A young girl trying to cross a flooded road in Bangladesh following the wake of Cyclone Remal. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate-sensitive nations and is expected to be significantly impacted by rising global temperatures. Credit: UNICEF/Farhana Satu By Oritro KarimUNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 2024 – The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that 2024 is on track to be the hottest...

Yasmine Sherif with children at a school in Ethiopia By Yasmine SherifNEW YORK, Dec 20 2024 – As 2024 comes to a close, I dare to say that this has been an especially gruesome year for millions upon millions of young children, their parents and their teachers. The world has witnessed one horrific crisis of cruelty, dispossession and human suffering after another. Ukraine has entered its worst...

The IOM estimates that one billion people live without legal identity, limiting their access to vital services and restricting their mobility. Credit: Shutterstock By Baher KamalMADRID, Dec 20 2024 – Perhaps demographers would consider designing a new classification system to separate from their estimates of the world’s total population –eight billion plus– the billion humans who live...

Maria Aparecida dos Anjos points to where the stream, now reduced to a trickle of water, reaches when flooded in the community of Santa Helena do Inglês, one of the riverside towns along the Rio Negro, a large tributary of the Amazon, in Brazil By Mario OsavaMANAUS, Brazil, Dec 20 2024 – The flow of the igarapé always dropped for three months every year, but now it has been dry for two years...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres briefs reporters on the situation in Syria. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder-Debebe By Naureen HossainUNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 2024 – In overthrowing Bashar al-Assad and his regime, Syria reaches the process of re-affirming its sovereignty, a process that the United Nations chief asserts must be led by the Syrian people. On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António...

A piece from Emo de Medeiros’s series Vodunaut in the “Revelation! Contemporary art from Benin” exhibit in La Conciergerie in Paris, France. The smartphones within the cowry shell-decorated helmets feature videos taken on four different continents. Credit: Megan Fahrney/IPS By Megan FahrneyCOTONOU, Benin, Dec 20 2024 – Construction of the new Museum of Modern Art is underway in Cotonou,...

Chile’s political and legislative landscape has become increasingly fragmented, creating a gridlock that hinders the passage of much-needed reforms. Credit: UNDP By Javier BronfmanSANTIAGO, Chile, Dec 20 2024 – As many middle-income countries in the world, Chile finds itself at a critical juncture. The country has made significant progress over the past decades in terms of economic growth...

Credit: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNOHCR) By Thalif DeenUNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 2024 – The United States, long described as a country built largely by immigrants, is planning to clamp down on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers entering the country—which averaged about 2.4 million in 2022-2023, according to the US Congressional Budget Office. The incoming Trump administration...