By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, May 14 2025 – Until the middle of the 20th century, marriage between men and women was the societal norm among countries, and the cohabitation of couples was uncommon and stigmatized. In the subsequent decades, however, that situation changed significantly worldwide.

Marriage rates, especially among young adults, have declined substantially over the past seventy-five years. Additionally, women and men who decide to marry are doing so at older ages and having fewer children than in the recent past.

The median ages at first marriage for men and women have been steadily increasing in countries worldwide. The increasing marriage ages are partly due to increased education, employment, and career decisions; the evolving role and improving status of women; lifestyle preferences; and changing societal norms concerning personal relationships between men and women.

Besides marriage at older ages, couples are choosing to have fewer children than they had a half century ago. For example, the world’s average number of births per woman has declined from 5.3 births in 1963 to 2.3 births in 2023. Also, in over half of all countries, representing over two-thirds of the world’s population, fertility rates are below the replacement fertility of 2.1 births per woman.

At the same time that marriage rates have been declining and women are having fewer births, cohabitation, or people living together without being married, has become increasingly acceptable and common in many countries worldwide.

In the United States, for example, the proportions of young adults and older adults living with a partner increased significantly over the past half century. Whereas in 1970 the proportion cohabitating was a fraction of one percent, by 2018 the percentage had increased to nearly 10% among those aged 18 to 24 years and to nearly 15% among those aged 25 to 34 years and those aged 65 years and older (Figure 1).

Source: US Census Bureau.

In 1970, cohabitation preceded about 11% of the marriages in the United States. That percentage increased significantly over the subsequent decades, and currently approximately 75% of marriages are preceded by cohabitation. Also, the large majority of Americans, close to 70%, say cohabitation is acceptable even if a couple doesn’t plan to get married.

With the increasing levels of cohabitation among young adults in the US, the proportion of births to unmarried mothers also increased. Whereas 5% of all births in the United States in 1960 were to unmarried women, the proportion increased to 33% by 2000 and reached approximately 40% by 2021.

Cohabitation is becoming more prevalent in most populations, particularly in Latin America and Western countries. In contrast, cohabitation is less common in some countries, especially in Asia and the Middle East, because of traditional roles and cultural norms. In those countries, such as Indonesia, Jordan, the Philippines, and Egypt, the large majority of adults in ages 18 to 49 years old are married (Figure 2).

Source: World Family Map Report, 2015.

However, even among some traditional countries, cohabitation has increased. For example, despite the religious laws in Iran, increasing numbers of young Iranian couples, especially those living in urban areas, are choosing cohabitation before marriage.

Cohabitation is becoming more prevalent in most populations, particularly in Latin America and Western countries. In contrast, cohabitation is less common in some countries, especially in Asia and the Middle East, because of traditional roles and cultural norms

Non-marital cohabitation is also becoming increasingly common in China, gaining acceptance among young men and women living in urban areas. Similar to many Western countries, cohabitation in China among young adults has been increasing rapidly with older marriage ages, declining fertility levels, and increasing divorce rates.

Also, changes in Chinese laws may contribute to changes in public attitudes toward cohabitation. For example, whereas the Chinese Marriage Law of 1980 referred to “illegal cohabitation”, a 2001 amendment to the law changed the wording to “non-marital cohabitation”.

Similarly, in India, cohabitation is considered a taboo in traditional Indian society. However, over the recent past, cohabitation has become increasingly popular among young men and women in urban centers.

With more Indian women becoming educated, joining the labor force, and gaining financial independence, traditional attitudes toward marriage are shifting towards more acceptance of cohabitation. Again, live-in relationships are being used by many young couples in urban areas to test their compatibility and differences before making a commitment to marriage.

In contrast to many of the traditional countries in Asia and the Middle East, cohabitation across Latin America and the Caribbean has become increasingly prevalent since the 1970s. Also, adults aged 18 to 49 years have relatively low proportions married, often less than 30%.

Because of the comparatively high prevalence of cohabitation in many Latin American countries, the large majority of births in that region are out of wedlock. Between 2016 and 2020, approximately three-quarters of the children born in Latin America are estimated to have been born outside marriage. In countries such as Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico, the percentages of births born out of wedlock in 2020 were no less than 70 percent (Figure 3).

Source: OECD.

Various factors are behind the increasing trend away from marriage and towards cohabitation. Among those factors are testing personal relationships, assessing compatibility, financial benefits, flexibility, widespread availability of modern contraceptives, disillusionment with the institution of marriage, and avoidance of legal and monetary obligations related to marriage, including the risks of divorce.

