The Human Consciousness Now...Our World in the Midst of Becoming...to What? Observe, contemplate Now.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 2026 (IPS) - On International Women’s Day (March 8), global leaders and advocates gather around the rallying cry to strengthen justice systems for all women and girls in a time of increasing pushbacks on gender equality.
The United Nations held its annual observance of International Women’s Day on March 9, commemorating the day and the beginning of the 70th session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW), which will be held from 9-19 March. This year’s theme is on “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls”. Stakeholders will participate in meetings and side events throughout the next two weeks to deliberate over the issue of justice for women and girls across multiple, complex contexts.
Speakers at the commemorative event, held in the General Assembly Hall, all called for increased investments into strengthening justice systems and to ensure accountability. No country has achieved true gender parity, and in recent years has seen the backsliding of rights for women and girls.
Justice is the “non-negotiable foundation of rights”, said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. As women’s rights are confronted with an “ever virulent and adaptative” pushback that continues to threaten their place in society. “In its face, we do not back down, we redouble our efforts, we rise higher.”
“Today’s conversation is about closing the gap between the rights women are promised and the justice they actually experience, said Sade Baderinwa, WABC-TV News Anchor. “For the first time in a long time, many young women are questioning whether the progress they were promised is real… Women around the world are asking the same question: “Are we still moving forward?” And the answers will be shaped by the choices we make right now. Progress does not move on its own. It moves because people insist that it must.”
Women’s contributions have demonstrably proven to advance economies and peaceful agendas. Annalena Baerbock, President of the UN General Assembly, reminded the room that within the context of the United Nations, women’s rights are “embedded in this institution from the very beginning”, as seen with the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which included key contributions from delegates from India, Pakistan and the Dominican Republic.
When it comes to legal protections, women have only 64 percent of legal rights compared to men. According to UN Women, this leaves them vulnerable to discrimination, violence and exclusion. The rights of women and girls are not enforced equally across the world. Systemic inequalities further complicate this for women and girls and prevent them from seeking justice, such as lack of access to those systems, societal discrimination or fear of retaliation.
“Despite widespread recognition of women’s rights,[…] access to justice remains deeply unequal. Around the world, women and girls still hold only a fraction of the legal rights afforded to men. Discriminatory laws and practices continue to fail the very women they are meant to serve,” said Earle Courtenay Rattray, the Chéf de Cabinete to the UN Secretary-General.
“It’s hard to bear the knowledge that the distance between the promise of equality and the experience of it are yet still so far apart for so many,” said Anne Hathaway. The award-winning actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador remarked on the continued efforts of the generations of activists and survivors to advocate for equality in the face of injustice.
“Are we not all tormented that societal progress for all women has, in large part, been in response to extreme gender violence? Are we not tormented by what women like Gisèle Pelicot, Virginia Giuffre and Malala Yousafzai, to name three amongst half the world, have had to endure? These women and girls had the bravery to demand justice when horrific violence was forced on them, and in doing so, by honoring their own right to dignity, changed the world? Are we not tormented by this cost of change?”
Nobel Laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai addresses the addresses the United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day 2026. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS
In the face of such systemic injustices, the work and resilience of women and girls must be encouraged and celebrated, Hathaway said.
“Our choosing to celebrate today does not signal that we are here to accommodate injustice. Our celebration today affirms our determination to outlast it.”
Justice has been further complicated in the present age where modern technology can be used to improve access but is also weaponized to enact harm and discrimination. In times of conflict, where women and children are often made most vulnerable, their rights are threatened even when international law call for their protection. There is increasing impunity within systems of inequality that permit the violations of rights.
“Never have I seen so many children suffering from war and violence. Injured and dying at the hands of unaccountable leaders,” said Malala Yousafzai, education activist and Nobel Laureate. She referenced recent events in the Middle East where missile strikes hit schools in Iran, killing more than 150 children.
Afghan musician and singer Sunbul Reha (at podium) addresses the United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day 2026. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS
“True justice does not defend the humanity of children in one place then ignored in another. It is not selectively applied…We must ask ourselves why justice is a privilege extending to some and withheld from others.”
