Armed conflict has been on the rise over the past decade. There has been an increase not only in the number of conflicts—more than 120 globally this year—but also the number of individuals affected by conflict-related violence. In contexts like Gaza, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and elsewhere, civilians and […] The post Why Peacebuilding Must Include Mental Health and Psychosocial Support appeared first on IPI Global Observatory.| IPI Global Observatory
The current state of “no war no peace” in northern Ethiopia seems to be preserved only by the rainy season’s predictable afternoon showers and relatively chill air. Tigrayans are making anxious preparations—“stocking up on emergency supplies and withdrawing their savings from the bank”—before the rainy season winds down.The Pretoria Agreement, signed in November 2022, silenced […]| IPI Global Observatory
The 80th anniversary of the United Nations should have been a celebration. Instead, it has become a reckoning.At the heart of that reckoning is the Mandate Implementation Review (MIR), a quietly released but deeply consequential report that diagnoses a long-festering problem inside the UN system: mandate overload. Since 1946, more than 40,000 resolutions have been […]| IPI Global Observatory
The headlines are loud and clear: The UN is experiencing “its biggest single crisis in 80 years.” It is facing a “life-threatening” moment of crisis. It is in the midst of a “record-level cash crisis.” Worse, this is taking place during a global polycrisis of compounding shocks and fragmented responses. Add in the “triple planetary […] The post It’s Time for the UN to Move Beyond the Language of Crisis appeared first on IPI Global Observatory.| IPI Global Observatory
In March 2025, the arrest of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar reignited fears of renewed civil war. Armed clashes broke out across Upper Nile and Jonglei, echoing the collapse of earlier peace agreements. For the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which helped broker the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict […]| IPI Global Observatory
Five essential mechanisms for designing an effective international treaty to combat plastic pollution, focusing on adaptive governance structures that can strengthen over time despite uncertainty.| IPI Global Observatory
When the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco 80 years ago, the United States was not just the host—it was the architect. American leadership helped craft a vision of peace secured not through domination but through cooperation. “We the peoples,” the Charter begins—a declaration that global dignity, development, and security would be shared […]| IPI Global Observatory
When the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco 80 years ago, the United States was not just the host—it was the architect. American leadership helped craft a vision of peace secured not through domination but through cooperation. “We the peoples,” the Charter begins—a declaration that global dignity, development, and security would be shared […]| IPI Global Observatory
In recent years, global attention to the role of international arms transfers in harming civilians has soared. Much of this attention stems from the United States’ and other countries’ exports to Israel despite overwhelming evidence that Israel is using those weapons to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure in the occupied Palestinian territory and the […] The post Weapons without Consequences: How the Global Arms Trade Undermines the Protection of Civilians appeared first ...| IPI Global Observatory
At the first informal briefing on UN80 by the UN secretary-general on May 12th, a significant number of member states, predominantly from the Global South, highlighted that this round of UN reform should aim to make the organization more inclusive. At first glance, this desired outcome seems out of sync with the political context. After […] The post UN80: Seizing the Opportunity for a More Inclusive United Nations appeared first on IPI Global Observatory.| IPI Global Observatory
These are not easy times to think about reforming or even rebuilding the international cooperation architecture to meet the challenges facing humanity. It is therefore only natural to defend what has been achieved as far as possible and, at best, to strive for incremental improvements. However, this entails the risk of remaining stuck in outdated patterns instead of […]| IPI Global Observatory
This series explores the #PandemicAgreement adopted on May 20, 2025, and how it could shape a more equitable multilateral response to global health emergencies.| IPI Global Observatory
Amid geopolitical fragmentation and rising nationalist sentiment, the negotiations leading to the Pandemic Agreement—which was adopted on May 20, 2025 at the World Health Assembly—have shown that multilateral diplomacy is more difficult than ever—but also more vital. For decades, cooperation on global health was treated as self-evident. The shared logic was clear: pandemics, like the climate […]| IPI Global Observatory
In this interview, Deqa Yasin recounts her experiences as a Somali Minister and a survivor of online attacks, and talks about the role of the international community in combating online gender-based violence, how women in leadership roles can be supported, and what the future holds for women’s rights in Somalia.| IPI Global Observatory
