By Diwash Gahatraj
NEW DELHI, Mar 28 2025 – “The size of the faucet highlights the magnitude of the problem. It makes the problem impossible to ignore. We’re used to throwing things ‘away’—but when we’re confronted with what happens when ‘away’ is not an option, I think it creates an emotional wake-up call,” says Benjamin Von Wong.

The 39-year-old Canadian artist and activist is referring to his inspiration behind The Giant Plastic Tap installation, which created a buzz in the art world, highlighting the problem of plastic pollution.

Wong, known for his environmental art installations and hyper-realist art style, created the Giant Plastic Tap that features an oversized faucet seemingly floating in mid-air while spewing plastic waste, serving as a striking metaphor for the world’s urgent need to address plastic production at its source.

He explains, “I wanted to bring the phrase ‘Turn off the plastic tap’ to life in a tangible way. I adapted the concept of the ‘floating fountain’ but distorted it with plastic—to emphasize the urgency of tackling the problem at its source by reducing plastic production, rather than relying solely on downstream solutions like recycling and beach cleanups.”

Reportedly, the global effects of plastic pollution are becoming more evident, highlighting the urgent need for collective action. Scientific studies and policy changes are essential but it is also crucial to acknowledge the influence of art in raising awareness and inspiring people to act.

Art has a unique power to evoke emotions, ignite conversations, and build a deep connection between individuals and the environment.

In the fight against plastic pollution, one art installation has become a powerful symbol of change, with Wong playing an important role.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest crises of this generation.

The latest study, by charity EA Earth Action and released last year, revealed that more than a third of plastic waste will be improperly handled at the end of its lifecycle. This equates to 68.6 million tonnes of plastic, translating to an average of 28kg of plastic waste per person worldwide. In 2024, approximately 220 million tonnes of plastic waste were generated, marking a 7.11 percent increase since 2021.

Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong.

Art installed so far

Von Wong, who shifted from mining engineering to environmental activism through art, has created four large-scale faucet installations, showcased at venues including Art Basel, the United Nations Environment Assembly 5.2 in Nairobi (2022), and the United Nations Ocean Conference.

“We’ve installed them in over a dozen locations—but even more exciting is that hundreds of cardboard replicas have been made worldwide,” Wong says.

Wong reflects, “I’m not sure how you measure the impact of art, but I think the fact that this installation has become a symbol for the importance of a global plastic treaty is probably the biggest achievement.”

The Giant Plastic Tap has been featured at previous INC (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the plastic treaty) sessions. However, its absence was notably felt during the INC-5 conference in Busan, South Korea.

Wong says, “I did my best to have the tap installation placed in Busan, but it wasn’t allowed. Instead, the ‘beached whale’ was placed on the lawns of BEXCO, the exhibition center that hosted the event last year.” He adds, “Despite reaching out over six months in advance to the operations team, the delegation, and securing local partners with independent funding, we were met with silence.”

Interestingly, INC-5 failed to reach a consensus on the global plastic treaty due to disagreements over national interests, industry influence, financial and technical support, and enforcement mechanisms.

Despite current challenges in global plastic treaty negotiations, including the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists and the constraints of consensus-based decision-making, Artist Wong remains optimistic about the future. “I’m certain we will find a way forward,” he asserts, pointing to the numerous dedicated individuals and organizations working to advance the treaty.

Meanwhile, after the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee decided to postpone the fifth session, the second part of the fifth session (INC-5.2) is scheduled to take place from 5 to 14 August 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Involving locals

Wong involved the local communities to complete the installation at UNEA 5.2 in Nairobi. The project collaborated with the Human Needs Project to collect three tons of plastic from the Kibera slums. The initiative employed over 80 local women to clean and organize the plastic, ensuring their voices were heard by world leaders. “We also fundraised to support the creation of a more local waste management system,” he adds.

The installation has achieved significant success in its mission to influence public perception. Viewers consistently grasp the fundamental message about the need to stop plastic pollution, and the installation’s visual impact helps transform an intellectual discussion into an emotional experience. Its symbolism has become particularly significant in the context of the global plastic treaty discussions.

