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Credit: Marcelo Del Pozo/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Mar 16 2026 (IPS)

Once again, global oil prices are spiking, driven by the Israeli-US war against Iran. With Iran retaliating by attacking infrastructure and transport hubs and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, oil supplies from the region are being choked, pushing up prices. The cost of a barrel of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – stood at US$73 before the conflict but has surged beyond US$100 since. It could go higher still as war continues.

The impacts are already being felt when drivers fill up their petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles. But they go much wider. Bigger household energy bills will likely result, while businesses will pass on their increased costs in the form of higher prices. Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices soaring and sparked a global cost-of-living crisis, and now, as many economies seemed to be recovering, the war in the Gulf has brought another shock. Impacts could be political as well as financial: in numerous countries, the cost-of-living crisis helped drive voters towards right-wing populist and nationalist politicians. Recent years have seen Gen Z-led protests erupt in countries around the world, fuelled in part by young people’s anger at failing economies.

In a world increasingly characterised by conflict and with powerful states tearing up the international rulebook in pursuit of material interests, more oil shocks and big economic and political impacts seem inevitable. Governments typically react with economic policies that fail to protect those with the least, and by meeting political unrest with repression. They should consider another way.

The world will remain vulnerable to oil price shocks only for as long as it stays dependent on oil. The climate crisis compels a rapid move away from fossil fuel dependency to abate the worst impacts of global heating. Increasingly, this should also be seen as a matter of economic and political security.

Some steps have been taken in the right direction. Renewables now provide over 30 per cent of global electricity. Investments in renewables more than double those in fossil fuels. But fossil fuel companies have immense power and are determined not to give it up. That was reflected in the fact that 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists attended the latest global climate summit, COP30 in Brazil, and succeeded in preventing any new commitment to end fossil fuel extraction. Their power is shown in the lawsuit an oil company brought against Greenpeace, leading to a widely criticised trial in North Dakota, USA, with the campaigning organisation facing a punitive US$345 million damages bill. Their influence was reaffirmed by Donald Trump’s election win, after a campaign in which fossil fuel companies gave US$450 million in donations to Trump and his allies – and they were rewarded by US intervention in Venezuela.

Fossil fuel companies are determined to hold back the tide of renewables for as long as possible, because every day of delay is another day of profit, even though every fraction of a degree of temperature rise means avoidable suffering for millions of people. Delay is the new climate denial.

As the latest State of Civil Society Report points out, civil society’s working to make the difference, urging governments to hasten the transition and calling on global north states to make funding available for global south states to decarbonise and adapt to climate impacts. Civil society is exposing the environmental devastation caused by extraction and the complicity of fossil fuel companies in human rights abuses. Its strategies include advocacy, public campaigning, protests, direct action and, increasingly, litigation.

In 2025, climate litigation scored some big successes. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an unprecedented advisory opinion, ruling that states have a legal duty to prevent environmental harm, which requires them to mitigate emissions and adapt to climate change. This victory originated in civil society: in 2019, student groups from eight countries formed the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change network to persuade their governments to seek an ICJ ruling.

Following extensive civil society engagement, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a similar ruling. The African Court for Human and Peoples’ Rights is set to issue its advisory opinion following a petition brought by the African Climate Platform, a civil society coalition.

These rulings can seem symbolic, but they strengthen national-level efforts to hold states and corporations accountable. These have paid off recently too. In 2025, two South African groups stopped an offshore oil project after a court found its environmental assessments were deeply flawed. More litigation is coming, including in New Zealand, where civil society has filed a lawsuit after the government weakened its emissions reduction plan.

But civil society faces a backlash. Around the world, climate and environmental activists and their allies, Indigenous and land rights defenders, experience severe state and corporate repression.

Last year in Uganda, authorities arrested 11 activists for protesting against the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. In Peru, police used teargas and non-lethal weapons against people blocking a road to protest against a mine. In Cambodia, five young activists from the Mother Nature environmental group have been in jail since July 2024.

The French government has repeatedly vilified environmental campaigners and deployed police violence against protests, while last year the German government launched an inquiry into public funding of environmental groups and the Dutch parliament adopted a motion condemning Extinction Rebellion and urging the removal of its tax-exempt status.

As the latest oil price shocks reverberate around the global economy, governments should learn the lessons. As economies deteriorate, the temptation will be to say that transition is a luxury, something that can be put off even further. This is the wrong lesson: recent research in the UK suggests that the cost of achieving net zero will be about the same as the cost of another oil price crisis. Economic and political security lies in ending fossil fuel dependency as quickly as possible. To learn the right lessons, governments should stop repressing climate activism and instead listen to and work with civil society.

Andrew Firmin isCIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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At dawn, the Ruvuma River moves quietly through a vast wetland along the border between Tanzania and Mozambique. Its muddy waters appear calm, disturbed only by drifting logs and the occasional ripple. But the fishermen paddling wooden canoes across the river know the danger that lurks under the surface. “Always keep away from the edge,” […]

A woman looking at the flooding and landslides in Panauti Muncipality of central Nepal in October 2024. Housing resilience is essential in preventing urban loss and saving lives. Credit: UNICEF/ Rabik Upadhayay

By Sanjeevani Singh and Enid Madarcos
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 16 2026 (IPS)

Access to adequate housing is a foundation of resilient cities. Safe and affordable homes provide stability, allow residents to access essential services, and enhance the capacity for communities to withstand and recover from shocks. Yet housing is often treated as a downstream outcome of urban development or disaster recovery rather than as a strategic investment in resilience.

The Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2026 delivers a stark warning. The region is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and 88 per cent of measurable targets are projected to be missed by 2030 at the current pace. Progress across SDG 11 indicators reflects mixed trends. While some indicators show improvement, disaster losses and infrastructure damage continue to rise.

This widening gap between policy commitments and real-world outcomes exposes a growing resilience deficit in urban systems. Accelerating progress on SDG Target 11.1, which calls for access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and the upgrading of informal settlements, will be critical to reducing urban vulnerability across Asia and the Pacific.

Regional dialogue increasingly reflects this shift toward translating policy commitments into concrete action that reduces urban vulnerability. Discussions at the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in 2026 and statements at the eighty-first session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, held under the theme resilient and sustainable urban development for regional cooperation, highlighted housing affordability, informal settlements and climate-resilient housing as growing policy priorities requiring stronger action at the city level.

Across Asia and the Pacific, around 700 million people, nearly one-third of the region’s urban population, live in informal settlements – many located in hazard-prone areas exposed to flooding, extreme heat, landslides and sea-level rise.

Urban informality reflects deeper structural weaknesses in urban systems, such as gaps in land governance, planning frameworks and service delivery, concentrating climate risks in the same neighbourhoods where housing conditions are most fragile.

Urban vulnerability is shaped by the way cities are built and governed. Unplanned development, weak land-use systems and inadequate housing expose millions of urban residents to climate hazards and disaster risks. In informal settlements, these risks intensify through substandard construction, overcrowding, and limited access to water and sanitation.

Climate change further amplifies these vulnerabilities as flooding, extreme heat, water insecurity, land subsidence and air pollution interact through fragile urban systems.

Evidence also shows that improving housing conditions generates broad development gains. Habitat for Humanity’s research indicates that large-scale upgrading of informal settlements could raise GDP per capita by up to 10 per cent and increase life expectancy by four percent.

Within just one year, housing improvements could prevent more than 20 million illnesses, avert nearly 43 million incidents of gender-based violence, and avoid around 80,000 deaths. These findings highlight that expanding affordable housing and upgrading informal settlements are critical investments in climate adaptation, public health and inclusive development.

A shared but differentiated responsibility

To realign SDG trajectories and move the region closer to a resilient urban future, housing must be understood as a core component of the urban system. Achieving this requires coordinated action across governments, the private sector and civil society.

Governments: From pilot projects to systemic guarantees

Governments must anchor climate-resilient and adequate housing as a national priority, embedding secure tenure, resilient housing and informal settlement upgrading within urban development, climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. Regulatory frameworks should enable participatory and in-situ upgrading and community-led tenure solutions that allow residents to invest in climate-resilient housing improvements.

Private sector: From speculative value to resilient value

The private sector can help scale resilient housing solutions by mobilizing blended finance that combines guarantees, concessional capital and private investment. These mechanisms can support incremental home improvements, affordable rental supply and climate-resilient retrofits. Companies can also prioritize locally sourced, low-carbon materials and passive design solutions such as cool roofs, insulation and cross-ventilation suited to tropical cities.

Civil society and academia: From isolated initiatives to knowledge-powered coalitions

Civil society and academic institutions play an essential role in co-producing evidence and solutions with communities. This includes exploring nature-based approaches in informal settlements and ensuring policies reflect lived realities on the ground. They also help hold institutions accountable to SDG 11 and climate justice by tracking progress on Target 11.1 and ensuring policies and investments prioritize the most vulnerable.

Housing will shape the region’s urban resilience

The future of urban resilience in Asia and the Pacific will largely be determined in its informal neighbourhoods. If current trends continue, millions more families will be pushed into precarious and hazard-exposed housing. Aligning housing policy with climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and inclusive urban governance therefore offers one of the most powerful pathways to accelerate SDG 11 and strengthen resilience across the region.

Sanjeevani Singh is Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP; Enid Madarcos is Associate Director for Urban, Land and Policy, Habitat for Humanity International (Asia-Pacific)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The 60th Anniversary re-enactment of Women's Protest during Women’s War of 1929 Courtesy National Museum Uyo. Source: Black Past
 
Meanwhile, UN Women has recognised the Aba women’s riot of 1929 as a noteworthy women-led demonstration, which ignited the revolution in the defence of women’s rights in Nigeria.

By Deborah Eli Yusuf Tinam
ABUJA, Nigeria, Mar 16 2026 (IPS)

The Aba Women’s Riots of 1929 remain one of the most powerful demonstrations of Nigerian women’s collective resistance. Thousands of market women, farmers, traders, and mothers mobilized across districts in the then Eastern Nigeria to challenge colonial taxation and the extension of warrant chiefs’ authority over their lives. They organized without formal structures and without institutional support.

And yet, they achieved national disruption and forced policy change. When we contrast that era with the landscape of women’s movements today, the differences reveal both how far we have come and what we may have forgotten.

