The Human Consciousness Now...Our World in the Midst of Becoming...to What? Observe, contemplate Now.
NAIROBI & BERLIN, Apr 3 2025 (IPS) - Of the nearly 234 million children and adolescents of school age affected by crises, 85 million are already out of school. At least 20 percent of them—or 17 million—are children living with disabilities.
Compared to children without disabilities, children with disabilities are 49 percent more likely to have never attended school, per a recent UNICEF report. In times of crisis, girls and boys with disabilities also face heightened risks of abuse, violence, and exploitation, within and outside learning spaces. Emergencies and crises, and the way humanitarian interventions are designed and delivered, can compound the risks, barriers, and vulnerabilities faced by children and adolescents with disabilities.
“As we gather at the Global Disability Summit, Education Cannot Wait reaffirms its unwavering commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities are at the core of our efforts to leave no child behind in crisis settings,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of ECW.
“Together with our partners, we continue streamlining disability inclusion across our investments in education in emergencies and protracted crises while simultaneously supporting targeted interventions to overcome the specific barriers faced by girls and boys with disabilities in these contexts.”
“We need to bring children and adolescents, who were either born with disabilities or who were made disabled by brutal warfare, from the shadows to the light. They are the ones left absolutely furthest behind, especially in crisis situations. They need special help to return to school.”
These children include Zénabou, a 14-year-old girl from the Central African Republic who was born deaf and could not speak. She had never been to school. All that changed through ECW’s holistic education programme in the Central African Republic, specifically focusing on children with disabilities.
Zénabou received learning material, mobility aid, and special classes to learn Braille and sign language and was integrated into a network of community support for families around her and into the local school. Today, Zénabou never misses school if she can help it, can read and write and aspires to become a humanitarian development actor to help other children with disabilities. This is the story of another 150,000 children with disabilities receiving support through ECW’s programs.
Zénabou, a 14-year-old girl from the Central African Republic who was born deaf and could not speak. However, she has benefited from the ECW-partner holistic education programme in the Central African Republic, specifically focusing on children with disabilities. Credit: ECW
Sherif says while some, like Zénabou, were born with a disability, there are millions “of children whose disability was inflicted upon them through brutal conflict. Stepping on explosives, being bombed, having their limbs amputated and having their eyes shot out. Children are vulnerable and constantly on the front lines of conflict and crisis situations.”
Emphasizing that the world has the resources needed to respond to the special needs of all children with disabilities everywhere by providing much-needed resources to support specialized education, mobility, and learning devices such as Braille, wheelchairs, and hearing aids, and to build infrastructure in the school buildings such as ramps to facilitate movement.
“I have seen situations where, with the right support, the children are capable of turning a disability into another ability. I met a girl in Colombia with no arms. She was in a wheelchair and attending an art class. She had learned how to paint the most beautiful paintings by holding a pencil in her mouth. Children are resilient. We must keep their dreams alive by delivering their right to education,” Sherif emphasizes.
“I urge the global community not to forget these children. We must mobilize resources to give them the support they need to live a full life. Too much has already been taken away from them. They simply cannot be forgotten. In a world in so much turmoil and conflict, we cannot lose our humanity. If it affects someone else, it affects us too.”
ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif asked the donor community to provide the resources that can turn a child with a disability into a child with other abilities. Credit: ECW
As education systems buckle under the weight of multiple, complex difficulties, there is an unprecedented global challenge as nearly 240 million children are living with disabilities worldwide today. Within systems not designed to cater to their specific needs, many are denied the opportunity to benefit from the life-transformative power of quality, inclusive education.
As partners come together for the 2025 disability summit, ECW and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) are calling on leaders worldwide to galvanize support for children living with disabilities in crisis settings and fragile contexts. Stressing that the power of education as a pathway toward peace and resilience cannot be underestimated.
Further highlighting that when access to quality education is more equitable, societies experience greater social cohesion and political stability, reducing negative cycles of displacement and continued armed conflict. That coordinated and impactful investments in inclusive education can lift up those left furthest behind and protect the rights of children living with disabilities in some of the most challenging circumstances worldwide.
Started in 2017, the Summit focuses on improving the lives of persons with disabilities, particularly in the Global South, and brings together global, regional, and national stakeholders who share a vision for disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action. This helps sustain a continuous cycle of advocacy and mobilization of the disability rights movement.
For children, the situation is dire for even when access to education is facilitated for children with disabilities, very few children complete their schooling education. UN statistics show children with disabilities are 16 percent less likely to read or be read to at home and 25 percent less likely to attend early childhood education.
