By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Mar 25 2025 – The 20th century ushered in the profound rise of the elderly. During the 21st century, the elderly as a result of their rising numbers and growing proportions of country populations will be increasingly impacting government policies, programs and expenditures.

Prior to the 20th century, the proportion of the world’s population aged 65 years and older was likely around 2 to 3%. By 1900, that proportion is estimated to have increased to approximately 4% with the elderly numbering about 66 million. By the middle of the 20th century, the world’s elderly proportion aged 65 years and older is estimated to have reached 5% and their number nearly doubled to 126 million (Figure 1).

Source: United Nations.

At the start of the 21st century, the percent of the world’s population who were elderly increased to 7 percent and they numbered about 422 million. Today the estimated percent elderly is 10 percent, double the 1950 level. The number of people aged 65 years and older in 2025 is estimated to be about 857 million, which is approximately seven times the number of elderly in 1950.

The world’s elderly are not only growing in number and percent of the world’s population, but they are also experiencing increasing longevity, a welcomed blessing for humanity.

In 1950, the life expectancies of the world’s population at ages 65 and 80 years were about 11 and 5 years, respectively. Over the subsequent decades, the life expectancies for the elderly increased, reaching nearly 16 and 7 years at the beginning of the 21st century. The life expectancies at ages 65 and 80 years today are estimated to be close to 18 and 8 years, respectively (Figure 2).

Source: United Nations.

Furthermore, the proportion of the world’s population aged 80 years and older, which was 0.6% in 1950, more than doubled to 1.6% by the close of the 20th century. Today the proportion of the world’s population aged 80 years and older has increased to nearly 2.1% and is expected to more than double to 4.6% by 2050 and double again to 9.3% by the year 2100.

The life expectancies of the elderly are also expected to continue rising in the years ahead. By the close of the 21st century, for example, the life expectancies at ages 65 and 80 years are expected to reach 22 and 11 years, respectively, or double the 1950 levels.

It is also noteworthy that as women generally live longer than men, a clear majority of the elderly are women. Today approximately 55% of the world’s 857 million persons aged 65 years and older are women. At older ages the sex imbalance is even larger. Among the world’s 170 million people aged 80 years and older, for example, about 62% are women.

Considerable diversity exists across countries in the life expectancies of the elderly. The estimated levels for 2025 among some developed countries, such as Japan, France and Australia, are approximately double the life expectancies of the elderly among some developing countries, such as Nigeria, Chad and Togo (Figure 3).

Source: United Nations.

For example, while Japan’s estimated life expectancies for the elderly in 2025 at ages 65 and 80 years are 23 and 11 years, respectively, the corresponding life expectancies for Nigeria’s elderly are 12 and 5 years.

Moreover, the differences among countries with respect to elderly life expectancies are expected to persist throughout the 21st century. By 2100, the projected life expectancies for Japan at ages 65 and 80 years are 30 and 16 years, respectively, versus 14 and 6 years for Nigeria at those ages (Figure 4).

Source: United Nations.

The rising numbers and proportions of the elderly combined with their increasing longevity have important economic, social and political consequences for countries and their citizens.

Perhaps the most evident consequence today concerns government financed retirement programs for the elderly. As the numbers and the proportions of the elderly increase, the retirement benefits for the elderly create financial strains on the viability of national programs.

Recognizing, understanding and preparing for the profound rise of the elderly will not only facilitate this historic transition but it will also contribute substantially to addressing its many important consequences

To address the increasing costs of national retirement programs, some governments are raising the official retirement ages in order to receive full benefits. Other governments are considering raising taxes and also reducing retirement benefits.

Another important consequence of the rising numbers and proportions of the elderly is their increasing needs for healthcare. Those needs lead to greater spending on medical care, long-term assistance and pharmaceuticals. And among the common health concerns of the elderly are heart ailments, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, urinary incontinence, social isolation, depression, hearing loss and falls.

In addition to medical care, many of the elderly, especially at the older ages, are in need of assistance, caregiving and help with activities of daily living.

In most developing countries the elderly usually reside with extended family members. In developed countries, in contrast, the elderly typically live with a spouse, followed by many living by themselves.

Without adequate government funding and services, people, in particular women, face increased pressures to provide care and assistance to their elderly relatives. In many instances, those pressures lead to strains, stresses and personal burnout for the caregivers.

The rising numbers and proportions of the elderly can also lead to political controversies among the different generations, especially regarding government expenditures, taxes, pensions and healthcare.

One increasingly important area of difference between the generations concerns the amount of government funds and resources that should be provided to the elderly versus to the young. In particular, the elderly and young adults are likely to have differing views regarding the appropriate balance of government resources and support allocated to eldercare versus childcare.