Cohabitation offers an opportunity for couples to get to know each other in a shared living environment. It permits couples to assess their compatibility and areas of discordance before deciding whether they wish to enter a marriage or remain cohabitating.

Cohabitation also typically avoids the legal process and formalities of marriage. It provides couples with the flexibility to move on with their lives if their personal relationship doesn’t work out. In addition, some men and women may not want to make a long-term commitment and take on the responsibilities and obligations that marriage typically entails.

While some cohabiting couples may choose to avoid making a long-term commitment, others may view cohabitation as providing a promising path to marriage. In many countries, including Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the large majority of marriages are preceded by cohabitation.

Also, increasingly, in some countries, couples decide to wed after they’ve had children together. Having children for many couples often represents a serious commitment to one’s partner, and marriage provides those couples with a visible way to celebrate their commitment to each other and their family. There are also financial and legal benefits to getting married, including pensions and inheritance matters.

However, some concerns have been raised about the consequences of cohabitation on families. In general, cohabitation is less stable for families with children than marriage and contributes to the rise of single-parent households with fathers missing.

In a global study of over sixty countries, cohabitating couples with children were found to be more likely to break up than married couples. More specifically, in nearly all the countries examined, children born to cohabiting parents were significantly more likely to see their parents break up before age 12 compared to children whose parents were married at their birth.

In sum, over much of the past, marriage between men and women existed as the world’s societal norm, permitting men and women to live together, take part in sex, and have children. After the middle of the 20th century, that societal norm changed significantly, with marriage becoming increasingly replaced or preceded by the cohabitation of men and women and greater numbers of children born out of wedlock.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials”.

By Ifeanyi Nsofor
WASHINGTON DC, May 14 2025 – In Nigeria, salt is deeply woven into the fabric of food and culture. It brings out flavor, preserves ingredients, and enhances tradition. But recently, salt has become the centerpiece of dangerous misinformation promoted by one of Nigeria’s most powerful spiritual leaders.

During a now-viral sermon, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, founder of the global megachurch Christ Embassy, declared that warnings about excess salt are part of a broader conspiracy to harm Africans. He said, “They told you salt is not good so you won’t take salt anymore and then you get sodium deficiency and need their sodium tablets and sodium medication. Wake up, Africa!”

Within days, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health issued a formal advisory contradicting his claims and reinforcing the risks of high salt intake. The ministry emphasized the well-known risks: high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease. WHO recommends adults consume less than 5 grams of salt daily (about one teaspoon).

But what happens when millions believe the pulpit over public health policy?

A Pattern of Misinformation by Pastor Oyakhilome

Pastor Oyakhilome’s salt remarks are not an isolated incident. He has a troubling record of promoting health-related conspiracy theories that put his followers and the larger Christian community at risk.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he falsely claimed that 5G technology was responsible for the spread of the virus. Though he later walked it back, the damage was done, fueling confusion and mistrust.

He has also repeatedly mischaracterized COVID-19 vaccines, describing them as tools of genetic manipulation. In one broadcast, he suggested that they alter human DNA, a claim unequivocally refuted by scientists and fact-checkers.

In April 2025, Oyakhilome falsely claimed that Pope Francis had died due to the COVID-19 vaccine. The Vatican quickly debunked this falsehood and confirmed that the 88-year-old pontiff passed away due to complications from a stroke, which led to a coma and heart failure.

Such statements have drawn regulatory action. In 2021, the UK’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, fined Oyakhilome’s television channel £25,000 for airing COVID-19 conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated medical claims.

Why Salt Misinformation Matters

The impact of misinformation is compounded in countries like Nigeria, where religious leaders wield enormous influence. According to a 2022 Afrobarometer survey, 60% of Nigerians said they trust religious leaders ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’. This is far higher than the trust shown for political leaders or public institutions: the president (27%); members of the National Assembly (19%); and political parties (15%).

Misinformation from the pulpit has real consequences

More than one-third of Nigerian adults suffer from hypertension, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Excess salt intake contributes significantly to these conditions, as documented across multiple global health studies.

When salt enters the body in excess, its effects ripple silently across vital organs, often without early warning signs.

It starts with the heart, which must work harder to pump the increased volume of blood retained by the sodium. Over time, this sustained pressure can lead to hypertension and eventually heart failure, with the slow thickening of the heart’s walls and the quiet exhaustion of a vital muscle.