To turn the situation around, ECW has committed to reaching 10 percent of children with disabilities across all its investments and programmes. The global Fund now calls on the global community, including governments, philanthropists, private donors, and individuals, to respond to an urgent call for financial support to reach all children with disabilities in fragile settings with lifelong learning and earning opportunities by raising the funds set aside for these children.
IPS UN Bureau Report,
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 3 2025 (IPS) - In 2007, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD), in an effort to promote inclusion and human rights for autistic individuals. Much work has been done and pushed forward by autistic advocates to bring lived experiences to global discussions.
This year, WAAD was commemorated by the Institute of Neurodiversity (ION) and the United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC), commemorated this year’s observance through an event, Advancing Neurodiversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The objective of this year’s observance of WAAD was to highlight the intersections between neurodivergent individuals and the promotion of sustainable practices on a global scale. Featuring discussions between policymakers, neurodivergent advocates, and global experts, the event sought to maximize inclusivity in a variety of sectors such as healthcare, education, and urban development. Furthermore, WAAD 2025 also recognized the societal contributions made by the autistic community.
For the SDGs to be achieved by 2030, it is imperative that governments and policymakers facilitate progress for all walks of life. Global strides in sustainability must include everyone, including communities that are directly impacted by certain changes in legislation.
“Development is not sustainable if it is not fair and inclusive – and rising inequality hinders long-term growth,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“Inclusion is at the core of the SDGs. When world leaders adopted the SDGs, they promised to leave no one behind. It means that implementation of the SDGs must reach all segments of society, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, and disability, among other factors,” said Maher Nasser, the Director of the Outreach Division, UN-DGC.
“It means that we must overcome the discrimination that marginalizes or excludes certain groups or communities, including, in many places around the world, autistic people…the neurodiverse community, along with all other segments of society, deserve a seat at the table concerning matters that affect their lives, such as the SDGs.”
Throughout the meeting, speakers and representatives discussed existing inequalities and discriminatory practices that autistic and neurodivergent individuals face that prevent them from having the same opportunities as neurotypical people. Many harmful stereotypes and barriers continue to exist, all of which halts societal acceptance, propagates discrimination, and erases neurodivergent contributions to society.
Argentinian author Alan Robinson spoke about his experiences as an autistic individual as well as his observations of the gradual acceptance of autistic people in society.
“I think that the social (consciousness) surrounding autistic people is changing. But we have to recognize that there are still tensions and conflicts. For example, some artistic expressions of the autistic community are still classified as Art Brut– the classification that was invented by the medical community during the Nazi era in Germany,” said Robinson.
He added that several communities around the world are recognizing autism as an identity rather than a disorder, a position that promotes social acceptance and inclusivity.
One specific point of focus during the event was the experience of neurodivergent people in the workplace. Historically, the majority of workplaces and professional protocols have been designed with only neurotypical individuals in mind. Many aspects of traditional professionalism, such as long job interviews, the lack of accommodations, and workplace discrimination, are known to put neurodivergent individuals at a disadvantage.
Anjaneya Sharma, a student and one of the neurodivergent voices on the panel, spoke about his observations surrounding the treatment of neuro-minorities in the workplace. “The main barrier here would be labeling us without actually getting to know us. There is a very big taboo around the word ‘autism’ and ‘neurodivergent’. As I’m thinking about entering the workforce in the future, I’m hoping for a culture where people are encouraged to get to know neuro-minorities when there is basically socializing, conversations, and activities that happen where neuro-minorities are not judged, but understood as they are,” said Sharma.
A 2020 study conducted by the Institute of Leadership and Management found that 50 percent of office managers reported feeling uncomfortable at the prospect of hiring a neurodivergent employee. Additionally, the study found that when professional environments are not flexible or accommodating enough, many neurodivergent employees tend to underperform compared to their neurotypical counterparts. According to the Office for National Statistics, workers with disabilities were 8 percent less likely to work in higher ranking positions.
Autistic and neurodivergent individuals also face significant hurdles in their ability to access basic healthcare services. Like workplaces, medical environments are primarily designed for neurotypical individuals. Neurodivergent patients often have difficulty in communicating their medical conditions. Healthcare personnel are often not equipped to treat neurodivergent patients and require assistance from specialists.
Erin Dekker, a researcher on neurodiversity, spoke in detail on the healthcare system and how neurodivergent patients are disadvantaged in the quality of their treatment.
“Autistic individuals face significant challenges in accessing healthcare but also in the quality of care that they receive,” said Dekker. “These challenges contribute to poor mental and physical health. Many autistic individuals, particularly women, gender-diverse people, and other marginalized intersecting identities are often not taken seriously or disbelieved by healthcare providers.”
One of the main themes of WAAD 2025 was the need for a variety of perspectives when thinking about a sustainable future. A diverse array of voices and inclusive conversations are essential in ensuring a future that benefits everyone.