The elderly are more likely to back financial increases for pensions and limit spending on education. Also, the elderly are more likely to be politically conservative and emphasize tradition, customs and ritual. In contrast, young adults are more likely to be politically liberal, stress individual freedoms, and embrace innovation and changing social norms.

In sum, the profound rise of the world’s elderly that was ushered in during the 20th century is continuing throughout the 21st century.

As a result of their growth in absolute numbers and relative proportions of the world’s population coupled with their increasing longevity, the rise of the elderly is having significant consequences for countries and their citizens. Recognizing, understanding and preparing for the profound rise of the elderly will not only facilitate this historic transition but it will also contribute substantially to addressing its many important consequences.

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

By Esther Ngumbi
URBANA, Illinois, US, Mar 25 2025 – On March the 8^th, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. This year’s theme was “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” and called for actions that aim to unlock power and opportunities for women around the world by leaders across governments, corporate and private sector, academic communities, and civil societies.

Indeed, in a world where women make up almost half of the global population, unlocking women power and doors of opportunities will do much more than benefiting women. It will create thriving communities and societies and continue serving as the foundation of sustainable development and a  prosperous and peaceful society and world.

Arguably, the food, agribusiness and agricultural sector presents many opportunities that can be leveraged by women.   In the United States, for example, the agricultural sector which extends beyond the farm business, contributes around $1.537 trillion to the GDP.

Similarly, across many African countries, the agricultural sector is an important sector and contributor to African countries GDP.  Moreover, the African Development Bank forecasts that by 2030, the African food and agriculture market and economy will be worth $1 trillion.

Although the agricultural sector presents lots of opportunities, extensive evidence shows that women, particular in both the United States and African countries and other emerging countries, still face multitude of structural and gender-based barriers including low levels of formal education, limited technical skills, limited access to assets, finances, information, networks and resources including land.

So, what steps can be taken to break down the barriers and tap onto the opportunities the food, agribusiness and agricultural sector presents?

First, we must ensure that women have equal access and ownership to land that is central for agricultural production. There is evidence showing that women with strong property and land rights contribute to increased production and incomes. Additionally, research suggests that there are positive linkages between secure land access and ownership by women and improved incomes and human wellbeing and many economic benefits.

Second, we must ensure that women have access to information and financial resources they need to ensure that their agricultural practices and agribusinesses are resilient.

The agricultural sector is one of the sectors that continues to be vulnerable to climate change associated stressors including drought, flooding events and pest outbreaks.  With financial resources, women can adopt climate-smart agricultural practices, allowing their agricultural enterprises to thrive. Research has revealed the interlinkages between access to resources and adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.

Creating resillience can further be enhanced by ensuring that women further adopt newer technologies including technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and robotics.

Third, efforts must be made to ensure that women who venture in agribusiness have access to credit and financial services, technical advisory and business support services and market and trade networks.

Governments can lead the efforts to ensure that legal and regulatory business networks are functional for women.  Some of the interventions that can be rolled out include bundled services that provide women with resources, credit, technical advice and networks they need to grow their enterprises.

Finally, we must continue celebrating and recognizing organizations and initiatives that have time and again continued to step up to empower women and break the multiple barriers that women in agriculture and agribusiness face. Organizations such as WomenFirst International Fund and Development in Gardening, for example have continued to empower women with positive benefits to communities and societies.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa has several initiatives aimed at empowering women. The African Development Bank, Mastercard Foundation, The Tony Elumelu Foundation also have initiatives that seek to break down the barriers and tap onto the opportunities the food, agribusiness and agricultural sector presents.

Women play critical roles across the agricultural sector and agricultural value chain, as producers, agribusiness owners and employees.

Empowering them, unlocking their potential and opening multiple opportunity doors for them will go a long way, creating wins for women and societies at large while driving economic growth. Echoing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres words, “When the doors of opportunity are open for women, everyone wins, and we all thrive”.

Esther Ngumbi, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, African American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 25 2025 – Indigenous peoples in Brazil have won a new right: a share in the profits of hydroelectric plants that cause them harm when built on or near their lands. 

This was established in a preliminary ruling by Supreme Court Justice Flavio Dino, who on Tuesday, March 11, recognized this right for Indigenous communities living in the Volta Grande do Xingu (VGX), a 100-kilometer stretch of the Amazon’s Xingu River. Most of its water flow was diverted into a channel for electricity generation.

The ruling responds to a petition from seven Indigenous associations in the VGX and still awaits ratification by the other 10 Supreme Court justices by late March. However, approval is virtually certain, as it aligns with Brazil’s 1988 Constitution.

It took 37 years for this constitutional benefit to take effect because the National Congress failed to pass a law regulating compensation for the impacts of energy and mining projects on Indigenous lands, Justice Dino noted in his 115-point, 61-page ruling.