The kidneys, too, struggle under the weight of too much salt. These delicate filters are tasked with removing excess sodium, but when overwhelmed, they begin to break down. This can lead to chronic kidney disease, protein leaking into the urine, and the painful formation of kidney stones. Furthermore, reduced kidney function results in less excess water being removed, which increases blood pressure levels.

The brain is especially vulnerable. Prolonged high blood pressure caused by excess salt can rupture or block these vessels, leading to strokes. Even when no stroke occurs, the reduced blood flow can gradually impair memory and cognitive function.

Meanwhile, the arteries harden. Once elastic and responsive, they lose their ability to expand and contract. The result is a narrowed highway for blood, increasing the risk of heart attacks and peripheral artery disease.

High salt levels irritate the lining of the stomach and may contribute to the growth of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium strongly linked to gastric cancer. What begins as seasoning at the table may, over years, become fuel for malignancy.

These are not speculative concerns. They are well-established scientific facts. When a high-profile pastor tells millions to increase their salt consumption, it risks undoing years of public health education and investment.

The Role of Faith Leaders in Health Communication

As a public health physician, I understand the importance of cultural context and trusted messengers. Faith leaders can, and often do play powerful roles in promoting healthy behaviors. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor Enoch Adeboye (General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God) encouraged christians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. He said, “It is foolish to keep having faith that God will protect you from an infection when He has made provision for vaccines that can provide a high percentage of protection. I have taken the jab. I prayed about it and got a clear direction from God to go and receive it.”

But when spiritual authority is used to promote pseudoscience, it becomes a dangerous betrayal of trust. We must challenge misinformation, especially when it comes from influential voices. Public health officials must collaborate with faith communities to train leaders on evidence-based health communication. And regulatory agencies must be empowered to hold repeat offenders accountable.

Conclusion: Let Salt Season Food, Not Falsehood

Salt should enhance flavor. Not endanger lives. It is not a cure, and it certainly is not a conspiracy. Leaders with influence, especially in matters of faith, have a duty to uphold truth, not distort it.

As Nigeria and other countries navigate the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), we cannot afford sermons that sacrifice science for spectacle. NCDs cause about 29% of all deaths in Nigeria — over 684,000 annually.

Let’s preach health. Let’s defend the truth. Let’s keep misinformation out of our kitchens, and out of our pulpits.

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Nsofor, a public-health physician, global health equity advocate and behavioral-science researcher, serves on the Global Fellows Advisory Board at the Atlantic Institute, Oxford, United Kingdom. You can follow him @Ifeanyi Nsofor, MD on LinkedIn

By Stella Paul
GIANYAR, Bali, May 14 2025 – It was Christmas Eve last year when visitors across several tourism hotspots in Bali woke up to a ghastly scene they hadn’t expected: layers of cans, bags, bottles, and driftwood covering their favorite sandy beaches, washed up by hours of rain and high tide. So bad was the situation that from Kuta to Legian and Seminyak to Jimbaran—none of the island’s picturesque beaches was clean enough to attract the visitors for a swim.

The incident intensified the debate that had been raging across Bali for quite some time: was the world’s most picture-perfect holiday destination drowning in plastic waste and ocean debris?

“Garbage tides are not new to Bali nowadays. Every year, we see it increasing but around Christmas, when it’s the peak of our tourism season, we did not expect to see this. Nobody expected to see trash on the beach. All day we picked up the trash and cleaned the beach. It was not an easy job, says Siboto Sayeda, 25, who was one of the many locals who volunteered to remove the waste from the beaches. The cleaning drive—organized by a local NGO—went on for two days before tourists could swim again.

Nearly four months later, several beaches, including the beachfront of the ever-popular Kuta beach are still often barraged by a tide of waste.

Sweta Kala—a visitor from northern India’s Punjab who is in Bali for her honeymoon—says that the garbage on the beach has been a huge disappointment. “We chose to come to Bali instead of Goa (a beach destination in western India), but we haven’t been able to swim even once. The entire beach looks dirty. Our friends are advising us to move to Nusa Dua, but we already paid in advance for our entire vacation, she says.

Burn or Landfills? No Easy Solutions

Data from the Bali Central Bureau of Statistics (BPSJ) & Bali Tourism Authority (DISPARDA) shows that nearly 8 million tourists visited the island destination in 2024; of them, six million are foreigners. The total waste generated collectively by the visitors and the locals in the year was nearly 2 million tons. This is a 30 percent increase from the waste generated in 2020, says Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), a Jakarta-based energy and environment think tank.

