Participation in sport plays a crucial role in promoting social cohesion and community development. By highlighting the achievements and capabilities of women athletes, sport helps challenge and transform entrenched gender stereotypes and norms, fostering a more inclusive and equitable society. It also builds social bonds, creating a sense of belonging and teamwork that supports women… [Read More]
Building Climate Resilience in the World’s Most Vulnerable Communities
The challenge of climate adaptation is particularly acute in contexts marked by poverty, weak governance, limited access to basic services, violent conflict, and climate-sensitive livelihoods such as smallholder farming, pastoralism, and fishing. While communities often use coping strategies like selling assets, reducing food intake, or migrating, these short-term solutions may lead to long-term consequences. Adapting… [Read More]
How a Justice Perspective Shapes a Green and Just Transition
Green and just transitions are deeply shaped by historical legacies of conflict, extractive development, and institutional fragility, which continue to influence present vulnerabilities such as rural poverty, reliance on external financing, and exposure to recurrent crises. Transition processes are not merely technical but are embedded within broader questions of power, history, and knowledge. A justice-focused… [Read More]
FAO Uses Renewable Energy to Revolutionize Guinea’s Agri-Food Systems
In Guinea, sustainable energy is being leveraged to modernize agricultural production, reduce post-harvest losses, and enhance the resilience of rural communities against climate change. FAO has supported the installation of photovoltaic systems at seed centers in Kilissi (Kindia) and Koba (Boffa), strengthening the energy autonomy of these strategic agricultural facilities. By integrating renewable energy sources… [Read More]
Innovative Approaches Are Reimagining Healthcare in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is transforming its healthcare system through innovative technologies and strategic support from PAHO/WHO. In hospitals across the country, health workers are using new tools that not only enhance patient care but also improve efficiency, safety, and data management. Among the most notable innovations is Roberta, a disinfecting ultraviolet robot deployed at Scarborough… [Read More]
Sudan Crisis: Fighting in Darfur Drives Refugee Exodus and Child Hunger, UN Reports
The conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has devastated civilian infrastructure, disrupted basic services, and triggered one of the world’s largest displacement crises. In North Darfur, one of the regions worst affected by the fighting, a recent nutrition survey in… [Read More]
UNICEF: Sexual Violence Against Children Widespread and Entrenched in DR Congo
Escalating conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has intensified the humanitarian crisis, placing children at heightened risk of abuse, exploitation, and long-term trauma. Renewed fighting has triggered mass displacement, weakened protection systems, and worsened poverty, compounding vulnerabilities nationwide. UNICEF has repeatedly called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access,… [Read More]
UN and Partners Highlight Ongoing Crisis in Afghanistan for 2026
Years of conflict in Afghanistan, combined with worsening food insecurity, recurrent natural disasters, climate change impacts, and large-scale returns of displaced people, have left an estimated 45 percent of the population—around 21.9 million people—in need of humanitarian assistance in 2026. Of these, 17.5 million, mostly women and children, have been prioritised for support under the… [Read More]
$3.45 Billion UN Regular Budget Approved by General Assembly for 2026
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for 2026, covering the Organization’s three core pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. This budget is approximately $200 million higher than the Secretary-General’s proposal prepared under the UN80 reform initiative but remains about 7 percent lower than the approved 2025… [Read More]
€33.3 Million EU Contribution Boosts WFP Efforts Across West and Central Africa
Amid a worsening hunger crisis in West and Central Africa, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reached over 3.3 million of the region’s most vulnerable people with emergency food and nutrition assistance between June and September 2025. This response was made possible by critical funding from the European Union’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection… [Read More]
Shared Island Civic Society Fund Awards 2025 Grants, Minister McEntee Confirms
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee TD, has announced €1.92 million in grant funding from the 2025 round of the Shared Island Civic Society Fund. This funding will support sixty-four community-based cross-border projects across the island of Ireland, spanning a wide range of activities including scout troops, theatre groups, local history initiatives, environmental… [Read More]
How Japan Advanced Sustainable Finance Initiatives in 2025
In 2025, Japan made significant strides in advancing its sustainable finance agenda, focusing on consolidating progress and accelerating action. The Climate Bonds Japan Team played a pivotal role in strengthening the market, supporting new climate policies, and aligning national goals with international best practices through collaboration with local partners. Japan’s leadership across the Asia Pacific… [Read More]