Now, 100% of the royalties that the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant paid to the federal government as compensation for water use will go to the residents of three Indigenous territories affected by the permanent “drought” in the VGX, home to 1,324 people according to the 2022 national census.

Lawyers representing the Indigenous cause estimate this amounts to around 210 million reais per year (approximately US$36 million at current exchange rates).

The funds will be used collectively for community benefit. Justice Dino specified purposes such as expanding the Bolsa Família (a direct income transfer program) in affected villages, sustainable development projects, improving educational and health infrastructure, territorial security, reforestation, and demarcation of additional Indigenous lands.

Wild fruits that feed fish now fall on dry land due to the reduced flow in the Volta Grande do Xingu in the Brazilian Amazon. Its waters were diverted for the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant’s channel. Credit: Mati / VGX

A Right for All

This right extends to other similar cases—though not to mining—as there is still no legislation regulating constitutional provisions ensuring affected communities’ share in profits from hydroelectric and mining activities in “border zones or Indigenous lands.”

Justice Dino also set a 24-month deadline for Congress to finally approve regulations for such cases.

“Royalties are a victory. For the first time, we’ve gained a benefit—all we’ve had so far are losses because of the Belo Monte dam,” said Gilliard Juruna, chief of the Miratu village of the Juruna people (who are reclaiming their original name, Yudjá, meaning “the river’s owners”).

“Since 2019, fish no longer reproduce normally in the Volta Grande do Xingu,” the Indigenous leader told IPS by phone from his village in the municipality of Vitória do Xingu. Like most Brazilian Indigenous groups, the Juruna use their ethnic name as their surname.

The reason is that Belo Monte’s operation “steals” too much water from the VGX, a U-shaped stretch. The original dam project, designed in the 1970s under Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964–1985), planned to flood 1,225 square kilometers of forest in the Volta Grande, including two Indigenous territories along its banks.

Stalled by Indigenous resistance and surplus energy from other large dams, the project was revived this century with a redesign to avoid flooding the VGX by diverting water through a channel.

But diverting enough water for a 11,000-megawatt plant (the world’s fourth-largest, operating at full capacity since 2019) has condemned the VGX to permanent drought, destroying the Indigenous and riverside communities’ way of life, which depended on fishing and river transport.

A constant legal battle pits Norte Energía, Belo Monte’s private operator, against environmental authorities demanding higher water flows in the VGX to ensure fish reproduction and ecosystem survival.

Court rulings have fluctuated, especially after environmental disasters and the expiration of Belo Monte’s operating license in 2021. The Brazilian Institute of the Environment now seeks to tie license renewal to a more ecosystem-friendly water flow schedule (hydrogram).

While awaiting renewal, the plant operates at only 31% capacity. Water releases for the river bend are dictated by power generation targets, ignoring the dehydrated stretch’s ecological needs.

The dehydrated or dried-up Xingu River forms small isolated ponds where trapped fish die. Before being diverted to supply the Belo Monte plant, it was connected to the river’s main flow. Credit: Mati / VGX

The Juruna lead an Independent Territorial Environmental Monitoring (Mati) initiative, tracking fish populations and other indicators based on water flow variations. Other Indigenous groups, riverside communities, and researchers also participate.

Their findings show that higher water levels from December to March (fish spawning season) are essential for life in the VGX. They’ve proposed a new hydrogram that, while not restoring natural flows, would mitigate current damage.

The piracema, the local spawning season for the inhabitants of the Xingu, must have enough water for the females to lay their eggs and for the fry to feed and grow. Without water, this process cannot occur, and sometimes—due to the sudden reduction in water flow caused by Belo Monte—the eggs or fry die on dry land, according to Josiel Juruna, coordinator of Mati.

“We’ll keep fighting for more water in the Volta Grande—for us, it’s life,” said Gilliard Juruna. But his people are adapting, turning to farming after commercial fishing collapsed. They are no longer commercial fishermen, only fishing for their own consumption—which is no longer guaranteed either.

The Juruna leader now grows cacao, whose price is on the rise, but they need technical support, irrigation, and fertilizers.

The compensation programs that Belo Monte is required to implement and fund, as a counterpart to harnessing the river’s energy potential, are not progressing. The company’s initiatives to support Juruna agriculture contribute little.

While schools are improving, and the village will have secondary education starting in 2026, there are no income-generating projects to replace lost fishing livelihoods, Gilliard Juruna lamented.

Though welcomed, royalties may further erode traditional Indigenous life.

One concern is that financial compensation could make it easier to license new hydro and mining projects, harming nature and Indigenous ways of life.

There have long been efforts to open Indigenous lands to destructive activities like mining—now under discussion in the Supreme Court, led by Justice Gilmar Mendes.