“The causes of increased waste generation include a lack of awareness of waste management in most communities, including tourists visiting Bali. In addition, although district and city governments have regulations related to waste (such as waste sorting), enforcement of regulations and limited waste management infrastructure are still contributing to the increasing volume of waste, Tumiwa says.

Currently, the waste is usually deposited in a landfill, TPA Suwung, a 32-hectare landfill located in the heart of Bali or occasionally burned—especially in beach locations with no wide, motorable roads. However, the landfill is nearing its capacity, and the government is said to be scouting for new landfill sites in other parts of Bali.

A community-led solution movement

Thirty-three kilometers away from Kuta beach, villagers from 10 villages in Gianyar have joined hands to find a solution to the mounting waste – both organic and inorganic.

Named Merah Putih Hijau (Red White Green), the villagers’ group has clear goals: manage waste at the source so that there is no further need for either burning or dumping in the landfills; build a community-led circular economy model based on waste; and promote sustainable farming using organic manure while creating waste-based jobs and income for community members.

Their current efforts of the group, however, are primarily focused on running a waste composting facility Located in Sidan village, the facility is used to sort, compost, and package the organic waste. A visit to the center gives one a full view of those efforts, where a group of six to seven villagers can be seen engaged in various waste management activities. While a two-member team is seen sorting organic waste from inorganic waste, others are seen crushing, filtering, and packaging.

“This is a program run by, for, and of the villagers,” says Dewi Kusumawati, Project Manager at Mera Putih Hijau – it involves every villager’s active participation. “We begin by asking everyone in the village to sort their waste at home. Then, we collect the organic waste and bring it to this 3R-Transfer Depo (TPS3R) waste management facility, where it is used to produce quality compost.”

The history of the waste management program is connected to the official waste management program that, villagers say, hasn’t served its purpose to keep the island truly clean and at times has caused more harm than good.

Seven years ago, in 2017, the government of Indonesia set an ambitious target for waste management in its National Development Plan (Kebijakan dan Strategi Nasional). The target included reducing household waste by 30 percent and the handling of household waste by 70 percent by this year (2025).

As a part of this plan, in 2021 the government provided funding to all regencies to build village-level waste management facilities and accordingly, 129 facilities were built, including 36 in Gianyar Regency.  But less than 50 percent of the facilities are well-managed and operated, says Hermitianta Prasetya,  a Community Relation Manager at Bumi Sasmaya Foundation, which manages and funds Merah Putih Hijau.

According to Prasetya, the National Development Plan on waste management also included promoting organic farming and in 2019 the government passed a policy called Organic Farming System Provincial Regulation. But, in Bali, the farming sector is heavily dependent on chemical fertilizer and the new regulation didn’t have provisions to help farmers make a clear shift to using organic fertilizer with training or step-by-step technical guidance.  As a result, it became very hard to convince farmers to change to more sustainable agricultural practices such as using organic fertilizer.

The other reason behind this program has been curbing the current trend of sending waste to landfills: besides the government-owned landfill at Suwung, which handles 1,500 tons of waste every day, it is reported that there are also some 1,000 illegal open dump sites across the province, which pollute both the island’s water sources and environment.

“Currently, about 70 percent of the waste in Bali is taken to dump into landfills. The remainder is mainly organic waste that can be turned into compost. The Merah Putih Hijau program is trying to change the approach towards waste. So, we ask everyone in the village to sort their waste at home. Then, we collect the organic waste and bring it to this 3R-Transfer Depo (TPS3R) waste management facility, where it is used to produce quality compost. This compost then goes right back to the villagers to use in their farms. So, we are aiming to meet the village’s needs at where they are,” says Dewi Kusumawati, Manager of Merah Putih Hijau.

To help the villagers better understand the difference between organic and inorganic waste, the Merah Putih Hijau team also spends substantial time training villagers in separating organic and inorganic waste, composting, and different aspects of sustainable waste management as well as sustainable agriculture. The team has so far done dozens of trainings, says Kusumawati.

Persisting Plastic Problem

Despite their successful composting initiative, the Merah Putih Hijau team has a long way to go before achieving their dream goal of treating all waste locally. The biggest reason behind that is the ever-increasing volume of plastic and other non-compostable waste.

The team collects both organic and plastic waste. But right now, they do not have the capacity to recycle the inorganic waste. In their composting station, an entire room is filled with bundles of plastic bottles, bags, and other waste.  But in the absence of a recycling facility or a program, the waste keeps piling up.

This is a much bigger problem than a village community can handle, admits Prasetya, especially because managing plastic and other inorganic waste needs more effort, including technical expertise and specialized facilities. This cannot be done alone by a village community, and it will require partnership with other actors, including the government and the private business community.