The Aba Women’s Riots were not only a gendered uprising but also a class struggle rooted in the economic exploitation and social restructuring imposed by colonial capitalism. A socialist point of view helps to reveal how colonial rule reshaped relations of production and imposed new class hierarchies that women directly resisted.

Deborah Eli Yusuf Tinam

Before British rule, many Igbo and Ibibio societies were relatively flexible in terms of gender roles. Women played central roles in local economies; through agriculture, trade, and cooperative labour (such as the umuada and mikiri networks). The umuada consisted of women born into a lineage or village who could intervene in disputes, sanction antisocial behaviour, organise collective protests, and enforce community norms through social pressure and ritualised actions.

The mikiri (also known as women’s meetings or associations) were regular assemblies of married women within a community. These networks coordinated economic activity—such as market regulation, collective labour, and mutual aid—and served as forums for political discussion and mobilisation.

British indirect rule dismantled these structures and replaced them with male warrant chiefs, male tax officials, male-controlled courts, and the exclusion of women from any form of decision-making. This represented a patriarchal restructuring of society, in which the colonial state elevated men—especially those who collaborated as local agents of imperial power.

Colonialism did not simply exploit labour; it re-organized gender relations in ways that made women’s labour easier to extract and less politically defended. Thus, the British colonial rule, contrary to the false claim that it helped “democratise” countries or “liberate” women, imposed a system that elevated patriarchy to new heights, so as to serve its interests.

The Abia Women’s Riot of 1929, also known as the Aba Women’s War, was a major protest by women against British colonial rule in southeastern Nigeria. It took place mainly in Aba and the surrounding areas in present-day Abia State.

The protest began in Oloko near Aba after a woman named Nwanyeruwa was questioned by a colonial agent. She informed other women, and soon thousands of women came together to protest. They marched, sang protest songs, and surrounded native courts and the homes of warrant chiefs. They aimed to stop taxation and remove corrupt leaders.

During the two-month “war” at least 25,000 Igbo women were involved in protests against British officials. Thousands of Igbo women congregated at the Native Administration centers in Calabar and Owerri as well as smaller towns to protest both the warrant chiefs and the taxes on the market women.

Using the traditional practice of censoring men through all-night song and dance ridicule (often called “sitting on a man”), the women chanted and danced, and in some locations forced warrant chiefs to resign their positions.

The women also attacked European-owned stores and Barclays Bank and broke into prisons and released prisoners. They also attacked Native Courts run by colonial officials, burning many of them to the ground. Colonial Police and troops were called in. They fired into the crowds that had gathered at Calabar and Owerri, killing more than 50 women and wounding over 50 others. During the two-month “war” at least 25,000 Igbo women were involved in protests against British officials.

Amid the chaos stood Adiaha Adam Udo Udoma, who seized the British officer’s rifle, and in a moment, etched into legend, broke it across a fearless act became a lasting symbol of defiance by the end of the uprising at least 50 women, including Udo Odoma were killed and many more were wounded still the movement endured but the British colonial authority responded with force, and many women were killed and injured.

Despite this, the protest was successful. The colonial government stopped plans to tax women and removed some warrant chiefs. The Abia Women’s Riot remains an important event in Nigerian history. It shows the courage, unity, and strength of women in the fight against injustice and colonial oppression.

One of the first challenges the Aba women faced—one that is no longer as present today—was the complete absence of political recognition. Women at the time were excluded from formal governance; they were not seen as political actors and did not vote (men acquired voting rights earlier than women, although also under restrictions). Their mobilisation first had to assert their political personhood before demanding anything else.

Today, Nigerian women still face underrepresentation, but they are at least acknowledged participants in political discourse. Policies, ministries, gender desks, and advocacy platforms exist, even if imperfectly, and women can push for reforms through both formal and grassroots channels.

Another challenge that women in 1929 had to navigate was communication across vast distances without literacy or technology. They relied on networks, songs, messengers, and market alliances to coordinate action. Today’s organisers benefit from social media, digital advocacy, and rapid mobilisation tools that reduce logistical barriers and amplify voices far beyond local communities.

There are enduring lessons in the way the Aba women mobilised. Their movement was deeply community-rooted; they were not elites speaking on behalf of the masses—they were the masses. Their power came from collective legitimacy, a shared grievance, and a clear strategy that everyone understood.

They also practiced what was essentially feminist organising: solidarity across clans, a refusal to centre individual leaders, and a commitment to nonviolence—until they faced violent repression by colonial forces. Modern movements sometimes struggle with fragmentation, internal rivalry, and the pressure to elevate individual faces rather than collective goals.

In many ways, today’s women’s movements also struggle under the weight of constant “activist trainings”, frameworks, and Western-influenced bourgeois toolkits that can dilute the very agency they are meant to strengthen.

Activism has gradually become “professionalized,” and while capacity-building has its place, it can unintentionally create dependence on external validation before women feel confident enough to act. The Aba women did not wait for workshops on movement-building, advocacy strategy, or leadership; they mobilised because the urgency of their lived experience demanded it. Their power was organic, instinctive, and rooted in shared realities.

When modern movements become overly shaped by imported bourgeois methodologies, they risk losing that raw, community-driven energy that once made women’s uprisings so transformative.

Unlike in 1929, contemporary advocacy now leans heavily on digital spaces, which can distance organisers from rural women whose realities mirror those of the 1929 protesters more than those of urban inhabitants. For example, NGO debates on gender equality frequently centre urban issues—career mobility, political appointments, digital violence—while rural women still grapple with land rights, market taxation, displacement, and insecure livelihoods.

Earlier movements would likely have pushed for deeper integration of rural women’s priorities, since their strength came from women who understood each other’s economic struggles firsthand. Another gap is sustainability. Many modern protests surge in moments of crisis but lose momentum afterwards.

The Aba women maintained long-term pressure because their grievances were tied to everyday survival; they did not have the luxury of moving on. Their consistency and clarity offer a model for building movements that do not fade once headlines end.

Ultimately, if modern women’s movements in Nigeria are to reclaim their power, they must return to the grassroots, where realities are raw, urgent, and unfiltered. Rural women, who often carry the heaviest burdens, should not be an afterthought; they should be the starting point.

And while international support has played a role in pushing gender issues forward, movements should not be dependent on it. The Women’s War of 1929 illustrates how colonial capitalism relied on patriarchy to function, and how women’s oppression was foundational to the colonial economy.

Too many actions today feel cosmetic—grand displays without the heat of real rage or the conviction to disrupt the system in a meaningful way. To move beyond this, organising must be bold, provocative, and grounded in lived experience. Only then can women’s movements break free from inherited templates and reclaim the fearless, self-determined spirit that once defined women’s resistance in this country.

This is the way to place themselves at the forefront of the struggle to dismantle capitalism and patriarchy and establish an egalitarian socialist society.

Deborah Eli Yusuf Tinam, is a development worker, political commentator, and political economy and history enthusiast working at the intersection of peacebuilding, gender equality, youth development and governance. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy and has a background in Journalism from Ahmadu Bello University. She is the Vice President of the Young Urban Women Movement Nigeria, a member of RevolutionNow and previously served as the North Central Coordinator of the Take it Back Movement Nigeria.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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On 5 March, thousands of people, including many children, fled their homes in the south and the southern suburbs of Beirut, with many gathering in the streets or attempting to reach safer areas. Children are among the most affected as families face displacement, uncertainty and limited access to essential services. Credit: UNICEF Lebanon

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 13 2026 (IPS)

During a solidarity visit to Lebanon, the UN chief announced a flash appeal of USD 308.3 million to support humanitarian operations there in the wake of escalated fighting.

The humanitarian appeal is intended to reach the more than 816,000 people within Lebanon that have been displaced due to the most recent fighting in the Middle East region. Nearly two weeks since the United States, Israel and Iran engaged in a military offensive, this has brought about a new wave of displacement and civilian casualties impacting the entire region.

The appeal comes at a time of increased fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that at least 634 people have been killed and more than 1500 have been injured since the start of the fighting on March 2. The number of displaced people is expected to rise as Israeli evacuation orders force people, including up to 300,000 children, to flee to safety. The fighting reached further escalation on Thursday, Israeli forces launched missiles parts of the southern suburbs and the Bashoura neighborhood in Beirut.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres began a solidarity visit to Lebanon, coming straight from Ankara, Türkiye. He met with Lebanese leadership, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun, to discuss the current situation. He has called for all parties to end the hostilities and for negotiations that would respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Guterres commended the work of UN agencies and humanitarian partners in delivering essential needs and to local communities supporting those impacted.

“These efforts are saving lives. But they need a big boost of support,” Guterres said on Friday. “The Flash Appeal we launch today will sustain and expand life‑saving assistance over the next three months – including food, clean water, health care, education, protection, and other vital services. Its success depends on swift, flexible funding – and on ensuring that humanitarian workers can safely reach those most in need.”

According to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, since March 12 the UN and its humanitarian partners have distributed 632,000 hot meals and 18,000 ready-to-eat meals, and have provided more than 2000 liters of bottled water and over 1700 cubic meters of clean water.

Additional funding from the UN system has also been mobilized to support Lebanon. Earlier this week, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher announced that USD 15 million would be mobilized from the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), along with a reserve allocation from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund.

Fletcher warned the UN Security Council that humanitarian workers’ ability to reach people was “tightening by the day”, as they must navigate within active conflict zones and key transport routes are blocked due to debris, making it more difficult to reach affected communities.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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In the Al-Azraq camp in northern Syria, 10-year-old Abeer Al-Qaddour sits, browsing a colourful book with intense focus and curiosity. Nearby stands a bus, elegantly inscribed with the words ‘The Cultural Bus’. Around the vehicle, dozens of children have gathered with visible joy, engaging in collective drawing activities for the very first time. Not far […]

Unsplash Fort of Goree Island, Senegal, was the site of one of the earliest European settlements in Western Africa. Source UN News
The calls for reparatory justice can no longer be ignored, speakers at the fourth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on African Descent said last April.
They urged greater collaboration between governments, civil society and regional organizations to create a system that would compensate Africa and the African diaspora for the enduring legacies of colonialism, enslavement, apartheid and genocide between the 16th and 19th centuries. “Africa was under siege,” said Hilary Brown, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) about the 300 years of enslavement and exploitation on the continent. “Her political, economic and social systems thrown into chaotic instability as Europe plundered the continent for her most valuable asset, her people.”

