The Human Consciousness Now...Our World in the Midst of Becoming...to What? Observe, contemplate Now.
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - The United Nations celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day in honor of the activist and politician’s lifelong commitment to peace and democracy.
At the 16th celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day, delegates, representatives and visitors alike reflected on the impact of South Africa’s first black president and leader in a fully representative democratic election.
The activist and politician, who spent 27 years in prison, was a staunch freedom fighter—arguing that freedom was not only an individual mission but also a collective responsibility and communal effort.
These principles were enshrined in the Nelson Mandela Rules, officially called the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, a document protecting humane treatment of individuals without liberty. The document emphasizes respect for human dignity, prohibits torture and promotes fair and just conditions.
Although the Nelson Mandela Rules are “soft law” and not legally binding, the General Assembly has adopted them as universally agreed minimum standards. Many countries have incorporated the rules into domestic law, but many others have violated conditions of healthcare, solitary confinement and ethical working rights. Delegates and various speakers agreed that there was still much work to be done.
Nelson Mandela International Day, established in 2009 by the United Nations General Assembly and officially celebrated in 2010 on July 18th (President Mandela’s birthday), is a holiday encouraging all citizens around the world to engage positively in their communities.
Dr. Naledi Pandor, chair of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, addresses the UN General Assembly Plenary on Nelson Mandela International Day. Credit: Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levin/IPS
From annual volunteer events to the annual Mandela Prize, awarded to two laureates each year who have profoundly impacted their communities by serving humanity, speakers, including the award recipients, the Secretary-General and the chair of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, all reflected on Mandela’s legacy on their own lives and on the UN.
In Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly at their plenary meeting, he said, “Power is not a personal possession to be harbored. Power is about lifting others up; it’s about what we can achieve with one another and for one another. Power is about people.” He echoed Mandela’s belief in collective grassroots action to deliver power to the powerless, encouraging member states to bring these principles into practice.
Dr. Naledi Pandor, chair of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, similarly called for action against injustice and inequality. She recalled how the United Nations aided South Africa in ending apartheid as it “stood against apartheid domination, not through arms but through bringing its undeniable moral weight into combat against injustice. That boldness, that courage is needed more and more today.”
Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, raises his fist in the air while addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall, June 22, 1990. Credit: UN Photo/Pernaca Sudhakaran
Pandor went on to recall Mandela’s political views beyond South Africa—his demand for global equity extended to all, and reflecting on how he might feel about the current state of the world, she quoted his 1990 speech to the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid.
Mandela said, “We also take this opportunity to extend warm greetings to all others who fight for their liberation and their human rights, including the peoples of Palestine and Western Sahara. We commend their struggles to you, convinced that we are all moved by the fact that freedom is indivisible, convinced that the denial of the rights of one diminishes the freedom of others.”
Mandela was a strong supporter of Palestine, often comparing its struggle with South Africa’s. South Africa, even after his death, maintained close ties to Palestine and brought the case of genocide against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.
The 2025 Nelson Mandela laureates, Brenda Reynolds of Saulteaux First Nation and Canada and Kennedy Odede of Kenya, both spoke about how Mandela inspired their respective work. Reynolds, a social worker by trade, led the establishment of a national, culturally grounded mental health initiative for survivors of Indian residential schools.
Reynolds described her work with survivors as an example of Mandela’s notion of moving forward from resentment towards progress—as people found peace with their experiences, they were able to recover and lift up their communities from oppression. She described this as a process of peacebuilding within people, saying, “peace begins with individuals, and from there, you can find peace within your family and within your communities.”
Odede, who founded Kenya’s largest grassroots movement, Shining Hope For Communities (SHOFCO), to empower struggling urban communities, shared how Mandela’s words and experience with struggle inspired him to build within his own life. He found creative ways to organize communities around simple things like soccer, providing hope to people in dire situations.
The representative for The Gambia, who spoke on behalf of the African states, called upon the UN to adhere to Mandela’s principles, particularly on poverty as a man-made horror that can and must be removed by actions of human beings. The representative warned of extreme poverty on the rise, centering the “developing countries and middle-income countries” suffering the most “with unemployment rates beyond records.”
He said, “It is time for solidarity, partnerships and genuine actions where they are most needed,” asserting that poverty and underdevelopment were huge perpetuators of racism, therefore continuing a vicious cycle that oppressed people.
The representative argued, “rising inequity and progressive discrimination are not inevitable; they are a result of decades of policies and dynamics emanating from colonialism, appetite, and discrimination.” Criticizing these practices as misaligned with the UN charter, he pushed the UN to renew their commitment to progressing social development by redistributing wealth.
As the world commemorates Nelson Mandela’s enduring legacy, the message resonating from this year’s observance is clear: his vision of freedom—rooted in dignity, justice and collective responsibility—demands more than remembrance; it requires action. From prison reform to poverty alleviation to indigenous healing to grassroots empowerment, Mandela’s ideals continue to challenge the global community to uphold humanity over power and compassion over indifference. In honoring his life, the UN and its member states are reminded that freedom is not static—it is a continual struggle, a shared pursuit and a moral obligation.