Afghanistan is an example of the consequences of rolling back hard-fought rights and legal protections. Since the Taliban took control in 2021, women and girls there have seen a steady rollback of their rights and have been forced out of participating in public life. Yousafzai demanded leaders to “move from sympathy to accountability” in addressing this ongoing crisis. Afghan women and girls are asking for their recognition in law so that the “long work of justice can begin”, she said.
“I know what it means when a girl’s work is silenced. I have lived it,” said Sunbul Reha, an Afghan singer and musician. “Rights that took generations to win are evaporating before our eyes. And still, I remain hopeful. Because girls like me are still learning… Women continue to speak up for their rights, and young people everywhere refuse to give up the fight.”
Reha urged the delegates in the room to fight to “block the erosion” of women’s and girls’ rights. “There are millions of girls standing in spirit with me. They are counting on all of us, and they are counting on you.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 9 2026 (IPS) - Consider what International Women’s Day looked like a few years ago, and what it looks like now: the same date, the same global moment of reflection, but a vastly changed global landscape. Gender rights are facing the most coordinated and wide-ranging attack in decades. Anti-rights forces are dismantling protections secured after generations of struggle, destroying infrastructure built to address gender-based violence and realise reproductive rights and rewriting legal frameworks to roll back rights, with a specific focus on excluding transgender people. This is the result of a deliberate, carefully crafted, handsomely funded and globally coordinated strategy.
Fortunately, resistance is proving harder to extinguish than those driving the backlash had expected. Another International Women’s Day of mobilisation is here to prove it.
A regressive template
While attacks have been building for years, the global landscape shifted quickly in January 2025, when a newly inaugurated Donald Trump signed executive orders imposing a rigid binary classification of sex across federal law, stripping non-discrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people in healthcare and housing, and banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the federal government. Because the USA had been the world’s largest bilateral donor, the simultaneous dismantling of USAID and expansion of the global gag rule — blocking US funding to organisations that provide abortions or advocate for abortion rights — had immediate effects on women and girls all over the world, with particularly deadly consequences in conflict zones, rural areas and the world’s poorest countries.
Elsewhere, regressive forces were already mobilising – and Trump’s example only emboldened them. Hungary banned Pride marches and authorised surveillance to enforce compliance. Slovakia and the UK redefined sex as exclusively biological, stripping legal recognition from non-binary and transgender people. Burkina Faso criminalised same-sex relations and their ‘promotion’. Trinidad and Tobago’s Court of Appeal reinstated colonial-era penalties for homosexuality of up to 25 years in prison. Kazakhstan introduced a Russian-style ban on positive LGBTQI+ representation in education, media and online platforms.
It’s striking how consistent the underlying logic is across different political and regional contexts: gender equality is framed as a dangerous ‘ideology’, feminism is demonised as a foreign imposition, LGBTQI+ visibility is portrayed as a threat to children. The similarities reflect a coordinated effort to manufacture cultural conflict to consolidate hierarchies, strengthen elite authority and deflect attention from economic and political failures.
The backlash has reached the international institutions that have long served feminist movements as key arenas for developing a common language, setting a shared agenda and coordinating action across borders. A milestone in anti-rights advances was observed at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s 69th session last year, where a well-organised anti-rights bloc succeeded in stripping longstanding references to sexual and reproductive health and rights from the meeting’s Political Declaration.
What resistance looks like
Yet regression is not going uncontested: not in the streets, not in the courts and not even in the world’s most repressive settings.
In Hungary, tens of thousands defied the Pride ban in Budapest, risking prosecution to assert their right to be visible in public space. In South Africa, sustained civil society pressure, including over a million signatures demanding action, compelled the government to declare gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster. In St Lucia, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex relations. Courts in Malawi and Nigeria recognised the right to safe abortion for sexual violence survivors. The UK finally repealed a Victorian-era law that had continued to criminalise abortion in England and Wales. Denmark and Norway improved access to abortion services. Marriage equality came into force in both Liechtenstein and Thailand. At least three European Union member states — the Czech Republic, France and Poland — adopted consent-based definitions of rape.