By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, Mar 13 2026 (IPS)

Professor Jude Osakwe—a Nigerian scholar at the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Continental Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Africa (NIDOAF)—has reiterated the absolute truth over Reparations for Africa, noting that African governments have consistently expressed only ’emotional solidarity’ over Reparations instead of tackling and addressing, with seriousness, this pertinent issue within the context of diplomacy.

He strongly believes that despite sharp political and cultural diversity influencing developments, African leaders can still adopt a collective strategy in pursuit of advantageous aspirations for sustaining continental sovereignty. The concept of Pan-Africanism is noticeably fragmented while grassroot movements lack strategic coordination.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

How well do African people represent the continent on Reparations and Pan-Africanism?

Professor Jude Osakwe: Honestly, inadequately, but not without effort. Representation is fragmented. The loudest voices on reparations often come from the Caribbean and African-American communities, while continental Africans, remain largely sidelined in that global conversation.

Pan-Africanism as an ideology is more spoken about than practiced. There is emotional solidarity, but very little structural unity. The honest reality is that African governments have not made reparations a serious diplomatic priority, and grassroots movements lack the coordination to pressure them to do so.

Does the diaspora media landscape affect how these topics are viewed in a Western light?

Professor Osakwe: Absolutely.

Western media frames Pan-Africanism as either nostalgic romanticism or a political threat, and frames reparations as a Black American issue, effectively erasing the continental African dimension entirely. As an African in the diaspora, you are constantly navigating between your own lived framework and a media environment that either misrepresents or ignores your perspective.

This creates a psychological burden, you must actively resist the dominant narrative just to maintain an accurate self-understanding. African diaspora media exists, but it remains underfunded and underreached compared to mainstream outlets, which means the Western framing dominates public discourse by default.

What are the measures for upholding African identity in the diaspora, and diaspora contributions amid geopolitical shifts?

Professor Osakwe: Key measures:

• Intentional cultural transmission, language, history, and values must be actively taught, not assumed
• Building diaspora institutions that are African-led, not just African-themed
• Political engagement both in host countries and in countries of origin
• Economic networking through platforms like NIDO that connect diaspora professionals to continental development

On geopolitical contributions: The current moment, with Africa renegotiating relationships with Western powers, China, Russia, and Gulf states, is actually an opportunity for the diaspora. Diaspora Africans sitting inside Western governments, universities, and financial institutions carry real leverage.

The question is whether that leverage gets used collectively or dissipates individually. Remittances already outpace foreign aid to many African countries. What’s needed now is moving beyond remittances to strategic investment, policy advocacy, and knowledge transfer, turning the diaspora from a financial lifeline into a genuine development partner.

Kester Kenn Klomegah focuses on current geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development-related questions in Africa with external countries. Most of his well-resourced articles are reprinted in several reputable foreign media.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The Women in Politics 2026 map from IPU and UN Women was launched at an event at CSW70, 11 March 2026. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown. Source: IPU
 
New Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) – UN Women data show women remain far from equal political power, holding just 22.4 per cent of cabinet posts and 27.5 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide.

By UN Women
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 13 2026 (IPS)

Across the world, women remain vastly under-represented in political leadership, with the most powerful decisions still overwhelmingly made by men. In 2026, only 28 countries are led by a woman Head of State or Government, while 101 countries have never had a woman leader, according to the latest data released by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women.

When women are shut out of political leadership, decisions that shape peace, security, and economic priorities are made without half of the world’s experience at the table. The new global data reveals stagnation, and in some cases regression, in women’s political leadership, particularly in executive government.

Key findings from the data released by IPU and UN Women include:

o Women hold just 22.4 per cent of cabinet minister positions globally, down from 23.3 per cent in 2024, marking a reversal after years of gradual progress.

o Fourteen countries have achieved gender parity in cabinets, demonstrating that equal representation is possible, yet eight countries still have no women ministers at all.

o Women hold 27.5 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide, up slightly from 27.2 per cent in 2025. The increase of just 0.3 percentage points marks the second consecutive year of the slowest growth recorded since 2017, highlighting how slowly women are advancing in political decision-making power.

o Women are also losing ground in parliamentary leadership. As of January 2026, 54 women serve as Speakers of Parliament globally, representing 19.9 per cent of all Speakers. This represents a nearly four-percentage-point decline from the previous year and the first drop in women Speakers in 21 years.

o Women in politics face rising hostility and intimidation from the public, both online and offline. Seventy-six per cent of women parliamentarians surveyed report experiencing intimidation by the public, compared with 68 per cent of men – a trend that deters women from seeking office and slows progress toward equal political power.

o Even when women reach leadership positions, they are often concentrated in a narrow range of portfolios traditionally linked to social sectors.

o Women lead 90 per cent of gender-equality ministries and 73 per cent of ministries responsible for family and children’s affairs, reinforcing long-standing gender stereotypes in political leadership. Men continue to lead almost exclusively ministries like defense, home affairs, justice, economic affairs, governance, health, and education.

“At a time of growing global instability, escalating conflicts and a visible backlash against women’s rights, shutting women out of political leadership weakens societies’ ability to respond to the challenges they face,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous.

“Women bring perspectives and experience that are essential for making better decisions, preventing conflict and building lasting peace. When women are fully involved in political leadership, countries are more stable, policies work better for people, and societies are better prepared to face the crises shaping our world today.”

“Parity is a moral imperative, because women have an equal right to shape the decisions that govern their lives. But it is also the smart thing to do. Institutions make better decisions when they reflect the societies they serve. They are better able to identify bias, design fairer responses, and earn public trust when women from all backgrounds are present, and influential, at every level,” said IPU President Tulia Ackson.

“The IPU has constantly proven that well-designed quotas and strong political will are essential to speed up change and ensure that women’s voices are heard in democratic decision-making. At the same time, men and women must work together as equal partners to transform political culture, challenge stereotypes, and build inclusive parliaments that reflect the people they represent,” said IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong.

Despite the slow pace of change, women around the world continue to push boundaries and assert their place in political life. Removing structural barriers, including discriminatory laws, violence against women in politics, and unequal access to resources, as well as challenging negative social norms, will be critical to ensuring women’s equal political leadership in the years ahead.

This year’s 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women – (which is scheduled to conclude March 19) the United Nations’ highest-level intergovernmental body that sets global standards for women’s rights and gender equality – is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse the rollback of women’s rights.

The future of democracy will be stronger, fairer, and more resilient when women are equally represented in decision-making at all levels.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A street scene in Kabul.

By External Source
KABUL, Mar 12 2026 (IPS)

In the bone-chilling Afghanistan winter, a woman was dragged into a public square early this year and publicly lashed for a crime she may or not have committed. According to the ruling handed by the Taliban Supreme Court, the woman and the male culprit who was jointly accused of extra-marital affair received 30 lashes each and a one-year suspended prison sentence. The sentence was carried out in the presence of several local officials and residents in a province whose name is left out to protect the victim.

For Roya, (not her real name), a woman whose life has already been scarred by years of psychological and emotional distress, 30 blows of lashes in corporeal punishment amounts to an extra dose of salt into her wound. She lost her husband six years ago, in a traffic accident, leaving her to raise five children as a single mother.

Faced with crushing poverty Roya has worked as a farm laborer on other people’s land, but with the onset of the winter and agricultural work drying up, she migrated to the city where she cleaned houses, washed clothes and hand-stitched embroidered men’s collars under the dim light of a lamp at night. Naqeeba (also not her real name), a neighbor who has known Roya for years, speaks approvingly of her great sense of dignity. The money she earned through this work was little, but Roya never asked anyone for help, says Naqueeba.

She tried to cover the costs of living in whatever way she could and it was the constant need to create job-seeking opportunities by frequent daily travels, which rather became labeled as improper marital relations, bringing on her punishment rather than reward.

“She became a victim of circumstances, not a criminal,” Naqeeba, says, adding, “the charge was false.”

According to Naqeeba, Roya didn’t even get a chance to defend herself. She was on her way home and nearby her own house when she was seized “like a dangerous criminal,” thrown into a vehicle, and taken away without anyone knowing where she was taken to or what she had been accused of.

A Charge She Did Not Deserve

“This was not a simple blow. It was a strike that, as long as she lives, she will never be able to hold her head high again in this neighborhood”, Naqueeba explains further with her voice filled with anger and sorrow. She pauses and continues: “For a week, no one knew whether she was alive or what had happened to her until news of her public flogging emerged”.

The repeated public corporal punishments, especially against women, have not only instilled fear in society but also raised serious questions about justice, human dignity, and the status of women in today’s Afghanistan.

Roya’s story is not just the story of one individual; it reflects the suffering of thousands of women who live in silence under the weight of poverty, loneliness, and restrictions, and who are punished simply for being women. The day she was flogged marked the fourth public corporal punishment of women in that province in less than two months, during December and January a trend that has fueled waves of fear, anxiety, and silence, particularly among women in the region.

According to a report by Hasht e Subh Daily Media, in 2025, the Taliban publicly flogged 225 people in Kabul alone. This means that people were flogged at least every other day in the capital. Several other provinces carried out dozens of public floggings each.

The report reveals that confessions were often extracted under pressure. The accused were denied legal assistance and a fair trial. The Taliban rely on corporal punishment and public displays of force, which violate human rights and cause severe social and psychological consequences for the victims.

The Taliban abolished the Attorney General’s Office and shut down the Independent Bar Association of Afghanistan in November 2021, thus effectively blocking the path to legal defense.

In 2025, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur along with other UN experts, on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, consistently condemned the Taliban’s increased use of public flogging and other forms of corporal punishment, describing them as “inhuman and cruel”. Throughout the year, he highlighted the alarming rise in these practices, noting that they often occur without due process or fair trial standards.

“The Taliban must immediately end the death penalty and all corporal punishment that amounts to torture or other cruel and inhuman treatment, and respect the rights and dignity of all detainees,” Bennett and other experts stressed.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons.