Royalties can encourage harmful projects to exploit mining and water resources in indigenous lands, “the most protected areas in Brazil”, agrees biologist Juarez Pezutti, a professor at the Federal University of Pará, who has participated in several environmental research projects in the Vuelta Grande.

Predatory activities in indigenous areas destroy their ecosystem services, cause social disasters, as seen in the Xingu, and lead to obesity, diabetes and other diseases, such as those that occur among Native peoples in the United States and Canada, whose territories are occupied by mining, he told IPS by telephone from Belém, capital of the Amazonian state of Pará, where Belo Monte is located.

Judge Dino is aware of these risks, which is why he insisted several times in his ruling that the decision on Belo Monte’s royalties “does not release any and all exploitation of the energy potential of water resources on indigenous lands.”

Such projects still require state approval and compliance with International Labour Organization Convention 169, which mandates free, prior, and informed consent from affected Indigenous communities.

By External Source
KABUL, Mar 25 2025 – Azar Shaimaa sits in grief, her voice trembling with sorrow as she recounts the devastating loss of her daughter, Benazir. A bright ninth-grade student, Benazir took her own life. Just three years earlier, Shaimaa lost her husband in a car accident.

Shaimaa now lives in a rented house in Kabul with her other surviving daughter. Forced out of her job as a high school teacher by the Taliban and without her husband as the sole breadwinner, Shaimaa has now been financially supported by her brother.

As she recounted the circumstances leading to Benazir, her daughter’s death, Azar Shaimaa could not hold back tears, and her voice was choking with resentment. She traced the root cause of Benazir cutting her own life short to the harsh and oppressive environment for women engendered by Taliban rule after they seized back power four years ago.

Ironically, the day we sat for the interview the Taliban had just published a new decree closing down medical institutions for girls – yet another nail in the coffin of women’s freedom. The medical institutions up to that point were the only ones left open to girls who wanted to continue their studies in medicine and midwifery.

“For women and girls in Afghanistan, life is like a prison,” Shaimaa says. “It has no meaning.”

A Systematic Erasure of Women’s Rights

Since regaining power four years ago, the Taliban have imposed a series of draconian decrees that have systematically erased women from public life. Girls are banned from secondary and higher education, women are barred from most forms of employment, and even simple freedoms—like visiting parks or speaking loudly in public—have been stripped away.

The consequences have been devastating. Many Afghan women and girls are battling severe mental health issues, with some taking their own lives, others disappearing into Taliban prisons, and those with the means fleeing the country.

The death of Azar Shaimaa’s daughter, Benazir, encapsulates the dire situation facing women in Afghanistan.

During eight years of marriage, Shaimaa said, God gifted her two daughters who she “raised with thousands of hopes and dreams”. She enrolled them at school, and they were both eager to learn, largely motivated by the fact she was herself a high school teacher. Benazir was the top student in her school from first to the ninth grade.

“She really wanted to complete her higher education at the Medical University hoping to specialize in surgery in order to serve her family and the people of her country,” Shaimaa boasts of her daughter.

“The day the republican government fell was a dark day for the women and girls of Afghanistan, and the darkness has continued until today”, Shaimaa tearfully laments. Shortly after assuming power in Kabul, the Taliban promptly banned girls from going to school until further notice. It greatly shocked her daughter, Benazir.

“She would wake up each morning counting down the minutes to the day schools would open for her to return”. “She would ask me, mother when will the Taliban open girl’s school again?” recounts Shaimaa.

Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The Taliban’s relentless repression of women is creating a silent crisis, one that is pushing many young Afghan women to the brink. Credit: Learning Together.

A Desperate Struggle Against Despair

As months passed with no change, Benazir’s mental health deteriorated. Benazir became deeply worried about her future that she began show symptoms of mental decline. She would talk to herself for many days, her mother says. At a psychologist’s recommendation, Shaimaa enrolled her in a sewing center to keep her engaged, but it was no substitute for her true passion.

Benazir lasted only one week at the sewing centre, returning one day to declare that “Mom, I don’t feel like going to the sewing center anymore; I want to study”. It didn’t work because Benazir was solely focused on her education and achieving her dream in the future. She was waiting for the schools to reopen.

Unfortunately, one day everything boiled over. Shaimaa returned from the funeral of a relative to loud noises and people gathered around her house. She saw her daughter covered in blood. She had cut her wrists open with a razor blade.

”My daughter ended her life and left this world with a heart full of unfulfilled desires”, says Shaimaa mournfully.

“In spite of all the care and attention I gave her, I was unable to save her life, and I lost my daughter”.