Even in the most difficult of circumstances, under Afghanistan’s system of gender apartheid, women are maintaining underground schools, keeping solidarity networks alive and documenting abuses, setting their sights on future justice processes.
While the list of advances is impressive, some of the most important contemporary victories are invisible: stalled bills, softened provisions, laws not passed because civil society refused to stand aside. An attempt to repeal The Gambia’s ban on female genital mutilation was blocked. Kenya’s anti-LGBTQI+ Family Protection Bill remains stalled. In Latvia, when conservative forces moved in October 2025 to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on violence against women, large-scale protests and a civil society petition won what could be a crucial delay. These defensive successes rarely make headlines, but they result from sustained, unglamorous advocacy and coalition work. Without them, the most extreme proposals would advance much further and faster.
Rising to the challenge
Recognition of rights is never permanent. It’s won through sustained struggle and can be reversed through organised opposition from those who perceive other people’s rights as a threat to their privilege. Backlash isn’t a historical anomaly but a predictable counter-mobilisation, and civil society has met it as such, by organising, mobilising, litigating and refusing to concede ground.
This is precisely what CIVICUS’s 2026 State of Civil Society Report, set for release on 12 March, sets out to document. The report examines the state of the world and civil society action throughout 2025 and early 2026 – including a dedicated chapter on women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights – and reveals strong patterns of resistance. Across regions and political contexts, it shows how civil society understands the scale of the attack and is responding in every possible way.
As this International Women’s Day will once again make clear, the backlash is organised and strong. But so is the resistance.
Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Head of Research and Analysis, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report. She is also a Professor of Comparative Politics at Universidad ORT Uruguay.
For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org
NEW YORK, Mar 9 2026 (IPS) - As we observe International Women’s Day (IWD) this year, the global community does so in a time of continuing turbulence, conflicts and uncertainty about the future of our planet.
Such moments remind us once again that women’s equality and empowerment are not only issues concerning women; those are relevant for humanity as a whole – for all of us. This crucial point needs to be internalized by every one of us.
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
• Let me underscore here an unacceptable reality: in its eighty years of existence, the United Nations has not yet elected a woman Secretary-General—eight decades, nine men, and not one woman. What an embarrassment – what a shame!
How can an institution that speaks of equality at every podium continue to model inequality at its pinnacle? The credibility of the UN’s advocacy depends on its own reflection in the mirror.
• A stark and undeniable reality of our world today is that patriarchy and misogyny continue to thrive as scourges pulling humanity away from our aspiration to live in a world of equality, peace and justice. No country in the world has reached full legal equality for women and girls.
• In many parts of the world, we are witnessing renewed attempts to undermine the hard-earned gains achieved through decades of advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality.
• Women’s organizations, feminist activists and women human rights defenders remain the courageous voices challenging discrimination and injustice. Their role is indispensable for advancing human dignity and human progress.
• My work has taken me to many parts of the world, and time and again I have seen the transformative impact of women’s leadership and participation in shaping peaceful, inclusive and resilient societies.
We should always remember that without peace, development is impossible, and without development, peace is not achievable – but without women, neither peace nor development is conceivable.
The theme of IWD 2026 – “Rights, Justice, Action: For All Women and Girls” – is both timely and compelling. It reminds us that progress requires not only recognition of rights but also determined action to ensure justice and equality in practice.
Let me assert again that feminism is about smart policy which is inclusive, uses all potential and leaves no one behind.
I am proud to be a feminist. All of us need to be. That is how we make our planet a better place to live for all.
Let me also recall that in the year 2000 on this very day, as the President of Security Council, I had the honor of steering the pioneering statement by the whole Council leading to the conceptual and political breakthroughs paving the way for the consensus adoption of the UNSCR 1325 on 31 October 2000 under the Namibian Presidency.
On this IWD, let us renew our commitment to building a gender-equal world. Our individual actions, conversations and mindsets can transform our larger society.
Together we can make change happen!!!