Protection of key habitats and dedicated efforts to tackle poaching in a coordinated way have allowed the sea turtle to bounce back. Credit: Jordan Robins / Ocean Image Bank

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan & SHRINGAR, India, Mar 12 2026 (IPS)

Global wildlife is facing a deepening crisis as the latest United Nations assessment warns that nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline due to human activity, habitat destruction, and climate change.

The warning comes in the newly released State of the World’s Migratory Species: Interim Report 2026, which presents updated findings on population trends, conservation status, and emerging threats affecting animals that travel vast distances across continents and oceans.

Kelly Malsch, lead author of the State of the World’s Migratory Species: Interim Report 2026 and Head of Conservation, UNEP-WCMC.

Prepared by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the report provides a comprehensive snapshot of how species that rely on migration for survival are increasingly under pressure across ecosystems.

According to the report, “the extinction risk of CMS listed species is rising”, with migratory animals exposed to a combination of threats along their routes, including habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change.

The assessment shows that almost one in four migratory species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species is now globally threatened. Updated evaluations from the International Union for Conservation of Nature reveal that 24 percent of these species fall into threatened categories such as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered.

One of the lead report authors, Kelly Malsch, who is also  Head of Conservation, UNEP-WCMC  told IPS news in an exclusive interview that the State of the World’s Migratory Species report, published in 2024, was the first comprehensive assessment of the situation facing migratory species.  She says that the report  identified overexploitation and habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation due to human activity as the two greatest threats to both CMS-listed and all migratory species. These main drivers remain unchanged since the first assessment.

“Since then, we find that 49 percent of migratory species populations conserved by the global UN treaty are declining (5 percent more in just two years, from 44 percent in 2024), and 24 percent of species face extinction (2 percent more, up from 22 percent in 2024),” Malsch said.

She added, “We do not know exactly how quickly these changes are happening, as the trends only come to light when the IUCN Red List for a particular species is updated. However, we do know populations of migratory animals are being lost at an alarming rate and that more needs to be done to turn things around for these amazing species given the changes in only two years.”

The report also notes that 34 species have shifted to a different risk category since the previous assessment. Of these, 26 species have moved into more threatened categories, while only seven have improved in status.

Many of the species moving toward greater risk are migratory shorebirds. Eighteen shorebird species have been reclassified into more threatened categories due to habitat degradation, climate impacts, and other human pressures.

The findings highlight the growing vulnerability of species that rely on multiple habitats across borders. Migratory animals often depend on breeding grounds, feeding sites, and stopover habitats located in different countries. Any disruption along these pathways can jeopardise their survival.

‘Action Needed to Improve Health of Biodiversity Globally’

The report also presents alarming trends in population decline. Nearly half of all migratory species assessed now show decreasing population trends.

According to the report, “the proportion of CMS listed species with a decreasing population trend now stands at 49 percent”, up from 44 percent previously recorded.

Scientists caution that the increase partly reflects improved monitoring data, but it still signals widespread ecological pressure across ecosystems.

Recent studies cited in the report confirm declining populations among migratory shorebirds, birds of prey across the African-Eurasian flyway, freshwater fish, sharks, and rays.

The global extinction of the Slender billed Curlew is one stark example of these trends. With no confirmed sightings since 1995, the species has now been declared extinct, underscoring the consequences of delayed conservation action.  “Migratory species can be found around the world on land, in rivers, wetlands, at sea and in our skies – the declines we are seeing with this subset of species showcase that more action is needed to improve the health of biodiversity globally,” Malsch said.

Disease and threatened migratory routes affect birds. The Egyptian Vulture is affected by poisoning, electrocution, and poaching. Credit: Sergey Dereliev, (www.dereliev-photography.com)

Disease Outbreaks and Environmental Threats

In addition to habitat destruction and climate change, emerging threats such as disease outbreaks are affecting migratory wildlife.

The report notes that highly pathogenic avian influenza has caused mass mortality events among migratory birds and marine mammals recently. The virus has affected species ranging from African Penguins and pelicans to cranes and sea lions.

Researchers warn that long-lived migratory species are especially vulnerable to such disease outbreaks because even small increases in mortality can affect their long-term survival.

Infrastructure development is another major challenge. Expanding road networks, fences, pipelines, and railways are fragmenting migratory routes used by terrestrial mammals such as gazelles and wildebeest.

These barriers restrict seasonal movements that animals rely on to access breeding areas and food resources. In some cases, they have already triggered dramatic population declines.

Malsch said that to protect migratory paths that cross borders, the global conservation community needs to take actions that safeguard, link, and restore important habitats for these species – this means making sure that vital areas for migratory species (like Key Biodiversity Areas) are officially recognised as protected and conserved.  Ensuring that these areas are effectively managed and connected.

“Ensuring ecological connectivity through wildlife corridors provides important stepping stones for migratory species. Wildlife corridors can exist at many different scales, ranging from wildlife overpasses that allow animals to safely cross roads to vast transboundary landscapes and seascapes that support migrations spanning thousands of miles.  There is a need to understand where and how ecological corridors are already effectively conserving migratory species. UNEP-WCMC  are working on a database of ecological corridors that will help the global conservation community with this challenge and crucially aid in identifying key gaps in the existing network,” Malsch said.

She added that there are various inspiring examples from around the world of collaborative initiatives focused on restoring connectivity at landscape scales.

The Wildlife Connect initiative – led by WWF and including CMS – is helping conserve the jaguar. Credit: Gregoire Dubois

“For example, the Wildlife Connect initiative – led by WWF and including CMS as a partner – works to protect and restore ecological connectivity across key landscapes, such as a focal landscape in the Pantanal-Chaco region – spanning Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay - where the initiative works across this large transboundary landscape to identify and protect ecological corridors for wide-ranging species like the Jaguar. ”

Severe Decline in Fish Populations

The report highlights migratory fish as one of the most threatened groups globally. Freshwater fish populations have declined by an average of 81 percent since 1970, according to the Living Planet Index cited in the study.

Habitat fragmentation caused by dams and river regulation is one of the primary drivers behind these losses. Large river basins such as the Amazon, Mekong, Congo, and Niger face increasing pressure from hydropower development, which disrupts migratory pathways for fish and other aquatic species.

Sharks and rays are also experiencing severe declines. Their populations have fallen by roughly half since 1970, largely due to overfishing and bycatch.

Scientists warn that several groups, including sawfishes, devil rays, and hammerhead sharks, are now among the most threatened vertebrates in the oceans.

Signs of Conservation Success

Despite the overall negative outlook, the report highlights several conservation successes that demonstrate the impact of coordinated global efforts.

The Saiga Antelope, once devastated by disease outbreaks and poaching, has shown a strong recovery in parts of Central Asia. The species has improved from Endangered to Near Threatened due to strengthened anti-poaching efforts, habitat protection, and community engagement in Kazakhstan.

Another success story is the Scimitar horned Oryx. Once extinct in the wild, the species has been reintroduced in Chad and now maintains a growing wild population of more than 500 individuals.

Marine turtle populations also show encouraging trends. Many nesting populations are now stable or increasing due to conservation measures such as protected nesting beaches and reduced hunting.

“As many river systems flow across international borders, governments can come together multilaterally and take urgent, coordinated efforts to reverse declines in freshwater migratory fish populations. While advocating for specific interventions is beyond the scope of this report, the first State of the World’s Migratory Species report highlighted a range of recommendations, including the urgent need to minimise the impacts of planned infrastructure on migratory species. Restoration efforts also have an important role to play,”  Malsch said.

According to her, in river systems that have been badly fragmented by dams, restoration could involve the removal of barriers at strategic locations. For some species, the effects of barriers can be reduced by adding fish passages or by adjusting how dams operate to keep natural water flows, like maintaining proper water levels in downstream areas or important floodplain habitats.

Migratory fish would also benefit from measures to reduce water pollution and to ensure any fishing pressure is sustainable, through measures such as the seasonal closure of fisheries or protections at key spawning grounds, or improved monitoring of cross-border populations.

“There are clear actions that can be taken to improve outcomes for freshwater fish, but we need to act with pace,” she said.

Critical Habitats Still Underprotected

Scientists, as per the report, have identified thousands of important biodiversity sites worldwide. Of the 16,589 Key Biodiversity Areas globally, more than 9,300 have been identified as important for migratory species. Yet many of these locations remain inadequately protected. On average, only about 52.6 percent of the area within these critical habitats is currently covered by protected or conserved areas.

This gap leaves many species vulnerable during crucial stages of their migration cycles. Experts say that better mapping of migratory routes and stronger international cooperation are essential for safeguarding wildlife that crosses multiple national borders. The report calls for intensified global action to protect migratory wildlife and their habitats by 2032 under the Samarkand Strategic Plan for Migratory Species.

Conservation measures must focus on restoring habitats, protecting migratory corridors, reducing overexploitation, and addressing the impacts of climate change. “Action to restore, connect and protect important habitats and reduce the pressures facing migratory species is urgently required to secure their future,” the report reads. It adds that without coordinated international action, many of the planet’s most remarkable animal migrations could disappear within a generation.

“Recovery is possible when countries come together to take urgent, coordinated action to protect species. Malsch stated, “We know conservation works when focused efforts reduce underlying pressures head-on and consider the local context.”

She added that for Saiga, protection of key habitats and dedicated efforts to tackle poaching in a coordinated way have allowed this unique species to bounce back. For marine turtles, progress has been made to protect nesting beaches, prevent and reduce the direct taking of turtle eggs and adjust fishing gear to reduce bycatch of marine turtles.

“This combination of dedicated actions by governments, coastal communities, and fishermen is making all the difference. These are the types of focused approaches, directly targeting the main pressures, that need to be replicated to help other species.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The dead Ali Khamenei hands over the Iranian flag to a mirror image of his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. From the web site https://english.khamenei.ir/

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Mar 12 2026 (IPS)

The US/Israeli war on Iran might be like messing with a hornets’ nest, spreading fear and chaos all around. The Israeli government claimed that the war was a “preventive” measure to address an immediate threat of Iran constructing a nuclear bomb. However, this war has obviously been meticulously planned over a long period of time and it now seemed to be the right time to put this plan into action. The Iranian air defences had been weakened through earlier attacks, while recent Israeli strikes decapitated Hezbollah’s Lebanese leadership, Iran’s allies north of Israel. With Gaza destroyed and Syria’s unreliable Assad gone, Netanyahu had succeeded in securing his party’s coalition with the far-right and could continue to count upon the support of the Trump Administration, providing Israel with a free hand vis-à-vis the Palestinians and turning a blind eye to the massacre of civilians. The U.S. is continuously supporting Isreal with missile-defence systems, coordination, cooperation, and intelligence sharing.