Empowering Communities: MALO Project for Tongan and Pacific Islanders Funded by Grant
Lolofi Olo Soakai, the Founder and Executive Director of MALO (Motivating Action Leadership Opportunity), brings a fierce yet grounded dedication to her work. Growing up in a family rooted in heritage, faith, and hospitality, she has shaped MALO into an organization that champions social justice and community empowerment. As a first-generation Tongan American, Soakai envisions… [Read More]
EBRD, EU and GCF Upgrade Jordan’s Solid Waste Services to Boost Sustainability and Climate Resilience
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), together with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the European Union (EU), is supporting an upgrade of solid waste services in Jordan through a financing package for the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM). The EBRD will provide a sub-sovereign loan of up to US$ 6 million to finance… [Read More]
Digital Solutions for Africa’s Water Management: Key Insights from the IWMI Report
Africa’s water resources are under growing strain as rising demand, climate variability, and declining water quality intensify pressures across the continent. Persistent gaps in reliable data on water availability and scarcity have limited the ability of governments and institutions to plan effectively and respond to these challenges. At the same time, rapid advances in digital… [Read More]
How Systems Thinking Can Strengthen Pakistan’s Path to Water Security
An integrated systems approach is increasingly recognized as essential for addressing complex development challenges, particularly where siloed policies risk creating unintended consequences. In Pakistan’s Indus Basin, fragmented governance, deep inequalities and disconnected interventions have weakened water and food security, heightened climate risks and threatened livelihoods. Growing evidence shows that systems thinking, which considers the interlinkages… [Read More]
Just Water Partnerships in Action: Moving from Principles to Practice
The International Water Management Institute and WaterAid marked a significant step toward more equitable water governance with the launch of the “Principles for Just Water Partnerships” at COP30 in November. The launch translated an emerging global concept into an actionable framework aimed at embedding justice and social equity at the center of water-related investments. Just… [Read More]
Nigeria’s Food Crisis Spurs Farmer-Driven Irrigation Solutions
Nigeria is facing a severe food security crisis, with an estimated 30.6 million people experiencing acute hunger as a result of conflict, high inflation, and the intensifying effects of climate change. Increasingly frequent floods and droughts have damaged agricultural production and heightened the vulnerability of rural communities. In this context, irrigation has emerged as a… [Read More]
Kenya Plans to Transform Irrigation into a Catalyst for Economic Growth
Kenya’s irrigation sector is entering a decisive phase as climate variability, growing water demand, and ambitious national development goals converge. Increasing droughts and floods are placing pressure on agricultural systems and rural livelihoods, prompting the government to position irrigation as a central pillar of development. The National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan provides a long-term roadmap… [Read More]
CGIAR Partners with Nepal to Develop Country Strategy Framework
CGIAR has launched a pilot initiative to develop Country Strategy Frameworks (CSFs), a new mechanism aimed at consolidating research, partnerships, and investments around nationally owned priorities to achieve impact at scale. These frameworks are intended to move beyond fragmented pilot projects and create coordinated, system-wide approaches that align with CGIAR’s 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy,… [Read More]
How One Woman is Driving Male Engagement and Advocating for Rural Women and African Girls
Hon. Rebecca Mwicigi’s journey from rural Kenya to global recognition reflects decades of progress in gender equality across Africa. When she traveled to Beijing in 1995 for the Fourth World Conference on Women, educational and leadership opportunities for girls and women in the region were extremely limited. Since then, significant strides have been made: gender… [Read More]
Marshall Islands Receives Key UNDP–GEF Investment to Strengthen Climate Resilience for Water, Land, and Atoll Communities
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has secured a landmark investment to strengthen climate resilience, protect water security, and restore critical ecosystems across its atolls. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of RMI, in partnership with the UN Development Programme, obtained approval from the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund… [Read More]
Horn of Africa Faces Rising Food Insecurity Amid Historic Dry Rainy Season
The eastern Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the driest October-December (OND) rainy seasons on record, driven by La Niña conditions and an exceptionally strong negative Indian Ocean Dipole. This severe drought is compounding the impacts of the historic 2020–2023 drought, putting local agricultural productivity at serious risk. FEWS NET estimates that between… [Read More]