“Just like that, it is the differences from individuals that actually allow for a diversity of perspectives, ideas, and innovations, which makes the world a better place,” Sharma said. “It’s actually what makes us human, after all. That is something that I would like all corporations, companies, and employers to think about when hiring.”
IPS UN Bureau
WARMAWASAW, Meghalaya, India, Apr 3 2025 (IPS) - As light enters through the small window of a modestly constructed tin-roofed house, Philim Makri sits on a chair deftly spinning cocoons of eri silk with the help of a solar-powered spinning machine in Warmawsaw village in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya in northeast India.
Makri belongs to the indigenous Khasi tribe of Meghalaya and is one of the several women from the region who has benefitted from solar-powered spinning machines.
In India’s northeastern states like Assam and Meghalaya, silkworm rearing and weaving are common among several rural and tribal communities. Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya, where Makri is from, is among the regions where eri culture is deeply rooted in tradition and is often passed on from one generation to the other.
The process of spinning and weaving eri is mainly carried out by women. Before switching to the solar-powered spinning machines in 2018, Makri used a traditional hand-held ‘takli’ or spindle. She would open the empty eri cocoons, draft the fibers by hand, and spin them onto the spindle to create yarn. This process was extremely laborious, 60-year-old Makri said. It would leave her feeling tired with constant pain in her hand, back, neck, and eyes.
Process of spinning eri yarn
Eri derives its name from castor leaves—locally known as ‘Rynda’ in the Khasi language. Castor leaves are the primary food source for the eri silkworms. As the production process is considered to be non-violent, eco-friendly, and sustainable, eri silk has earned itself the title of ‘peace silk.’
Thirty-eight-year-old Jacinta Maslai from Patharkhmah village in Ri Bhoi district, who has been spinning eri cocoons into yarn for years, explained how an eri moth lays hundreds of eggs and after 10 days or so, these eggs hatch, producing silkworms, which are then reared indoors and fed castor leaves until they mature over a period of 30 days.
When the silkworm matures to its full size, they are placed on cocoonage—devices that help silkworms spin their cocoons. The moth evolves, breaking out from the open end of the cocoon to start a new life cycle. Thus, in this process, no moths are killed. The empty cocoons are boiled to remove the gums left behind by the worms; they are then rinsed and left out in the sun to dry.
According to Maslai, the best season to carry out this process is from May till October. “When the weather is too cold or too hot, the worms don’t grow properly because they eat less. If they don’t eat well, they don’t make the cocoon well enough,” Maslai said.
Switching to solar-powered spinning machines
Women artisans have for years used their traditional spindles or ‘taklis,’ to spin eri cocoons into yarn. However, many of them, like Maslai and Makri, have now switched to the solar-powered spinning machines, which they claim have made their lives “easier.”
Since Maslai started using the solar-powered machines, she says she can weave up to 500 grams in a week. “Sometimes even a kilo is possible in a week but many of us have children and farms to look after so we can manage up to 500 grams in a week,” Maslai said, adding that before they wouldn’t get a kilo even if they spun for an entire month with the ‘takli.’
“The machines help a lot—with our hands, we couldn’t do much.”
In the nearby Patharkhmah market, Maslai sells one kilo of yarm for Rs 2500.
Makri, who is considered an expert at spinning eri yarn, said she has sold 1 kg of yarn for up to Rs 3000. “The lowest quality of one kilo of eri yarn is about Rs 1200-1500. The quality also differs in terms of the smoothness of the yarn sometimes,” Makri said.
The machines have also made our lives better because their villages are usually without electricity for an entire day, Maslai said. In the mornings they usually go out for farming; evenings are the time when they find adequate time to spin.
“The machines provide backup solar batteries so we can work at night. It is helpful during the rainy season too when it’s too cloudy for the solar panels to be used as a direct energy source,” Maslai said, adding, “I spin a lot in the evenings after cooking dinner. That’s when my kids are asleep.”
The machines have been distributed by MOSONiE Socio Economic Foundation, a not-for-profit led entirely by a group of women based in Pillangkata of Ri Bhoi district in Meghalaya.
“Our vision is to increase the productivity of eri silk spinners by providing solar-powered spinning machines to them. We also want to provide them financial options to afford a spinning machine by connecting them with rural banks. The idea is to give them training to use these machines and promote entrepreneurship among the women artisans,” said Salome Savitri, one of the co-founders of MOSONiE.
Many women in rural areas, Savitri said, cannot afford to buy the machines or do not have the money to pay direct cash; this is where she said MOSONiE steps in and bridges the gap between Meghalaya Rural Bank (MRB) and the women artisans. For instance, Maslai took a loan from MRB to buy the spinning machine, which she paid off after a year.