It appears as if the U.S./Israeli forces now intend to bomb everything in Iran – from its highest leaders, down to police stations and thus hope that Iran will exhaust its defence capacities. The aggressors furthermore claim they intend to achieve an Iranian regime change. However, even if Iran’s ninety-two million people now are trapped between a bloody war and a repressive regime it is highly unlikely that a tolerant government will emerge from a battered rump version of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is more probable that such a state will be governed by leaders even more determined to cling to their power after gaining more confidence after overcoming a terrible crisis. U.S. actions seem to be more improvised than Israel’s and it seems that they have not learned from the Afghanistan failure, i.e. the difficulties in achieving and maintaining a regime change through military means.

The U.S. government rejoiced from the killing of Ali Khamenei – a mid-ranking cleric who did not meet the constitutional requirements of being a marja, i.e. a cleric enabled to make legal decisions for followers and clerics below him in rank. Instead, Khamenei was during his 36 years and six months in power forced to rely on his close ties with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Now, in spite of the fact that the Iranian revolution’s father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared that “hereditary succession is sinister, evil, and invalid,” Khamenei’s son has been elected as Supreme Leader. So far Mojtaba Khamenei has acted in the shadow of his father and few Iranians have heard him speak. He has not made any public appearances, never given a sermon, or made any declarations; just working in close relation with the leaders of IRGC.

Whereas the Iranian Army acts as protector of the nation’s sovereignty, the IRGC “safeguards” the Islamic Republic. With more than 125,000 members it serves as Iran’s coast guard, operates a media outlet called Sepah News, and controls the nuclear program. From its origins as an ideological militia, the IRGC now controls nearly every aspect of Iranian politics, economy (including energy and food industries), as well as the nation’s social life. It counts upon a paramilitary volunteer militia with 90,000 active personnel. One of IRGC’s branches is the Qods Force, which specialises in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations.

The presence, terror and fear created by IRGC have made it difficult for any internal opposition to get organised. In Iran there is nothing akin to the African National Congress with leaders like Nelson Mandela. If a leader would arise from the mess created by the U.S. and Israel it would more likely be a man like Alia Ardashir Larijani, a former commander of the IRGC who holds a B.Sc. in computer science and mathematics, as well as a PhD in Western philosophy.

Larijani has served as deputy minister in various cabinets, been head of the Republic’s broadcasting service, and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Larijani also served as Iran’s top nuclear envoy. However, in late March 2025 he stated that if Iran would be attacked by the United States and Israel, the nation would have no other choice than to develop nuclear weapons. Larijani is accused of having played a key role in the deadly crackdown against opposition protests that gripped the country in January this year. Since the end of December 2025, he is regarded to be the de facto leader of Iran and after originally opposing the election of Mojtaba Khamenei, Larijani has now rallied his supporters behind the newly elected Supreme Leader.

Apart from the fear of an internal collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran, there are concerns about the economic effects of the current war. Beyond the physical damage, Epic Fury has been quite costly for the Trump Administration that so far has deployed nearly half of the United States’ air power and roughly a third of its naval assets. So far, the Pentagon has not released an official estimate of the cost of the war, but it is currently believed to be USD 2 billion per day. Meanwhile, stocks have plunged all over the world and the price of crude oil spiked from USD 65 per barrel to USD 120 after the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquified gas passes, had been effectively closed.

89 percent of Saudi Arabia’s oil shipments used to pass through the Strait, while Kuwait and Qatar shipped 100 percent, Iraq 97 percent and the United Arab Emirates 66 percent. Qatar has so far been worst hit, particularly since it took the place of Russia for liquified gas exports to Europe. Kuwait has now been forced to suspended its production and export of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (of which it is second to the U.S. as the world’s largest provider).

Winners of this situation are large net energy exporters outside the Gulf whose ability to sell abroad remains unaffected, such as Norway, Russia and Canada, and to a lesser degree Nigeria and Angola. Not the least the U.S. is a winner thanks to its expanding fracking industry. At the other end of the spectrum sit economies where energy imports account for a large share of their GDP. This group includes countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India and China, as well as most European economies including France, Germany and the UK.

It has even been speculated that the war on Iran is a means of USA to hurt China’s economy. In 2025, China bought more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, around 12 percent of China’s crude oil imports, while approximately 3 percent came from Venezuela (now subjugated by the U.S.).

In 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year strategic partnership, meaning that China promised to invest USD 400 billion in exchange for keeping Iranian oil flowing. China does not view its “alliances” in the same way the West does, meaning that its government does not sign mutual defence treaties and will not come rushing to its allies’ aid. However, an unpredictable and dysfunctional actor as the U.S. has become under the Trump administration is a great source of unease for Beijing. Worries worsened by the fact that China’s annual economic growth target has reached its lowest level since 1991. Even as Beijing continues its rapid development of high-tech and renewables industries the country is currently battling with low consumption levels, a prolonged property crisis, and a huge local debt.

A big economy like China’s, as well as other wealthy nations, might find means to mitigate rising oil prices, but it’s much worse for smaller, poorer nations. Disruptions to energy supply as a result of a prolonged conflict will have far greater ramifications economically in the Global South than in the West. As an example, a country like Bangladesh, which is particularly dependent on Middle Eastern oil, not least for its garment industry, has already imposed daily limits on fuel sales after panic buying and stockpiling raised concerns about supply. Furthermore, approximately 13 million Bangladeshi expatriates are currently supporting the country’s economic stability through their remittances, of them 8 million live and work within the Middle East.

The same is true of Pakistan, with over 11 million Pakistanis living and working abroad, mainly in the Gulf states. In January 2025 alone, the country received USD 3 billion in remittances, reflecting a 25 percent year-on-year surge. Furthermore, Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre border with Iran and a collapse of Iran into civil war is a constant worry for Pakistan, which also maintains a military relationship with Saudi Arabia with an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Pakistani troops stationed in the kingdom. If the situation worsens, as Saudi infrastructure is hit any further, it is only a matter of time that Saudi Arabia will ask Pakistan to contribute towards its defence. Pakistan’s border areas with Iran and its huge Shia population (generally well-disposed towards their fellow believers on the other side of the frontier) are already highly volatile and if internal strife within Iran spills over the border, the fallout for Pakistan would be severe. Pakistan is furthermore recently engaged in a war with Afghanistan. On 6 March, Pakistan carried out air strikes in more than twenty locations across Afghanistan, while the Taliban targeted dozens of Pakistani border posts.

Other neighbouring nations to Iran are equally nervous. In Turkmenistan prices have almost doubled compared with pre-war levels. With an average salary of around USD 714 a large portion of the population is hard hit, since Turkmenistan is importing a considerable amount of industrial goods from Iran – like steel, construction materials, and petrochemicals, as well as food and household items that constitute a critical lifeline for many of its residents.

Turkey is also alarmed by the present situation and worries what will happen if Iran collapses into warring factions. If the U.S./Israel confrontation with Iran deepens, particularly in ways that involve regime change with a spillover effect on Turkey, or security implications as a result of expanded U.S./Israeli cooperation with hostile Kurdish militants, this war could quickly evolve into another fault line in U.S.-Turkish relations.

To sum up – the U.S./Israel attack on Iran is very unlikely to result in a regime change, but might instead result in a chaotic and bloody collapse of the entire country. The war is a high-risk game that might have dangerous effects not only on Iran and its immediate neighbours, but the entire world as well.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. Source: World Population Prospects 2022 report from the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

By Nandita Bajaj
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, USA, Mar 12 2026 (IPS)

As birthrates continue to decline in many industrialized countries, anxious governments are running out of schemes to keep women procreating.

In the US, millionaires and billionaires are lining up to donate to Trump’s “baby bonus” savings accounts. Trump accounts give parents $1,000 for all babies born between now and 2028, plus whatever private donors add.

Late last year tech billionaires Michael and Susan Dell donated $6.25 billion to them. The accounts are part of Trump’s far-Right pronatalist agenda, and also part of the broader trend of governments using heavy-handed pronatalist policies, ranging from bribes to outright coercion, to convince women to have more babies and shore up the supply of future workers, taxpayers, and soldiers.

These interventions are notoriously ineffective. A recent Heritage Foundation report recommended using economic incentives to convince American women to have more babies, “with preferences for larger-than-average [families],” while shaming those who choose to have fewer or no children.

A family in South Korea, which has the lowest Total Fertility Rate in the world (0.8).

But it also admitted, “Other nations have tried to reverse declining birthrates through financially generous family policies, none has succeeded. Government spending alone does not ensure demographic success.”

Nor can such policies achieve what Heritage calls “success.” Trying to raise birthrates by incentivizing women to have babies not only undermines hard-won reproductive rights, it’s a waste of money.

Such spending is not a priority for U.S. taxpayers, as most Americans do not see falling birth rates as a crisis. Instead, they overwhelmingly want the government to address untenably high child care costs. But a one-time Trump account infusion makes no dent in high costs of raising children and other barriers to motherhood.

Just as recent cuts to SNAP and Medicaid disproportionately affect marginalized women and children, Trump accounts benefit least those who need help most. By the Administration’s own calculations, the accounts will benefit wealthy parents disproportionately.

This shouldn’t be surprising. Trump accounts and other pronatalist policies aren’t really about empowerment or saving families or supporting children. They are a bid to make more white Americans, part of a larger nativist program which includes cracking down on immigration from African and Muslim countries, detaining and deporting non-white people in huge numbers, and even abandoning former U.S. efforts to fight child exploitation and trafficking.

These policies overtly stoke panic about falling birthrates, and tacitly uphold the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.

That makes support for pronatalism from some progressives especially disturbing. Even if their intent is not nativist, advocating policies that push women to have more children is anti-feminist and fundamentally at odds with reproductive agency.

And even when such policies intend to serve feminist goals–for example Finland’s generous parental leave and child and health care—they fail to raise birthrates. That’s because the biggest factor in childbearing decisions isn’t affordability; it’s empowerment.