The plan is now to start conversations for building those partnerships that can lead to bigger, stronger waste management initiatives, especially to tackle the plastic waste.

“We are going to create several local networks with hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-based businesses. We are already talking to government officials. Eighty percent of the Balinese population currently earn their livelihood from tourism. And piling garbage is a threat to our tourism and our livelihood. So, there is a common good for us to achieve by partnering and solving the plastic waste together,” Prasteya says.

Considering there are nearly 1300 hotels and restaurants in Giyaniar alone, this is going to be an uphill task for the community group to bring them all into one place and convince them to participate in a collective waste management movement. But Agastya Yatra, the head of the Bumi Sasmaya Foundation, believes that it is possible to do so. The garbage issue, he says, has already been noticed. Now, it’s time to find a solution that works in favor of the locals.

“Eighty percent of our people earn their living from tourism. So, we need solutions that will not affect tourism. We need to keep our tourists happy and for that, we need to keep our villages and beaches clean. This will work only if we join hands and work together,” he says. “Together, if we can segregate waste properly, recycle, and reuse, then slowly but surely, our problem with waste will vanish,” says Yatra.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);  

IPS UN Bureau, IPS UN Bureau Report, Bali

By CIVICUS
May 14 2025 –  
CIVICUS discusses Romania’s presidential election with Anda Serban, Executive Director of Resource Center for Public Participation (CERE), a civil society organisation (CSO) that focuses on public participation and transparency in decision-making processes.

Romania has experienced a dramatic shift in its political landscape following the presidential election rerun held on 4 May. The Constitutional Court ordered a new election after it annulled the December 2024 vote and disqualified far-right frontrunner Călin Georgescu due to electoral violations and alleged foreign interference. A new far-right candidate, George Simion, took first place in the first round of the rerun election, sending further shockwaves through Romania’s political establishment. A runoff vote between Simion and centrist Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan is scheduled for 18 May.

Anda Serban

What factors led to the decision to annul the first election?

Romania’s weak and corrupt institutions acted too late to address manipulation that destabilised our democracy. The court pointed to three main reasons for annulment: foreign interference in political campaigns, authorities failing to act on available information and the risky, short-sighted strategies employed by political parties seeking to undermine their opponents.

Judges found that illegal digital campaigning, foreign interference and campaign finance violations compromised the integrity of the election and decided a full rerun was necessary. Unlike other countries facing similar challenges, Romania’s response has been notably inadequate. While France, Moldova and the USA have tackled similar problems and some steps have been taken at the European level, Romania took far too long to act. In typical Romanian political and bureaucratic fashion, once information came out, politicians did nothing right away. Instead of following clear steps to act quickly, officials waited and tried to see how they could use it to their advantage.

How did this affect public trust in Romania’s democratic institutions?

This crisis exists within a broader context of eroding democratic norms. Trust was already low before the annulment, and with good reason. The government increasingly uses emergency ordinances to legislate, Bucharest’s city hall opens less than three per cent of its proposals for public debate and local authorities systematically ignore civic input. This comes on top of a poorly managed pandemic and a war in Ukraine across our border, with the aggressor’s voice amplified in social media.

Authorities have done nothing to reverse this trend. On the contrary, they have increasingly tried to restrict civic space and human rights. So when the election was suddenly annulled, it became the spark that ignited an already volatile situation. This ongoing institutional failure has had a profound impact on the credibility of the entire electoral process.

The aftermath of the court’s decision further damaged public confidence. Distrust intensified because authorities acted too slowly and inadequately. No senior official was held accountable. Without a public, transparent review, many people didn’t see this annulment as a real defence of democracy.

What role have established political parties played in the crisis?

The current situation stems partly from cynical political calculations by mainstream parties. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party believed they could ride the wave of far-right and sovereigntist sentiment, represented by Georgescu, without serious consequences. They’ve maintained power for over 35 years. They assumed they could face him in a runoff and easily defeat him. But his support proved much stronger than they expected.

This miscalculation has now transformed the political landscape. Georgescu’s disqualification turned him into an anti-system symbol, despite being an insider and having held public jobs. Every candidate tried to claim the anti-system role, some more aggressively than others.

The resulting polarisation is unprecedented. Some Georgescu backers hoped to repeat a situation similar to the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. We’ve seen some insurrectionary slogans, such as ‘second round back’, fuelled by both real supporters and bots seeking to erode trust in the process.