A Call for International Action

The Taliban’s relentless repression of women is creating a silent crisis, one that is pushing many young Afghan women to the brink. Shaimaa is calling on the international community to act before more lives are lost.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

By Sheema Sen Gupta
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 25 2025 – As the sun rises over coastal Gopalpur, Odisha, in eastern India, dozens of children prepare for school. Unfortunately, for many girls in the state, the arrival of their first period can mean the end of their school years as they face societal pressures to become brides.

Despite significant progress in recent decades, India still accounts for one-third of the world’s child brides. This share is equal to the next 10 countries combined.

“At the feast, there were some people who wanted me to become their daughter-in-law. But during that time, I did not know much about marriage or if it was good or bad. Among them, the person who wanted to marry me brought me a lehenga (Indian traditional dress). I was only 14 years old at that time.”

Child marriage is a global challenge. Worldwide, over 640 million girls and women alive today were married as children. Annually, around 12 million girls become child brides before turning 18.

In Madagascar, information sessions are key in changing minds and raising awareness about child marriage and other harmful practices. Credit: UNFPA Madagascar

For impoverished communities, child marriage is often viewed as an escape from poverty. Yet, it frequently leads to lifelong hardships like early pregnancy, exclusion from education and limited opportunities. Intersecting crises like conflict, economic instability and climate shocks further intensify the vulnerabilities of young girls.

Thankfully, effective interventions can shift societal narratives and end child marriage. For example, in 2019, the Government of Odisha, in partnership with UNICEF, launched a five-year Strategic Action Plan to end child marriage by 2030. At the heart of this initiative is Advika (“I am Unique”), a programme that empowers adolescents through education, leadership training and community engagement.

So far, it has reached 2.5 million adolescents, declared over 11,000 villages child marriage-free and prevented approximately 950 child marriages in 2022 alone.

Progress and persistent challenges

Programmes like Advika prove that child marriage is preventable. In the past 25 years, significant progress has been made in reducing child marriage globally, with 68 million child marriages averted during that time. However, child marriage still remains a sad reality for too many girls, with stark regional differences highlighting the need for tailored strategies:

• South Asia continues to drive global reductions and is on pace to eliminate child marriage within 55 years, but it still accounts for nearly half (45 per cent) of the world’s child brides — 290 million in total.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 127 million child brides, shouldering the second-largest global share (20 per cent). At its current pace, the region is over 200 years away from ending the practice.
• Latin America and the Caribbean are falling behind and are on course to have the second-highest regional level of child marriage by 2030.
• In the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Eastern Europe and Central Asia, progress has stagnated after previous periods of steady improvement.

These regional disparities underscore the urgent need for intensified efforts and context-specific interventions to ensure no region is left behind in the fight to end child marriage. To meet Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 to end child marriage by 2030, progress must accelerate twentyfold.

Effective interventions for ending child marriage

We know that child marriage is preventable. A recent UNFPA-UNICEF evidence paper highlights three strategies that have proven particularly effective:

1. Increasing girls’ economic independence

Poverty is a primary driver of child marriage. Vocational training, financial literacy and cash incentives for schooling have proven successful in helping girls develop a sense of agency and economic self-sufficiency, resulting in a decreased need to marry as a child for means of financial security.

In Odisha, girls like Shilo can begin to imagine brighter futures when they feel empowered with education and skills training. Favorable job markets for women, social protection programmes with additional ‘cash plus’ services such as education, health or livelihood interventions alongside cash transfers can contribute to girls’ health and wellbeing, build the sense of agency and empower adolescent girls with a greater say in the decisions that affect them, breaking the cycle of poverty and child marriage.

2. Enhancing education and life skills

Education remains one of the most effective shields against child marriage. Studies indicate that secondary school completion could reduce child marriage by two-thirds. Education provides life skills, literacy and confidence, equipping girls to make informed choices and build supportive networks. Beyond formal education, life skills like financial planning and digital literacy can equip girls to envision futures outside of marriage.

3. Focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Many young girls are at risk of early marriage due to a lack of SRHR resources and support. In some areas, unintended pregnancies drive child marriage. By providing comprehensive sexuality education and access to adolescent-friendly health services, we can help girls make safe, informed and empowered choices, which delay early marriage and promote healthy development. They can also enhance girls’ awareness of their own rights, making it easier for them to resist pressures that may lead to child marriage.

Long-term investments for sustainable change

Addressing the root causes of child marriage requires long-term commitments. Challenging harmful gender and social norms and promoting gender equality are essential. Legal reforms, policy changes and targeted support for health, education and child protection sectors will reinforce these efforts and foster environments where girls are valued for more than their marital status.

As the world approaches the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+ 30) in 2025 — a visionary blueprint for achieving gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights everywhere — it’s crucial to renew our commitment to gender equality and ending violence against women and girls. We need urgent, collective action to address the pervasive harms that perpetuate gender inequality, including child marriage.

