UNITED NATIONS, December 11 (IPS) - Over the course of 2025, global civic space conditions have deteriorated sharply, with most countries experiencing some degree of obstructed civil liberties. As authoritarian governments strengthen their hold and have even escalated the use of military force to suppress public dissent, civilians report facing increasing limitations of freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, petition and religion, as well as notable crackdowns on press freedoms.
GENEVA, December 11 (IPS) - Human rights are underfunded, undermined and under attack. And yet. Powerful. Undeterred. Mobilizing.This year no doubt has been a difficult one. And one full of dangerous contradictions. Funding for human rights has been slashed, while anti-rights movements are increasingly well-funded.
UNITED NATIONS, December 11 (IPS) - When there was widespread speculation that a UN Under-Secretary-General (USG), a product of two prestigious universities– Oxford and Cambridge– was planning to run for the post of Secretary-General back in the 1980s, I pointedly asked him to confirm or deny the rumor during an interview in the UN delegate’s lounge.
In a world of turbulence and doubt, one promise remains. In 1948, nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Read the full story, “Human Right Day 2025”, on globalissues.org →
NAIROBI, December 10 (IPS) - A new study and interactive dashboard released today in Nairobi at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) finds that current international financial flows remain billions of dollars short of what is required to achieve the global biodiversity target of protecting and conserving at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 (30×30).