Who were the leading candidates in the rerun first round?

Although the ballot looked very different from December, the ideological spectrum remained largely conservative. Most candidates appealed to the same pool of Christian-Orthodox voters. The biggest dividing line was foreign policy: some were pro-European Union (EU), others pro-USA, particularly pro-Trump, and a few pushed anti-Ukrainian, pro-Russian narratives.

The race effectively narrowed to five significant contenders. George Simion of the Alliance of Union of Romanians (AUR) emerged as Georgescu’s political heir. No one was able to fully capture Georgescu’s support base, but Simion came closest by copying his style and behaviour. He skipped all three official presidential debates, in one case staging a dramatic walkout with supporters, just as Georgescu did in 2024. While this showed a lack of respect for voters, Simion may have felt he had nothing to gain and only votes to lose. This strategy won him first place with 40.96 per cent of the vote.

Simion and AUR represent a clear threat to Romania’s European orientation. They are conservative on family and immigration, oppose human rights advances and are pro-Russian in foreign policy. The EU is under pressure from many fronts, and Simion’s rise adds to that strain.

The other candidates positioned themselves within this disrupted landscape. Bucharest’s mayor, Nicușor Dan, ran as an independent with the Save Romania Union’s support. He cast himself as the ‘lone wolf’ anti-system figure. During his mayoral term, he built coalitions in the city council for reforms. He received 20.99 per cent of the vote and will now compete with Simion in the runoff.

The three other candidates were Elena Lasconi, Crin Antonescu and Victor Ponta. Lasconi maintained that she should have been the rightful challenger to Georgescu in the previous runoff. She targeted Dan’s voters, accusing him of ‘stealing’ them. Antonescu, in contrast, represented continuity with the governing coalition. He relied on his rhetorical skills to fill the ‘calm statesman’ role Georgescu once sought. He showed a lot of pragmatism, expressing willingness to form any coalition – even with the far right – to stay in power. And Ponta emerged as a troubling surprise. He staged a political comeback with provocative proposals, adopting a Romanian version of Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ discourse.

How has disinformation shaped the electoral environment?

Online disinformation is moving at a scale we’ve never seen. In every election, parties try to shape the agenda, but when legions of bots flood social media to do it too, the rules change. Even if all parties use such tactics, it ends up being a matter of who has most resources to spread disinformation.

Media manipulation isn’t new, but its scale is unprecedented. We are constantly analysing campaign visuals and debating images of one candidate shared by another, while armies of trolls are flooding social media with copy-pasted comments on political and non-political posts alike.

Fortunately, civil society is fighting back against these information threats. CSOs are working with teachers to incorporate media literacy in schools, running workshops that equip young people to spot fake news and operating fact-checking services to debunk viral lies. As part of the NGOs for Citizens coalition, CERE launched an offline civic forum focused on TikTok’s role in this campaign to give voters the tools they need to navigate this flood of disinformation.

What are the prospects for the runoff?

Dan now battles for the support of first-round non-voters. Even if he manages to secure most of the votes received by all the other candidates, his electoral prospects appear limited unless he can attract a significant influx of new supporters. The key questions are how many of the 38 per cent who rejected Simeon Dan can persuade to participate and support him, and how effectively an anti-Simeon campaign can mobilise those who previously abstained.

A particularly notable development involves the PSD, Romania’s largest party, which has withdrawn from government and declared neutrality in the runoff, endorsing neither candidate. One optimistic interpretation suggests Dan asked political parties to keep a distance, believing them responsible for the substantial anti-system vote, and perhaps PSD agreed. We must also consider that anti-PSD sentiment has persisted for over a decade, particularly among diaspora voters, making the impact of its potential endorsement uncertain. More likely, however, a weakened PSD is simply distancing itself from the turmoil it helped create, hoping to return strengthened in eight to 10 months. Meanwhile, its loyal voting base now lacks direction, raising questions about whether they will gravitate toward Dan or Simion.

What remains unquestionably clear is that Romania’s continued alignment with Europe hinges entirely on achieving substantial voter participation in this pivotal runoff election.

GET IN TOUCH
Website
Facebook

SEE ALSO
Romania: ‘People saw this election as an opportunity for change and expressed their dissatisfaction with the status quo’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Luliana Lliescu 28.Dec.2024
Romania: Protests erupt after court annuls presidential elections results CIVICUS Monitor 10.Jan.2025
Romania: Protests in Bucharest over election irregularities; government workers go on strike CIVICUS Monitor 30.Jul.2024

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);  

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, May 14 2025 – Since the dissolution of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in March, roughly 2 million Palestinians residing within the Gaza Strip have struggled to survive amid constant barrages of airstrikes from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and a persisting blockade on humanitarian aid. With essential border crossings in Gaza remaining closed, humanitarian organizations have expressed fear that the Palestinians within the enclave could experience exacerbated rates of famine and malnutrition.