IPS UN Bureau Report
Excerpt:
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. - Nelson Mandela
NEW YORK, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - “The power of AI carries immense responsibilities. Today, that power sits in the hands of a few,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the 2025 AI Action Summit, reflecting on a deepening reality as we inch closer to a world in complete digital domination. Today, seven of the world’s top ten most valuable companies are digital giants, focusing primarily on the output of communication, digital manufacturing, artificial intelligence and digital commerce, which is paving the way for a fully digitized life for all.
The top 10 companies include some of the biggest names in information technology and digital commerce:
NVIDIA: 4.002 trillion USD | Information Technology
Microsoft: 3.727 trillion USD | Information Technology
Apple: 3.172 trillion USD | Information Technology
Amazon: 2.359 trillion USD | Consumer Discretionary
Alphabet (Google): 2.161 trillion USD | Communication Services
Meta Platforms (Facebook): 1.828 trillion USD | Communication Services
Saudi Aramco: 1.627 trillion USD | Energy
Broadcom: 1.295 trillion USD | Information Technology
TSMC: 1.191 trillion USD | Information Technology
Berkshire Hathaway: 1.032 trillion USD | Consumer Discretionary
These companies actively reshape nearly every aspect of life, from showing you an ad for the brand-new phone you have been eyeing, to manufacturing the chip inside that very phone, and even delivering it to your doorstep. They are all connected and can be done from a single click of the screen.
Some of these firms have a near-digital monopoly on all aspects of the digital economy. Take Microsoft for example:
E-Commerce and digital payment: Microsoft.com
Digital content and distribution: Xbox Game Pass, Windows Store, Microsoft Store
Social media: Teams, LinkedIn
Online search: Bing
Online Advertising: Bing, Microsoft, LinkedIn Ads
Cloud Services: Azure, Microsoft 365
AI Models: Copilot
Your entire life can be run from one of these services, from finding your local market for groceries, to buying a new laptop for work, to storing your sensitive data, creating visualizations for that new project you’re working on, or even purchasing a video game. It’s all done from one company spread across a few platforms.
Market limitations amid consolidation
The vertical and horizontal consolidation of digital supply chains has made it nearly impossible for new companies to break into just about any of these markets. A lack of competition ultimately fuels higher prices, lower quality, and weakened privacy protection for the consumer.
Consumers often unknowingly support and reinforce this system. If they rely on Google across all their devices, it creates a cycle which lacks digital diversity, increasing the difficulty for smaller entities to innovate and break into the market.
By design, digital ecosystems keep users within the limits of a single company’s platforms, making it easy for the user to move from service to service, but at the hidden cost of freely giving up your data.
Advertising plays a vital role in this campaign for dominance. 97.6 percent of Meta’s revenue and 75.6 percent of Google’s comes just from ads. Just by being on their platforms you’re generating billions of dollars, without paying a single cent for use.
Unchecked growth
From 2020 to 2024, digital multinationals enterprises (MNEs) accounted for one-third of all greenfield data center projects, initiatives built entirely from the ground up. Logistic projects in contrast only accounted for 10 percent. This displays just how massively the digital world is expanding, fueled by investments in immersive online environments where users are increasingly spending money on non-physical assets, creating endless revenues streams out of thin air.
In China, the concentration of digital markets is comparatively extreme than in other countries, given that certain American applications do not work there. A handful of firms — Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance — control the population’s entire digital ecosystem. As the second-most populous country in the world, this is no small feat. WeChat alone is used by 95 percent of their population, centralizing social media, messaging, payments, and e-commerce into one platform. This means that competition effectively does not exist.
From 2017 to 2025, the combined share of sales between the top five digital MNEs doubled from 21 percent to 48 percent, displaying immense growth in a merely eight-year period. This trend was also observed within asset concentration, where the top five digital firms doubled from 17 percent to now 35 percent during that same period
Artificial Intelligence (AI) consolidation
As digital markets surge, so does dominance in the AI value chain. Just two companies, Microsoft and Alphabet, control 78 percent of AI development from start to finish, largely through their partnerships with startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. This allows them to virtually own every link in the chain, from data collection to model training and deployment, to application.
Generative AI requires massive capital, but also computing power, cloud services, AI chips, talent, and most importantly, data, which only the tech giants control. There is hardly, if any room for smaller firms to compete. This dynamic has shown to have serious market limiting implications, as AI will become necessary to digital expansion.
As UN Secretary General António Guterres warned at the 79th General Assembly in 2024, “A handful of companies and even individuals have already amassed enormous power over the development of AI – with little accountability or oversight for the moment.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - Over the past week, the humanitarian situation in Syria has significantly deteriorated, with tensions between the Druze religious minority and the Syrian military reaching new peaks. On July 16, Israel launched a series of powerful airstrikes on Syria’s capital city, Damascus, in defense of Syria’s Druze population, further spurring regional instability and exacerbating the dire scale of needs.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the security situation for Druze Syrians has been particularly volatile, with hostilities escalating between late April and early May. Clashes between the Druze communities and the Syrian military resulted in numerous extrajudicial killings of Druze civilians.
