Tread Softly

10/2/2026: The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International reveals a worrying picture of long-term decline in leadership to tackle corruption. Even established democracies, like the US, UK and New Zealand, are experiencing a drop in performance. At the same time, many states are increasing restrictions on civic space.

Source: Transparency International

9/2/2026: Hong Kong’s High Court has sentenced pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison for conspiracy. Lai, a 78 year-old British citizen, has been recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Source: Amnesty International

9/2/2026: Reported plans for the US Department of Defense to purchase cluster munitions from Israel weaken global norms that protect civilians from the widely banned weapons. The US has also recently rolled back restrictions on the use of antipersonnel landmines, another inherently indiscriminate weapon.

Source: Human Rights Watch

8/2/2026: With the end of the New Start treaty, we face a potentially catastrophic nuclear war. Leaders in Washington are pushing ahead with a massive weapons upgrade. In the history of the arms race, citizen pressure and grassroots political action have been effective in prompting weapons limitation and disarmament.

Source: The Guardian

5/2/2026: While the U.S. House of Representatives approved a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act — a 25-year-old program between the US and sub-Saharan African nations, the final bill passed by Congress and signed into law offers only a one-year reprieve. Established in 2000, AGOA has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Source: Devex

3/2/2026: The $50 billion compromise foreign affairs spending bill is now law — even if it took a little longer than expected. Although the total is nearly $20 billion above the president’s budget request, humanitarian assistance funding is roughly 37% lower than the previous year. 

Source: Devex

3/2/2026: The Chief Executive explains why the Foundation’s primary goals, such as eliminating deaths of mothers and children to preventable causes, will be reinforced despite recent setbacks in foreign aid commitments of the US and other governments. The Gates Foundation targets $9 billion per year of funding for human development.

Source: Devex

2/2/2026: Norway has launched a wide-ranging review of its international development policy, aiming to respond to dramatic changes in the world, including aid cuts, and attacks on international collaboration, One of the few remaining European donors to honour longstanding targets for foreign aid, Norway is committed to maintain an ad budget of 1% of gross domestic income.

Source: The New Humanitarian

2/2/2026: An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity. The laws of armed conflict were developed extensively after the end of the second world war.

Source: The Guardian

1/2/2026: The New START treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia, has expired, removing the last restraints on an accelerating arms race. A more encouraging milestone relates to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which has been in force for five years as of Jan. 22. Inspired by the land mines and cluster munitions bans, the idea is that as more countries join the TPNW, clinging to these weapons will become less acceptable as the diplomatic and reputational costs of doing so will become greater.

Source: PassBlue