Lastly, can art play a pivotal role in driving real-world change? To this Wong draws a compelling parallel: “What is the value of a monument like the Statue of Liberty? How would you measure it?”

The success of The Giant Plastic Tap suggests that art remains a powerful catalyst for environmental awareness and social change, particularly when it transforms complex global issues into visceral, emotional experiences that resonate across cultural and linguistic barriers.

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By Viorel Gutu
ROME, Mar 28 2025 – Degrading soil, air pollution, vanishing biodiversity, emerging plant and animal health issues and more are coming together in the current situation of multiple crisis. Ensuring water security is just one, among the many challenges individuals, countries, and the world faces. Yet, we shouldn’t forget that water makes up the largest percentage of our bodies and the same applies to animals, plants and the planet’s surface. The threat of water insecurity is, as we all see, not a petty problem, but one of the greatest challenges of our century.

We need water security to ensure people have food on their plates. Moreover, water security is a catalyst for transforming the food and agricultural sectors to become more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. Since its founding in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has been an advocate for improved natural resource management, and more recently, the Organization is raising its voice every day for the application of sustainable water management practices as a prerequisite for farmers’ resilience and, thus, for safeguarding food security.

The 50-plus countries of Europe and Central Asia are not exempt from this situation, where growing water insecurity threatens to undermine agrifood systems, exacerbate inequalities, and impede progress toward a sustainable future.

For these reasons, water security was selected as the main theme of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024 report that will be released on 2 April, highlighting the water sector’s interlinkages with agriculture, food security and nutrition.

Growing water insecurity and unequal impacts

Water security in this region is marked by stark disparities. While certain European Union member countries have from more water security, people living in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Western Balkans face significant challenges. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are among the least water-secure nations in the region, with water consumption exceeding available resources in some cases, worsened by inefficiencies and losses caused by ageing irrigation infrastructure. The human toll is significant: floods and droughts affect over a million people, resulting in USD 14 billion in damages across the region, which brings me to a crucial point: climate change.

Climate change and rising demand for water are exacerbating water scarcity across the region. Variability in precipitation patterns, glacier melt, and prolonged droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense, taking a growing toll on agriculture and especially on farmers. In some parts of the region, energy demands – especially for hydropower in upstream countries like Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan– compete with downstream irrigation needs, highlighting the need for coordinated, transboundary water management.

Water security extends beyond quantity to quality and this aspect shouldn’t be overlooked. Agriculture remains a significant contributor to water pollution in many parts of the region, mostly through fertilizer and pesticide runoff, undermining both food safety and soil health. Ensuring adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure is critical to food security, particularly in rural areas.

The way forward: Innovation and governance

The complexity and interlinkedness of food and water security challenges call for innovative solutions and robust governance. FAO advocates for a water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus approach that emphasizes integrated resource management and which considers the needs of all relevant sectors. Among others, precision and digital agriculture, energy-efficient irrigation, reuse of treated wastewater, and nature-based interventions such as we can see in the example of the artificial glaciers in Kyrgyzstan are already contributing to this comprehensive approach.

In Europe and Central Asia, FAO has been putting its 80 years of expertise into supporting countries to strengthen climate resilience and water governance. These efforts include the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative, which focuses on modernizing irrigation, building drought resilience, and improving water quality. Water, sanitation, and hygiene standards are being enhanced in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan under the global One Health approach. Additionally, the Inter-Regional Technical Platform on Water Scarcity facilitates global collaboration and knowledge exchange to support countries in coping with the pursuit of food and water security, for a sustainable social and economic development.

One thing is clear as water: today’s investments in sustainable water management will yield dividends in food security, peace, and prosperity for future generations in Europe and Central Asia, and beyond.

Viorel Gutu, is Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 2025 – Despite levels of child mortality and stillbirths having significantly decreased since 2000, increasingly unequal and limited access to basic services around the world endangers millions of children around the world, a new report finds.