By accelerating our actions now, we can build a future where every girl is safe, educated and empowered to choose her own path. Ending child marriage is not merely a goal, it is a call for justice — for every girl, every community and every future generation.

Sheema Sen Gupta is Director of Child Protection and Migration, UNICEF. She has been Representative in Iraq and Deputy Representative in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Prior to these, she was Chief of Child Protection Programme in Somalia and in Ghana.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 25 2025 – The United Nations Refugee Agency faces devastating cuts that may eliminate 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, with potentially catastrophic consequences for millions of people fleeing war, repression, hunger and climate disasters. This 75-year-old institution, established to help Europeans displaced by the Second World War, now confronts an unprecedented financial crisis, primarily due to the US foreign aid freeze – and the timing couldn’t be worse.

As CIVICUS’s 14th annual State of Civil Society Report documents, a series of connected crisis – including conflicts, economic hardship and climate change – have created a perfect storm that threatens migrants and refugees, who face increasingly hostile policies and dangerous journeys from governments turning their backs on principles of international solidarity and human rights.

At least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record, with many of the deaths in the Mediterranean and along routes across the Americas, including the Caribbean Sea, the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama and the extensive border between Mexico and the USA. Just last week, six people died and another 40 are missing after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean.

Such tragedies have come time again over the last year. In March 2024, 60 people, including a Senegalese mother and her baby, died from dehydration after their dinghy was left adrift in the Mediterranean. In June, US border agents found seven dead migrants in the Arizona and New Mexico deserts. In September, seven people were found clinging to the sides of a boat that capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, after watching 21 other people, many of them family members, drown around them.

These tragedies weren’t accidents or policy failures. They were the predictable results of morally indefensible political choices.

The reality behind the rhetoric

The facts contradict populist narratives about migration overwhelming wealthy countries. At least 71 per cent of the world’s refugees remain in the global south, with countries such as Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia and Uganda hosting far more displaced people than most European countries. Yet global north governments keep hardening borders and outsourcing migration management to prevent arrivals. The second Trump administration has declared a ‘national emergency’ at the US southern border, enabling military deployment and promising mass deportations while explicitly framing migrants as invaders – a rhetoric that history shows can easily lead to deadly consequences.

Europe continues its own troubling trajectory. Italy is attempting to transfer asylum seekers to Albanian detention centres, while the Netherlands has proposed sending rejected asylum seekers to Uganda, blatantly disregarding the state’s human rights violations, particularly against LGBTQI+ people. The European Union is expanding controversial deals with authoritarian governments in Egypt and Tunisia, effectively paying them to prevent migrants reaching European shores.

Anti-migrant rhetoric has become a common and effective electoral strategy. Far-right parties have made significant gains in elections in many countries by campaigning against immigration. Demonising narratives played a key role in Donald Trump’s re-election. The mobilisation of xenophobic sentiment extends beyond Europe and the USA, from anti-Haitian rhetoric in the Dominican Republic to anti-Bangladeshi campaigning in India.

Civil society under siege

Civil society organisations providing humanitarian assistance are increasingly being criminalised for their work. Italy has made it illegal for search-and-rescue organisations to conduct more than one rescue per trip, imposes heavy fines for noncompliance and deliberately directs rescue vessels to distant ports. These measures have achieved their intended goal of reducing the number of active rescue ships and contributed to the over 2,400 migrant drownings recorded in the Mediterranean in 2024 alone. Tunisia’s president has labelled people advocating for African migrants’ rights as traitors and mercenaries, leading to criminal charges and imprisonment.

Despite mounting obstacles, civil society maintains its commitment to protecting the human rights of migrants and refugees. Civil society groups maintain lifesaving operations in displacement settings from the Darién Gap to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Legal aid providers navigate increasingly complex asylum systems to help people access protection. Community organisations facilitate integration through language instruction, job placements and social connections. Advocacy groups document abuses and push for accountability when state authorities violate migrants’ human rights.

But they’re now operating with drastically diminishing resources in increasingly hostile environments. Critical protection mechanisms are being dismantled at a time of unprecedented need. The implications should alarm anyone concerned with human dignity. If borders keep hardening and safe pathways disappear, more people will attempt dangerous journeys with deadly consequences. The criminalisation of solidarity risks eliminating critical lifelines for the most vulnerable, and dehumanising rhetoric is normalising discrimination and institutionalising indifference and cruelty.

A different approach is possible

Rather than reactive, fear-based policies, civil society can push for comprehensive approaches that uphold human dignity while addressing the complex drivers of migration. This means confronting the root causes of displacement through conflict prevention, climate action and sustainable development. It also means creating more legal pathways for migration, ending the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance and investing in integration support.