From July 11 to 16, violent altercations between the Druze and Bedoulin communities erupted in Suwayda and spread to neighboring cities, resulting in the Syrian transitional government deploying its military to restore order. According to figures from the Syrian observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), clashes between the Syrian military and the two minority groups resulted in over 200 deaths.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) adds that residents in Suwayda reported a litany of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, burning of civilian infrastructures, lootings, abductions, and incitement to violence.
OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko informed IPS that prior to Israel’s bombardment of Syria, roughly 300,000 civilians were in dire need of humanitarian assistance, roughly two-thirds of the nation’s population. Due to heightened insecurity, OCHA and its partners have been unable to assess the severity of the situation from the ground, or deliver humanitarian assistance.
On July 17, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Damascus, as well as the Suwayda and Dorra governorates, with one of them targeting Syria’s Defense Ministry Headquarters and the vicinity of the Presidential Palace. According to Syria’s Ministry of Health, the attack resulted in at least 3 civilian deaths and 34 injuries, as well as significant damage to surrounding civilian infrastructures.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel’s “escalatory” airstrikes and called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities. He added that Syria’s sovereignty must be respected, and that there must be an orderly political transition to ensure lasting peace.
According to figures from OCHA, nearly 2,000 families have been displaced from Suwayda following Israel’s bombardment, with most migrating to the Salkhad district. These communities face an overwhelming lack of access to basic services, such as food, water, and healthcare.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centers are fully functional. UN deputy relief chief Joyce Msuya adds that millions of Syrians urgently require medical assistance, with injuries from unexploded ordnance, cholera, and food insecurity running rampant.
UN Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric added that aid workers have faced worsened access constraints due to insecurity and road closures. On July 17, WHO announced that it had dispatched 35 trauma and emergency surgery kits to assist in roughly 1,750 medical interventions. However, the majority of these supplies were halted from reaching Syrian healthcare facilities.
“Syria simply cannot withstand another wave of instability,” said UN Deputy Special Envoy to Syria Najat Rochdi. “The risks of further escalation in the region are not hypothetical – they are immediate, severe, and risk unraveling the fragile progress toward peace and recovery in Syria.”
In a statement shared to X (formerly known as Twitter), Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack in the “harshest terms”, citing its impact on civilian’s access to public services and violations of international humanitarian law
“This flagrant assault, which forms part of a deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli entity to inflame tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law.” The Foreign Ministry added that Syria retains its right to defend itself.
Following Israel’s strikes on Damascus, the Israeli government warned that it would scale up its attacks if Syrian militants did not retreat from Suwayda, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. “We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming the Druze and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border with Syria,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement shared to X.
Shortly after the attacks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters that the fighting parties had agreed on a ceasefire, with Syrian militants beginning to retreat from Suwayda. Despite Rubio’s belief that the hostilities were headed “towards a real de-escalation”, humanitarian experts have expressed concern over the broader implications of Israel’s intervention in Syria and the wider Middle East.
“Israel’s strikes on Damascus targets reverberated around the region,” said Mona Yacoubian and Will Todman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
“Many Middle Eastern states fear that ongoing U.S. support for Israel is allowing it to establish itself as the regional hegemon, with an ability to conduct strikes across the region with impunity. These fears have pushed Arab Gulf states to maintain ties with Iran to hedge against Israel’s influence.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
CARACAS, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - China, with its investments, products, technology, and innovation focused on solar and wind farms in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as on electricity networks and services, stands out as a driving force for the region’s shift toward energy less reliant on fossil fuels and increasingly cleaner and greener.
Between 2010 and 2024, China invested US$33.69 billion in renewables in the region, with 70 transactions for as many projects, 54 of which were in non-hydroelectric energy, totaling US$13.138 billion.
These figures alone “highlight China’s importance in supporting the region’s energy transition, both through investments and infrastructure projects,” Enrique Dussel Peters, coordinator of the Latin America and the Caribbean Academic Network on China (RedALC-China), told IPS from Mexico City.“For China, Latin America as a whole is a market that geographically presents many opportunities; first, due to the availability of natural resources, which include critical minerals, and features such as access to water and natural and renewable energy sources”: Ana Lía Rojas.
Beyond money, China “has the capacity to develop technology, implement it, and scale it at the required speed,” said Ana Lia Rojas, executive director of the Chilean Association of Renewable Energies and Storage (Acera).
In a dialogue with IPS in Santiago, Chile, Rojas cited American economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and a United Nations advisor, who has argued that, in short, “the energy transition is Chinese.”
Sachs views China as a “leader in key technologies that will be essential over the next 25 years: photovoltaics, wind, modular nuclear, long-distance energy transmission, 5G (now 5.5G), batteries, electric vehicles, and others.”
The movement toward Latin America has been relentless. While there were no Chinese investments in renewable energy in the region between 2000 and 2009, eight emerged from 2010 to 2014, totaling US$3.298 billion and generating 6,000 jobs, according to RedALC’s Investment Monitor.
Between 2015 and 2019, 25 projects with Chinese financing materialized, totaling US$19.568 billion and creating 9,300 jobs. In the 2020-2024 period, 37 transactions were completed, amounting to US$10.824 billion and generating 15,000 jobs.
