The World Social Forum: counterweight to the World Economic Forum
23/2/2024: The 2024 annual meeting of the World Social Forum has been held in Nepal, attended by fifty thousand participants from over 90 countries, exchanging strategies to address the multiple global crises, from climate catastrophes to unfettered capitalism, inequality, social injustice, wars and conflict.
Source: Inter Press Service
Rethink the way we grow food
22/2/2024: There is something fundamentally broken in the world’s agricultural system when you see images of rich European farmers and their poorer counterparts in India straddling tractors to block highways to make their anger heard. Producing cheap food without damaging the environment and without generous subsidies is proving too challenging.
Source: DownToEarth
As conflicts spiral, five ideas to bolster the UN’s peace commission
21/2/2024: The UN Peacebuilding Commission is a small agency working with conflict-affected countries to map out solutions to secure sustainable peace. It operates separately from peacekeeping missions, which are mandated by the Security Council. The Commission could play a part in any moves to strengthen the UN peacebuilding architecture.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Countries draw battle lines for talks on 2025 climate finance goal
20/2/2024: UN climate negotiators are currently staring at a long list of options and no agreed details for a new global climate finance goal that is due to kick in from 2025. The current annual $100-billion pledge had no basis in science and lacked any rules on what activities could be counted.
Source: Climate Home News
Why fighting is flaring in eastern DRC, threatening regional stability
20/2/2024: Background notes on the escalating violent clashes between the Democratic Republic of Congo's army and M23 rebels in eastern Congo. The fighting has increased the risk of an all-out conflict between Congo and Rwanda that could suck in neighbours and regional forces including South Africa, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.
Source: The East African
Navalny dies in Russian prison
16/2/2024: The Kremlin bears responsibility for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to Human Rights Watch. Under international law, states have obligations to exercise a “duty of care” to anyone in custody, and all deaths in custody must be effectively investigated.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Civil society and NGOs ‘under assault’ in Asia
12/2/2024: The CIVICUS Monitor data for 2023 shows the Asia Pacific region as having the highest number of “closed” countries constricting civil society and NGO operability. The crackdown against fundamental freedoms correlates with a rise in authoritarian governments in the region.
Source: Devex
How is Germany handling its migration partnerships?
9/2/2024: The aim of migration partnerships is not only to fight irregular migration but to replace it with regular migration. Europe has over 50 partnerships in place but they have failed to halt large movements of refugees. In Germany most migrants are from countries where there are massive human rights violations and war.
Source: DW
Cholera outbreak in southern Africa: a multinational fight
8/2/2024: A cholera crisis has engulfed southern Africa with the disease spreading rapidly in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and the DRC. In Zimbabwe, the situation is critical with suspected and confirmed cases reported in 61 out of 64 districts. Leaders of the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community have pledged to increase investment in water and sanitation infrastructure in the region.
Source: DW
The Zero Draft to create a Pact for the Future has landed
7/2/2024: A draft agreement to seal September’s much-anticipated Summit of the Future has been released by the co-facilitators, Namibia and Germany. Built on the proposals made in Secretary-General António Guterres’s Our Common Agenda, the draft commits member states to the principles of human rights and to "fill critical gaps in global governance, and accelerate efforts to keep our past promises and agreements.”
Source: PassBlue