A family prepares a banner to protest the effects of climate change on children outside their house in the village of Patzité, Quiché, Guatemala. Credit: UNICEF/Patricia Willocq
By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 2025 (IPS)
2025 has been marked by a significant escalation of the climate crisis and its effects on vulnerable populations, as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warn that average global temperatures could exceed the 1.5°C threshold within the next five years. In Latin America and the Caribbean, rising temperatures and emissions continue to strain access to essential services and deepen poverty, particularly among children.
“Children and adolescents bear the greatest burden of climate change,” said Roberto Benes, the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Not only because their developing bodies are more vulnerable to extreme phenomena such as cyclones or heatwaves, but also because these events disrupt their families’ livelihoods and their education. If children and young people don’t have the resources to meet their basic needs and develop their potential, and if adequate social protection systems are not in place, the region’s inequalities will only be perpetuated.”
On August 28, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and UNICEF published a joint report: The Impact of Climate Change on Child and Youth Poverty in Latin America, which details the impact of climate change on youth poverty in the region as well as current government and humanitarian initiatives aimed at climate adaptation and loss mitigation.
According to the report, poverty rates in Latin America have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing an additional 22 million people into poverty. It is estimated that roughly 94 million children and adolescents are living in poverty, making up 52 percent of the region’s poor population. Despite youth making up only 39 percent of the total population, roughly 40 percent of all children under the age of 15 live in poverty.
The frequency of extreme weather events in Latin America has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching nearly 30 per year in the early 2020s. In the Caribbean, some countries are already experiencing monthly temperature increases that exceed the 1.5°C threshold. Meanwhile, Latin American countries such as Argentina and Chile do not exceed 1°C and face volatile precipitation patterns that increase flooding, particularly for low-lying coastal communities.
According to UNICEF’s Child Climate Risk Index, as a result of climate change, roughly 55 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean face water shortages, 60 million experience cyclones, and 45 million are exposed to extreme heat. Furthermore, there has been an increase in the frequency of floods and landslides from heavy torrential rains, which have damaged numerous critical infrastructures that children depend on, such as schools, healthcare centers, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Floods and rising temperatures have also given way to a rise in waterborne and vector-borne diseases, such as diarrhea, malaria, zika, and dengue.
Additionally, agriculture and food production has been hindered by persistent droughts, particularly in northeastern Brazil, areas in the Southern Cone, and the Central American dry corridor. Poor children and adolescents in these regions face extended periods of nutritional deprivation, which heightens the risk of malnutrition. It is estimated that anywhere between 570,000 and over 1 million children under 5 could suffer from stunted growth by 2030 due to climate change.
Estimated economic losses from natural disasters have increased nearly tenfold since the 1960s.“These increasing impacts divert resources towards damage repair and adaptation instead of investing in infrastructure, education, or innovation. This creates an opportunity cost by limiting potential growth and perpetuates development gaps, hindering the reduction of inequalities in Latin America,” the report said.
Current climate adaptation policies and funding fail to adequately prioritize the needs of children, with critical services such as health, nutrition, education, water, and sanitation being limited, jeopardizing cognitive and physical development. It is projected that by 2030, at least 5.9 million additional children, adolescents, and youth could be pushed into poverty—a figure that could triple to nearly 17.9 million if funding and humanitarian action remain insufficient.
Although children and adolescents are the most climate-vulnerable populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, climate financing directed toward youth accounts for just 3.4 percent of the region’s multilateral climate funding, totaling at roughly USD 743 million. However, these funds are primarily reserved for education projects and do not cover investment needs for other basic sectors such as healthcare, which is urgent in the face of rising child morbidity in the region. Additionally, child-sensitive climate funds only reach children in six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
The report also highlights that climate change risks worsening existing wealth disparities and gender inequality in the region. Latin America and the Caribbean — described as the “most unequal region in the world” — are projected to see poorer families experience higher rates of poverty, hindered recovery, and greater challenges adapting to natural disasters. Women and girls are disproportionately affected, facing higher levels of unemployment, difficulty reentering the workforce, relative asset losses, and increased school dropout rates.
“Without investment in resilient services for children, and without sustained political will from countries and other sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the children and youth of 2030 will continue to be deprived of their rights,” said UNICEF climate advisor Reis López. “This will only perpetuate inequality in one of the most unequal regions of the world.”