Maslai recalls how, with training from MOSONiE, it took her about three days to make the switch from a handheld spindle to the machine. “We use the machine now and no longer use the traditional method,” Maslai said.
Makri, who is one of the more experienced ones, also teaches others from her village to use the solar-powered spinning machines. Individually, people give her Rs 50-100 per day for the training they receive from her. She has won awards for her work from India’s ministry of textiles, central silk board, and the national handloom awards.
Upasna Jain, chief of staff at Resham Sutra, a Delhi-based social enterprise that has been manufacturing the solar-powered spinning machines, said not-for-profit organizations like MOSONiE, which is an on-ground partner of Resham Sutra in Meghalaya, help them establish rural experience centers. “We have our on-ground partners, who enable us to mobilize, create awareness, outreach, and demonstrations. In the rural experience centers, we have machines for spinning but we also have machines for quality certification. The on-ground partners impart 3 to 5 days of training, and we also have community champions because even after training, a lot of handholding is required,” Jain explained.
Out of 28 states, currently, Resham Sutra has managed to reach 16 states of India. “We work with eri, mulberry, tussar, and muga silk,” Jain said. Started in 2015, the Resham Sutra initiative has more than 25,000 installations across India.
“Our founder, Kunal Vaid, was an exporter of silk and home linen, and he would source his silk fabric from Jharkhand, where he saw the traditional thigh reeling process to make tussar yarn…he being a mechanical engineer who specialized in industrial design, out of a hobby innovated a spinning wheel, which has now become a full-time business enterprise.”
Jain added, “He also transitioned from being an exporter to a full-time social entrepreneur.” Apart from the spinning wheels, Resham Sutra also manufactures solar looms.
Through the use of solar, Jain said, their aim is to also take the silk industry towards carbon neutrality. She said, “As our machines are solar-powered, we save a lot of carbon dioxide, our machines run on low voltage and they are energy efficient. So, wherever there is ample sunlight, these machines are a great solution, especially in remote villages where electricity can be erratic.”
While both Makri and Maslai like using their machines, they said that an extra space to expand their spinning avenues would help them greatly. Makri wants to build another room where she can keep both her spinning machines and teach others too. Maslai, who lives in a two-room house, said there is barely any space for her to teach anyone else but she still tries to pass on the craft to young girls as well as boys who are interested in learning. “When I am teaching, they look after my kids as a token of goodwill.”
IPS UN Bureau Report,
Excerpt:
In India’s Meghalaya, silkworm rearing and weaving are common in rural areas. Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya is among the regions where eri culture is deeply rooted in tradition; several women there are using solar-powered spinning machines to make yarn.
OSLO, Norway, Apr 3 2025 (IPS) - The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warns that 100,000s of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been pushed into desperate conditions by the escalation of violent conflict in 2025.
The escalation of violent conflict in recent months has pushed hundreds of thousands of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into desperate conditions.
Displaced families sheltering at temporary sites have once again been forced to flee, as fighting and abuse plunge people into life-threatening situations. The explosion of humanitarian needs requires immediate attention from an international community that has turned its back on people in crisis. Parties to the conflict must end the violence facing civilians.
I am truly shocked by the conditions I have seen in and around the city of Goma. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people here in eastern DRC are hanging by a thread. Right across North and South Kivu, people have been repeatedly compelled to flee camps, where essential facilities were often already inadequate. Now, most find themselves in locations that lack shelter, basic sanitation, or drinking water, with diseases such as cholera rapidly increasing as a result.
People continue to flee fighting in the eastern DR Congo where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have made major gains. Credit: MONUSCO/Aubin Mukoni
Our courageous staff remained in Goma during the height of the conflict, and were supporting the community once again within just a few days. But many displaced people I’ve listened to last week have lost everything after years of violence. It is unacceptable that a small number of humanitarian organisations are faced with a vast mountain of needs.
It is high time that assistance here matches the vast scale of human suffering. Long term solutions must be enabled, with children quickly allowed to return to school, banks to re-open, and an immediate end to violence and threats of violence against civilians.
Since the M23 offensive across the region earlier this year, an estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced across North and South Kivu provinces. 1.8 million people have been compelled to return to their places of origin, often to locations which bear deep scars from years of conflict between multiple armed groups.
Civilians face threats, gender-based violence, and extreme deprivation. Unexploded munitions continue to prevent many communities from fully cultivating their land.
Fighting and conflict are still continuing, with thousands of families caught in limbo, without the means to rebuild or cultivate food. The situation facing civilians in eastern DRC has for years been a stain on the international community: now it has become even worse.