Investment volumes dipped in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a revealing contrast emerged: 35 of the 37 renewable energy transactions during this five-year period went to non-hydroelectric projects.
The Lagoinha Solar Complex, inaugurated in July this year and owned by the Brazilian subsidiary of Chinese group CGN. Spanning 304 hectares in Ceará state, northeastern Brazil, it features 337,000 panels that will provide electricity to 240,000 households. Credit: Government of Ceará
Interests and challenges converge
The International Energy Agency (IEA, representing major industrialized consumers) reports a “soaring increase in Chinese clean energy investments globally, particularly in renewables,” surpassing US$625 billion in 2024—nearly double 2015 levels and accounting for 30% of the world’s total, cementing China’s leadership.
Traditionally dominated by state-owned enterprises backed by public funding, China’s energy investment landscape is shifting, with the government increasingly encouraging private sector participation.
Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean saw roughly US$70 billion invested in renewables from 2015 to 2024, of which over US$30.3 billion (43%) came from China, according to the IEA.
Yet the agency notes that despite steady growth in renewable investments, the region represents just 5% of global privately funded clean energy investment—a reflection of high interest rates, scarce long-term financing, and costly public debt.
This highlights the intersection between the region’s needs and challenges and what Dussel Peters describes as China’s strategic focus on technological development and disruptive innovations, from nanomanufacturing to aerospace, including new energy sources.
Chinese investment in renewables “delivers multiple benefits by advancing energy sustainability, supporting the transition to a low-carbon grid, providing critical technology, and creating skilled jobs,” Chilean academic Rodrigo Cáceres told IPS in Santiago.
A researcher at Diego Portales University’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, Cáceres observes China’s “sustained commitment” in areas like energy storage, smart grids, and green hydrogen, framing the China-Latin America relationship as “strategic and long-term.”
A key factor enabling this enduring partnership is the vast territorial, demographic, and resource potential Latin America and the Caribbean offers China. “If we look at the per capita income we have in the region and compare it with China’s, we have more or less the same. But Latin America has half the population of China and twice the territory of China,” observed Rojas.
Twice the territory “means that projects can be deployed differently than in the rest of the world,” noted the director of Acera.
According to Rojas, “it is evident that, for China, Latin America as a whole is a market that geographically presents many opportunities; first, due to the availability of natural resources, which include critical minerals, and features such as access to water and natural and renewable energy sources.”
“Second, because it is clearly a less densely populated region, which provides a certain degree of flexibility or freedom to develop projects in the territory that will aid the energy transition, not only for local or national economies but for the world,”she said.
The Tanque Novo Wind Complex in Bahia, Brazil, developed by Chinese group CGN. It consists of seven parks with 40 wind turbines, an installed capacity of 180 MW, and can serve 430,000 residents. Credit: Tanque Novo
Brazil, a leading hub
In Brazil, China’s presence in the electricity sector “is deep and strategic, the result of more than a decade of investments by large state-owned companies such as State Grid and China Three Gorges (CTG),” said Tulio Cariello, research director at the Brazil-China Business Council.
“In fact, it has become the main destination for these companies’ assets outside China. Both State Grid and CTG have the majority of their international investments in Brazil, reflecting the country’s structural importance in their global projection,” Cariello told IPS in Rio de Janeiro.
State Grid is now a major electricity transmission operator in Brazil, and its massive entry into that market was solidified with the acquisition in 2016-2018 of CPFL Energia (formerly Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz), one of the country’s leading power distribution companies.
Another flagship project led by State Grid was the construction of ultra-high-voltage transmission systems, connecting the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Amazon (11,200 MW) with the Southeast region, which has the highest electricity demand.
Combined, solar and wind energy sources account for a quarter of Brazil’s electricity matrix, according to its National Energy Balance.
By the end of 2024, Brazil’s installed wind power capacity—over 16% of the national electricity matrix—reached 33.7 gigawatts, with 1,103 wind farms and 11,720 wind turbines. By 2032, cumulative new installed capacity is projected to reach 56 GW.
Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind established its first factory outside China last year in Bahia, in Brazil’s Northeast, with an investment of over US$20 million to produce 150 turbines annually, ranging from 5.3 MW to 7.5 MW. This decision demonstrates strong confidence in the Brazilian market.
The volume of Chinese investment in Brazil between 2007 and 2023 reached US$73.3 billion—US$33.2 billion in the electricity sector—with 264 confirmed projects, and is on track to reach US$123.2 billion with 342 projects.
Regarding the impact of investments in renewable energy, “it can be seen on several fronts: increased generation and transmission capacity, modernization of critical infrastructure, greater stability in power supply, and job creation and technology transfer,” said Cariello.
The Los Cururos Wind Farm in Ovalle, Chile, is one of dozens of installations generating electricity in Chile thanks to the constant winds in this Pacific-facing region. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Advancing Across the Regional Map
In Argentina, with initial financing of US$390 million from the China Export-Import Bank (Chexim), construction began in 2018 on the Cauchari solar park—one of the largest in Latin America—in the northwestern province of Jujuy.