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Families in northeastern Afghanistan have been devastated by last Sunday's earthquake. Credit: IOM
By Monica Hirst
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Sep 4 2025 (IPS)
Since January 2025, Donald Trump’s second presidency has been focused on securing the global supremacy of the United States. It justifies a package of international coercive and intimidatory measures, accompanied by an aggressive, arrogant rhetoric. Right at the outset, the new administration announced a veritable tsunami of tariffs and immediately implemented them as a sign of its new independence.
This demonstrated Washington’s willingness to turn access to the US market into a challenge fraught with uncertainty and protracted bilateral negotiations. This massive blow to the global trading system affects all of the United States’ economic relations – including those with Brazil.
In addition to a general 10 per cent increase in all tariffs on US imports, a differential treatment policy for countries and regions was introduced based on varying and sometimes opaque criteria. The US President interprets the need to combat the American trade deficit as a national emergency that justifies the imposition of counter-tariffs.
By August, 94 countries were already affected by this contentious policy. Some, including Vietnam, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the European Union, managed to reach tariff agreements, but only at the cost of various concessions and often significant losses.
An ideology-driven policy
In the first few months of Trump’s term in office, Brazil kept a safe distance from Washington’s coercive measures. The Lula government managed to continue its active and self-confident foreign policy.
Brasília’s claim to influence, whose voice is heard on issues of global governance, was bolstered by its role as host of high-level multilateral meetings held this year, including the G20 summit, the meeting of BRICS heads of state and government, and, before long, the COP30 world climate conference.
Relations with China, Brazil’s most important trading partner, accounting for 28 per cent of Brazilian foreign trade, also gained new significance; both sides signed 36 agreements on a wide range of economic, technological and cultural issues.
While the Lula administration sought dialogue with the White House to address the consequences and potential damage of the new US tariff policy – as Brazil’s second-largest trading partner, the United States accounts for 12 per cent of the country’s exports – it was only a matter of time before the US administration’s aggressive stance on trade and tariffs would have an impact on Brazil’s economy.
On 18 July, the American government informed President Lula da Silva in a letter that tariffs of 50 per cent would henceforth be levied on imports from Brazil, marking the start of a heated exchange with the Planalto, the seat of the president’s government.
By executive order, Trump imposed an additional 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports, supplemented by a list of 700 exceptions.
The justification for increasing tariffs to offset the bilateral trade deficit proved unfounded, as the trade balance has consistently shown a surplus in favour of the United States for more than 15 years.
Additionally, the American president’s letter went beyond trade policy arguments and addressed political issues related to the court proceedings against former President Bolsonaro and the rulings of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF), which affect the interests of US digital platform companies.
Lula’s government perceived the letter as ‘unacceptable blackmail,’ leading to growing tensions that were exacerbated by repeated public statements by the US president and his staff. Value judgements were made about Brazilian democracy and its institutions, and the priorities of Brazilian foreign policy were called into question, including the organisation of the BRICS, which Brazil currently chairs.
This was followed by an investigation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) based on Section 301, which allows unilateral retaliatory measures to protect national interests. By executive order, Trump finally imposed an additional 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports, supplemented by a list of 700 exceptions.
The Trump administration also began to question the competitive conditions for North American companies in Brazil, attacking the PIX instant payment system and criticising environmental policy, anti-corruption policy, the handling of digital platforms and the effects of preferential trade agreements with third countries.
Right-wing circles seized the opportunity to blame Lula for the escalation with Washington.
A further boost to this ideologically motivated campaign came from the close ties between individual actors and political organisations on the American and Brazilian far right, particularly between Trumpism and Bolsonarism.
The influence of the United States in Latin America, especially in Brazil, is not a new phenomenon, but in this case it took on a new form: Digital media channels were mobilised in coordination with the ideological crusades of the local right against the institutions of the Brazilian republic — especially the judicial system.
Creating fault lines between Brazil’s political forces, exacerbated by the real economic costs that the tariff shock entailed for Brazilian industries. Right-wing circles seized the opportunity to blame Lula for the escalation with Washington.
The timing of Trump’s tariff shock, coinciding with the court ruling against former President Jair Bolsonaro – for his responsibility in the attempted coup in 2023 – further fuelled the fire. The Magnitsky Act was instrumentalised to sanction STF judges and stylise Bolsonaro as a victim of human rights violations in the eyes of Trumpists.
At the same time, Washington rejected the dispute settlement mechanisms of the World Trade Organisation, justifying this with security policy arguments that increasingly dominate Trump’s narrative.
Trump’s criticism of Brazil’s international policy is also becoming increasingly vocal in this context. The political steadfastness and keen sense of economic opportunity that have characterised Lula’s foreign policy to date will be powerless against the thorny and delicate prospects in the short to medium term.
