Sierra leone’s treasure lies above ground — Way Above
African street mechanics and junk scavengers push the global north towards climate solutions Freetown—Like…
Sierra leone’s treasure lies above ground — Way Above
African street mechanics and junk scavengers push the global north towards climate solutions Freetown—Like a pop star eager to match the success of his last big hit, Emmanuel Alie Mansaray stalks the streets of this steaming, teeming African capital searching. He’s searching for inspiration: the spark that will allow him again to capture lightning…
The $4 Trillion Bet to Save the Planet
From climate targets to social gains, renewable energy is seen as key to unlocking SDGs. Global progress on the U.N.’s 2030 goals has stalled. According to the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024, just 17% of the targets are on track. Closing a $4 trillion financing gap is now seen as vital—not only to keep…
The Hidden Pandemic Human Trafficking
UNODC’s 2024 report shows that trafficking victims rose sharply after the pandemic, with children and forced labor at the center of the surge. Human trafficking is deepening in the shadows of today’s crises — expanding amid conflict, climate pressures, and the vulnerabilities left behind by COVID-19. A United Nations report warns that traffickers…
Witnesses to the World’s Trauma
Journalists record the world’s tragedies, but who records their pain? Disasters produce journalists who quickly reach the affected areas. First responders and journalists enter dangerous situations to document destruction while they take images of losses and provide emotional testimony about war and crisis-related catastrophes. Their mission requires non-interference, yet they experience the heavy emotional…
Math as a New Civil Right
Why America fails at math and how we can change it Math is more than a subject; it is a civil right. When even the Supreme Court falters on cases rooted in mathematics, it reveals how fragile democracy can be. The documentary Counted Out brings this to life through a mother confronting her math…
Guterres pushes U.N. reform as organization marks 80 years
Inside U.N. chief António Guterres’ bold gamble to streamline mandates, tame finances, and keep diplomacy alive. Reform has already begun to feel passé as the months of this year have rolled by. Projecting into the future makes policy and peace processes harder to chart, especially in an era of division and polarization. This year,…
Fragile calm after the storm as the Middle East faces turbulence and NATO recalibrates
With global defense budgets soaring to heights unseen since the Cold War, NATO and regional powers are racing to fuse intelligence, technology, and early-warning systems into the core of modern deterrence. Twelve days of brutal warfare in the Middle East may have subsided, but the region remains a tinderbox of uncertainty. A cease-fire — fragile…
Local Diplomacy Across the Strait of Gibraltar
Reviving its historic link with Morocco’s Chefchaouen, a small town in southern Spain, proves that cross-border cooperation can dismantle prejudice and offer a working model for the Alliance of Civilizations’ vision of intercultural understanding. As governments tighten borders and harden rhetoric, some communities are proving that diplomacy can start at street level. In southern Spain,…
A Faint Hint of Jasmine: Memoirs of a Taiwanese Tea Table
Green teas are monks subscribed to a plain, austere life. Black teas are a brocade armchair by the fire, doubling as your therapist. But the Paochong is an oolong tea — a dancer, a show pony — the beauty pageant of teas. On the morning of Friday, July 11, in between two live segments of…
Will the 21st Century Be the One That Ends Wars?
“One day, even people in Israel will wake up and say: what have we been doing?” says U.N. High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos. He argues that a new generation, unwilling to accept the suffering of war, could make this century the one that ends it. These are times of global…
Who Watches the Watchers? The Private Companies Behind Global Surveillance
Data Privacy and Human Rights: Balancing Security and Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism The Day the Phone Rang In a quiet neighborhood in Nairobi, Amina’s phone rang one morning with a message she didn’t understand. It wasn’t spam—it was a notification from a digital ID system designed to protect citizens from terrorism….
How Diplomats Date: Behind the Scenes of Love Lives in High-Stakes Positions
From carefully worded online dating profiles to explicit bans on foreign partners, diplomats navigate romance in an environment where relationships are bound by protocol, politics, and the ticking clock of their next posting. A diplomat’s love life is rarely straightforward between rotating postings, strict security rules, and the never-ending suspicion that intimacy might double as…
Heritage for Humanity UNESCO adds 26 new sites To World Heritage List
From sacred landscapes to sites of remembrance, UNESCO’s 2025 additions reflect a global commitment to cultural resilience, ecological unity, and the power of local voices. In a world often marked by division, the enduring legacy of shared history took center stage once again in Paris, where the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee…
How Loan Trading Could Transform Developing Economies
By opening the door for banks to trade loans, developing countries could unlock billions in untapped capital, giving small businesses and everyday borrowers a fair shot at growth. In much of the developing world, the story is frustratingly familiar: small businesses with big ambitions can’t get the financing they need, and individuals with valuable property…
Climate Doomsday? Why There’s Still Room for Climate Optimism
We are definitely not on track to reach the climate targets of the Paris Agreement. In about two years, humanity will have used up the remaining carbon budget – that is, the emissions that can still be released to the atmosphere – consistent with the goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5°C. Yet, despite…
The World’s Health Sends an S.O.S.
Between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years, the steepest decline in decades. The World Health Organization’s 2025 data reads like a warning siren: the world’s health gains are stalling, and the 2030 goals are slipping further out of reach. Rising anxiety and depression during the pandemic also erased nearly six weeks…
