Armed Conflicts

Political Settlement First, Refugee Return Second

By Malik al-Abdeh and Lars Hauch
Europe’s current approach to facilitating refugee returns and containing new arrivals from Syria is based on wishful thinking. Europeans have come to terms with the fact that a political settlement for Syria’s 12-year conflict is not on the horizon.

CIVICUS Report Exposes a Civil Society Under Attack

By Joyce Chimbi
As conflict and crises escalate to create human emergencies that have displaced over 100 million people worldwide, civil society’s vital role of advocating for victims and monitoring human rights cannot be over-emphasised.

Ethiopian Government Must Prioritize Access To Quality Surgery in Post-War Reconstruction

By Abdo Husen
There are about 5 billion people globally who cannot access surgery. In Ethiopia, for every 5,000 needed surgeries per 100,000 people, the country’s health system can only provide 192. Yet, this is Africa’s second largest population, with over 120 million people.

The Fight for Yemen’s Future Is a Global Responsibility

By Ferran Puig
As Yemen enters its ninth year of war, its people are facing a humanitarian crisis of horrifying proportions. In my role as Oxfam's Yemen Country Director, I have witnessed firsthand the effects of the humanitarian catastrophe, worsened by economic collapse and sharp increases in the cost of food and other essential commodities.

Civil Society a Vital Force for Change Against the Odds

By Andrew Firmin and Inés M. Pousadela
Brave protests against women’s second-class status in Iran; the mass defence of economic rights in the face of a unilateral presidential decision in France; huge mobilisations to resist government plans to weaken the courts in Israel: all these have shown the willingness of people to take public action to stand up for human rights.

A ‘Barbed-Wire Curtain’ Around Europe

By Élisabeth Vallet
In the wake of Finland's announcement last fall that it will build a barrier along its border with Russia, the discussions surrounding the European Council meeting of 9 February 2023 confirmed that the tide had turned.

Burkina Faso Home to Almost Half of Closed Schools in Central & West Africa

By Marine Olivesi
Over a million children in Burkina Faso are currently affected by school closures with 6,134 academic institutions shut as of February 2023, an increase of over 40 per cent since the end of the last school year.

Black Sea Grain Initiative: Russia Reluctantly Agrees to a Two-Month Extension

By Alexander Kozul-Wright
Given the complex interplay between geopolitics and financial markets, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent shockwaves across the global economy. Admittedly, the implications both within and between countries have varied. However, there were some common denominators, including higher commodity prices.

One Year into the Ukraine War, Massive Influx of Russians into Georgia Has Consequences for Locals

By IPS Correspondent
Since the war in Ukraine started in February last year, at least 1.5 million Russian citizens have crossed the Russia-Georgia border, official data states. However, as of today, it needs to be clarified how many of them stayed in the country, but walking the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the presence of Russian nationals can be seen almost everywhere.

Keep Moving …

By Yasmine Sherif
Only forty-five days into our new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Education Cannot Wait secured 55 percent of its total requirement for the coming four years, reaching $826 million at #HLFC2023. This is a significant milestone for education in emergencies and protracted crises, and ECW will continue to pursue fund-raising year-round in the coming four years. The goal is to reach the target of 20 million children and adolescents affected by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement.

War Criminals & Military Aggressors Who Occupy Seats in the Security Council

By Thalif Deen
Come April 1, a post-Ukraine Russia, will preside over the UN Security Council in a month-long presidency on the basis of alphabetical rotation. But Russia will not be the first or the only country – accused of war crimes or charged with violating the UN charter—to be either a member or preside over the most powerful political body in the United Nations.

Georgia: Danger Averted, for Now

By Andrew Firmin
Georgian civil society can breathe a sigh of relief. A proposed repressive law that would have severely worsened the space for activism has been shelved – for now. But the need for vigilance remains.

Belarus: A Prison State in Europe

By Andrew Firmin
Last October, Ales Bialiatski was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was one of three winners, alongside two human rights organisations: Memorial, in Russia, and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine. The Nobel Committee recognised the three’s ‘outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power’.

Terrorism & its Impacts on Water Access in the Sahel

By Armand Houanye
Burkina Faso’s interim President Captain Ibrahim Traoré spoke late last year of the conflicts that are now blighting his country and much of his region. He described the situation in Burkina Faso as predictable given the endemic weaknesses in governance that he believes have led to the economic abandonment of many young people, particularly outside of urban areas.

Excluded Afghan Girls Forced to Seek Education in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Hundreds of young women and girls are moving to Pakistan to continue their studies after the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education in Afghanistan.

The Western Threat to Russia

By Jan Lundius
Putin’s regime recently suspended Russia’s participation in a nuclear arms agreement with Washington. After the decision Putin declared that the move was a retaliation for the US’s, France’s and Britain’s “targeting” of Russia with nuclear weapons. He was forced to take action to “preserve our country, ensure security and strategic stability”:

UN Falls Short of Aid Pledge to Yemen Despite Peace Efforts

By Alexander Kozul-Wright
At a high-level UN event, global donors pledged US$1.2 billion in aid operations to Yemen in 2023. Millions of Yemenis require humanitarian assistance as the country continues to suffer from the fallout of a prolonged civil war.

Interwoven Global Crises Can Best be Solved Together

By Paula Harrison, Pamela McElwee and David Obura
When global crises are interlinked, they overlap and compound each other. In such cases, the most effective solutions are those that work at the nexus of all these challenges.

The Price Tag to Protect Freedom & Sovereignty Runs into Billions– & Counting

By Thalif Deen
The overwhelming political, economic and military support for war-ravaged Ukraine seems never ending—even as the Russian invasion moved into its second-year last week. The US and Western allies have vowed to help Ukraine "as long as necessary" with no reservations or deadlines.

Russia and Ukraine: Civil Society Repression and Response

By Andrew Firmin
Over the year since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, on one side of the border civil society has shown itself to be a vital part of the effort to save lives and protect rights – but on the other, it’s been repressed more ruthlessly than ever.

Nigeria in Search of a True Leader in Presidential Elections

By Chuks Ohuegbe
From all indications, President Muhammadu Buhari will be handing over a fractured nation that is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines when he formally hands over to his successor on May 29, 2023. This would-be successor will be inheriting a country mired in economic woes threatening its corporate existence if he’s not assuming the job prepared to address these problems headlong.
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