended finance has remained well below expectations and so far made only a limited contribution to closing the SDG financing gap. Although transaction volumes increased from USD 11.5 billion in 2020 to USD 18.3 billion in 2024, they remain small relative to the estimated USD 4 trillion annual SDG financing gap (Convergence, 2025; OECD, 2025a). As such, the Sevilla Commitment (UNCTAD, 2025) calls for scaling up private capital mobilisation through blended finance and a broader use of risk-sharing instruments. This chapter discusses the benefits and limits of blended finance as well as reforms that are needed at different levels to scale up blended finance and enhance its development impact.

Donald Trump (80) sichert den USA mit einem neuen Abkommen permanente Kontrolle über Grönlands Sicherheit. Der Deal mit Dänemark und Grönland soll geopolitische Rivalen wie China und Russland in der Arktis ausschalten. Er will umgehend Truppen losschicken.

Tigers-Spieler Baltisberger schlägt Knak vom ZSC bei einem Zweikampf beim Bully den Stock zwischen die Beine und muss dafür erst in die Kühlbox und anschliessend nach dem Video-Review der Schiris unter die Dusche.

In Zusammenarbeit mit MySports präsentiert dir Blick die Highlights der Partie SCL Tigers – ZSC Lions (3:4).

In Zusammenarbeit mit MySports präsentiert dir Blick die Highlights der Partie HC Ambri-Piotta – SCRJ Lakers (6:3).

Egy nemzetközi légierő-gyakorlatot többféle szemszögből lehet bemutatni: más élményt, tapasztalatot jelent a pilótáknak, a repülőműszakiaknak, a logisztikusoknak vagy az esemény dokumentálásával megbízott fotósnak, videósnak. Négyrészes sorozatomat az utóbbival kezdem, aki szokatlan módon nem a légierő berkeiből, hanem szárazföldi alakulattól került a csapatba.

A görögországi Araxoszban megrendezett idei NATO Tiger Meet gyakorlaton Vasadi Zoltán István „félig” civil szakemberként – honvédelmi alkalmazottként – dokumentálta a kecskeméti állomány munkáját és a Gripenek repülését. Zoltán egy szárazföldi alakulat, a Magyar Honvédség Klapka György 1. Páncélosdandár (jelenleg MH 25. Klapka György Páncélosdandár) Harci Forgató Csoport (NATO-terminológiával Combat Camera Team) tagja. Arról, hogy szárazföldiként hogyan került a légierő közelébe és hogyan élte meg a kecskemétiekkel közös munkát, a páncélosdandár tatai laktanyájában beszélgettünk.

[...] Bővebben!