The country’s right to determine its position in the world autonomously is being called into question. The Planalto’s response to the repeated political coercion of Trump’s tariffs is based on the inseparability of sovereignty, autonomy and the defence of democracy.
Alternative partnerships
The Brazilian government does not see this as a lonely crusade, but is increasingly seeking partners and allies in all directions. Opening the doors to Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam is intended to add further counterweights to the connection with China and better link the Brazilian economy with the dynamic Asian value chains.
At the same time, Brasília is focusing on dialogue with India – a key partner in the BRICS – on issues of global governance, investment, agribusiness and digital technologies. Within the region itself, the aim is to overcome the inertia that has long prevented greater progress in relations between Brazil and Mexico.
The Trump nightmare is a strong incentive to overcome the mutual indifference that has stood in the way of sustainable cooperation between Latin America’s two largest economies. As far as European countries are concerned, Brazil is keen to expand the agenda of common interests at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
The European Union is currently one of Brazil’s most important trading partners, with a trade volume of over nine billion dollars. Of particular note is the Brazilian government’s commitment to concluding the long-delayed EU-Mercosur agreement, driven by the need to expand common interests and opportunities in areas such as energy transition, technology and strengthening multilateralism.
Closer cooperation with the world’s democracies is taking on new significance – as a safeguard for the rule of law in Brazil itself.
So far, the European Union has treated the BRICS and the Global South with palpable scepticism and has avoided acknowledging their contributions to negotiations on international policy issues. Instead of taking note of the neutral and pragmatic positions and initiatives of many states, the EU is dominated by the interpretation – shared by Trump – that these are anti-Western groups.
It would be a mistake not to develop a dialogue with the emerging powers of the South to address issues such as the genocide in Gaza, an understanding with Iran or a just peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Even if this does not reduce the costly strategic dependence on the US in the short term, these steps would enable European governments to engage in inclusive and constructive projects on the changing world stage.
Undoubtedly, the Lula government would be the first to support moving the political game in this direction. Closer cooperation with the world’s democracies thus takes on new significance – as a safeguard for the rule of law in Brazil itself.
Monica Hirst is a research fellow at the National Institute for Science and Technology Studies in Brazil.
Source: International Politics and Society (IPS), Brussels
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Ce mercredi 3 septembre 2025, Lokossa, la ville de l'espérance, s'est transformée en un haut lieu de célébration politique.
La population de Lokossa s'est rassemblée massivement, ce mercredi 3 septembre 2025, pour exprimer sa reconnaissance envers le Chef de l'État, suite à la désignation de Romuald Wadagni comme candidat de la mouvance présidentielle pour 2026.
Dès les premières heures du matin, le stade de la ville de l'espérance a commencé à se remplir. Chants, danses, drapeaux et ovations rythmaient l'ambiance. Des familles entières ont fait le déplacement, habillées aux couleurs nationales, prêtes à vivre un moment fort.
Pour de nombreux habitants, cette journée représente plus qu'un événement politique. Elle incarne une reconnaissance partagée pour les actions du Président Talon et une adhésion au profil de Romuald Wadagni, perçu comme une figure de compétence, de jeunesse et de continuité.
« Ce choix inspire confiance. C'est un signe fort que l'avenir est entre de bonnes mains », témoigne un participant rencontré sur place.
M. M.
Le gouvernement a adopté, ce mercredi 3 septembre 2025, le Plan national de développement sanitaire pour la période 2026-2030.
Un nouveau Plan national de développement sanitaire adopté au Bénin. Il s'agit selon le gouvernement, d'un document de référence pour l'ensemble des acteurs du secteur de la Santé, en lien avec l'atteinte des objectifs de la Politique nationale de Santé sur la période 2018-2030. Sa finalité est de favoriser l'amélioration de l'état de santé et le bien-être des populations et s'inscrit dans les perspectives des Objectifs de Développement durable (ODD). Le contenu dudit plan tient compte des faiblesses de la précédente édition conformément à l'évaluation qui en a été faite et intègre les nouveaux défis du secteur.
D'un coût estimatif de 996.391.637.000 FCFA, sa mise en œuvre permettra, entre autres, de renforcer la gouvernance du secteur de la Santé, d'améliorer les prestations de service et la qualité des soins, dans un environnement où la disponibilité des produits de santé ainsi que des infrastructures et des équipements traduisent les avancées notables du secteur.
La commune de Parakou, à travers sa première autorité, a annoncé son soutien à la candidature de Romuald Wadagni pour la présidentielle de 2026.