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations; Initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000; and Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP)
IPS UN Bureau
NEW YORK, Mar 9 2026 (IPS) - International Women’s Day 2026 (IWD 2026), which was commemorated March 8, under the theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls“, calls for action to dismantle all barriers to equal justice: discriminatory laws, weak legal protections, and harmful practices and social norms that erode the rights of women and girls. It demands an end to systemic violence and misogyny, including calls for justice for Epstein survivors.
The independent experts, who serve in their individual capacities under mandates from the UN Human Rights Council, warned that the alleged acts documented in the ‘Epstein Files’ provide disturbing and credible evidence of widespread, systematic sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation of women and girls.
The UN experts stated that, “So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity.” They said, “No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law.”
Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” However, no nation has closed the legal gaps between men and women.
While we are told that women now hold more legal rights than at any point in history, 2026 data reveals a devastating reality: women globally hold only 64 per cent of the legal rights of men.
Thus, the global crisis of women’s safety is not a failure of individual morality; it is a result of structural barriers. For survivors of systemic exploitation, the deepest betrayal lies not in the absence of laws, but in the complicity embedded within the very architecture of gender.
Architecture of Betrayal
We must call out the hypocrisy reinforcing this architecture: the “Socialite-Feminist Paradox.” The Epstein scandal exposed a troubling contradiction within elite social networks. Some influential figures build public personas on the rhetoric of “empowerment of women and girls,” yet privately maintain ties to predatory networks.
This contradiction becomes most striking when individuals who publicly champion gender equality such as high-profile participants in initiatives like HeForShe, are linked to Epstein’s social orbit.
When prominent advocates attach their “feminist” brands to the orbit of known predators, they serve as reputation shields, signaling legitimacy and safety to the outside world. Young women drawn by promises of empowerment trust these figures. They become victims of the very networks those reputations shield.
Within this gender architecture, such actors become the interior designers of impunity, dressing up a house of horrors to resemble a palace of progress.
Support Beams of Hypocrisy
The architecture of betrayal extends to the highest levels of global governance. Jeffrey Epstein maintained a vast network of elite social and financial contacts, including politicians, business leaders, and royalty, exposing how predatory networks can intersect with influential institutions.
Recent scrutiny has intensified following the release of documents connected to the Epstein investigation by the United States Department of Justice, which revealed troubling communications between Emirati diplomat Hind Al-Owais and Epstein.
In early 2026, former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland also faced investigation over alleged “aggravated corruption” and extensive email ties to Epstein, while Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway, publicly apologized for maintaining a friendship with him after his 2008 conviction.
Figures such as Terje Rød-Larsen, former Norwegian diplomat and International Peace Institute President, likewise operated within the same elite UN-linked and international policy circles Epstein sought to access.
These are not just “lapses in judgment”; they are the structural supports that allow predatory systems to persist behind the mask of elite influence and advocacy.
Architecture of Complicity
While individuals failed, prestigious institutions provided the foundation. Major banks, Ivy League universities such as Harvard and MIT, and elite think tanks accepted Epstein’s wealth—often described as “blood money”—in exchange for social legitimacy.
These were not “bystanders”; they were the infrastructure of the abuse. By accepting donations from a known predator, these institutions provided the social cover that allowed the grooming of vulnerable girls to continue.
They signaled to the world – and to the victims – that a billionaire’s endowment was more valuable than a young woman’s safety.
Justice in Flawed Architecture
The ultimate instrument of elite impunity is the statute of limitations. Within this gendered architecture of power, justice is not defeated by evidence but by the calendar. Predators rely on the legal expiration of trauma, counting on time to erode memory, courage, and consequence.
The UN experts urged US Authorities that statutes of limitations preventing prosecution of grave crimes attributed to the Epstein criminal enterprise must be lifted.
As of February 2026, new legislation like Virginia’s Law ((named after Virginia Giuffre) has been introduced to remove these time limits for survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking.
Path Towards Accountability
The survivors of the Epstein network have broken the silence. This IWD 2026, we must break the system that allowed that silence to exist.