NRC teams are providing displaced people with emergency aid, but there is too little funding available. The United States has for long been the largest donor to emergency relief and development aid in the country, but many US-funded projects have been interrupted or paused due to changes at USAID, just as humanitarian needs in DRC exploded.
DRC has for eight consecutive years been ranked as one of the world’s most neglected displacement crises, due to repeated cycles of conflict, lack of funding for aid and media attention, or effective humanitarian and peace diplomacy.
Millions of people have been repeatedly driven from first their homes and then, again, from camps, often multiple times. Families have been pushed into impossible choices just to survive, such as going to dangerous areas to find firewood to sell, exchanging sex for food, or sending young children to beg for money.
The level of global neglect experienced by civilians in eastern DRC should shame world leaders. Now, at a point of deep insecurity and with many families having returned to their areas of origin, there must be concerted action to finally support the population properly. Humanitarian and development assistance must now take priority: the people of DRC must not be faced with simply more of the same.
Notes to editors:
• In North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, 1,157,090 people have been displaced since the start of 2025, and 1,787,298 have returned to their areas of origin (IOM).• Between January and February 2025, over 660,000 people were displaced out of temporary collective sites in Goma and on the outskirts of Nyiragongo territory (IOM).
• Across DRC, almost seven million people are internally displaced, with almost 90 per cent displaced due to conflict (IOM).
• In villages around Shasha, west of Goma, over 90 per cent of people lack proper latrines or washing facilities, and drinking water connections have been destroyed (NRC survey, conducted February 14-17 and covering 138 households).
• Every year NRC published a report of the ten most neglected displacement crises in the world. DRC has featured every year since the inception of the report, including in thrice as the most neglected crisis and four times as the second (NRC).
• The Humanitarian Response Plan for DRC regularly receives less than half of what is required to meet basic humanitarian needs. In 2023 it was 41 per cent funded; in 2024 it was 44 per cent funded (2023 UNHCR; 2024 UNHRC). In 2025, the humanitarian community in the DRC calls for $2.54 billion to provide lifesaving assistance to 11 million people affected by crises (2025 HRP).
• In 2024 the United States provided over two-thirds of the supplied funding for the DRC humanitarian response plan (UN OCHA).
• Access to sanitation and drinking water has become a major challenge. In areas where NRC is responding around Shasha, west of Goma, entire communities have returned to locations which lack functioning latrines, drinking water, or washing facilities.
• Cholera cases have spiked, with families forced to drink untreated water from Lake Kivu or from the river. NRC has established stations where water can be chlorinated and made safer, and is working to repair and rebuild damaged clean water infrastructure.
• In North and South Kivu provinces, 5,927 schools remain closed resulting in almost 2,000,000 children with no access to education (DRC Education Cluster).
• Food security remains a major concern across DRC, which is currently the largest hunger crisis in the world, with 27.7m people experiencing high acute food insecurity. This level means that many people do not have enough to eat, that many are experiencing malnutrition, and are being forced to sell anything they have to afford food (IPC).
• Agricultural land in many areas of North and South Kivu have lain untended for years owing to people fleeing violence. Elsewhere, those returning to their land struggle to evidence their ownership, thus increasing possibilities for disputes. NRC provides support to people to access and claim their land and continues to push for wider land rights reform (NRC Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistance).
IPS UN Bureau
Excerpt:
Jan Egeland is Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
PORTLAND, USA, Apr 2 2025 (IPS) - For most voters, to make America great again, as the 47th president has repeatedly pledged, meant to make the United States markedly superior globally. However, the administration’s actions, policies and program cuts will not improve but only worsen the US’s mediocre standing among advanced countries.
Nevertheless, in order to assess the administration’s prospects to make America great again, it is appropriate and necessary to establish the current standing or rank of the US across various important dimensions.
Regarding economic strength and military power, the United States has the highest rankings worldwide. The US gross national product (GNP), for example, is in first place and well ahead of other countries (Figure 1).
Source: World Bank, OECD and Global Fire Power.
In per capita income, however, the United States falls to around 5th place behind countries such as Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland. Furthermore, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio is the fourth largest among OECD economies, behind Japan, Greece and Italy, and is at its highest level since World War II.
With respect to military power, the United States is in first place. The US maintains its lead in warfare with its sizable armed forces combined with substantial advanced military technologies.
One valued and recognized dimension of societal development and human wellbeing is life expectancy at birth. The US life expectancy at birth of about 78 years is lower than the OECD average of about 80 years. In fact, the US life expectancy at birth ranks about 32nd and well behind Canada, Italy, Japan and Switzerland.
