By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Mar 3 2025 – Speaker of the Tanzanian Parliament and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Tulia Akson, has called for bold and immediate investments in young people to unlock the demographic dividend and accelerate sustainable development across Africa and Asia.

Speaking at the African and Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development in Dar es Salaam on Monday, February 24, Akson emphasized that youth empowerment must be at the center of national policies to ensure that rapid population growth translates into economic prosperity rather than a crisis.

“We must take deliberate and coordinated measures to harness the demographic dividend by empowering our youth and ensuring their active participation in economic development,” Akson told parliamentarians gathered from across Africa and Asia.

The conference, organized by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) in collaboration with the African Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FPA) and Tanzania’s Parliamentary Association on Population and Development (TPAPD), provided a platform for legislators to discuss legislative and policy reforms needed to advance population and development goals.

The event also drew support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Japan Trust Fund (JTF), underscoring the urgency of population-centered development strategies.

A Demographic Window of Opportunity

Africa’s population is projected to double to two billion by 2050, with young people making up the majority. Experts argue that if this youthful population is equipped with quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, it could drive unprecedented economic transformation. However, failure to act could lead to social unrest, increased poverty, and economic stagnation.

According to UNFPA, 42 percent of Africa’s population is under the age of 50, a figure that presents both an opportunity and a challenge. While life expectancy has improved and maternal mortality has declined, critical gaps remain in access to education, employment, and reproductive health services.

“Young people constitute a significant proportion of our population, and their neglect is a ticking time bomb that could hinder progress,” Akson warned.

Tanzania, she said, has made strides in youth empowerment through initiatives such as free education from primary to secondary school, expanded student loan schemes, and a national skills development program that equips young people with vocational and technical expertise.

“We have also launched youth entrepreneurship funds to support start-ups and small businesses and expanded digital education programs to enhance ICT proficiency among our youth,” Akson said.

Despite such efforts, structural barriers persist, limiting young people’s access to quality jobs and economic opportunities.

Parliamentarians agreed to take immediate action to empower youth at a recent meeting organized by Asian and African parliamentarians. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Key Pillar of Development

Akson also stressed the importance of investing in sexual and reproductive health education to ensure young people, particularly girls, can make informed choices about their futures.

“We risk derailing our development trajectory if we fail to invest in young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights,” she said.

The UNFPA has consistently underscored that access to reproductive health services is essential for economic and social progress. While contraceptive use has increased in many countries, adolescent pregnancies, gender-based violence, and harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) remain widespread.

UNFPA Tanzania Country Representative Mark Schreiner noted that despite progress, “maternal mortality rates remain unacceptably high, with only a few African countries on track to meet the SDG target of 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.”

Similarly, although more women are using modern contraception voluntarily, millions of adolescent girls still lack access to critical reproductive health services due to social stigma, policy gaps, and inadequate funding.

Schreiner called for urgent investments in comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and youth-friendly health services to empower young people with knowledge and protect them from unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and harmful cultural practices.

“Comprehensive sexuality education and investment in young people’s health, including sexual and reproductive health, must be prioritized to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage,” Schreiner said.

Parliamentarians’ Role in Advancing the Population Agenda

As policymakers, parliamentarians hold significant influence over national budgets and legislative reforms that impact population policies. Akson urged her colleagues to use their constitutional mandates to push for policies that address youth unemployment, gender-based violence, and reproductive health access.

“With the deadline for the SDGs fast approaching, we must act swiftly and decisively to remove the barriers that hinder young people’s development,” she said.

Japan’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Yasushi Misawa, commended lawmakers for their commitment to addressing population challenges, stating, “Any solution on population issues must be based on an understanding of each individual. The role of parliamentarians, therefore, as representatives of their citizens, is critically important.”

Joseph Komwihangiro, Country Director for Pathfinder International, a global civil society organization providing sexual and reproductive health services, echoed this sentiment.

“Population data is at the heart of everything we do. It helps policymakers improve service delivery and address the most pressing challenges facing communities,” he said.

He urged parliamentarians to ensure that population data translates into inclusive policies that prioritize the needs of vulnerable groups, including women, girls, and marginalized communities.

Global Crises Threatening Progress

The meeting also highlighted how global crises—including armed conflicts, climate change, and emerging health threats—are disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and threatening the realization of sustainable development goals.

“It is profoundly concerning that escalating global crises such as extreme weather conditions and emerging health challenges are disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and derailing development efforts,” Akson said.

She cited the words of Tanzania’s founding father, Julius Nyerere: “The purpose of development is the people. You cannot develop things; you develop people.”