Nobel prizewinning economic historian Claudia Goldin has shown high birthrates are no longer tied to economic prosperity, as women increasingly choose education and careers over traditional family roles. In fact, she found an inverse relationship between per capita income and fertility. “Wherever you get increased agency,” she said, “you get reduction in the birth rate.”

Another study across 136 countries confirms this: whenever women achieve reproductive agency, birthrates decline, whether the economy is growing or shrinking.

But hundreds of millions of women and girls are denied this agency. Over 640 million alive today were child brides (including in the US). Over 220 million have an unmet need for contraception. More than half of pregnancies are unintended—121 million annually. Cuts in USAID and other aid programs make the situation more dire.

Despite birthrates declining in many countries, global population is going up, projected to swell by 2 billion to 10.4 billion by the 2080s, with vast ecological and social consequences. Extreme climate events are expected to kill more than a billion people and displace up to 3 billion this century, most in countries where women and girls are disempowered and fertility rates remain high. Pronatalism will only make ecological and social crises worse.

We need new policy thinking that recognizes this and embraces the many advantages of declining fertility and less growth. As fertility rates fall, female labor participation will increase and gender pay gaps will narrow.

As median age rises, changing demographics could enable policy shifts that improve wages and conditions for workers and extend job opportunity to billions on the sidelines who want work but don’t have it.

There is no lack of good ideas, from economic models that center wellbeing and rethink growth to radical ecological democracy. Exploring them requires getting off the endless growth treadmill that enriches elites at the expense of the rest of us. We must stop treating women like reproductive vessels for making more people to serve the economy, and start reshaping our economies to serve more people and the planet.

Nandita Bajaj is executive director of the NGO Population Balance, senior lecturer at Antioch University, and producer and host of the podcasts OVERSHOOT and Beyond Pronatalism. Her research and advocacy work focuses on addressing the combined impacts of pronatalism and human expansionism on reproductive and ecological justice.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By CIVICUS
Mar 11 2026 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses the situation in Venezuela following US intervention and the ousting of President Nicolás Maduro with Verónica Zubillaga, a Venezuelan sociologist who specialises in urban violence, state repression and community responses to armed violence.

Verónica Zubillaga

In late January, the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez announced an amnesty for political prisoners, coinciding with a rapprochement with the USA driven by oil interests. It is unclear whether this represents the beginning of a genuine opening or is an attempt by the government to gain international legitimacy without relinquishing power. In a country with millions of migrants and exiles, a historically fragmented opposition and a civil society that has faced brutal repression for years, it remains to be seen whether recent changes will create space for democracy or lead to the consolidation of economically stable authoritarianism.

Is the recently announced amnesty a real opening or a strategic manoeuvre?

We are at an unprecedented crossroads. Venezuela and its Chavista regime, under US tutelage and despite two decades of anti-imperialist rhetoric, are reconfiguring themselves in such a way that some opening could result. However, there is still a risk that an authoritarian model will be consolidated, with economic and humanitarian concessions, but without real democratisation.

The release of political prisoners — a constant demand in all negotiations with international support, and a low-cost form of early opening for the interim government that has taken over from Maduro — could function as a stepping stone towards democratisation. The restoration of civil, political and social rights will be a difficult and lengthy struggle in this context of such deprivation, in which our rights have been violated for so long.

In the first half of February, there were partial and gradual releases, but hundreds of people remained in detention. The enactment of the Amnesty Law on 19 February has accelerated the releases.

The announcement was presented as a political concession, not as a recognition of the extensive human rights violations committed by Maduro’s government. There has been no mention yet of initiating processes to seek the truth, hold those responsible accountable, provide reparations or dismantle the repressive apparatus, which are urgent.

We therefore need to react with caution. The release of people deprived of their liberty for political reasons is essential, but it cannot replace a broader agenda of justice, reparation and institutional transformation.

How has civil society worked to keep this issue at the centre of the debate?

The cause of political prisoners is cross-cutting. There are detained people of different ages, social classes and political backgrounds. In a society as polarised as ours, this is one of the few causes around which there is broad consensus.

After the results of the presidential election of 28 July 2024, which the opposition clearly won, were disregarded, it was mainly people from the working classes who took to the streets to protest. Many young people, including teenagers, were arrested and imprisoned. This situation significantly deepened the social dimension of the problem, highlighted the break between the ruling party and its traditional base and consolidated the brutally authoritarian nature and illegitimacy of Maduro’s government.

There is also an important gender dimension. While many young men are in prison, it is women – mothers, sisters and other relatives – who have organised committees, vigils and public actions demanding their release. Symbolically, the figure of the grieving mother demanding the release of her children is particularly powerful. It is a symbol that appeals to the Latin American imagination about women and their cries for democratisation, justice and reparation in the context of crumbling authoritarian regimes.

Recently, the demand for the release of political prisoners has also been raised by the student movement in its call for a rally at the Central University of Venezuela. After a year and a half of brutal repression following the 2024 election, which emptied the streets and created a climate of widespread fear, any public demonstration is a significant sign that could trigger a chain of progressive demands and the vindication of civil, political and social rights.

What has been the impact of the USA’s renewed interest in Venezuelan oil?

It is clear that the Trump administration is fixated on oil and investment opportunities and completely disregards democracy and human rights. The part of the opposition represented by María Corina Machado has been stunned by its exclusion from key decision-making despite its efforts to gain Donald Trump’s attention. This exclusion has altered the internal political balance.

Historically, there has been tension within the Venezuelan opposition between those who favour resorting to external pressure and those who prioritise internal negotiation strategies. Since 2014, two main strategies have coexisted: one that is more confrontational, demanding the immediate end of the government, and another favouring negotiation or elections. Civil society mirrors these same divisions. One of the difficulties of the Venezuelan process is this constant fragmentation and internal disagreements within the opposition. As the government has become more authoritarian, these divisions have prevented more powerful coordinated political action. It is important for the opposition to coordinate strategies and, instead of wearing itself down in these disagreements, coordinate efforts to move strategically between confrontation and negotiation.

Whenever the opposition has managed to coordinate, as in the 2015 legislative and 2024 presidential elections, it made significant gains. During the 2024 campaign led by Machado, the opposition achieved an unprecedented level of coordination, generating enormous collective hope, particularly with regard to the prospect of family reunification in a country with over eight million migrants. This situation affects people of all social classes and political ideologies. But in response, the government redoubled its repression and consolidated the dictatorship. This led to frustration, demobilisation and further fragmentation. The opposition lacked a long-term strategy to sustain its gains and withstand setbacks. This is still one of the biggest challenges today.

What should the international community do to contribute to real democratisation?

The international community, and Latin American states in particular, could have taken a firmer stance after the 2024 electoral fraud. Silence and a lukewarm approach weakened the defence of democracy. Now it should not repeat that mistake. Beyond Maduro’s profound delegitimisation, the US military operation in Venezuela is a sign of what could happen to any Latin American country under the US government’s new national security strategy.

With the USA as an imperial power primarily concerned with its geostrategic interests and oil resources, demands for democratisation may take a back seat. An authoritarian model that is economically stable but without real democratisation could become entrenched.

In this context, the USA’s prioritisation of energy interests is worrying. It is an unprecedented scenario in which external intervention and the permanence of the ruling party in power coexist. The situation is highly volatile, and this has only just begun. A period of instability and political violence could follow if the civil-military coalition in power breaks down, which may happen given the tradition of anti-imperialist discourse rooted in the armed forces during the two and a half decades of Chavista rule.

Ironically, the USA’s focus on energy interests could result in the defence of sovereignty becoming a new unifying cause for the Venezuelan opposition, potentially leading to basic agreements between the ruling party post-Maduro and the opposition to defend Venezuelan oil interests. What’s at stake is recovering politics as an exercise involving conflict and struggle, as well as recognition and exchange for democratic coexistence — something we have lost, particularly over the past decade.

CIVICUS interviews a wide range of civil society activists, experts and leaders to gather diverse perspectives on civil society action and current issues for publication on its CIVICUS Lens platform. The views expressed in interviews are the interviewees’ and do not necessarily reflect those of CIVICUS. Publication does not imply endorsement of interviewees or the organisations they represent

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‘Although the repressive architecture remains intact, a small window of hope has opened’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Luz Mely Reyes 05.Feb.2026
Venezuela: democracy no closer CIVICUS Lens 29.Jan.2026
‘We are seeing an economic transition, but no democratic transition’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Guillermo Miguelena 26.Jan.2026

 

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A cloud of steam rises from a giant aluminium pot as Maria Joseph, a middle-aged cook in a toque blanche and faded apron, plants her feet firmly on the tiled kitchen floor. With both hands clasped around a wooden paddle, she plunges deep into the mound of rice, threatening to burn at the bottom. With […]

Credit: United Nations

By Bisma Qamar
NEW YORK, Mar 11 2026 (IPS)

I have often been asked a simple but important question: How can we make it sustainable if we are not being compensated for it?

That question sits at the heart of a conversation we do not address enough. Somewhere between exposure and exploitation lies a line we still have not learned to draw clearly. And perhaps that is exactly where the real conversation on “inclusion” begins.

The cost of being seen, is probably the heaviest cost youth have to bear in pursuit of carrying the passion and aspirations they strive for when trying to make an impact.

As conversations around the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs continue to grow, one question remains: how far have we really come in shaping perspectives, and not just numbers?

Too often, inclusion is measured by attendance, representation, and diversity metrics. But inclusion is not just about presence. It is about value. It is about whether people are acknowledged, respected, and taken seriously for their contribution. Inclusion does not live in the excel sheets we fill or the rooms we temporarily occupy during events.

It begins where age, gender, ethnicity, and job titles are not weighed before credibility is given. This matters even more for young people.

A single voice, a single appearance, or a single statement is often framed as an opportunity. And sometimes, it is. But when visibility becomes a substitute for fair compensation, authorship, decision-making power, or real support, exposure stops being empowered and starts becoming exploitative.

Exposure on its own is not empowerment. Visibility can open doors, but it cannot replace fair structures. Being seen is meaningful only when it is followed by trust, ownership, opportunity, and value.

Too often, young people are handed advice when what they really need is access. They are mentored, encouraged, and told to keep going, yet rarely sponsored in the spaces that shape outcomes. If we want inclusion to move beyond symbolism, we must build cultures where support does not end at guidance.