On March 24, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) released its annual report examining trends in child mortality. This report includes contributions from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since 2000, global rates of child mortality for children under the age of five has fallen by roughly 52 percent, which has been attributed to an increase in investments and collaboration between governments and communities. However, according to the UN IGME, global progress in the fight against child mortality has slowed down in recent years. Fouzia Shafique, UNICEF’s Associate Director of Health, states that since 2015, progress in reducing child deaths has slowed down by about 42 per cent compared to the 2000 to 2015 rate.

According to estimates from UNICEF, in 2023, there were approximately 4.8 million recorded instances of children dying before their fifth birthday, as well as 2.3 million newborn deaths. These deaths have been classified as preventable and were a result of limited access to healthcare, food assistance, and protection services. UNICEF projects that the number of preventable child deaths could increase by roughly 30 million children by 2030.

“Millions of children are alive today because of the global commitment to proven interventions, such as vaccines, nutrition, and access to safe water and basic sanitation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Bringing preventable child deaths to a record low is a remarkable achievement. But without the right policy choices and adequate investment, we risk reversing these hard-earned gains, with millions more children dying from preventable causes.”

There are significant disparities in child health and wellbeing, particularly in areas that have been impacted by severe humanitarian crises. It is estimated that children in high-child mortality countries are nearly 80 times more likely to die before the age of five than low- child mortality countries.

However, a 2024 study from the Stanford University School of Medicine states that the gap in rates of child mortality between the highest and lowest income families has slowly contracted over the years. The study analyzed roughly 1 million families in 54 low to middle income countries and examined correlations between child wellbeing and wealth.

“In many countries, national wealth has increased hand-in-hand with increasing health inequality. That’s been a signature of our time,” said Eran Bendavid, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford. “It’s a pressing concern for many societies, especially in wealthy countries, but it’s also been an issue in low- and middle-income countries.”

Additionally, mothers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, who have been exposed to high levels of economic insecurity, conflict, and climate change-induced disasters, account for roughly 80 percent of all stillbirths. These women are six to eight times more likely to have stillbirths than women in North America or Europe.

Shafique spoke to IPS of the current conditions that women and children face in the developing world. “In many low-income and developing countries, children face a much higher risk of dying simply because of where they’re born. Health services are sometimes hard to reach, especially in remote or conflict-affected areas, where there aren’t enough clinics, healthcare providers, or supplies and equipment. Without antenatal care, skilled attendants at birth, and post-natal care, more pregnant mothers lose their babies to stillbirth needlessly, and small and sick newborns die from preventable causes.”

“Home deliveries and inadequate care are also risky for children at term. Many children still die in the first five years of life from preventable illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria, where vaccines, good nutrition, and clean water are limited. Poverty also makes it harder for families to get the care they need,” she added.

Additional UNICEF statistics indicate that only one in twelve European mothers experience stillbirths during labour, compared to one in two mothers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

“Most preventable child deaths occur in low-income countries, where essential services, vaccines, and treatments are often inaccessible”, said Juan Pablo Uribe, World Bank Global Director for Health and Director of the Global Financing Facility.

According to estimates from WHO, limited access to essential resources, such as food, water, and healthcare, has greatly exacerbated the likelihood of birth complications, trauma, infectious disease, congenital malformations and malnutrition, which are the leading causes of child deaths. It is estimated that food insecurity accounts for 45 percent of all child deaths under the age of five.

Since the report’s release, the UN has warned that funding cuts in the United States’ foreign aid programmes threatens to undo decades of international progress in eradicating child mortality. These funding cuts entail closures of healthcare facilities and a decrease in food security and protection services, all of which deliver life-saving assistance to the most impacted communities.

William Weiss, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former advisor in the global health bureau at USAID, conducted a study to determine the efficacy of USAID programs in decreasing rates of child mortality. It was determined that nations that received above-average allowances of U.S. funding had, on average, 29 fewer deaths per 1,000 births, equating to approximately 500 fewer deaths per day.