Akson emphasized that true and meaningful development must be people-centered, urging lawmakers to craft policies that align with their citizens’ unique realities, cultures, and aspirations.

Strengthening Partnerships for Development

With just five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for “a surge in implementation, massive investment, and more effective partnerships” to drive progress across key SDGs, including health, education, gender equality, and economic development.

Akson echoed this call, stressing that gender equality must be at the core of all development efforts.

“We cannot expect to achieve the SDGs without dismantling gender barriers and empowering all women and girls,” she said.

The Dar es Salaam Monday meeting concluded with a call for strengthened international cooperation to maximize progress, particularly in reforming the outdated global financial architecture that has left many developing countries struggling with debt and underfunded social programs.

As the meeting’s outcome document is prepared for submission to the upcoming TICAD9 summit in Japan in August 2025, lawmakers pledged to champion legislative and policy reforms that will accelerate the realization of the ICPD Programme of Action and the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development.

“Let’s be hopeful about the future that our empowered youths can create,” Akson said, closing the conference with an optimistic tone.

For many African and Asian countries, the future is blight with challenges. But as Akson and fellow parliamentarians have underscored, investing in youth, advancing reproductive health rights, and enacting inclusive policies will be critical in shaping a sustainable and equitable future.

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3 2025 – The United Nations, in its nearly 80-year-old history, is on the verge of fighting for its survival, as the Trump administration continues with its threats to drastically cut funding and pull out of several UN agencies which provide mostly humanitarian assistance worldwide.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, who acts as a virtual Prime Minister to President Trump, has called on the U.S. to exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations.

“I agree,” he wrote in response to a post from a right-wing political commentator saying “it’s time” for the U.S. to leave NATO and the UN.”

Described as Trump’s most powerful advisor, Musk has been ruthlessly cracking down on the US federal bureaucracy, as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Will the UN be his next target?

The threat against the UN has been reinforced following a move by several Republican lawmakers who have submitted a bill on the U.S. exit from the U.N., claiming that the organization does not align with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.

Kul Chandra Gautam, a former UN assistant secretary-general and onetime Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, told IPS if proof of the Trump/Musk administration’s mean & malevolent intentions were needed, this is it.

As part of its cost cutting, the US is terminating funding, among others, for polio, HIV/AIDS, malaria and nutrition programs around the world.

Most of these projects, he pointed out, were run by highly respected INGOs, UN agencies, governments and private contractors with a track record of success and efficiency. And many of them had received a waiver from the freeze because the State Department previously identified their work as essential and lifesaving.

“Here is a case of throwing the baby with the bathwater — millions of children and women cruelly condemned to become sick, malnourished and dying to satisfy the ego and hubris of the world’s richest man and a would-be Master of the Universe,” he added.

And there goes the mirage of “waiver” for essential and lifesaving projects, and the credibility of Trump/Rubio’s reasonable-sounding assurances, said Gautam.

Briefing reporters last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the impending crisis.

“I want to start by expressing my deep concern about information received in the last 48 hours by UN agencies — as well as many humanitarian and development NGOs — regarding severe cuts in funding by the United States. These cuts impact a wide range of critical programmes.”

From lifesaving humanitarian aid, to support for vulnerable communities recovering from war or natural disaster. From development, to the fight against terrorism and illicit drug trafficking.

“The consequences will be especially devastating for vulnerable people around the world,” he warned.

Andreas Bummel. executive director of Democracy Without Borders, told IPS it is not new that calls to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations emerge from the ranks of the GOP.

While it seems unlikely, he pointed out, it cannot be ruled out that Trump will support this at some point or at least use the scenario to build up diplomatic pressure.

“The U.S. certainly has much more to lose than to gain from such a course of action but Trump’s actions aren’t necessarily rational or even what seems to be in the U.S.’ own best interest. Certainly, it can be expected that the U.S. first will reduce or threaten to reduce its UN contributions” declared Bummel.

The US currently provides 22 percent of the UN budget according to assessed contributions from member states. The 2024 regular and peacekeeping budget amounts to $3.59 billion.

Asked whether the US can unilaterally reduce its funding, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury of Bangladesh and former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN, told IPS: “”No, the US cannot do that unilaterally”.

Normally, it will be negotiated in the Committee on Contributions through the agreement on the scale of assessment applicable to all Member States, he pointed out.

Finally, the issue goes to the Fifth Committee for a decision generally by consensus and subsequently confirmed by the UNGA.