It must extend into advocacy. Because for many underrepresented voices, the issue is not a lack of talent or preparation. It is the absence of someone willing to open the right door and say, this person belongs here.

The goal is not to reject exposure. Exposure can be powerful. But it cannot be the only thing being offered. Real inclusion begins when participation is respected, contribution is valued, and visibility leads to something more lasting. Being seen may open the door, but being valued is what makes inclusion real.

Bisma Qamar is Pakistan’s Youth Representative to the UN & USA chapter under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP). Her work is centered towards learning and development and capability building initiatives, with a strong emphasis on creating inclusive and sustainable opportunities through “Bridging talent with opportunities” by upskilling individuals focusing on SDG 4 ( Education ) and SDG 5 ( Gender Equality )

https://www.un.org/youthaffairs/en/youth2030/about

IPS UN Bureau

 

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An old rusty tsunami warning sign in Bali Indonesia. After the tsunami, countries in Asia have improved their early warning system and signs to save lives. Credit: Unsplash/Bernard Hermant

By Temily Baker and Sofia Bilmes
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 11 2026 (IPS)

On 11 March 2011, the powerful 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan, triggering a 40-meter Tsunami. Many coastal towns along Japan’s Pacific coast were devastated. Approximately 20,000 people lost their lives and around 470,000 were evacuated from their homes.

Beyond the immense human tragedy, the estimated economic losses ranged between US$154 billion to US$235 billion with severely damaged critical infrastructure, including transportation, energy systems, water supply and communications networks. The cascading impacts led to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which intensified both hardship and environmental challenges.

Despite the devastation, the world witnessed extraordinary resilience

15 years later, we continue to honour those lost and the communities that were forever changed. Families rebuilt their homes, local governments restored services and the country prioritized recovery and disaster prevention. These experiences taught important lessons that have influenced global approaches to disaster risk reduction:

1. Early warning must be paired with community preparedness.
Japan’s rapid early warning alerts in 2011 gave people precious seconds and minutes to act. What truly saved lives, however, was the country’s deeply rooted Bōsai Bunka – a culture of preparedness built on regular drills, community networks and shared responsibility. The event also showed that preparedness cannot remain static; systems, training and risk assumptions must continually evolve as science advances and hazards intensify.

2. Recovery should build long-term resilience, not just restore what was lost.
The scale of destruction forced communities and policymakers to rethink land use, coastal defenses, urban planning and future-oriented disaster response and recovery strategies. The idea of “Build Back Better” became a key part of rebuilding after the disaster. Reconstruction became an opportunity to reduce exposure, strengthen protective infrastructure, and re design communities with resilience at their core.

3. Disaster risks cross borders and so must our solutions.
Tsunami waves travel across oceans and supply chains which link economies around the world. Furthermore, climate change does not know boundaries. The Tōhoku disaster underscored that no country can face such risks alone. Now 61 years in operation, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System represents multilateral early warning system in the world (see Figure 1). International cooperation, shared data and coordinated preparedness are essential to reducing global disaster risk.

Source: International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC)

Figure 1: The ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ with significant subduction zones identified.

Together, these lessons highlight Japan as a global leader in tsunami preparedness and multi hazard risk management, strengthened by its longstanding commitment to sharing knowledge worldwide.

Scaling Japan’s preparedness culture globally

The lessons of Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami played a significant role in shaping the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, later reinforced in Asia and the Pacific through ESCAP Resolution 71/12 on strengthening regional mechanisms for its implementation.

This framework helped move the world’s focus from reacting to disasters to managing risks before they happen. Since then, the culture of preparedness has grown to focus more on inclusion, better risk communication and solutions led by local communities, with 131 countries now reporting having national disaster risk reduction strategies in place.

Moreover, Sustainable Development Goal 11 calls for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, and specifically, target 11.5 aims to reduce disaster-related deaths and economic losses. Unfortunately, Asia and the Pacific represent the most disaster impacted region in the world, with rising losses from disasters recorded in the 2026 SDG Progress Report.

However, hope prevails: Japan’s post-2011 approach to reconstruction is an example of SDG 11 in practice: risk-informed urban planning, stricter building codes, ecosystem-based coastal protection, and community-based emergency preparedness. Today, 81 per cent of Pacific Ocean basin countries now have tsunami hazard assessments – the first step to understanding and preparing for the risk. This proves that, even though hazard events are inevitable, we can take measures to ensure they do not become disasters.

Japan’s commitment to transboundary resilience building is also evident through the country’s longstanding membership within the ESCAP multi-donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness.

Through this regional funding mechanism, Japan and fellow donors from the region and worldwide translate accumulated experience into practical cooperation – reinforcing systems that enable early hazard detection, faster community notification, and the saving of lives.

Most recently, the Trust Fund has supported a comprehensive tsunami preparedness capacity assessment across the region, helping countries identify gaps in early warning, coordination and last-mile communication to strengthen basin-wide resilience.

In an era of intensifying climate risks and cascading crises, remembrance must be reinforced by collective actions.

Temily Baker is Programme Management Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction Section, ESCAP and Sofia Bilmes is Intern, Disaster Risk Reduction Section, ESCAP

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 11 2026 (IPS)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Munich speech last month seemed to seduce the European elite behind President Trump, against the ‘Rest’, especially the resource-rich Global South.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

New international order?
Recognising the deliberate ‘wrecking-ball’ demolition of the post-1945 world order, February’s 62nd Munich Security Conference theme was ‘Under Destruction’.

Billed as the world’s leading forum for international security, the conference programme made clear whose interests and security were prioritised.

In its first year, Trump 2.0 bombed ten nations, besides threatening aggression against four other Latin American nations, but none were represented at Munich!

The Munich conference shed all pretence of objectivity and diplomacy on Iran, applauding Israeli-led military intervention to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasised the world’s return to great power competition after the post-Cold War ‘unipolar moment’, making his loyalty clear.

At Davos in January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney noted that Trump 2.0’s geopolitical “rupture” had forced many to abandon earlier illusions.

Dangerous new trends have been emerging, hardly any ‘order’. Trump insists US supremacy must be even more dominant, isolating rather than confronting rivals.

K Kuhaneetha Bai

In January 2026, the US withdrew from dozens of mainly multilateral organisations. Old rules, even those revised during his first term, are out, alarming many accustomed to them.

Trump’s predecessors’ ‘rules-based order’ had offered a legal and diplomatic fig leaf to subordinate other states to US supremacy.

Now, Washington repudiates the very framework it demanded others accept, instead of the ostensibly universal but sometimes inconvenient ‘rule of law’.

Instead of diplomatic and commercial negotiations, economic and military threats prevail. Without velvet gloves of soft power, the mailed fists of military force and economic weaponry are exposed.

Reuniting the West
Rubio welcomed this “new era in geopolitics”, urging better transatlantic relations while reiterating Trump 2.0’s demands for Europe to pay more, albeit more gently.

After the end of the Cold War, Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations urged defending the ‘Judaeo-Christian’ West against the ‘Rest’, including Catholic Latin America.

In Munich, Cuban-American Rubio reinvented himself as a White Christian European, warning his European audience that the West is under threat.

For Rubio, “the West had been expanding” to “settle new continents, build vast empires extending out across the globe” over the last five centuries.

His history obscured Western imperialism’s dispossession, exploitation and slaughter of indigenous peoples worldwide, especially in the Global South.

Praising the superiority of European civilisation and values, he lamented setbacks to these “great Western empires” due to “godless communist” and “anti-colonial” uprisings after the Second World War.

Rather than progress inspired by the 1776 US Declaration and War of Independence, for Rubio, national self-determination was a civilisational setback.

“We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline”. For Rubio, no more ‘liberal’ human rights, freedom and democracy rhetoric.

He did not hesitate to invoke racist, white supremacist mythology and crusader ideology to demand stronger militaries to defend Western civilisation.

The renewed Western alliance will share their common civilisational identity, bound by “Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry”.

Ethno-chauvinistic beliefs about race, religion and culture are the new bases for solidarity and authority. ‘Defending Christians’ became the pretext for the US 2025 Christmas Day bombing of Nigeria.

Another Western century?
Rubio appealed for pan-European Western unity against multilateralism and other threats, calling for increased military spending and immigration controls.

He urged Europe to “take back control” of ‘Western’ industries and supply chains. After all, NATO allies have joined the US in seizing foreign assets at will.

Vassal-like and desperate for reassurance after a year of Trump’s blatant contempt and threats, the audience welcomed his speech with a standing ovation.

Fearing Washington might negotiate with Moscow over Ukraine without them, European leaders have intensified demands for all-out war against Russia.

Rubio is working to secure critical minerals supplies against “extortion from other powers”, including Europe, through opaque bilateral agreements secured with threats.

Trump 2.0 is making military threats for profit, including post-war ownership, mining and other rights. For many, NATO’s US-Europe divide is not over peace, but rather sharing Ukraine war costs and spoils.

While funding for European welfare states and other ‘social’ purposes continues to fall, military budgets continue to spike, as demanded by Trump.

Meanwhile, Merz has invoked military Keynesianism to justify Germany’s largest-ever military budget since the Cold War, aimed at strengthening NATO.

Ostensibly to strengthen national security, the Trump administration has cut social programmes. Instead, US military spending is being prioritised.

Meanwhile, the US Congress has shown support by approving a larger War Department budget than the Pentagon requested.

Armaments contracts have mainly benefited established companies, while the ‘tech bros’ increasingly supply newer weapons and related systems using artificial intelligence.

Following Trump, the European elites are strengthening their already powerful militaries and securing commercial deals for their own advantage, rather than defending the peaceful multilateral cooperation they once advocated.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock

By Annalena Baerbock
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 2026 (IPS)

We have heard it all:
• When a woman raises her voice, she’s too emotional.

• When she stands her ground, she’s too difficult. • When she leads, she’s too ambitious.
• If she wears dark suits they whisper ‘why does she always look like a man’
• But oh my gosh! if she shows up in a colorful dresses and high heels….

• When women lead nations through crises they are lucky.
• Yet if they stumble, it becomes the biggest crisis on earth.
Yes, we have heard it all.

