Five maddening facts about climate finance
11/1/2024: High-income countries make it incredibly difficult to track their contributions to climate finance for poorer countries. Analysis by the ONE Campaign reveals awkward truths about inconsistent and inadequate reporting standards.
Source: African Arguments
Global rights crises deepen as world leaders shy away
11/1/2024: Global leaders have failed to take strong stands to protect human rights during 2023, a year of some of the worst crises and challenges in recent memory, according to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2024. Transactional diplomacy is undermining universal human rights principles.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Bangladesh: election with a foregone conclusion
12/1/2024: The general election held in Bangladesh on 7 January was preceded by a blatant campaign of intimidation by the ruling Awami League. The country’s civic space rating has been downgraded to "closed" by the CIVICUS Monitor, the collaborative research project that tracks the health of civic space in every country. This places Bangladesh among the world’s worst human rights offenders, including China, Iran and Russia.
Source: Inter Press Service
One-sided Bangladesh election raises fear of one-party rule
9/1/2024: Officials from several countries have expressed doubts over the credibility of the results of Bangladesh's January 7 election. 94% of the parliament seats will be filled by lawmakers who are members of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League. A crackdown on opposition activists saw tens of thousands jailed in the run up to the election.
Source: VOA
What is South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?
9/1/2024: South Africa has initiated proceedings at the International Court of Justice in relation to its obligations under the Genocide Convention. Israel is confronted with allegations of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Here are the most important questions before proceedings get underway in The Hague.
Source: DW
A new global plan to ease debt-burdened countries
1/1/2024: Africa stands at a critical juncture, with more than half of its 54 countries allocating more resources to debt service than to health expenditure. The UN Secretary-General has acknowledged this challenge and called for an annual stimulus of at least $500 billion to offset the negative market conditions that developing nations face.
Source: PassBlue
US formally removes Uganda from Agoa
2/1/2024: Uganda has lost the concession to export certain commodities to the US duty-free under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This results from President Museveni's assent to an anti-gay law which introduces serious repercussions, including life imprisonment or death, for same-sex relations.
Source: The East African
Yemen’s peace plan boosts Houthis’ regional influence
29/12/2023: The UN special envoy for Yemen has expressed optimism about UN-led negotiations with Saudi Arabia, the Presidential Leadership Council and the Houthi militia. The peace plan offers the much-desired exit option from the war for Saudi Arabia but some have said the Houthis stand to gain in power.
Source: DW
Report card: Half-way to the global goals deadline
29/12/2023: Launched in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set out a 15-year plan to realize 17 interconnected targets, known as the Sustainable Development Goals. What progress has been made at the halfway mark?
The second part of this UN progress update.
Source: UN News
Ethiopia becomes third African state to default on sovereign debt
26/12/2023: Ethiopia has defaulted on a coupon payment due on its only international government bond, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its two-year civil war. Ethiopia will join Zambia and Ghana in a full-scale "Common Framework" for debt restructuring.
Source: The East African