“That is why US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s diplomatic skills were needed in 2000-01 to bring down the US contributions to the UN from 25% to 22%, the process as described with the agreement of all countries”.

As the UN scale of contributions is calculated on the basis of 100%, therefore any reduction of contributions scale needs to be made up by increasing another country/countries scale for the total to reach 100%, he explained.

Of course, if you withdraw the US membership from an UN entity, then obviously you are not obligated to pay.

If there are some pending contributions, the haggling would ensue, said Ambassador Chowdhury, a former chairman of the Fifth Committee (1997-98) and a two-term Vice Chairman of the all-powerful UN Committee on Programmes and Coordination (1984-85).

Another way to punish the UN is to delay the on-time payment of the full share of a major contributor as required by the Charter or to make a part payment of the US share of contributions. These tactics were used in the past by the US.

Again, Ambassador Holbrooke invited the all-powerful Chairman of the Seante Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms during the US Presidency of the Security Council in January 2000 and got Helms’ agreement to pay up the huge US arrear contributions to the UN contingent upon lowering of the US contributions to the organization.”

Asked for details on how much money the United Nations is set to lose, and what specific programmes are being cut, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters February 28: “We have been informed, and this started a while back but intensified over the last few days, is various agencies have gotten letters? We don’t have a ballpark figure, because this has been done in a bit of a… frankly, in a chaotic way.”

“But I can tell you that, for example, our colleagues at the UN [Office on] Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have had about 50 projects terminated. As the SG said, their office in Mexico, which deals among other things with the flow of fentanyl, may have to close. It will impact their programmes in Central America and the Darien Gap, focusing on fighting human trafficking”.

“The IOM’s (International Organization for Migration) programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have basically shut down. Their programs in Haiti are at risks. And our FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) colleagues received 27 termination letters, and the list goes on,” he said.

The Secretary-General has been on the phone with the heads of the major humanitarian development agencies to express his solidarity, but also to get a vision, to get a good picture, snapshot of what is going on, which is not a positive one in any way. Agencies are in touch with their counterparts, if they can find them, in the US Government, he said.

“So, we’re continuing trying to seek some clarity. But I can tell you that for our side, our priority and our focus and our determination remains on doing everything we can to continue to provide life-saving aid to those who urgently need it,” said Dujarric.

The United States, he said, remains a founding member and a critical member of this organization for decades.

“The generosity of the American people has helped to lift millions out of poverty, has helped to eradicate diseases, has frankly helped to build a more prosperous and safer world for which Americans benefit and the whole world benefits. We have tried at a fairly senior level to engage, especially on this issue, but I can’t say we’ve detected much interest on engaging on this issue,” he noted.

Asked whether the UN plans for cost-cutting as part of Plan B, Dujarric said: “Well, you know, obviously, we’re also looking at the diversification of our funding partners. Our colleague, Tom Fletcher, the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, who chairs what we call the Interagency Committee which brings together UN agencies and NGOs… his message has also been clear, which is also that we have to figure out how we can save money?

“How we can become more efficient, how we can eliminate overlap, eliminate turf wars. So, I think we’re very conscious of what we need to do, and I think any organization can take a look at itself and decide that it can work better and faster.”

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By Caroline Delgado
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Mar 3 2025 – With global temperatures continuing to break records and every global indicator of the health of the natural world showing decline, the need to quickly move away from fossil fuels and environmentally destructive practices has never been more apparent. But as has often been pointed out, how this ‘green transition’ is achieved matters.

Besides the self-evident benefits of a healthier, more liveable world, the green transition opens up huge economic and employment opportunities. It also has the potential to usher in a more just, more equitable, more peaceful world.

But without deliberate interventions to make sure that happens, the green transition could instead deepen injustice and division.

Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities have played little role in causing climate change or environmental breakdown—in fact, they are often innovative and effective stewards of the natural environment. Nevertheless, they are among the groups most vulnerable to these crises, as well as to the potential negative impacts of green projects.

A just, and successful green transition must see both the benefits and the burdens shared equitably across regions and communities—including among Indigenous and peasant communities.

The United Nations Biodiversity Conference, COP16, which started in Cali, Colombia, in October last year and finally closed on 27 February this year in Rome, produced some important steps in this direction.

Global frameworks and the green transition

The 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are the main frameworks setting the level of ambition and timelines for the green transition. The Paris Agreement calls for a 43-per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, while the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for halting and reversing biodiversity loss by the same date.

These commitments are driving change in many sectors. Two categories of commodities play key roles in current strategies to achieve these goals: ‘energy transition minerals’ used in clean technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and electric batteries—and biofuels.

