Worldwide

SUVA, Fiji, August 26 (IPS) – For generations, Pacific children have grown up with the ocean as part of everyday life. It is where families fish, where stories are passed down, where livelihoods begin and where cultures are rooted. Yet many young people are inheriting an ocean facing pressures unlike anything their ancestors experienced, from warming seas and coral bleaching to plastic pollution and declining marine ecosystems.

Read the full story, “Beyond the Horizon: Raising a Generation to Protect the Blue Pacific”, on globalissues.org →

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 26 (IPS) – Several coalitions exist today to defend the territories in which people live and work. Global leaders have long understood the importance of shared responsibility for collective security and have invested significant time in establishing networks, partnerships and alliances. In 2025, global spending on defense reached a record $2.9 trillion.

Read the full story, “Grand Planetary Challenges Need a Grand Coalition to Solve Them”, on globalissues.org →

UZHGOROD, Ukraine, August 25 (IPS) – Marina says she does not particularly like her flowers, but that, “for some reason,” people buy them.

Read the full story, “Retired in Ukraine: One Cheese, Two Chickens and a Dozen Eggs”, on globalissues.org →

BLANTYRE, Malawi, August 25 (IPS) – When the Malawian government announced the conclusion of the repatriation of its citizens trapped in anti-immigrant violence against foreign Africans in South Africa on August 12, 2026, it had brought home 56,723 nationals, according to data from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.

Read the full story, “South Africa’s Anti-Immigrant Violence Slows SDG Goals, Rips Apart Africans’ Free Movement Call”, on globalissues.org →

GENEVA, August 24 (IPS) – In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly mandated an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a global, legally binding instrument addressing the full life cycle of plastics, from production and product design to disposal. After the resumed fifth session adjourned without consensus in Geneva in August 2025, the divided process moved into informal consultations before INC-5.4 in March 2027.

Read the full story, “The Plastics Treaty Process Needs Greatly Improved Observer Participation at this Critical Point in the Negotiations and Beyond”, on globalissues.org →

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, August 24 (IPS) – For pastoralists in Arvaikheer — a village in Mongolia’s dry central plains — rain can determine whether there is enough grass for cattle to roam, whether waterholes are replenished and whether families make it through another dry season. But as climate change makes rainfall increasingly unpredictable, even a wet season may no longer provide water and pasture needed to sustain people and livestock.

Read the full story, “GEF Proposes $140 Million Program to Strengthen Drought Resilience”, on globalissues.org →

CIVICUS discusses the rapid erosion of civic space in Ecuador with Gabriela Panchana, an activist, communicator and founder of the En Voz Alta and Rumbo Plural digital platforms.

Read the full story, “ECUADOR: ‘Criminalisation Serves as a Deterrent, Seeking to Discipline Others’”, on globalissues.org →

Conflicts can expose civilians and detainees to grave abuses; the challenge is not only to document these crimes, but also to ensure all survivors are recognised, protected and able to access justice and care.

Read the full story, “Breaking the silence over sexual violence against men and boys in war”, on globalissues.org →

FAYZABAD, Afghanistan, August 21 (IPS) – Afghanistan has seen a number of unexplained murders in recent months.One of the latest victims is Lailuma, the wife of well-known local singer Salam Maftoon and a community activist.

Read the full story, “Lailuma Built Opportunities for Afghan Women – Then She Was Killed”, on globalissues.org →

LONDON, August 21 (IPS) – India’s strongman leader, Narendra Modi, has just been forced to do the thing he likes least: making concessions in response to protests.

Read the full story, “Cockroach Insult Unleashes Biggest Challenge yet to Modi’s Repressive Rule”, on globalissues.org →