In terms of its ranking, the US life expectancy at birth of about 78 years is lower than the OECD average of about 80 years. In fact, the US life expectancy at birth ranks about 32nd and well behind Canada, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. Despite the fact that the US life expectancy lags behind other wealthy nations, the country’s president issued an executive order rolling back policies to limit drug spending by Medicaid and Medicare.
A related indicator of development is the infant mortality rate. Similar to life expectancy at birth, the infant mortality rate of the United States ranks poorly in comparison to other high-income countries. The US rate is approximately three times the rates of Japan, Norway and Sweden (Figure 2).
Source: United Nations and OECD.
Again despite its relatively low ranking, the administration made far-reaching financial cuts in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those and related actions by the administration have contributed to grinding the National Institutes of Health to a halt, set back its scientific reporting and sent shockwaves through academia and the biomedical research institutions.
Another frequent measure of a country’s standing in the world is the level of poverty among its population. Among OECD countries, the United States has the second highest poverty level at 18% and well below Canada (11%), France (9%), Germany (12%), Italy (13 %), Switzerland (10%) and the United Kingdom (12%).
An important dimension reflecting security and public safety is the level of homicides. Again among the OECD countries, the United States has the fourth highest intentional homicide rate and is double the OECD average. Moreover, the US homicide rate is more than ten times the rates of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway and Switzerland.
A second measure related to crime is a country’s incarceration rate. Among the OECD countries, the United States has the highest incarceration rate, which is approximately five times the OECD average rate.
One indicator reflecting the health of members of a population is the proportion of its adult population who are obese. Again, the United States is well ahead other developed countries in its level of obesity (Figure 3).
Source: OECD, PEW Research Center, Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment Index and World Happiness Report.
The rate of obesity among US adults is approximately 42% or nearly double the OECD average proportion. In striking contrast, the levels of other countries are much lower, such as in France (10%), Germany (23%), Italy (18%), Japan (8%), Russia (24%), Switzerland (15%) and the United Kingdom (17%). Moreover, with the administration laying off 10,000 employees at the Health and Human Services Department, America’s health conditions are not likely to improve but worsen.
While it leads the world in military power and GNP, the United States is well behind many other advanced countries with respect to life expectancy, infant mortality, health, poverty, homicide and crime, family structure, education, human rights, status of women, maternal mortality and reported happiness
A widely recognized measure of societal development and valued by a country’s citizens is the level of education provided to the general public. Among the top countries having a well-developed public education system are Japan, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Canada, with the US ranked at approximately the 12th position.
Similarly with respect to student performance at the primary and secondary levels, America is not among the top ten countries. The administration’s decision to eliminate the Department of Education will likely worsen the US standing on public education.
In terms of family structure, the United States leads the world in single-parent household rates, with the large majority of those households missing a father.
In 2023, nearly one in four children in the US aged 0‒17 years, totaling about 19 million, were living in a household without their biological, step, or adoptive father, mostly with their mother (85% of cases). The US proportion of children in single-parent households is markedly higher than the levels of Japan (7%), Mexico (7%), Germany (12%), Canada (15%) and France (16%).
Human rights is a vital aspect of societal well-being and development. The United States typically ranks lower than other high-income OECD countries on human rights indicators.
Among 24 high-income OECD countries, the United States ranks at the bottom at 24th with respect to economic and social rights. And the situation has worsened recently as the president signed a sweeping executive order denouncing federal worker unions as hostile and rescinding collective bargaining agreements of federal union workers.
Closely related to human rights is the status of women. Here again, the United States is not among the top ten countries. Far ahead of the US with respect to the status of women are countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Among 29 OECD countries, the US ranks 19th.
Moreover, two indicators of the status of women that have worsened in the US are maternal mortality and political violence against women. The US has the highest level of maternal mortality among OECD countries. Also, women in the US who take on political leadership are frequent targets of violence and harassment.
Finally with respect to reported happiness among its citizens, the United States is not among the top countries. Whereas the top four countries in 2025 are Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, the US ranks 24th among countries in terms of life satisfaction.
The relatively low ranking of the United States on reported happiness is believed to be due to the cost of living, economic uncertainty and the political polarization. The administration’s recent decisions and rhetoric have only increased economic uncertainty and political polarization across the United States.
Also, many are concerned about proposals to alter the country’s social safety. As the administration and Republican Congressional leaders push to pass a tax cut extension, they are considering reforms and cost reductions to the country’s major entitlement programs that are consuming about half of all federal spending, in particular Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
In sum, while it leads the world in military power and GNP, the United States is well behind many other advanced countries with respect to life expectancy, infant mortality, health, poverty, homicide and crime, family structure, education, human rights, status of women, maternal mortality and reported happiness.
