The book of Judges repeatedly employs a chilling phrase to depict the waywardness and corruption of God’s people: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). God’s people had forsaken His law and their covenant with Him, and did whatever they wanted to fulfill their sinful desires. It’s also a fitting summary of the world we live in today, as our culture is overrun by chaos and corruption. We’re seeing every day the consequences of a society doing what is right in its own eyes.

Parliamentary representation by women in Pacific Island countries remains stubbornly low at 8.4 percent. Yet women leaders across the region have been meeting every year for the past four decades to discuss goals and drive action to address gender inequality and the most pressing development challenges in the Pacific. One of the critical issues discussed […]

Sarah Strack is Forus Director

Women in Afghanistan have continued to advocate for their rights and have called on the international community to not only stand in solidarity but to take decisive action to prevent the erosion of their rights and presence in public space. On Monday, the New York missions of Qatar, Indonesia, Ireland and Switzerland, with the Women’s […]

Climate change is driving a mental health crisis and accelerating eco-anxiety. Dr. Emma Lawrance is leading Climate Cares, Imperial College London, a centre dedicated to research on climate change in mental health. The researcher spoke to IPS about the need to address this growing concern.

Last week, UN member states adopted the Pact of the Future – and its two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations. These action-oriented documents are envisaged to counter emerging threats to development and acceleration of progress on Agenda 2030. Nonetheless, there remains little political prioritization of reproductive justice on this agenda. […]

When the weather is bad, the residents of the Litoral neighborhood in Manzanillo, Cuba, are forced to evacuate their houses. When it’s calm, the sea penetrates the foundations of houses, leaving them vulnerable. Now the community is getting together to restore the mangroves and improve the environment to return their homes to safety.

Over the past few months, the escalation of gang violence and mass displacement in Haiti have been of great concern for humanitarian organizations. Severe levels of armed violence have resulted in significant instability, with food insecurity, sexual violence, civilian casualities, and restricted freedom of movement plaguing the nation. Displacement cases have risen sharply, to the […]

We must build a new social contract for education – a contract based on equality, equity, and universal human rights. At the center of our global efforts to ensure education for all, we must put teachers first in everything we do. They are frontlines heroes who deliver every day to educate children, cultivate young talent, […]

When I joined CIVICUS in 2019, I came in with two decades of work on influencing and monitoring public policies through grassroots and global activism. Joining CIVICUS as Secretary-General felt familiar, like returning home after a period of separation. My first international role in 2006 – as Campaign Director of the Global Call to Action […]

The 15 August 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan devastated the lives of millions of Afghans. But the rights and freedoms of women and girls in particular have been progressively trampled by a series of edicts that have created a virtual system of gender apartheid.

On October 11, the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated organizations hosted a conference discussing the increasingly dangerous and exploitative environment that plagues the internet and what can be done to protect children from being exposed to it. Speakers at this conference detailed the developing technologies that threaten children, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which […]

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

  Our world has witnessed unprecedented levels of economic development. The advance of our technological capabilities continues unabated. Our financial resources continue to grow. Yet, as of last year, an estimated 750 million people live in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $2.15 per day. Roughly 60% of the world’s […]

Global warming has far-reaching effects, and certain countries, particularly those with low lying coastal regions, are more vulnerable than others. Bangladesh, the largest delta in the world, is at the forefront of the global warming crisis. Its coastal areas are increasingly exposed to rising sea levels, natural disasters, and salinization, all of which have devastating […]

Children in northern Syria are suffering from hunger, illness, and malnutrition as a result of poverty, poor living conditions for most families, and the collapse of purchasing power amid the soaring prices of all essential food commodities. Displacement and a lack of job opportunities make this worse. Nour al-Hammoud, a 5-year-old girl whose family was […]

Until recently, Margaret Natabi would never have dreamed of taking her anti-corruption fight on the streets of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Natabi, 24, is a University student. She has first-hand experience of how corruption affects marginalized groups, especially women and girls. She was orphaned during childhood. Her mother died while giving birth to one of her […]

In a significant move to address the challenges faced by people with disabilities and the elderly, six Egyptian parliamentary committees met in Cairo on October 12 to discuss national strategies and legislative efforts. The Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development and the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA), with support from the United […]

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995 during the Fourth World Conference on Women, remains a cornerstone in the global pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment. With the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review fast approaching, now is the time to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that […]

On the 7th of November 2024, the Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, delivered a keynote address at Bolt South Africa's Global Safety Campaign launch in Johannesburg. The campaign is aimed at improving safety in the e-hailing industry

Online gambling platforms are always open, meaning you can gamble when you feel like it

The new Trump administration is bad news for American civil and human rights and brings uncertainty for the rest of the world

Endangered succulents in the Richtersveld have been given a lifeline from poaching, mining, overgrazing, and climate change

The Jonas Brothers left Directioners in tears during their recent concert.During their Sunday night concert at Highland, California, the Jonas Brothers covered One Direction’s Night Changes in what appeared to be a tribute to the late Liam Payne. On November 11, Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas...

High-security card grants access to Queen Camilla and King Charles.Queen Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles, has revealed that his mother is likely the "first Queen to have cooked," highlighting her impressive culinary skills. The 49-year-old son of Queen Camilla shared that while his...