“The risk of famine does not arrive suddenly. It unfolds in places where access to food is blocked, where health systems are decimated, and where children are left without the bare minimum to survive. Hunger and acute malnutrition are a daily reality for children across the Gaza Strip,” said Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “We have repeatedly warned of this trajectory and call again on all parties to prevent a catastrophe.”

Humanitarian aid and food assistance has been blocked by the IDF since March 2, marking the longest blockade since the war in Gaza broke out in 2023. In late March, all 25 of the bakeries in Gaza, which have been supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), shut down. These bakeries were considered to be a lifeline for Gazans. Around this time, WFP’s entire supply of food parcels and two weeks of food rations were depleted.

According to figures from UNICEF, more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance, which is enough to feed the entire population for roughly 4 months, is in position to be delivered, waiting on borders to open. Additionally, food prices have soared by 3,000 percent since February, pushing basic items, such as flour, out of reach for the majority of Palestinians within the enclave.

“Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border. We can’t get it to them because of the renewed conflict and the total ban on humanitarian aid imposed in early March,” said the WFP’s Executive Director Cindy McCain. “It’s imperative that the international community acts urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.”

On May 12, UNICEF and the WFP released a report detailing the current hunger crisis in Gaza. According to the report, food supplies have run critically low and the entire population is facing acute food insecurity. Furthermore, roughly 71,000 children and 17,000 mothers are threatened by acute malnutrition.

Additional figures from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) indicate that approximately 470,000 Gazans are currently facing catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5). Furthermore, it is estimated that roughly 60,000 children are in dire need of treatment for malnutrition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there have been at least 57 child deaths as a result of starvation in Gaza. This estimate is believed to be lower than the actual amount of deaths, with thousands of children being at risk of dying due to starvation in the next 11 months.

Breastfeeding mothers in Gaza have been hit especially hard by the blockade, with thousands struggling to produce enough milk to feed their children. With supplemental nutritional services having been rendered essentially nonfunctional, thousands of children are at a heightened risk of disease. An entire generation of children are projected to face a multitude of long-term health risks including stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and compromised immune systems.

The current distribution plan presented by Israeli authorities to the United Nations (UN) entails roughly 60 trucks of humanitarian aid entering Gaza per day, which is about one-tenth of the supply delivered during the implementation of the ceasefire. IPC warns that catastrophic levels of hunger are to become widespread between now and September if this plan is implemented.

This proposal seeks to establish several aid hubs exclusively in the south of the enclave. According to UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, this plan would create “an impossible choice between displacement and death”, as the vast majority of civilians would have to abandon their homes to access the supplies they need for survival.

The most vulnerable populations, such as children, the disabled, and the elderly, would face extreme challenges if this plan was to be implemented. “It’s dangerous to ask civilians to go into militarized zones to collect rations…humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip,” Elder said.

The Trump administration has announced a separate distribution plan for Gaza which has been approved by Israeli authorities but rejected by UN officials. This plan entails the establishment of several distribution centers facilitated by private firms. Israel would not be involved in the distribution of aid but would assist in security services around the perimeters of these centers.

“President Trump has made very clear that one of the most urgent things that needs to happen is humanitarian aid into Gaza, and he has tasked all of his team to do everything possible to accelerate that and to as expeditiously as possible get humanitarian aid in, to the people,” said US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar expressed approval for this plan, citing Hamas as a persistent threat that takes advantage of aid deliveries. Many UN officials have denounced this plan, with Olga Cherevko of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stating that there are monitoring systems in place to ensure that all aid goes to civilians.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);  

By External Source
May 14 2025 (IPS-Partners)

 
Tom Fletcher is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA. He started his official duties on 18 November 2024.

Prior to taking up this role, Fletcher was the Principal of Hertford College at Oxford (2020-2024) and Vice Chair of Oxford University’s Conference of Colleges (2022-2024). He was British Ambassador to Lebanon (2011-2015) and Number 10 Foreign Policy Adviser to three UK Prime Ministers (2007-2011).

Fletcher previously served as Global Strategy Director of the Global Business Coalition for Education (2015-2019) and as chair of the UK Creative Industries Federation (2015-2020). He was awarded a CMG in 2011.

