By Jayasri Priyalal The author is currently a Director Asia-Pacific at UNI Global Union. SINGAPORE | 13 April 2026. (IDN) — The trajectory of human civilization is often defined by the rise and fall of great empires, each following a strikingly similar pattern of expansion, overreach, and eventual collapse. Historical evidence suggests that the demise […]
Situation Report: Alleged human trafficker arrested in Ethiopia
Situation in Ethiopia (per 9 April) Ethiopian police arrested Yetbarek Dawit in Shire, Tigray region, accused of running a multi-million-dollar human trafficking network since 2018, along with nine alleged accomplices, following a cross-border investigation. The network allegedly operated five detention warehouses in Libya where victims were tortured and forced to call their relatives to pay […]
Situation Report: Sexual violence used as “weapon of war” in Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 01 April) At least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence, out of which 97% are women and girls, have been registered at the health facilities run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025. MSF warned the figure represents only a fraction of actual […]
Situation Report: Attack on El-Daein Teaching Hospital kills 64
Situation in Sudan (per 23 March) An attack on the El-Daein Teaching Hospital killed at least 64 people on Friday, including children and medical staff, and wounded at least 89 others according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 141 reported incidents of conflict related violence affected health care in Sudan during 2025, […]
Situation Report: Severe flooding and landslides in Ethiopia and Kenya
Situation in Sudan (per 16 March) 11 people were killed and at least 20 were wounded, including children, after a drone attack on Adikong market near the Sudan-Chad border on Thursday. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said this was the second deadly drone attack on the same area in less than a month. Senior Rapid Support […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Drone strikes on civilians in Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 9 March) Clashes in Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 51 people between Wednesday and Thursday last week, with intense artillery and drone strikes hitting Dilling and Al-Mojlad, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recaptured the strategic city of Bara on the road to Khartoum. An army drone strike on a […]
Situation Report: RSF targeting people with disabilities
Situation in Sudan (per 26 February) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted and killed people with disabilities during and after its October 2025 takeover of El Fasher in North Darfur, reported Human Rights Watch (HRW), documenting executions, torture, and extortion that it said may constitute war crime and crimes against humanity. The RSF carried out […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Tensions at the Chad-Sudan border
Situation in Sudan (per 23 February) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have captured the city of Al-Tina near the Chad border this Saturday in a message posted on social media accompanied by video footage showing armed men celebrating. However, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Joint Force state they quickly recaptured the […]
Mandates Without Meaning: Why UN Reform Must Begin with a Mandate Cull
By Stephanie Hodge* NEW YORK | 1 August 2025 (IDN) — The UN has never been short on words. It’s drowning in them. Every year, thousands of meetings convene, resolutions multiply like rabbits, and the ink dries on mandates so outdated they might as well be written in Morse code. The recently released Mandate Implementation […]
High-level Talks in Brussels to Adopt ACP Climate Action Plan
By Reinhardt Jacobsen
BRUSSELS (IDN) – In an unprecedented move, representatives from the 79 member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group are meeting with top officials from the United Nations agencies as well as other influential international and regional groupings to accelerate work towards implementing the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.
High level participants in the gathering in Brussels on March 22-23 include: the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Cañete, who will deliver the keynote address; UN Environment Programme Director Achim Steiner; the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General José Graziano Da Silva; and Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Petteri Taalas.