Some 4,000 meters above sea level and equipped with 1.2 million panels, Cauchari has an installed capacity of 315 MW (with an expansion planned to add another 200 MWh) and reduces carbon emissions by 325,000 tons.
There are other solar developments with Chinese involvement, while Goldwind has acquired wind farms in the central province of Buenos Aires and the southern province of Chubut.
Researcher Juliana González Jáuregui from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) has highlighted Beijing’s participation in Argentina’s renewable energy projects, focusing on its provinces—even before the country joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2022.
In contrast, “Europe and the United States have yet to grasp the importance of engaging at the subnational level in Argentina, something China achieved quickly and significantly. The provinces hold natural resources, so the subnational component is essential,” González told Dialogue Earth.
Meanwhile, in Chile, “what has happened in the last two years is that Chinese companies have bet on the country as a gateway to Latin America and have set up several companies that create jobs,” said Rojas.
“They are interested in showcasing the quality and technological advancements they’ve achieved in these sectors, focusing on storage, inverter systems, and everything that helps stabilize power grid flows,” she stated.
In this way, China “has increasingly strengthened its presence in the electricity sector, where we have decarbonization efforts and which represents 22% of the country’s energy consumption,” particularly in the distribution segment through the acquisition of key companies to supply the population, explained Rojas.
A notable example is the Chinese group State Grid, which in 2020 acquired Chile’s Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE) from Spain’s Naturgy for US$3 billion and purchased Chilquinta, another electricity distributor in Chile, from the American company Sempra Energy for US$2.23 billion.
Additionally, it holds a stake in Transelec, the largest distributor, giving it a dominant majority position in Chile’s electricity distribution market.
Areas of Lima illuminated by the growing integration of renewable energy into electricity generation. The former Enel Perú, now Pluz Perú, was acquired by China’s CSG and serves over 1.5 million subscribers in the metropolitan area. Credit: Perú Inkas Tours
In Peru, China Southern Power Grid (CSG) acquired Enel Peru from Italy’s Enel Group in 2024 for US$3.1 billion. The company, now called Pluz Peru, operates in the market with 1,590 MW of generation from various sources and also participates in distribution.
The Peruvian firm includes a solar complex in the southern municipality of Moquegua, with 560,000 panels spread over 400 hectares, capable of generating 440 GWh annually, and a wind farm in the southwestern province of Nazca, with 42 turbines producing up to 600 GWh per year.
In Colombia, another Chinese giant, CTG, promoted the construction of the Baranoa solar plant in the northern department of Atlantico. With an investment of US$20 million and 36,000 modules, it can add 20 MW to the grid.
Though a small project far from major economic and urban centers, it reflects shared interests with Colombia, where President Gustavo Petro champions renewable energy and the decarbonization of the economy and society.
In Nicaragua, it was announced that China Communications Construction Company will build a 70 MW solar plant in the municipality of Nindirí, south of Managua, with 112,700 panels at a cost of US$80 million.
The Managua government—which recently restored relations with China in 2021 after cutting ties with Taiwan—hopes the project will not only feed into the power grid but also support drinking water supply and sanitation in the country.
In a leap across the Caribbean, China’s International Development Cooperation Agency delivered a batch of donated supplies to Cuba last March to support a photovoltaic park project with Chinese assistance in Guanajay, about 50 kilometers west of Havana.
According to data gathered by IPS in Havana, the project includes seven solar parks and will contribute 35 MW to the island’s electricity system. The remaining parks, to be developed by China’s Shanghái Electric and Cuba’s Unión Eléctrica, will add another 85 MW. Cuba’s power demand stands at 3,500 MW, with a deficit sometimes exceeding 1,500 MW.
“We hope to leverage this project as an opportunity to contribute China’s strength in ensuring energy security and promoting sustainable social development in Cuba,” said Hua Xin, China’s ambassador in Havana.
A production gondola at the new wind turbine factory in Camaçari, northeastern Brazil, installed by Chinese firm Goldwind. Wind energy is the second-largest renewable source in Brazil’s electricity supply, after hydropower. Credit: Goldwind
The Ball on the Roof
Chilean expert Rojas noted that Chinese companies obviously aim to promote their own brands but also establish research centers or technology transfer hubs to help countries accelerate their energy transition.
“They have cutting-edge technologies that we currently see in PowerPoint presentations—but they’re already implementing them in their own cities,” she pointed out.
Experts agree that, alongside territorial potential, population, and resources, the regulatory framework of the electricity business—which varies across borders—is a key investment attraction.
This becomes even more relevant as major investors like China shift from merely selling products and technology to acquiring more assets, immersing themselves in the complexities of service networks, costs, and pricing.
For many countries in the region, the observation Jorge Arbache, an economics professor at the University of Brasilia, makes about Brazil may resonate. He analyzes how the advantages and resources enabling the energy transition are being mobilized.
He argues that “while China has used the energy transition as a pillar of its national development policy,” Brazil still treats its advantages “mainly as primary, short-term, and predatory assets—with low added value, institutional fragmentation, and a lack of coordinated strategy.”
“What China shows us is that the energy transition and natural capital, when well-coordinated, are more than just a shift in the energy matrix: they are a development strategy, a tool for sovereignty, and a source of geopolitical power,” concluded Arbache.