Fletcher has worked closely with the United Nations during his diplomatic career in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including leading a report on technology for the UN Secretary General (2017). He is the author of ‘The Naked Diplomat’ (2016), ‘Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux’ (2022), and two novels, ‘The Ambassador’ (2022) and ‘The Assassin’ (2024). He has written for the Financial Times, Prospect and Foreign Policy Magazine, and presented a BBC series on democracy.

Fletcher holds a Master of Arts degree in Modern History (Oxford, 1998). He was Visiting Professor at New York University (2015-2020) and the Emirates Diplomatic Academy (2016-2019). He is fluent in English and French, and has a good working knowledge of Arabic and Swahili.

ECW: How can education – especially for the 234 million crisis-affected children in urgent need of education support – better strengthen efforts to protect civilians, ensure human rights and foster adherence to international humanitarian law?

Tom Fletcher: Education is a frontline necessity in humanitarian crises – not an afterthought or something that can be dealt with later. Everywhere I go, I see how education provides children with a sense of normalcy, safety and hope amid the chaos. Learning is a shield against the threats and trauma of war and disaster. A child in school is less likely to be recruited by armed groups, exploited or harmed – and at its best, education instills values of peaceful coexistence, dignity, respect for each other, and for the agreed rules and laws that benefit everyone.

ECW: As a professor, diplomat and humanitarian, you know education’s transformative power. Today, with crises escalating, funding contracting and priorities competing, why must public and private donors see education as a life-saving intervention, not a secondary need? What are the consequences if we fail to sustain funding through multilateral funds like Education Cannot Wait, especially for crisis-affected children in the hardest-hit contexts?

Tom Fletcher: We know that education stabilizes communities, protects children and plants the seeds of peace. Without it, we don’t just skip lessons – we lose generations. It is the deepest tragedy that in a place like Gaza, some 658,000 school-aged children are without formal education because nine out of 10 of their schools are damaged or destroyed by the war. Without a school to go to, these children are more vulnerable, their human rights are undermined, and their futures hang in the balance.

But we are also facing a brutal funding crunch and we are reimagining the entire humanitarian enterprise. At the heart of this humanitarian reset will be three simple ideas: we will be smaller, closer to those we serve and robust in the protection of civilians. Education is one of our most powerful tools in this endeavour, and multilateral funds like Education Cannot Wait – thanks to the vision, courage, tenacity and leadership of Sarah and Gordon Brown, the latter also ECW’s founder – give us the means to deliver hope. Failing to fund education means we don’t just turn our backs on children, but we risk perpetuating the very cycles of poverty and instability we claim to fight.

ECW: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) drives global efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others. Why is education crucial in humanitarian crises, and how does it foster peace, security and economic development for all?

Tom Fletcher: In conflict-affected countries, one in three children – approximately 103 million children – are out of school, which is three times the global rate (Save the Children analysis 27 Dec 2024). Addressing this educational gap is essential: Education promotes understanding and helps young people turn away from the pull of extremist ideologies. In the long run, education drives economic progress by giving girls and boys the tools to build their own futures. That is why, even amidst a war, the classroom can be the most powerful place – a space where children can rediscover hope, dignity and purpose.

In every humanitarian crisis I’ve seen, once people find safety, education is among the first services they seek. It’s where healing begins. It’s where recovery takes root. Education is the antidote to despair and division because it teaches young people how to reclaim their place in the world.

ECW: UN-OCHA plays a key role in support of ECW investments in education in emergencies and protracted crises through its humanitarian coordination system which, alongside UNHCR’s refugee coordination role, is essential to the efficient, effective delivery of quality education in crises. Why are the UN-OCHA and UNHCR coordination systems crucial, and how can they be further strengthened?

Tom Fletcher: Coordination isn’t a bureaucratic nicety – it’s how we save more lives with the resources we have. Alongside UNHCR and our many partners, we form the backbone of a coordinated humanitarian response – to support our frontline colleagues’ efforts to reach people in their hour of greatest need. But we can and must do better. This means handing over decision-making power to partners on the ground who know their communities best, streamlining processes to reduce duplication and investing in local capacity. Our mantra must be: Local where possible and international only when necessary. That’s how we can ensure that education in emergencies arrives quickly in a way that truly meets the needs of the communities we serve.

ECW: We all know that ‘readers are leaders’ and that reading skills are key to every child’s education. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally?

Tom Fletcher:
“Ministry of the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson
“Silk Roads” by Peter Frankopan
“Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);