There’s a need to challenge the fundamental assumption that migration is an existential threat rather than a manageable reality than requires humane governance, and an asset to receiving societies. Historically, societies that have integrated newcomers have greatly benefited from their contributions – economically, culturally and socially.

In a world of unprecedented and growing global displacement, the question isn’t whether migration will continue – it will – but whether it will be managed with cruelty or compassion. As CIVICUS’s State of Civil Society Report makes clear, the treatment of migrants and refugees serves as a litmus test: the way societies respond will prove or disprove their commitment to the idea of a shared humanity – the principle that all humans deserve dignity, regardless of where they were born or the documents they carry.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact [email protected].

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Sudan’s diverse crops and agricultural heritage are at risk of being lost. The ongoing conflict in Sudan is claiming lives and threatening livelihoods and food security. In the chaos of conflict, scientists like Ali Babiker are fighting to protect Sudan’s future food security—not with weapons, but with seeds. In a move to safeguard its agricultural […]

By Michael Stanley-Jones
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada, Mar 25 2025 – The central role Indigenous Peoples and local communities in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification has gained widespread recognition over the past decade. Indigenous Peoples’ close dependence on resources and ecosystems, exceptional tradition, and ancestral knowledge are invaluable assets for the sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources.

Michael Stanley-Jones

Globally, Indigenous Peoples manage or have tenure rights over at least ~38 million km2 of land across 87 countries or politically distinct areas on all inhabited continents. This represents over 25% of the world’s land surface and intersects with about 40% of all terrestrial protected areas and 37% of remaining natural lands. At least 36% of Intact Forests Landscapes are within Indigenous Peoples’ lands, making these areas crucial to the mitigation action needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The international community has highlighted prominently the importance of the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to achieving the goals of the ʻRio Conventions’ – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

In 2017, the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC emphasized the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in achieving the targets and goals set out in the Convention, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while recognizing their vulnerability to climate change. COP23 established the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform to promote the exchange of traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, as well as to strengthen their representatives’ engagement in the UNFCCC process.

UNCCD followed in 2020, launching an Indigenous Peoples’ dialog on climate change, biodiversity and desertification. Canada, in coordination with 16 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Member States, launched in 2020 the Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples in Rome, chaired by Ambassador Alexandra Bugailiskis, who currently serves as Chair of the UNU-INWEH International Advisory Committee. Working at the intersection of the Rio Conventions, UNU-INWEH especially addresses the theme of health and food security vis-a-vis Indigenous Peoples.

The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by the CBD in December 2022 sought to ensure traditional knowledge, innovations, practices and technologies of indigenous peoples and local communities are available and accessible to guide biodiversity action.

Not all has been clear skies and smooth sailing, however.

UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice reported in 2024 that there exists “a fundamental misalignment between the prevailing global approach to addressing climate change and the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities on the changing climate.”

The 476.6 million Indigenous Peoples, making up 6.2 per cent of the global population, represent “a rich diversity of cultures, traditions and ways of life based on a close relationship with nature” and should not be viewed as homogeneous groups.

Moreover, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are often perceived primarily as vulnerable, a focus which overshadows the rich knowledge systems, cultural values and practices of these communities. The report recommended shifting the narrative around Indigenous Peoples and local communities from vulnerability to nature stewardship and climate leadership.

The importance of emphasizing the positive contribution of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to achieving the goals of the Rio Conventions cannot be underestimated.

We should not lose sight of the ends which traditional, Indigenous and local knowledge and strengthened participation serve, namely, to foster stronger and more ambitious climate action by Indigenous Peoples that contributes to the ultimate achievement of the objectives of the Conventions.

Toward this end, in a landmark decision at CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, in October-November 2024, Parties adopted a new Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities. This transformative programme sets out specific tasks to ensure the meaningful contribution of Indigenous Peoples towards achieving the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits.

The Climate Convention COP29 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024 decided to extend the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. It further invited Parties to provide simultaneous interpretation into languages other than the official languages of the United Nations at meetings of its Facilitative Working Group and mandated events under the Platform, a step which greatly opens up opportunities for the community to engage in climate, biodiversity and desertification action.

The UNCCD COP16 followed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2024 by holding its first-ever Indigenous Peoples Forum, spotlighting the invaluable contributions of Indigenous Peoples to land conservation and sustainable resource management.

A more inclusive and participatory process engaging with Indigenous Peoples will serve to strengthen the Rio Conventions and enhance their chances of success. This is something worth championing in the challenging times the world is facing today.