Membre du Bloc Républicain, le maire de Parakou, Inoussa Zimé Chabi, a annoncé au candidat désigné par la mouvance à la présidentielle de 2026.
L'édile voit dans le choix de Romuald Wadagni une continuité.
Selon lui, l'alliance entre le Bloc Républicain et l'Union Progressiste le Renouveau s'inscrit dans la logique des réformes engagées par Patrice Talon. « Là où certains promettaient, il a agi ».
Le maire a salué la rigueur et la transparence de Wadagni. Il a rappelé son rôle dans la crédibilité internationale du Bénin. Inoussa Zimé Chabi a mis en avant les réalisations concrètes du président Talon à Parakou et dans tout le Bénin. Routes, énergie, climat des affaires : les acquis sont visibles, a-t-il insisté.
Un appel à l'unité autour de Parakou
« Là où certains promettaient, il a agi », a déclaré le maire.
Dans sa déclaration, le maire a appelé les forces vives de Parakou à se rassembler. Il invite la région septentrionale à s'unir derrière Wadagni. Pour lui, il s'agit d'un choix d'évidence et non d'un pari.
La désignation du ministre Romuald Wadagni comme candidat à la présidentielle de 2026 continue de susciter des soutiens.
À Bopa, dans le département du Mono, les jeunes et plusieurs acteurs ont annoncé ce 3 septembre 2025, leur soutien dans les circonscriptions, communes et villages au candidat Romuald Wadagni.
Le professeur Kakpo Mahougnon salue l'élan d'unité qui se forme autour du ministre. Pour lui, cette candidature fédère les énergies et ouvre « la grande porte de l'unité » dans la commune.
Ensemble nous pouvons, affirme le professeur Kakpo, convaincu que la mobilisation autour de Romuald Wadagni dépasse le cadre local pour toucher toute la 18e circonscription, le Mono-Couffo et, plus largement le territoire national.
Selon lui, l'échéance de 2026 doit être celle de la victoire et de l'unité nationale.
M. M.
La Cour constitutionnelle annonce le recrutement de délégués pour l'observation des différentes phases des élections législatives du 11 janvier 2026. Les dossiers de candidatures doivent être envoyés sur la plateforme erecrutement.courconstitutionnelle.bj du 15 septembre au 14 octobre 2025. Lire les pièces à fournir.
During the first years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, brave Afghan women in Kabul and several other provinces rose up in protest. Credit: Learning Together.
By External Source
KABUL, Sep 3 2025 (IPS)
This year marks the fourth anniversary of the Taliban retaking power in Afghanistan. All these years have been one long nightmare for the women of Afghanistan, the ones who have borne the brunt of oppression – arguably the worst of its kind anywhere in the world.
To mark the occasion we find it appropriate to take a short trip in history back into the last four years to recollect how it all unfolded and how Afghan women have endured it this far.
On August 15, 2021, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. The event marked the end of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, led by Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, and the return of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” under Taliban rule. This political change started a new chapter of suffering, systemic bans, and harsh restrictions reserved mainly for women and girls.
Within a very short time, the Taliban introduced strict rules affecting education, work, public life, and even travel. Girls were banned from school; women were ejected from government work and the public sector; they were compelled to wear full covering and not allowed to travel without a male guardian.
The year 2021 was painful, suffocating, and deeply traumatizing for Afghan women and girls. In late August 2021, schools remained open up to grade 12 only in a few provinces of Balkh, Kunduz, Jawzjan, Sar-e Pol, Faryab, and Daikund – where local officials ignored the Taliban leadership’s orders. In most other provinces, girls were stopped from going to school.
A “Temporary” Suspension That Still Stands
The Taliban’s Ministry of Education officially announced that only primary schools – up to grade 6 – would stay open for girls. Secondary and high schools were, however, suspended “until further notice”. They would only reopen if “Islamic rules were followed, such as wearing the proper religious clothing.” Four years on, the so-called temporary suspension in still place.
In September 2021, the Taliban shut down the Ministry of women’s Affairs and handed over its building to the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Thus, a ministry notorious for its harsh and oppressive treatment of women and girls, was preferred to the one meant to raise awareness, promote gender equality and support women’s participation in national development.
By December 2021, the Taliban moved to make a black full-body covering that shows only the eyes or a burqa, mandatory for women. At universities, female and male classes were completely separated.
Women Protest—Despite Crackdowns
But Afghan women did not take these oppressive rules on the chin. On the contrary, they took to the streets of Kabul and protested vigorously, with slogans such as, “Work, education, freedom, and political participation are our rights.”