Demand for both is expected to surge. This presents both opportunities and significant challenges in terms of equity, human rights, economic justice and environmental sustainability.

Unequal distribution of benefits and burdens

The benefits and burdens inherent in the green transition are not, for now, evenly distributed. Only 10 per cent of the $2 trillion in energy transition-related investments made in 2023 went to 150 developing countries that together represent a third of global GDP and are home to half of the world’s population.

Wealthier countries and households tend to gain more from green infrastructure, and green investment, while in contrast large-scale renewable energy projects may bring job losses, worsening energy insecurity and displacement to low-income communities.

The extraction of ETMs often exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities in surrounding communities and increases the likelihood of environmental conflicts, especially in low-income countries. More than half of the potential ETM reserves are located on or near the lands of Indigenous groups and peasant communities.

Likewise, biofuel production has significant implications for land use, ecology, food security and rural communities. Latin America, South East Asia, and North America are already major biofuel exporters and intend to increase their output.

Yet expansion of fuel crop production often takes place on land that belongs to or is used by Indigenous and peasant communities, even if this fact is not always recognized in official land use data.

Indigenous and peasant communities in the green transition

Indigenous Peoples make up 4–6 per cent of the world’s population and traditionally own, manage, use or occupy a quarter of the world’s land. Peasants (including some Indigenous communities) constitute approximately 40 per cent of the global population.

Their dependency on the land for their livelihoods, coupled with entrenched marginalization and—in the case of many Indigenous populations—deep spiritual and cultural ties to nature make them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental conflicts.

ETM mining and large-scale energy projects, including fuel crop plantations, frequently results in land grabs, forced evictions and other human rights violations, and environmental degradation, threatening their lives, livelihoods and food security. Around a third of the environmental defenders killed each year are Indigenous Peoples.

Because of issues like these, there are widespread calls for the technical aspects of the green transition to be implemented in ways that promote social equity, ecological justice and structural political change—a just transition.

However, interpretations of exactly what this means vary. For many Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities, a just transition entails shifting away from exploitative extractive models to prioritize sustainability and social equity, restore Indigenous governance and self-determination, and recognize cultural practices and land rights.

Progress and institutional recognition

COP16 made key steps towards institutionalizing Indigenous and local communities’ role in implementating the 2011 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and has been hailed by Camila Paz Romero, spokesperson for Indigenous Peoples at the conference, as ‘an unprecedented occasion in the history of multilateral environmental agreements’.

Landmark decisions at COP16 included adopting a work programme for provisions of the convention related to Indigenous Peoples and local communities and establishing a permanent ‘subsidiary body’ that will ‘enhance the engagement and participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in all Convention processes’.

The work programme prioritizes the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity; full and effective participation; and a human rights-based approach.

Another major breakthrough was the provision that at least half of the resources collected in the new Cali Fund will go to the self-identified needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This should enhance these communities’ ability to lead conservation and biodiversity restoration efforts.

The Cali Fund, which was officially launched on 25 February, is to consist of contributions from major companies making commercial use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.

Towards an inclusive and sustainable future

The agreements reached at COP16 are milestones worth celebrating. But they do not ensure a just and sustainable green transition for the world’s Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities. That requires recognizing and engaging with these communities as equal partners when it comes to decisions and actions that affect their lands and resources.

This is particularly important when their interests and ambitions are in competition with more powerful economic and geopolitical imperatives. The meaningful inclusion and participation of these groups should lead to more equitable policies.

In addition, states need to recognize legal land and property rights for Indigenous and peasant communities. They need to allow self-determination, and safeguard these communities against displacement and environmental harm. Ignoring these principles risks deepening socio-environmental and economic injustices and escalating conflicts—not to mention incurring substantial financial costs when, for example, suspending operations at a mine can cost millions of dollars a day.

Equitable resource distribution, democratic governance and local leadership are essential to avoid top-down approaches that have a tendency to marginalize local actors, especially Indigenous and peasant communities. In that regard it is imperative that companies are incentivized to contribute to the Cali Fund.

Giving Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities the resources to scale up locally led biodiversity conservation, restoration and resource-management initiatives could both strengthen their agency and help to ensure long-term ecological and social resilience.

Ultimately, treating Indigenous People and peasant communities as equal partners improves the chances of winning the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental injustice, with no-one left behind.

Caroline Delgado is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). She is lead author of the report Environmental and Climate Justice, and the Dynamics of Violence in Latin America.

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