With reporting by Mario Osava (Brazil), Orlando Milesi (Chile) and Dariel Pradas (Cuba).
ZOUNGOU, Burkina Faso, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - In the heart of Burkina Faso’s drylands, in the village of Zoungou, a quiet transformation is underway. Alhaji Birba Issa, a smallholder onion farmer, bends over neat rows of lush green crops, the hum of solar-powered pumps audible in the background.
“This land used to sleep during the dry season,” he says, dusting soil from his hands. “Our diesel pump would break down. Crops died. But now, we farm all year.”
Issa leads one of 89 farmer cooperatives participating in the Renewable Energy for Agriculture and Livelihoods (REAL BF) programme, which is equipping smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, with clean energy technologies that are reshaping agricultural productivity and dignity across Burkina Faso’s drought-prone regions.
When Energy Meets Agriculture
Burkina Faso faces some of the highest levels of climate vulnerability in the world. Over 80 percent of its population depends on rain-fed agriculture, which has become increasingly unreliable due to erratic rainfall and rising temperatures.
In response, the REAL BF program—implemented by Practical Action with support from multiple development partners—has taken a holistic approach. It connects off-grid solar systems, biodigesters, and energy-efficient processing technologies to smallholder farming, helping communities extend their farming seasons, preserve harvests, and reduce reliance on polluting fuels.
By July 2024, the programme had reached 15,937 smallholder farmers, more than 80 percent of them women, and achieved 82 percent activity completion and 90 percent budget execution.
“These are not drop-and-go technologies,” says Issouf Ouédraogo, Practical Action’s West Africa Regional Director. “We co-designed the solutions with farmers, supported them to organize in cooperatives, and trained them to manage the systems. The results are community-owned, and that’s why it’s working.”
Fields that Grow Beyond Rain
In places like Komki Ipala, solar-powered irrigation now reaches 115 hectares of farmland. Farmers grow vegetables, rice, legumes, and onions throughout the year—no longer limited to the short rainy season.
“Before, we farmed three months,” says Aminata Zangre, a cooperative leader in Zoungou. “Now we plan for eight. My children eat better. We sell the surplus. And we use cow dung to generate energy. It’s like turning waste into hope.”
Zangre’s cooperative uses biodigesters to turn livestock waste into biogas and compost, reducing deforestation and creating a sustainable cycle of cooking fuel and organic fertilizer.
In Gon-Boussougou, Molle Nossira supervises a fish processing cooperative that once struggled with spoilage and smoke. “The fish used to go bad before midday. Now we use energy-efficient ovens and solar cold rooms,” she says. “Our fish stays fresh. We sell at better prices. We even sell cold drinks, which attract more customers.”
Quantifying the Impact
The numbers tell a compelling story:
180 MWh of clean energy is generated annually by the systems installed. 148 tonnes of compost and 1,268 kg of butane-equivalent biogas are produced yearly. 722 tonnes of firewood saved per year, helping preserve 135 hectares of forest. An estimated 1,437 tonnes of CO₂ emissions are avoided annually. Each smallholder farmer has seen a minimum income increase of 50,000 CFA francs (around USD 80) annually—often more.“Food security has improved. Post-harvest losses are down. Women no longer spend hours collecting firewood,” says Farid Sawadogo, a field coordinator with Practical Action. “We see resilience growing in very real ways.”
Women in the Lead
While energy infrastructure is often seen as a male domain, this programme has turned that perception on its head.
In Koulpelé, Awa Convolbo leads a women’s cooperative focused on shea butter processing. “We used to work entirely with firewood, which was exhausting and harmful,” she recalls. “Now we use improved cookstoves and solar-powered water pumps. Our income has grown, and I’ve been able to support my children’s education.”
Convolbo participated in a knowledge exchange visit to Rwanda and returned home inspired to restructure her cooperative’s finances. “Clean energy didn’t just change how we cook—it changed how we lead,” she says.
Youth Shaping the Future
Young people, too, have found new roles in their communities—maintaining solar systems, managing cooperative finances, and digitizing agricultural planning tools.
“Young people now see farming and energy as a future,” says Sawadogo. “They are staying in their villages, building careers, and bringing new ideas.”
To further support access to knowledge and resources, Practical Action launched the Yiriwali Platform, a multilingual digital tool where farmers can choose clean energy technologies, find technology providers, and connect with microfinance institutions. Available in French, Moore, Dioula, and Fulfulde, the platform strengthens ties between smallholder farmers, tech suppliers, and financiers.
Scaling Lessons Beyond Borders
The REAL BF programme aligns with the UN’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) and supports the Sustainable Development Goals—particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
With demonstrated success in rural Burkina Faso, the model is attracting interest from agencies like UNDP, FAO, and ECOWAS as a blueprint for scaling across the Sahel.
Practical Action hopes to expand the programme and deepen its impact through additional investment, particularly for the remaining cooperatives that could not yet be funded due to budget limitations.
“We’re showing that smallholder farmers aren’t victims of climate change,” says Ouédraogo. “They’re agents of climate resilience—when they have the right tools and power.”