We know what happened. Now, we must act; our demands must be absolute:
We must urge governments to use the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in March 2026 to commit to tangible, measurable progress toward closing the global legal protection gap for survivors.
We must abolish statutes of limitations to ensure that time does not wash away the crimes of the powerful.
We do not want “rights” that can be bought off by a billionaire’s legal team, or “justice” that stops at a non-disclosure agreement.
We must push for legislation that bans “secret” settlements which protect unnamed co-conspirators in trafficking cases. No one – regardless of their political or social status – should be “un-indictable.”
We must stop platforming “rights advocates” who have not fully accounted for their ties to predatory networks. Influence must be earned through integrity, not proximity to power.
We must strip away the “advocate” title from anyone who traded the safety of girls for the social or financial perks of an elite boys’ club.
We must demand that any organization – be it a bank, an Ivy League University, a laboratory, or a non-profit – that knowingly benefits from the proceeds of exploitation be held legally and financially accountable as a co-conspirator.
We must institute legal requirements for institutions to disclose the sources of large private endowments, with strict “vetting clauses” regarding human rights records.
We must redirect assets seized from trafficking and exploitation networks into survivor-led healing funds and legal aid for marginalized women.
We must ensure that justice is not a privilege; it is a fundamental human right that cannot be bought, silenced, or erased by time. We demand action to ensure that ALL women – regardless of the status of their abuser – are equally protected under the law.
The theme of IWD 2026 “Rights. Justice. Action.” is not a request for a seat at the table; it is a demand to dismantle the table where elite impunity is served.
Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is President of Asia Global Network and a US Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on advancing the rights of women and girls. She is also a founding member and Coordinator of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI). She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate for gender equality and the advancement of women.
IPS UN Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2026 (IPS) - As military fighting breaks out across the Middle East with increasing frequency and intensity, the United Nations promises to ramp up its humanitarian response on the ground.
Armed attacks have been ongoing since February 28 when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, who retaliated with their own airstrikes on Israel and Arab Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. Since then, military strikes have continued between these states, and the fighting has only exacerbated tensions in neighboring states. In Lebanon, military skirmishes have broken out between the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Hezbollah, which has led to a spike in internal displacements.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 330,000 people have been forcibly displaced in the last few days, mostly within their own countries. In Lebanon, nearly 84,000 people are seeking shelter in 400 collective sites. Within Iran, more than 1.6 million refugees, most from Afghanistan, have been forcibly displaced. Fighting along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan has led to the displacement of nearly 118,000 people in both countries.
These overlapping crises within one region marks what UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs called a “moment of great peril”, and an example of “increased linkages” between these humanitarian crises. Fletcher called for a de-escalation and an immediate end to the fighting, and for diplomatic dialogue and peaceful negotiation to resume, including between the parties involved.
Fletcher briefed reporters on Friday on the situation in the Middle East, announcing that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is “fully mobilized” across the region, preparing humanitarian teams and supplies into the affected areas. They have begun distributing food, aid and shelter to thousands of affected civilians across the region.
UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher briefs reporters in New York on the situation in the Middle East. Credit: UN Web TV
Fletcher warned that as this war within the Middle East continued, there would be far-reaching consequences. “War doesn’t stay neatly within borders or on desktop military plans,” he said., referring to the impact on the global market and supply chains as the war disrupts access to commercial goods and energy sources. Of note, the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime corridor that borders Iran and a strategic route for oil and natural gas exports, has seen a near-total halt of traffic due to strikes in and around the channel, causing the global prices of gas and oil to surge. Fletcher warned that this will put greater strain on public services, food prices and even constrain humanitarian operations.
As humanitarian resources and global attention is drawn to the Middle East, Fletcher also raised concerns that this will divert attention away from other humanitarian crises in areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan and Ukraine, among others.
Humanitarian actors are scaling their response to the countries affected by the conflicts, notably in Iran. Since February 28, there have been over 1000 reported instances of damage to civilian infrastructure, and close to 1600 people have been injured or killed in the airstrikes.