The Taliban predictably responded with brutal force, including even firing live rounds into crowds to break up the protests, but the women remained undeterred. The protests inspired similar actions in other provinces such as Herat, Balkh, Badakhshan, Daikundi, Bamyan, and Nangarhar.
Amidst the protests and brutalities, the women still held onto hope. “Brighter days will come”, they used to say, but in 2022, the Taliban escalated the bans on women’s social life, once again, beginning with education. That year, Afghan girls were officially banned from entering universities and barred from registering for the national university entrance exams.
Media restrictions and mandatory dress codes, which started in November 2021, intensified in 2022. The sight of women was banished from television and cinema screens, and female journalists were compelled to cover their entire faces. In May 2022, wearing the full-body abaya with a niqab became mandatory. Failure to comply was punished by fines, job loss, and even imprisonment.
In April 2022, restrictions began with new rules assigning specific days for women to visit public parks. By November of the same year, women were entirely forbidden to visit public parks, gyms, and bathhouses. Severe travel restrictions were also placed on women. They were forbidden to travel more than 72 kilometres without a male guardian. This rule was enforced regardless of whether the woman had a husband at home or not, or whether the guardian was able to accompany her. Transportation companies and airlines were ordered to enforce this rule, violators would have their vehicles seized or imprisoned.
Eventually, women were pushed out of government jobs altogether. The largest wave of dismissals happened in September 2022. By December, women’s participation in NGOs, international organizations, and UN offices was completely banned. This also affected thousands of women, many of them nurses and midwives working in the health sector, severely jeopardizing an already creaky health services of people in a war-torn country.
As the years progressed, the banning decrees kept flying out like snowflakes, with increasing violence. In Logar, Kabul, Herat, Faryab, Jawzjan, and Ghor provinces, public floggings, stoning and executions were carried out against women accused of moral crimes.
In spite of that, brave Afghan women in Kabul and several other provinces rose up in protest. They chanted slogans like “Bread, Work, Education It’s Our Right,” “We Will Not Back Down”.
Undeterred by serious threats and dangers, these courageous women raised their voices louder than ever before. They showed unprecedented resilience against oppression, hoping their protests would become a symbol of civil resistance for Afghan women everywhere.
We spent the last three years like the living dead, silent, breathless, merely surviving hoping each day that the next decree would not bring more loss. As we stepped into 2025, we carried with us a fragile hope that the injustice, oppression, and inequality would end. But this year, too, has mirrored the years before.
The voices of young girls have been replaced by locked doors, forced silence, and tired, defeated gazes.
The very women who are meant to save lives in the future are now imprisoned behind the walls of their own homes. Beauty salons have been shut down as if femininity itself were a crime. Learning centers are silent, universities are forgotten and even dreams once bold and vibrant have been exorcised from the mind.
The year 2025 continues to mark a series of systematic and oppressive steps by the Taliban aimed at gradually erasing women from public life. Afghan women remain trapped under oppression, yet with an unbreakable spirit, we hold onto hope for a day when freedom, education, and justice will return to our land.
A Call to the International Community
This hope, however, would only become reality when the international community and the European Union listen to the demands of Afghan women and respond with tangible and effective actions.
We are not just asking for sympathy or words of condemnation, we are calling for real action. We are standing firm and we will not surrender. Now it is the turn of the international community to stand with us.
Excerpt:
The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsDes marches sont en cours de préparation dans plusieurs localités pour remercier le Chef de l'Etat Patrice Talon pour ses actions à la tête du Bénin à l'issue de deux mandats. C'est à l'initiative de mouvements de jeunes, d'organisations politiques et de citoyens engagés.
Les deux mandats du Chef de l'Etat Patrice Talon sont marqués par des réformes audacieuses, des investissements massifs dans les infrastructures, l'assainissement de l'économie, la digitalisation de l'administration et la modernisation de plusieurs secteurs clés comme la santé, l'éducation et la sécurité. Des populations d'Abomey, Ouidah, Lokossa et Djougou et Kandi envisagent de rendre hommage au président Talon à travers des marches dans les villes du Bénin.
Pour les initiateurs, ces marches constituent également une occasion de réaffirmer leur attachement aux idéaux de développement prônés par le président Patrice Talon et d'encourager la continuité du programme en cours. Ce sera un acte de remerciement pour une gouvernance qui a changé l'image du Bénin. Ces initiatives de reconnaissance populaire traduisent l'impact des actions gouvernementales sur les populations.