Farming with Dignity
Back in Zoungou, Birba Issa reflects on the change he has seen in his community: children returning to school, women leading cooperatives, and farmers planning not just for the season but for the future.
“We’ve turned drylands into green fields,” he says. “And we farm with dignity.”
As the sun sets over the Sahel, these solar-powered communities are not just surviving—they are showing the rest of the region how to thrive.
NEW YORK, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman. As the international community convenes for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on gender equality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this remains a fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of global governance. How can an institution that has systematically excluded women from its highest office credibly champion gender justice worldwide?
With the various SDGs under review this year – goal 3 (health), 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work), 14 (life below water) and 17 (partnerships) – there’s a widening gap between the UN’s pledge to seek ‘evidence-based solutions’ to ‘leave no one behind’ and the lived reality of women, girls and excluded communities worldwide. Despite decades of rhetoric on inclusion, these groups remain systemically marginalised from meaningful power and access to decision-making.
This contradiction between rhetoric and reality reflects a deeper power imbalance across the world that undermines the credibility and the effectiveness of efforts to address pressing global challenges.
CIVICUS’s State of Civil Society Report paints a picture of a disturbing rollback of progress on gender justice that spans continents and contexts. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have institutionalised a system of gender apartheid. In the USA, the Trump administration has drastically curtailed access to reproductive healthcare. Globally, the freeze on USAID’s health funding is projected to deny 11.7 million of the world’s most excluded women access to contraception, leading to over 4.2 million unintended pregnancies and more than 8,300 preventable maternal deaths. In Russia, the state’s campaign against ‘child-free propaganda’ represents its latest attempt to control women’s choices and repress LGBTQI+ people.
According to UN experts, Palestinian women and girls have faced sexual violence in detention, including being strip-searched by Israeli soldiers. In China, women’s rights activists have been imprisoned for ‘inciting subversion of state power’. Meanwhile, authorities in Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Uganda have introduced harsh anti-LGBTQI+ laws under the guise of protecting family values.
These global trends and imbalances are exacerbated by attacks on civic space, restricting civil society’s ability to challenge discriminatory laws and practices and dramatically increasing risks to the safety and lives of those who dare to resist. According to the CIVICUS Monitor, a collaborative initiative tracking civic space worldwide, over 70 per cent of the world’s population lives in countries where civic space is severely restricted. Only six out of 37 countries participating in Voluntary National Reviews at this year’s HLPF – the Bahamas, the Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, Micronesia and St Lucia – have open civic space. Civic freedoms are being crushed precisely when public participation is most desperately needed.
Even in the face of persistent failings in global governance and multilateral systems, feminist leadership continues to deliver where institutions fall short. As the UN marks the 25th anniversary of its Women, Peace and Security agenda, its most powerful legacy lies not in policy declarations, but in the actions of women who have transformed its vision into reality from Colombia to Sudan and Myanmar to Ukraine, contributing to peace agreements, defending rights under attack and rebuilding communities. Their leadership is often intersectional, crisis-tested and grounded in lived realities – precisely the evidence-based solutions needed to truly leave no one behind.
Today, the most effective responses to pressing global needs – climate resilience, democratic renewal and gender justice – are coming from the grassroots. Feminist movements, particularly in the global south, are already delivering on the SDGs, despite restricted civic space, chronic underfunding and persistent sidelining by patriarchal power structures locally to globally.
Across every metric that matters – from peace sustainability to economic resilience, from climate adaptation to democratic governance – feminist leadership works. Yet the institutions tasked with solving global challenges continue to exclude the leaders who’ve proven most effective at delivering solutions. If the UN80 Initiative is truly aimed at reasserting the value of multilateralism, it must centre the voices of women and excluded groups in policymaking and implementation.
The 2025 HLPF should offer a moment of reckoning. States can continue the charade of promoting gender equality while perpetuating gender exclusion at the highest levels, or they can finally align their actions with their rhetoric.
Through the 1 for 8 Billion campaign, civil society is calling for multilateral structures to be reimagined. This is not a call for incremental change or token gestures: it’s a demand for transformation. The world can’t afford another 80 years of male-dominated leadership at the UN while women and excluded communities bear the disproportionate brunt of global crises. The selection process for the next UN Secretary-General must be transparent and inclusive, and the role should be held by an intersectional feminist woman who leads with courage and holds truth to power.
Jesselina Rana is UN advisor at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance.
HARARE, Zimbabwe / TOURS, France, Jul 18 2025 (IPS) - Across the globe—from Gaza’s rubble to the streets of Tbilisi—people are standing up for justice, dignity, and basic rights. But far too often, they are paying with their freedom, their safety, even their lives.
Why, in 2025, does speaking out for justice still cost an arm and a leg?
Takaedza Tafirei
The CIVICUS Monitor paints a worrying picture: only 40 out of 198 countries maintain an open civic space, while 72.4% of the world’s population lives under repressive or closed conditions—a rise from the previous year. Freedom of expression violations appeared in 49 countries (45% of all cases), while peaceful-assembly and association violations made up 29% and 26%, respectively. Alarmingly, detention of human rights defenders was recorded in at least 58 countries, and nearly 10% of violations were linked to Israel, Palestine and solidarity protests.