The military strikes already have reported children among the casualties thus far. In Iran, about 180 children have been killed in airstrikes while they were in school, according to UNICEF. In a statement issued on March 5, they warned that such casualties stand as a “stark reminder of the brutality of war and violence” on children that affects families and generations thereafter. In Lebanon, since the escalation of hostilities seven children have been killed and 38 have been injured.
The conflict has also complicated humanitarian operations and essential supply routes. Ongoing missile airstrikes in the region have disrupted airspace. As other sources have reported, this has forced many commercial flights to be postponed or canceled as some countries in the region have closed their airspace. For humanitarian operations, airspace closure and security restrictions have affected the movement of supplies and personnel. On this, Fletcher noted that OCHA has already pre-positioned supplies and identified alternate routes to send supplies through.
“Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war, but this is of course when it is most needed,” said Fletcher. “…The humanitarian movement will, once again, meet this moment. We’ll continue to serve those who need us.”
This most recent conflict already risks moving beyond the borders of the Middle East. Reports have emerged from Türkiye of an Iranian missile heading into Turkish airspace that was then destroyed by NATO forces, and Azerbaijan has accused Iranian drones of attacking an airport building in the exclave of Nakhchivan.
“It is critical that this conflict does not extend even further into new areas and into bringing new countries into this conflict,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Friday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres posted on X (formerly Twitter) to warn the attacks in the Middle East are causing “tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region”, and that the situation “could spiral beyond anyone’s control”. “It is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations. The stakes could not be higher.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2026 (IPS) - Earlier this week World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the weakening conditions of La Niña conditions are beginning to fade, with climate conditions transitioning toward ENSO-neutral —a phase in which neither El Niño nor La Niña is present and oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the tropical Pacific remain near average. The agency noted that this shift could lead to the development of El Niño later in the year, a pattern typically associated with rising global temperatures and an increased risk of extreme weather events worldwide.
Although these forecasts carry a degree of uncertainty— particularly during the boreal spring, when the well-known “spring predictability barrier” temporarily reduces the accuracy of ENSO predictions — they remain crucial for global climate preparedness measures. Early warnings of shifts between El Niño, La Niña, and neutral conditions give governments, industries, and humanitarian organizations essential time to prepare for disasters.
By informing disaster planning, protecting critical infrastructure, and guiding responses for climate-sensitive communities, these forecasts can help reduce damage, strengthen resilience, and potentially save millions of dollars in economic losses from extreme weather patterns.
“The WMO community will be carefully monitoring conditions in the coming months to inform decision-making,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, noting that the most recent El Niño event in 2023-2024 was one of the five strongest on record, contributing to the record-breaking global temperatures observed in 2024.
“Seasonal forecasts for El Niño and La Niña help us avert millions of dollars in economic losses and are essential planning tools for climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, health, energy, and water management,” Saulo added. “They are also a key part of the climate intelligence provided by WMO to support humanitarian operations and disaster risk management, and thus save lives.”
According to forecasts from the WMO Global Producing Centres, there is a 60 percent chance that ENSO-neutral conditions will persist from March through May. From April to June, the likelihood of El Niño developing increases to approximately 70 percent. By May through July, the likelihood of ENSO-neutral conditions drops to around 60 percent, while the chance of El Niño rises to roughly 40 percent.
These projections suggest that global ocean temperatures will likely continue to rise as the year progresses, signaling a need for resilient climate-monitoring and preparatory efforts, particularly for the highly vulnerable populations in coastal regions in the Asia-Pacific.
“When El Niño develops, we’re likely to set a new global temperature record,” said climate scientist Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center. “‘Normal” was left in the dust decades ago. And with this much heat in the system, everyone should buckle up for the extreme weather it will fuel.”
El Niño and La Niña are primarily driven by fluctuations in ocean and surrounding atmospheric conditions in the tropical Pacific region, with their impacts being exacerbated by human-induced climate change. Rising global temperatures have been found to amplify the frequency and severity of extreme weather events associated with these oscillations, including extensive droughts, prolonged monsoons, devastating floods, stronger tropical cyclones, heatwaves, and wildfires.