As have generations of women before us – even more directly, and with this tone:

“You act like a woman”. “You run like a girl”.
As if it is something to be ashamed of. Yet history has proved otherwise.

The facts are crystal clear.
We don’t have to negotiate them again.

• When girls remain in school, economies grow, all over the world.
• When women participate in the workforce, productivity rises all around the world.
• When women sit at peace tables, agreements last longer, all around the world.
• When women lead institutions, they are more resilient.

So, ladies, it’s time to flip the narrative. Today we are reclaiming #Likeawoman, boldly and proudly.

As sports star Serena Williams once said: you call us crazy, we’ll show you what crazy can do.

Especially in the midst of backlash, when it can feel as though, we are forced to fight the same old battles again and again.

Battles from 80 years ago when another so called “difficult woman” Dr. Hansa Metha from India showed what #ChangeLikeA Woman can achieve.

By insisting to change one word in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, she changed the whole meaning of it – affirming that “all human beings” and not only men are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Especially, dear girls out there.
Next time they tell you again that gender sensitive language or standing up for our reproductive rights is something “woke” Resist like women.

Resist #Like Hansa Metha and remind them that women`s rights are nothing new but have been embedded in the DNA of this institution from the very beginning.

And marking International Women’s Day in 2026 #LikeAWoman means that we will not stop fighting for equal representation and women’s rights – indeed #LikeAwoman: empathetic and ambitious – in suits, and in colorful dresses.

Until the women of Afghanistan are free, and girls worldwide are not being forced anymore to marry before they finish school.

Until we see justice for survivors of sexual abuse, whether it occurs at home or as part of exploitative sexual slavery networks, as exposed in the Epstein files.

Until women are equally paid and represented, whether in newsrooms, in boardrooms, in governments, and yes, at the helm of this institution – our United Nations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Credit: UNDP Ukraine

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 2026 (IPS)

The ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia—which began February 2022, with no visible signs of ending—has triggered major arms transfers to Europe.

According to the latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the volume of major arms transferred between states increased by 9.2 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25.

And states in Europe more than trebled their arms imports, making it the biggest recipient in the region.

Total exports by the United States, the world’s largest arms supplier, increased by 27 per cent. This included a 217 per cent increase in US arms exports to Europe, according to new data published by SIPRI, available at www.sipri.org.

The increase in global arms flows was the biggest since 2011–15—and was “overwhelmingly due to the growth in transfers to Ukraine” (which received 9.7 per cent of all arms transfers in 2021–25) and other European states.

Besides Europe and the Americas, arms imports to all other world regions decreased.

Dr M.V. Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, and Director pro tem, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, told IPS the continued increase in the arms trade, with some European countries and the United States engaging in the vast majority of such trade, is deeply concerning.

It should be seen in the backdrop of growing military expenditure around the world (reaching an estimated $2.7 trillion in 2024), an intensified round of great power competition, as well as the collapse of arms control, and new technologies like AI-based targeting systems and drones being used in warfare, he said.

“These weapons and other technologies are not merely sold and stored by recipient militaries, but used in attacks on civilian populations—the last few years have seen major attacks in innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Ukraine, and Iran”.

Although some of these imports are being rationalized as responses to various perceived threats, he pointed out, these actions in turn will increase threat perceptions in other countries, leading to a feedback loop resulting in more and more arms being sold and used.

“Much of this money flows to companies that profit from making weapons and facilitating death. Just in the United States, during roughly the same period covered in SIPRI’s report, from 2020 to 2024, private firms received $2.4 trillion in contracts from the Pentagon, approximately 54% of the department’s discretionary spending of $4.4 trillion over that period,” said Dr Ramana.

The United States supplied 42 per cent of all international arms transfers in 2021–25, up from 36 per cent in 2016–20, according to the SIPRI report, released March 9.

The US exported arms to 99 countries in 2021–25, including 35 in Europe, 18 in the Americas, 17 in Africa, 17 in Asia and Oceania and 12 in the Middle East.

For the first time in two decades, the largest share of US arms exports went to Europe (38 per cent) rather than the Middle East (33 per cent). Nevertheless, the top single recipient of US arms was Saudi Arabia (12 per cent of US arms exports).

‘The US has further cemented its dominance as an arms supplier, even in an increasingly multipolar world,’ said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.

‘For importers, US arms offer advanced capabilities and a way of fostering good relations with the USA, while the USA views arms exports as a tool of foreign policy and a way of strengthening its arms industry, as the Trump administration’s new America First Arms Transfer Strategy once again makes clear.’

Dr. Natalie Goldring, who represents the Acronym Institute at the United Nations on conventional weapons and arms trade issues, told IPS the SIPRI report is in effect a snapshot of a continually changing world situation.

SIPRI, she said, uses five-year periods to help reduce volatility, but even so, intense geopolitical swings can be difficult to capture. This period reflects the Ukraine arms buildup after the Russian invasion in 2022 as well as Israel’s nearly-complete destruction of Gaza following the Hamas attack in 2023.

“Since the most recent US and Israeli attacks on Iran are taking place in 2026, they’re not covered in the SIPRI report. Those attacks may result in even more arms transfers from the US to Israel, in addition to substantial domestic resupply in both countries”.

The dependence of Israel’s military on US arms transfers, she said, is neither secret nor new. But SIPRI’s statistics make the point quite strongly.

From 2021-2025, the United States was responsible for 68 percent of the value of major weapons transferred to Israel. Germany supplied an additional 31 percent.

That could give those two countries tremendous influence over Israel and its ability to continue carrying out attacks in Gaza and elsewhere – if they chose to exercise it.

“Unfortunately, thus far, the US and German governments have shown little interest in restraining their weapons transfers, despite the enormous numbers of Palestinians who have been wounded or killed by the Israeli military, and the economic devastation the Israeli military continues to cause in Gaza and elsewhere,” said Dr Goldring.

The US share of the world’s arms market is likely to increase going forward if US President Donald Trump’s recent plans are implemented. In February 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Establishing an America First Arms Transfer Strategy.”

The stated intent of this policy is to increase US arms sales – there’s no attempt at subtlety. Instead, the policy calls for development of “a sales catalog of prioritized platforms and systems that the United States shall encourage our allies and partners to acquire.”

As is so often the case, the US policy fails to demonstrate understanding of the complexities and potential negative consequences of arms transfers.

Instead, it’s focused on short-term economic factors and benefits for military contractors. The policy also assumes that this year’s weapons recipients will retain stable governments for the lifetime of these weapons systems.

This approach increases the risk of US military personnel being forced to fight our own weapons if the recipient governments turn out not to be stable, declared Dr Goldring.

Middle East arms imports fall

Meanwhile, according to SIPRI, arms imports by states in the Middle East shrank by 13 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. Three of the world’s top 10 arms importers in 2021–25 were in the region: Saudi Arabia (6.8 per cent of global imports), Qatar (6.4 per cent) and Kuwait (2.8 per cent).

More than half of arms imports to the Middle East came from the USA (54 per cent), while 12 per cent came from Italy, 11 per cent from France and 7.3 per cent from Germany.

‘Gulf Arab states shape arms import trends in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia having been the region’s largest importer since 2011–15 and Qatar now its second largest after more than doubling its imports between 2016–20 and 2021–25,’ said Zain Hussain, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.

‘With a number of regional tensions and conflicts, Gulf Arab states are working to strengthen relations with long-standing suppliers like the USA and France while also seeking new suppliers.’

Israel was the world’s 14th largest arms importer in 2021–25, with its imports rising by 12 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25.

In 2021–25 the USA supplied the largest share of Israel’s arms imports (68 per cent), followed by Germany (31 per cent).

Throughout the multi-front war stemming from Israel’s large-scale military offensive in Gaza beginning in October 2023, Israel continued to receive arms from various suppliers, including F-35 combat aircraft, guided bombs and missiles from the USA.

https://www.sipri.org/publications/2026/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-international-arms-transfers-2025

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Anwarul K. Chowdhury
NEW YORK, Mar 9 2026 (IPS)

As we observe International Women’s Day (IWD) this year, the global community does so in a time of continuing turbulence, conflicts and uncertainty about the future of our planet.

Such moments remind us once again that women’s equality and empowerment are not only issues concerning women; those are relevant for humanity as a whole – for all of us. This crucial point needs to be internalized by every one of us.

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

• This year’s International Women’s Day (March 8) was special as the United Nations would hopefully and appropriately elect a woman as its next Secretary-General.

• Let me underscore here an unacceptable reality: in its eighty years of existence, the United Nations has not yet elected a woman Secretary-General—eight decades, nine men, and not one woman. What an embarrassment – what a shame!

How can an institution that speaks of equality at every podium continue to model inequality at its pinnacle? The credibility of the UN’s advocacy depends on its own reflection in the mirror.

• A stark and undeniable reality of our world today is that patriarchy and misogyny continue to thrive as scourges pulling humanity away from our aspiration to live in a world of equality, peace and justice. No country in the world has reached full legal equality for women and girls.

• In many parts of the world, we are witnessing renewed attempts to undermine the hard-earned gains achieved through decades of advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality.

• Women’s organizations, feminist activists and women human rights defenders remain the courageous voices challenging discrimination and injustice. Their role is indispensable for advancing human dignity and human progress.

• My work has taken me to many parts of the world, and time and again I have seen the transformative impact of women’s leadership and participation in shaping peaceful, inclusive and resilient societies.

We should always remember that without peace, development is impossible, and without development, peace is not achievable – but without women, neither peace nor development is conceivable.

The theme of IWD 2026 – “Rights, Justice, Action: For All Women and Girls” – is both timely and compelling. It reminds us that progress requires not only recognition of rights but also determined action to ensure justice and equality in practice.

Let me assert again that feminism is about smart policy which is inclusive, uses all potential and leaves no one behind.

I am proud to be a feminist. All of us need to be. That is how we make our planet a better place to live for all.

Let me also recall that in the year 2000 on this very day, as the President of Security Council, I had the honor of steering the pioneering statement by the whole Council leading to the conceptual and political breakthroughs paving the way for the consensus adoption of the UNSCR 1325 on 31 October 2000 under the Namibian Presidency.

On this IWD, let us renew our commitment to building a gender-equal world. Our individual actions, conversations and mindsets can transform our larger society.

Together we can make change happen!!!

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations; Initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000; and Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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