Michael Stanley-Jones is an Environmental Policy and Governance Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and served in the UN Economic Commission for Europe and UN Environment Programme in Geneva and Nairobi from 2004 to 2022.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Conor Lennon
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 2025 – Women rights advocates who gathered at UN Headquarters for the world’s biggest meeting (10 -21 March) on gender equality have been sharing their concerns about the growing backlash against feminism, and how major funding cuts from donor countries could threaten programmes aimed at improving the lives of women and girls.

They came from all over the world for the Commission on the Status of Women, two weeks of discussions, talks and networking. At the opening session, Sima Bahous, the head of UN Women (the United Nations agency for gender equality), told them that “misogyny is on the rise” and, at a townhall convened by António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General said that a “furious backlash” threatens to “push progress into reverse.

UN News met some of the delegates to gauge the mood and find out how they are they are feeling about the backlash against feminism flagged by UN Women, and what the threat of massive funding cuts from some major donor countries could mean for their organisations, and the people they support.

‘We’re going to move backwards before we move go forward’

Grace Forrest is the founding director of Walk Free, Walk Free, an international human rights group focused on the eradication of modern slavery, which produces the Global Slavery Index, considered to be the world’s leading data set on measuring and understanding modern slavery. Credit: UN News/Conor Lennon

“We’re here because women and girls are disproportionately impacted by nearly every form of modern slavery, from forced marriage to forced labour, debt bondage and human trafficking.

Their vulnerability to modern slavery is rising and their rights risk being rolled back throughout the world, so we wanted to come to here to put modern slavery on the agenda, in the context of an authoritarian government in the United States which is trying to ban words such as race, gender and feminism. We won’t be silenced or erased.

Today, we’re seeing misogyny on full display, through social media and through world leaders not mincing their words and people electing leaders who disregard safety and the value of women in the public forum.

We’re extremely concerned by funding cuts from major donors. We’re hearing about frontline organisations, run by people who have survived debt bondage and forced labour, having to take loans to try and keep their organisations afloat. Some of the most effective frontline organisations are being hit hardest and fastest.

Advancing the rights of women and girls is actually quite a tall order right now and it’s a scary fact to face, that we’re actually just going to be hoping to not move backwards. And I think we are going to go backwards before we go forward.

This is a time for systems to step up and directly call out the need for funding on issues like modern slavery.”

Soundcloud

‘We are highly affected by budget cuts’

Moufeeda Haidar from youth NGO Restless Development, speaks in the GA Hall during CSW69. She is the Senior Regional Programme Coordinator at Restless Development, a non-profit global agency that supports the collective power of young leaders. She was a Global Youth Fellow for Gender Equality in 2024. Credit: UN News

“I’m based in Lebanon, and I mainly work on a programme which tackles sexual and reproductive health and rights for young woman living with disabilities, women living with HIV, those who identify as LGBTQ, and displaced woman across nine countries, between Africa, Central America and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The backlash against feminism has always been there. Sometimes it’s very politicised and it’s used to the advantage of the patriarchy, so that women’s rights and gender rights attacked. There’s definitely a rising backlash in Lebanon and the MENA region.

The current political environment is not a surprise for us. We are already highly affected by budget cuts in the MENA region. Funds for youth programmes have been cut for years. In our latest State of Youth Civil Society report, 72 per cent of respondents said that they barely receive any funds for climate action projects.

We are very worried about how to plan. We work with grassroots organisations, women-led organisations and feminist movements and we have created networks in these countries and seen the amazing work that they have done throughout the years. We are wondering what’s next. How are we going to support this network?”

Linda Sestock is the president of the Canadian Federation of University Women, which awards universiCredit: ty scholarships to women and promotes the participation of women in all aspects of emerging technology and leadership. Credit: UN News

“We’re extremely concerned, especially after seeing what happened with our neighbours to the south of us: we have noticed how alliances have shifted in the United States and we’re very fearful. We want to make sure that it doesn’t happen in Canada as well.

Most Canadians believe in the rights of our fellow women and that we’re going to be able to continue on the same trajectory that we’re on, but we need to be careful and we need to make sure that we don’t backslide.

We need to be hyper focused about ensuring that women are educated and that they’re entering the fields of technology, engineering, science and mathematics, because right now algorithms are slanted towards men and can be used against women.

We’re worried when we see that some words are not allowed anymore, such as diversity, equity and inclusion [a list of words banned or discouraged by the US administration has reportedly been drawn up and circulated].

We have a lot of professors in our organisation, and people are losing grants because they are being asked to remove words like female and gender. They are refusing and so they are losing funding, and we need to make sure that we continue to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion.

It boggles the mind and leaves me speechless.”

These interviews have been edited for clarity and length

Source: UN News

IPS UN Bureau

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On World Meteorological Day 2025, the World Meteorological Organization is highlighting persistent gaps in early warning systems as extreme weather events intensify, urging global action to ensure protection for all.