The administration’s actions, policies, program cuts and employee firings will not improve but likely only worsen America’s mediocre standing on virtually every major measure of societal wellbeing and development. Finally, about that unremitting pledge by the US president to make America great again, it’s well on its way to the graveyard of vain political slogans.
Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division and author of numerous publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials”.
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 2 2025 (IPS) - After nearly two years of extended warfare and protracted crises as a result of the Sudanese Civil War, Sudan remains the world’s biggest internal displacement crisis. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), heightened insecurity, widespread famine, economic strife, and climate shocks threaten the lives of approximately 25.6 million people.
On March 28, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report examining the scale of needs in Sudan. It is currently estimated that roughly half of Sudan’s population faces acute food insecurity. Famine has been declared in five areas, including North Darfur and the Western Nuba mountains. FAO predicts that famine is imminent in numerous conflict hotspots, such as Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan.
As a result of unrelenting insecurity in Sudan for nearly two years, agricultural systems have been decimated. Climate shocks, damage to critical infrastructures, and the lack of essential services, such as veterinary care and gardening tools, have made it nearly impossible for the majority of Sudanese civilians to self-sufficiently produce food or income. FAO estimates that the livelihoods of nearly two-thirds of the population have been disrupted.
“This is a full-scale hunger crisis and I’m going to call it a catastrophe. The civil war has killed thousands, uprooted millions and set the country ablaze, and yet it’s forgotten, (despite being) the epicentre of the world’s largest and most severe hunger crisis ever,” said World Food Programme (WFP) Director Cindy McCain.
Zahra Abdullah, a Sudanese refugee residing in the Al Salam displacement shelter bordering Nyala City, told Doctors Without Borders (MSF) of the harsh living conditions for displaced civilians.
“This is not the first war I have experienced, but it is definitely the most devastating to my life. The living conditions here are harsh, and everything is a daily struggle…But even so, the suffering never ends. It starts with finding clean water to drink, continues with trying to provide enough food, and ends with finding a place to sleep. Sometimes I sit alone and think: is this the life I will live forever?” said Abdullah.
FAO urgently requires 156.7 million USD to provide food assistance to over 14.2 million people in 2025. FAO’s investments in the agricultural sector include deliveries of crop packages, livestock vaccinations, and economic assistance for families who run fisheries. If fully funded, this would enable Sudanese civilians to produce income self-sufficiently and diversify their diets, helping to offset malnutrition and food insecurity.
In their March 30 situation update on the current levels of insecurity in Sudan, UNHCR reported high levels of conflict present in the Khartoum, Kordofan, Darfur, and White Nile States, with regular airstrikes and artillery shellings destroying civilian infrastructures and causing significant civilian casualties.
According to figures from the United Nations (UN), there have been dozens of reported casualties and over 120,000 internal civilian displacements in the past few weeks alone. Within the first three months of 2025, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) has recorded 1,925 civilian casualties as a result of explosive weapons in Sudan.
On March 25, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) conducted an airstrike on the Tura Market, which is roughly 45 kilometers away from El Fasher in the North Darfur state. Although the total number of civilian casualties has yet to be confirmed, it is estimated to fall between 100 and 270. Adam Rejal, a spokesperson for the Sudanese humanitarian organization General Coordination, stated that women accounted for more than half of the casualties.
According to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) update, there are currently over 11 million internally displaced civilians in Sudan, with the majority having been displaced from Khartoum, South Darfur, and North Darfur.
Despite conflict continuing to rage on in Sudan, IOM recorded a decrease in internal displacements by 2.4 percent between December 2024 and March 2025. Although IOM estimates that roughly 400,000 internally displaced civilians have begun returning to their homes in Al Jazirah, Khartoum, and Sennar, many have returned to areas that lack critical resources such as food, shelter, and healthcare. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), bombardments and artillery shellings have destroyed or significantly damaged a litany of critical infrastructures, including water reservoirs, hospitals, and schools.
“While many people are eager to return home, the conditions for safe and sustainable return and integration are not yet in place,” said Mohamed Refaat, Chief of Mission of IOM Sudan. “Basic services including healthcare, protection, education, and food are scarce, and the lack of functional infrastructure and financial capacity will make it difficult for families to rebuild their lives.”
Levels of displacement have been on the rise in North Darfur and the White Nile states due to heightened insecurity in those areas. The UN and its partners remain on the frontlines of this crisis, providing basic services and nutritional assistance to communities that have been hit the hardest by this crisis.
On March 27, WFP delivered 1,200 metric tons of food to roughly 100,000 people in the Bahri and Omdurman regions in Khartoum, marking the first time WFP deliveries had successfully reached civilians in the area since the latest surge of hostilities.