Such repression can take place anywhere–from authoritarian countries to “mature democracies.” In March 2025, for instance, the United States—once a global standard-bearer—was added to the CIVICUS Watchlist for its rapid decline in civic freedoms, including executive orders threatening peaceful assemblies and free expression.
When democracies tighten civic space, authoritarian actors feel empowered to escalate their own crackdowns. This is a dangerous global trend.
Both of us have personal experience facing down authoritarianism.
Takaedza comes from Zimbabwe, where his journey as a protest organizer taught him what state repression looks like up close. Today, he coordinates global efforts to protect the right to peaceful protest at CIVICUS, working with brave activists who’ve been beaten, jailed, and silenced—simply for demanding a better future. From his own experience, he’s lived their fears and their hopes.
Asma Darwish
Today, Asma leads the Stand As My Witness campaign at CIVICUS, which advocates for the release of imprisoned human rights defenders around the world. Since its launch five years ago on the 18 July Nelson Mandela International Day, Stand As My Witness has helped contribute to the release of 31 jailed human rights defenders around the world, from Burundi to Saudi Arabia, Algeria to Zimbabwe.
We do this work professionally, but we also know what it means to be persecuted and to feel abandoned, unseen. And we know how life-changing it can be when the world stands in solidarity with you.
From the pro-Palestinian student protests in the U.S. to Georgia’s anti–foreign agent law demonstrations, from Kenya’s #RejectFinanceBill movement to Mozambique’s electoral justice protests to Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom uprising—one pattern is clear: the price of peaceful protest is becoming unbearable.
Civic space is shrinking at an alarming rate. And when countries that are supposed to model democracy begin restricting their own civic spaces, it sends a dangerous signal. It emboldens authoritarian regimes to crack down even harder, knowing there will be little consequence.
This global assault on protest rights isn’t just a threat to human rights—it’s an attack on the very spirit of youth-led resistance. It’s an attempt to smother change before it even begins.
To be persecuted for speaking out is not just a legal issue—it’s emotional, mental, deeply personal. It’s isolation. It’s fear. It’s the constant threat that your activism might cost your freedom—or worse, your life.
But it’s also resilience. It’s the strength of knowing you are not alone. And that’s where you, the reader, come in.
This isn’t just our fight—it’s yours too. Here’s how the world can stand with those risking everything for justice.
First, always name and shame repressive governments.
Some regimes are incredibly sensitive to international perception. Public exposure—through social media, op-eds, open letters, and campaigns like #StandAsMyWitness —can be a powerful deterrent. In Asma’s case, sustained international pressure contributed to her release from detention and that of some family members. Naming and shaming works. Use your voice.
Second, practice global solidarity so human rights defenders feel seen and not forgotten.
When defenders are imprisoned, they often feel abandoned, but just knowing their names are being spoken and stories shared gives them strength. Personal letters, solidarity statements, and international acknowledgment matter. Solidarity isn’t symbolic—it’s strategic. It reminds governments that the world is watching, and assures imprisoned activists that they are not alone.
Third, if you can, provide real support such as legal, logistical, and mental health aid.
Many human rights defenders operate under immense strain with limited resources. Donating to or supporting trusted groups who provide legal assistance, emergency relocation, digital security or trauma care can help ease the burden and provide material benefits for whatever activists under threat might need in the moment. Likewise, attending trials—even virtually—can deter abuse and spotlight injustice. Advocating for mental health care, including for activists seeking asylum, is both necessary and long overdue.
Along those same lines, don’t just look abroad for activism–always make sure you fight for your rights at home and hold your own government accountable, too. That means pushing your elected officials to speak out on global abuses, provide asylum for persecuted human rights defenders, and safeguard civic space. Democracy isn’t static. When we lose it in one place, we all feel the effects. And if you lose your ability to protest peacefully in your own country, it will be even harder to stand up for the rights of others across borders.
Next, use your platform—whatever it is. Whether you’re an artist, educator, influencer, student, or professional—use your space to amplify human rights defenders’ voices. Bring their stories into classrooms, media and workplaces. Advocate for them publicly. Help shift the narrative from passive sympathy to active solidarity.
Last of all, don’t forget to celebrate human rights defenders. Too often, we hear about human rights defenders only at negative times such as when they’re imprisoned or killed. But their courage deserves celebration. Nominating them for awards, fellowships and storytelling projects honors their resistance and affirms their dignity.
Despite the crackdowns, we are not without hope because we’ve seen throughout the Stand As My Witness campaign how solidarity and activism works. Change is possible as long as across the globe, people organize, resist, and imagine a more just and free world.
If we want a world where justice is not punished, where peaceful protest is not criminalized, where human rights defenders do not pay with their lives—then we must act now. Not later. Not when it’s convenient. But now. Solidarity is our only currency for survival.
Takaedza Tafirei is Programme Coordinator for Freedom of Peaceful Assembly at CIVICUS and a former protest organiser.
Asma Darwish is a Bahraini human rights defender and Lead for Stand As My Witness Campaign & MENA Advocacy at CIVICUS.
IPS UN Bureau