These shifts disrupt seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns, leading to biodiversity loss and widespread ecosystem degradation. Immediate consequences include growing food insecurity driven by declining crop yields and collapsing fisheries, along with heightened risks to human health, livelihoods, water security, and broader economic stability.
A joint study led by Professor Benjamin Horton, Dean of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, published in January, examined the long-term impacts of El Niño on human health. Titled Enduring Impacts of El Niño on Life Expectancy in Past and Future Climates, the study drew upon roughly six decades of findings from ten Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia.
The study found that intensifying El Niño periods are having increasingly detrimental effects on human mortality rates and life expectancy, having notably increased over the past several years. Researchers found a strong correlation between gradually hotter El Niño events and infectious diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, with children and the elderly facing heightened risks. The study also found a direct correlation between hotter El Niño periods and disruptions to healthcare systems as a result of infrastructure damage, which greatly compounds public health challenges.
Historically, the two strongest El Niño events on record — 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 — were linked with lowered life expectancy of approximately a year and one-third of a year, respectively, equivalent to economic losses of roughly USD 2.6 trillion and USD 4.7 trillion. In Hong Kong alone, the 1982-83 event resulted in an estimated 0.6 year decline in life expectancy and economic losses of nearly USD 15 billion, while the 1997-98 event resulted in a 0.4 year reduction and losses exceeding USD 5.8 billion.
Horton warned that intensifying El Niño events could reduce life expectancy across these regions by up to 2.8 years and generate cumulative losses of approximately $35 trillion by 2100. While the study does not provide region-level projections, current trends suggest that Hong Kong alone could face economic losses between USD 250 billion and USD 300 billion over the course of the century.
“El Niño is predictable,” Professor Horton said. “So, with the right planning, we can reduce its impacts. To mitigate El Niño events, countries and regions need strong early-warning systems, heat-health action plans, better water management, and protection for workers exposed to extreme heat. They also need resilient infrastructure, smarter agriculture that can cope with heatwaves, droughts, and heavy rainfall, and public health systems that are prepared for spikes in disease and pollution.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
TOKYO, Japan, Mar 6 2026 (IPS) - From the beginning, this project was a collaboration between student teams in Japan and Korea. Although we live in different countries, we shared one common question: How can young people reduce waste while supporting families facing food insecurities?
Our journey began with a problem we could see clearly in our communities.
In Japan, food insecurity often hides behind quiet dignity. According to a recent survey by Save the Children Japan, over 90 percent of low-income households with children reported struggling to afford enough food, with many families forced to cut back on even basic staples such as rice due to rising prices.
The Japan and Korean team of all 11 students presented ‘The Co-creation of Youth from Waste to Hope’ at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) Thematic Event. Credit: Ticad 9
The Japanese team leader, Karuta Yamamoto, and the Korean team presented ‘What we want in Africa for the future’ at the Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, during TICAD 9.
Japan and Korea Team Leader, Karuta Yamamoto and Emma Shin, in an interview with UNFPA Seoul. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
The Korean team set up a shop at a bazaar at Arumjigi, Seoul, Korea. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
Single-parent households—most led by mothers—face especially high levels of food hardship and are often compelled to make painful decisions about how limited budgets are spent. For some families, this means choosing between symbolic moments of celebration and everyday nutrition. A ¥3,000 Christmas cake may represent joy for one household, but for another, that same amount must stretch to five kilograms of rice—enough to feed a family for several days.
At the same time, vast amounts of edible food are wasted in Japan. Official statistics show that millions of tons of food are discarded annually in Japan, much of it still edible. Seasonal items such as Christmas cakes, which cannot be sold after December 25, are frequently thrown away. This contrast—waste on one side and hunger on the other—reflects the global challenge addressed by SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
As students in Japan and Korea, we asked ourselves, “What role can we play in closing this gap?”
We knew that awareness alone would not change habits. enough. Instead of telling people to feel guilty about food waste, we decided to take action together.
We began locally, but with shared purpose.
In Japan, students at Dalton Tokyo Senior High School noticed that mandarin oranges—one of the country’s most common fruits—often go uneaten, with peels and seeds discarded. In Korea, students identified a different issue: more than 150,000 tons of used coffee grounds are discarded each year, contributing to landfill emissions and greenhouse gas emissions.