Michael Jackson’s pal Donny Osmond shares reason of their close bonding Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond had quite a similar family background. The Puppy Love crooner made an appearance in MTV Entertainment Studios documentary Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands, where...

Blake Shelton previously coached 9 winners over 23 seasons of 'The Voice' before his departure in 2023Blake Shelton isn’t done with music competitions just yet. A year after his departure from The Voice, the country star, 48, is gearing up to launch a new show called The Road, set to air on...

Chris Evans hopes to become a great dad somedayChris Evans has recently discussed about fatherhood and marital relation with Alba Baptista. Speaking at upcoming Red One movie premiere on November 11, Evans responded to the question about becoming a superhero father like his co-star Dwayne Johnson...

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy trailer out with Renee ZellwegerBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the third instalment in the Bridget Jones franchise, seems to have a new love triangle for the titular character.The first trailer for the upcoming movie got released on Tuesday, Nov. 12,...

Mariska Hargitay on mother Jayne Mansfield's deathMariska Hargitay got candid on “dealing” with the death of her mother, Hollywood diva, Jayne Mansfield at the age of 3.“I lost my mother when I was 3 years old, and I grew up in a house of people dealing with the tragedy in...

Tom Brady on fatherhoood Tom Brady finds being a father the “hardest job,” one he admits he is not good at.The former NFL star accepted the fact that he didn't always give his best being a father to son Jack, 17, whom he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan, as well as son Benjamin,...

Queen Camilla issues statement after cancelling another event amid recoveryQueen Camilla returned to her public duties on Tuesday after doctor’s instructed her to cancel scheduled events due to her health condition.A week after Palace issued a statement about her “seasonal chest...

José Aruna, a forest defender from Sud Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remembers the night in September 2019 when a group of heavily armed men barged into his house in the middle of the night. Aruna and his wife—6 months pregnant at the time—were in bed when he heard sounds […]

Standing high on the vertiginous edge of the future and looking down into a volcanic seething of approaching doom, it is a totally understandable desire to want to close your eyes, walk away and turn on the sports channel. If you have one. Put the air-con on too. Last year was the hottest on human […]

Africa Youth Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

This year’s World Tsunami Awareness Day presents a moment of reflection 20 years on from the catastrophic Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. The tsunami resulted in 225,000 fatalities across 14 countries and emphasized the urgent need for effective tsunami preparedness, especially in the face of growing climate change challenges. Rising sea levels, increased ocean temperatures, […]

Small-scale fishers play a fundamental role in feeding people—they use sustainable methods of catching and processing fish products and are a significant force in the employment and livelihoods of millions of people internationally—yet, until now, they have been excluded from climate and biodiversity conferences. For the first time at COP 16, which closed in Cali, […]

Imagine living with water up to your knees for half of the year, where homes are flooded, and people constantly fear that the sea might one day engulf the town and everyone in it. This is the reality for the sinking islands in the Philippines—a cluster of four island barangays in Tubigon located in the […]

  More durable than bronze, higher than Pharaoh’s pyramids is the monument I have made, a shape that angry wind or hungry rain cannot demolish, nor the innumerable ranks of the years that march in centuries. I shall not wholly die: some part of me will cheat the goddess of death. Thus wrote, not without […]

The Arab region is among the most water-scarce areas globally, as nearly 392 million people live in countries facing water scarcity or absolute water scarcity. So dire is the situation that, of the 22 Arab countries, 19 fall below the annual threshold for water scarcity in renewable resources, defined as 1,000 cubic meters per person. […]

The small community of Ribeira stands out in the Northeast, the poorest region of Brazil. There is no unemployment here. One in five inhabitants make a living directly or indirectly from the Arteza Cooperative of Tanners and Leather Artisans. “An idea has the power to transform your world,” said in a philosophical tone Ângelo Macio, […]

The nation which more than any other caused the climate crisis will leave it to the rest of the world to sort out the mess. That is a takeaway from the US election last week. The numbers are clear: US emissions up to today are 8 times the Chinese, 25 times the Indian and the […]

So, the worst has happened. American voters have apparently just elected the most chaotic and kleptocratic individual in their country’s political history as their president. (We say ‘apparently’, because these days nothing can be certain about the integrity of the US political or electoral system – as is the case with far too many other […]

“We’re ready to testify before the QuadComm as victims of extrajudicial killings,” Rosenda Lemita said, stressing that they want Duterte and those responsible to face investigation. For these families, the government’s “nanlaban” excuse is not just for the drug war but also for silencing activists.

It’s no coincidence that extreme heat is engulfing huge swaths of Asia, Europe and North America all at the same time.

Uncovering crucial gaps in climate change data systems reveals how these deficiencies hamper our understanding of climate impacts on vulnerable populations in developing Asia. How can we empower national statistical systems in collecting and analyzing data they need to effectively tackle climate change?

Understanding the roots and complexities of fragility helps ADB meet the challenges facing many countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Independent Accountability Mechanisms of Multilateral Banks and International Financial Institutions, 1 October 2024, ADB headquarters, Manila, Philippines

The Asian Development Bank is ramping up investment in technical and vocational education and training in Bhutan, which is helping to train thousands

The Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, or IF-CAP, is a multi-donor financing partnership facility with the goal of scaling-up finance for accelerated action against climate change in Asia and the Pacific.