IPS UN Bureau Report
LONDON, Apr 2 2025 (IPS) - Today’s multiple and connected crises – including conflicts, climate breakdown and democratic regression – are overwhelming the capabilities of the international institutions designed to address problems states can’t or won’t solve. Now US withdrawal from global bodies threatens to worsen a crisis in international cooperation.
The second Trump administration quickly announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO), terminated its cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council, walked out of negotiations on a global tax treaty and imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court officials.
Although the USA has sometimes been an obstructive force, including by repeatedly blocking Security Council resolutions on Israel, global institutions lose legitimacy when powerful states opt out. While all states are formally equal in the UN, the reality is that the USA’s decisions to participate or quit matter more than most because it’s a superpower whose actions have global implications. It’s also the biggest funder of UN institutions, even if it has a poor record in paying on time.
As it stands, the USA’s WHO withdrawal will take effect in January 2026, although the decision could face a legal challenge and Trump could rescind his decision if the WHO makes changes to his liking, since deal-making powered by threats and brinkmanship is how he does business. But if withdrawal happens, the WHO will be hard hit. The US government is the WHO’s biggest contributor, providing around 18 per cent of funding. That’s a huge gap to fill, and it’s likely the organisation will have to cut back its work. Progress towards a global pandemic treaty, under negotiation since 2021, may be hindered.
It’s possible philanthropic sources will step up their support, and other states may help fill the gap. The challenge comes if authoritarian states take advantage of the situation by increasing their contributions and expect greater influence in return. China, for example, may be poised to do so.
That’s what happened when the first Trump administration pulled out of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). China filled the vacuum by increasing its contributions to become UNESCO’s biggest annual funder. Presumably not coincidentally, a Chinese official became its deputy head, while China was able to block Taiwan’s attempts to join. It was out of concern about this growing influence that the Biden administration took the USA back into UNESCO in 2023; that decision could now be reversed, as Trump has claimed UNESCO is biased against the USA and ordered a review.
The Human Rights Council may be less immediately affected because the USA isn’t currently a member, its term having ended at the close of 2024. It rejoined in 2021 after Trump pulled out in 2018, and had already made the unusual decision not to seek a second term, likely because this would have provoked a backlash over its support for Israel. Apart from its relationship with Israel, however, during its term under the Biden administration the USA was largely recognised as playing a positive role in the Council’s business. If it refuses to cooperate, it deprives US citizens of a vital avenue of redress.
The USA’s actions may also inspire other states with extremist leaders to follow suit. Argentina’s President Milei, a keen Trump admirer, has imitated him by announcing his country’s departure from the WHO. Political leaders in Hungary and Italy have discussed doing the same. Israel followed the USA in declaring it wouldn’t engage with the Human Rights Council. For its own reasons, in February authoritarian Nicaragua also announced its withdrawal from the Council following a report critical of its appalling human rights record.
It could be argued that institutions like the Human Rights Council and UNESCO, having survived one Trump withdrawal, can endure a second. But these shocks come at a different time, when the UN system is already more fragile and damaged. Now the very idea of multilateralism and a rules-based international order is under attack, with transactional politics and hard-nosed national power calculations on the rise. Backroom deals resulting from power games are replacing processes with a degree of transparency aimed at achieving consensus. The space for civil society engagement and opportunities for leverage are in danger of shrinking accordingly.
Real reform needed
Revitalising the UN may seem a tall order when it’s under attack, but as CIVICUS’s 2025 State of Civil Society Report outlines, civil society has ideas about how to save the UN by putting people at its heart. The UNMute Civil Society initiative, backed by over 300 organisations and numerous states, makes five calls to improve civil society’s involvement: using digital technologies to broaden participation, bridging digital divides by focusing on connectivity for the most excluded, changing procedures and practices to ensure effective and meaningful participation, creating an annual civil society action day as an opportunity to assess progress on civil society participation and appointing a UN civil society envoy.
Each of these ideas is practical and could open up space for greater reforms. A UN civil society envoy could, for example, promote best practices in civil society participation across the UN and ensure a diverse range of civil society is involved in the UN’s work.
Civil society is also calling for competitive Human Rights Council elections, with a civil society role in scrutinising candidates, and limits on Security Council veto powers. And as time approaches to pick a new UN Secretary-General, civil society is mobilising the 1 for 8 billion campaign, pushing for an open, transparent, inclusive and merit-based selection process. The office has always been held by a man, and the call is for the UN to make history by appointing a feminist woman leader.
These would all offer small steps towards making the UN system more open, democratic and accountable. There’s nothing impossible or unimaginable about these ideas, and times of crisis create opportunities to experiment. States that want to reverse the tide of attacks on international cooperation and revitalise the UN should work with civil society to take them forward.
Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org.