Different materials.
One shared goal.
Rather than seeing waste as the end of a product’s life, we saw it as a beginning.
Research shows that citrus peels contain essential oils that can be used in soaps and cleaning products. Studies in Korea also demonstrate that spent coffee grounds can be processed into sustainable biomaterials suitable for eco-friendly design and 3D printing. Plantable seed paper—made from recycled paper embedded with seeds—is another example of how waste can be transformed into something regenerative.
Inspired by these ideas, our student teams turned theory into action.
Japanese students created handmade soaps using discarded citrus peels.
Handmade soaps using discarded citrus peels. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
The soaps ready for sale. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
Korean students developed 3D-printed clip-on vases incorporating recycled coffee grounds, encouraging people to reuse empty bottles and cups instead of discarding them.
The Korean students developed 3D-printed clip-on vases incorporating recycled coffee grounds. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
They also produced plantable seed paper from recycled materials, allowing waste to literally grow into flowers and herbs.
Korean students produced plantable seed paper from recycled materials. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto.
These products were not sold as charity goods. Instead, they were shared as examples of responsible consumption—showing that waste can have a second life through our design. Through this work, we directly supported SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, which calls for reducing waste through recycling and reuse, and SDG 13: Climate Action, by lowering emissions through upcycling.
At the same time, the funds raised had a clear purpose.
The profits were used to support families facing food insecurity. In Japan, we donated to single-mother families with hospitalized children through the NPO Keep Mama Smiling (see main photo for the opinion piece).
They also provided essential cooking ingredients to the Karuizawa Food Bank. By connecting environmental action with helping families in need, our project also supported SDG 2: Zero Hunger.
The group provided cooking ingredients to the Karuizawa Food Bank. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
Through this experience, we learned that caring for the planet and caring for people are not separate goals. Waste reduction and hunger relief became connected in one youth-led effort—turning environmental responsibility into community solidarity.
But our collaboration did not stop in Japan and Korea.
Through a partnership with the OneSmile Foundation—an organization that transforms digital smiles into donations—we connected our local initiatives to a global challenge. During workshops, we learned that school meal donations in Lesotho had stopped the previous year. Without reliable meals, many students were struggling to focus in class.
Together, our Japanese and Korean teams raised over 300,000 Japanese yen.
The Japanese and Korean teams celebrate their fundraising efforts. Credit: Karuta Yamamoto
Working with local partners in Lesotho, we organized a community-based food support initiative at Rasetimela High School, which serves 863 students. School feeding programs play a critical role in Lesotho, and recent disruptions have left many students more vulnerable to hunger.
Students at Rasetimela High School in Lesotho receive donations of food. Courtesy: Rasetimela High School
Ninety-one of the most vulnerable students were selected through transparent criteria, including those supported by social welfare programs and those who had previously relied on international assistance. Each selected family received staple foods such as rice and corn flour to make a local staple called pap. Distribution was organized near the school to ensure safety and allow parents to collect the supplies securely.
This cross-border effort—connecting students, NGOs, local leaders, and communities—reflects the spirit of SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
Although we live in different countries, climates, and cultures, this experience reshaped how we understand global cooperation. The students in Lesotho were not distant beneficiaries. We became peers in a shared world.
They became peers in a shared world. Courtesy: Rasetimela High School
As young people, we often believe our impact is limited because we do not control large resources. This project challenged that belief. We learned that we can create change by designing solutions, raising awareness, and working together.
We even tried to measure what we called a “Happiness Index” by counting the smiles of students who received support. Those smiles reminded us that sustainability is not only environmental or economic—it is human.
Our experience shows that youth are not just future leaders. We are active contributors today. When creativity meets collaboration, waste can become opportunity, and local action can grow into global solidarity.
Turning waste into hope is not an abstract idea.
It is a choice—and young people are already making it.
Edited by Dr Hanna Yoon
IPS UN Bureau Report
IPS UN Bureau Report