MANILA, Philippines, December 15 (IPS) - A global crackdown on civic freedoms is intensifying – and women are on the frontlines of the attack. CIVICUS’s 2025 People Power Under Attack report analyses the extent to which freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly are being respected or violated. The report reveals that people in 83 countries now live in conditions where their freedoms are routinely denied, compared to 67 in 2020. In 2020, 13 per cent of the world’s population lived in countries where civic freedoms were broadly respected; now it’s more like 7 per cent. Among the most documented violations in 2025 were detention of human rights defenders, journalists and protesters, and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) were among the most affected.

Read the full story, “As Attacks on Women Defenders Intensify, so Must Our Support”, on globalissues.org →

CARACAS, December 15 (IPS) - A group of 55 researchers gathered and analyzed 1,260 bibliographic references to compile the Second Academic Report on Climate Change in Venezuela. Their final conclusion is that more local studies are still needed to record the direct impacts across different Venezuelan regions and, in particular, to provide data to design the adaptation plans necessary to address climate change.

Read the full story, “Venezuela Needs More Local Data To Understand the Impacts of Climate Change”, on globalissues.org →

A solemn farewell ceremony was held on Monday at the headquarters of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to honour six Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed in a drone attack on a UN logistics base in Kadugli, South Kordofan.

Read the full story, “Six peacekeepers laid to rest following deadly drone attack in Sudan”, on globalissues.org →

Last year, one in five people who dealt with a public official were asked to pay a bribe, according to a UN report. The world is doing something about it.

Read the full story, “Corruption costs lives and livelihoods: Why this week’s UN summit in Doha matters”, on globalissues.org →