Global Issues

TOKYO, Japan, December 22 (IPS) - Leaders of Japan and the five Central Asian states met in Tokyo on Dec. 20 and adopted the “Tokyo Declaration,” launching a new leaders-level format under the “Central Asia plus Japan Dialogue” (CA+JAD). The declaration places at the core of cooperation two priorities: strengthening supply-chain resilience for critical minerals, and supporting the Trans-Caspian Corridor (the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), which links Central Asia with Europe without transiting Russia. Read the full story, “Central Asia–Japan Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo Backs Trans-Caspian Corridor; Tokayev Warns Nuclear Risks Are Rising”, on globalissues.org →

Fulgence Ndayizeye, a Burundian bicycle taxi driver who used to cross the Congolese-Burundian border every day to support his family, wanted to return home. He and more than 500 other Burundians, including women, men, and children, stranded in Uvira on the border between the DRC and Rwanda, were finally allowed to return to their country on Sunday, December 14, 2025, by M23-Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebels after being stuck in the DRC due to an M23 rebel offensive that had taken the town a few days earlier. According to Human Rights Watch the M23 and Rwandan forces entered Uvira on Read the full story, “Day Laborers, Trapped in a Complex War Between M25 Rebels and the DRC, Return Home”, on globalissues.org →

Multiple shocks defined 2025: conflict, climate breakdown and shrinking democracy. Multilateral institutions were tested as never before. Read the full story, “End of Year Video 2025”, on globalissues.org →

TORONTO, Canada, December 22 (IPS) - Our traditional “year-ender” usually kicks off with a grim litany of world disasters and crises over the past 12 months, highlights IPS partners and contributors and culminates in a more positive-sounding finale. This time I’d like to begin on a more personal note intended also as a metaphor. Read the full story, “Rescued from Fire: the World in 2025”, on globalissues.org →

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, December 22 (IPS) - Myanmar is heading for an election, beginning on 28 December, that’s ostensibly an exercise in democracy – but it has clearly been designed with the aim of conferring more legitimacy on its military junta. Read the full story, “Myanmar’s Sham Election: Trump Legitimises Murderous Military Dictatorship”, on globalissues.org →

UNITED NATIONS, December 22 (IPS) - 2025 marked a notable year of progress in reducing global hunger; yet climate pressures, economic instability, and ongoing conflicts continue to push agri-food systems to their limits, undermining food availability. In a new report, UN agencies raise the alarm on how these factors are particularly pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for 40 percent of the world’s undernourished. Read the full story, “Escalating Food Insecurity in Asia-Pacific Undermines Health, Economic Growth, and Stability”, on globalissues.org →

WINDHOEK, Namibia, December 22 (IPS) - Last November, the streets of Windhoek came alive with the sound of drums and brass as a marching band led a procession of women from Namibia’s Defence and security forces. Read the full story, “Namibia Leads the Way: Honouring 25 years of Women, Peace and Security”, on globalissues.org →

Past geopolitical tensions related to the synthetic drug “captagon” are now being mitigated with the Syrian authorities’ commitment to dismantle illicit manufacturing, says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).Read the full story, “Synthetic drug market disrupted in Syria after regime change”, on globalissues.org →

CIVICUS discusses climate displacement and Tuvalu’s future with Kiali Molu, a former civil servant at Tuvalu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and currently a PhD candidate at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Bergen in Norway. His research focuses on state sovereignty and climate change in the Pacific. Read the full story, “‘We Need a New Global Legal Framework That Rethinks Sovereignty in the Context of Climate Displacement’”, on globalissues.org →

NAIROBI, December 19 (IPS) - Farmers can now know and benefit from their contribution to climate change thanks to a formula that can be used to calculate the amount of carbon stored in fruit trees. Read the full story, “Farmers Can Now Measure and Benefit From Fruit Tree Carbon Trade”, on globalissues.org →