“The recent funding cuts follow years of shrinking aid and are putting UNICEF’s life-saving work at serious risk,” said Shafique. “The impact is heartbreaking. More mothers will go through pregnancy without antenatal care and give birth without skilled help. More babies will be stillborn or die from infections and complications that could have been treated. More children will miss out on vaccines and medicine for deadly diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. The basic safety nets that keep them alive are disappearing and we risk losing the gain made over the last decades.”

“Simply put, if support for life-saving services is not sustained, many countries can expect a resurgence of newborn and child deaths,” the UN IGME report adds.

Cooperation between investors, communities, and governments is also essential in ensuring a decrease in rates of child mortality. It is imperative for funds to be allocated and distributed to communities living in regions that experience high volumes of crisis.

“We have the technologies, we have the means, we have the know-how to reduce child mortality dramatically,” said Bendavid. “Even for such low-hanging fruit, however, implementation is not always easy. You have to have a government that enables basic safety, and the ability to reach poor and rural communities that benefit from these kinds of programs.”

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By Rabab Fatima
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 2025 – As the world grapples with overlapping crises—climate change, economic instability, and food insecurity—the 44 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face existential threats that demand urgent, collective action.

These nations, home to over one billion people, contribute merely 3.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they bear the brunt of climate impacts, with disaster-related mortality rates 2.5 times higher than the global average.

Rabab Fatima

Ahead of the 3rd LDC Future Forum in Lusaka, Zambia, this reality compels us to confront a critical question: How can the international community rally behind LDCs to build resilience and unlock their immense potential for sustainable development?

The Resilience Imperative

Resilience is not a choice but a necessity for LDCs. Consider these sobering facts:

• 57% of LDC populations face food insecurity, with 22% undernourished—more than double the global average.

• External debt has tripled since 2010, now standing at $585 billion, diverting scarce resources from critical investments.

• Only 20% of LDC populations have access to clean energy, perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality.

Yet, amidst these challenges lie opportunities. The Doha Programme of Action (DPOA) provides a blueprint for addressing these vulnerabilities, but its success hinges on bold, innovative approaches and unwavering global solidarity.

Five Pathways to Resilience

1. Concessional and Innovative Financing: Nearly two-thirds of climate finance to LDCs comes as non-concessional loans, exacerbating debt burdens. We must shift toward concessional financing, debt relief, and innovative instruments like catastrophe bonds and climate-resilient debt clauses. Official development assistance (ODA) must increase beyond the current 0.09% of donors’ GNI, against the target of 0.2% to LDCs.

2. Climate-Smart Agriculture: With half of LDC populations dependent on agriculture, scaling up adaptive techniques—such as flood and drought-resistant crops pioneered in Bangladesh—can transform food security and livelihoods.

3. Renewable Energy Access: Only 55% of LDC populations have electricity. Investments in solar, wind, and biogas—like successful projects in Kenya and Rwanda—can power sustainable development while reducing emissions.

4. Circular Economy: Transitioning from linear “take-make-waste” models to circular systems can create jobs, reduce environmental pressures, and diversify economies. LDCs need policy frameworks and partnerships to make this a reality.

5. Social Protection: Ethiopia’s Safety Net Programme and Cambodia’s digital IDPoor system aiming to ensure that a growing array of benefits reach the households and individuals who need them the most, demonstrate how targeted, shock-responsive social protection can shield the most vulnerable.

Credit: OHRLLS

A Call to Action

The upcoming LDC Future Forum is a critical opportunity to identify innovative ideas and practical solutions to overcome the pressing challenges of the LDCs. As we approach the midterm review of the DPOA in 2027 and the 2030 Agenda deadline, resilience must remain central to all of our efforts.

Major global conferences—including COP30 and the Fourth Financing for Development Conference—offer platforms to amplify LDC priorities.

To development partners, I call for increased concessional financing and enhanced support for debt relief. To policymakers, I stress the need for locally tailored solutions. To the private sector, I underscore the significant yet untapped potential for green investments in LDCs.

The stakes could not be higher. By investing in LDCs today, we invest in a more equitable, sustainable future for all. Let us seize this moment to forge transformative partnerships that deliver lasting change—for the more than one billion people counting on us.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

Rabab Fatima is Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).