The Human Consciousness Now...Our World in the Midst of Becoming...to What? Observe, contemplate Now.
JOHANNESBURG, Jun 5 2025 (IPS) - The South-West Pacific experienced unprecedented warming in 2024, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report released today (June 5)—threatening islands in a region where half the population lives close to the coast.
The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2024 Report said that sea-surface temperatures were the highest on record, and ocean heat content was at near-record levels in 2024. Nearly 40 million km² (15.4 million square miles), an area almost the size of the Asian continent, was affected by marine heatwaves.
On land, extreme heat and rainfall caused deadly and devastating impacts. A record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones hit the Philippines, while the last remaining tropical glacier in Indonesia’s New Guinea headed closer to extinction, the WMO said in a statement.
“2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region. Ocean heat and acidification combined to inflict long-lasting damage to marine ecosystems and economies. Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations. It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Celeste Saulo.
The report was to coincide with the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 in Geneva and ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference.
However, the report also highlighted how strengthened early warning systems and Anticipatory Action in the Philippines enabled communities to prepare and respond to the back-to-back typhoons in 2024. This helped to protect lives and livelihoods and ensure dignified, timely support for vulnerable communities.
“This exemplifies the value of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, which is one of WMO’s top strategic priorities,” WMO says, even though the report says 50,000 Pacific Islanders face the risk of displacement due to climate change. A case study of Fiji’s Serua Island that highlights the cultural and spiritual challenges of relocating displaced communities with their deep ancestral ties to the land.
2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region, at approximately 0.48 °C above the 1991–2020 average. Credit: WMO
Key highlights of the report include:
2024 was the warmest year on record in the South-West Pacific region, at approximately 0.48 °C above the 1991–2020 average. This was associated with the continued influence from the 2023/2024 El Niño event. The southern coast of Australia, northern New Zealand, and many Pacific Islands all suffered precipitation deficits. Parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, the northern Philippines, northern Australia, eastern Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and southern New Zealand saw above-average rainfall. Extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts across the region, with major events in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines disrupting communities, infrastructure, and economies. The late 2024 tropical cyclone season in the Philippines was unprecedented, with 12 storms from September to November — more than double the average. Across the entire sequence, over 13 million people were impacted in 17 of the country’s 18 regions, with more than 1.4 million displaced. In Indonesia, glacier ice loss continued rapidly in 2024, with the total ice area in the western part of New Guinea declining by 30-50% since 2022, according to satellite estimates. If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter. Most of the ocean area of the South-West Pacific region was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe, or extreme intensity during 2024. During the months of January, April, May, and June 2024, nearly 40 million km² of the region’s ocean was impacted, marking a record high since records began in 1993.Sea Level Rise in the Pacific Islands
Communities on the Pacific Islands face difficult decisions about staying in high-risk areas or relocating to secure their futures.
“Villagers are running out of adaptation options, with the building of seawalls, plantation of mangroves, and improvement of drainage systems no longer being viable,” the report says, giving an example from the Government of Fiji, which has offered support for the islanders to relocate. However, many choose to stay because of the concept of “vanua,” which translates literally to “land,” embodying the profound connection between the Indigenous communities and their ancestral lands.
IPS UN Bureau Report
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 5 2025 (IPS) - For decades, Portugal stood as a beacon of democratic stability in an increasingly unsettled Europe. While neighbours grappled with political fragmentation and the rise of far-right movements, Portugal maintained its two-party system, a testament to the enduring legacy of the 1974 Carnation Revolution that peacefully transitioned the country from dictatorship to democracy. It was long believed that Portugal’s extensive pre-revolution experience of repressive right-wing rule had effectively inoculated it against far-right politics, but that assumption is now demonstrable outdated. An era of exceptionalism ended on 18 May, when the far-right Chega party secured 22.8 per cent of the vote and 60 parliamentary seats, becoming the country’s main opposition force.
This represents more than an electoral upset; it marks the collapse of five decades of democratic consensus and Portugal’s reluctant entry into the European mainstream of political polarisation. Chega could hold the balance of power. The centre-right Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, won the most parliamentary seats, but fell far short of the 116 needed for a majority. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party, which governed from 2015 to 2024, suffered its worst defeat since the 1980s, relegated to third place by a party that’s only six years old.
Chega’s meteoric rise from just 1.3 per cent of the vote and one seat in 2019 to its role as today’s main opposition demonstrates how quickly political landscapes can shift when mainstream parties fail to address people’s fundamental concerns. The roots of the transformation lie in a toxic combination of economic pressure and political failure that has systematically eroded public confidence in the political establishment.
Portugal has endured three elections in under four years, a sign of its novel state of chronic instability. The immediate trigger for the latest election was the collapse of Montenegro’s government following a confidence vote, with opposition parties citing concerns over potential conflicts of interest involving his family business. This followed the previous Socialist government’s fall in November 2023 amid corruption investigations, creating a recurring cycle of scandal, government crisis and electoral upheaval.
The political turmoil unfolds against a backdrop of mounting social challenges that mainstream parties have failed to adequately address. Despite its economy growing by 1.9 per cent in 2024, well above the European Union average, Portugal faces a severe housing crisis that has become the defining issue for many voters, particularly those from younger generations. Portugal now has the worst housing access rates of all 38 OECD countries, with house prices more than doubling over the past decade.
In Lisbon, rents have jumped by 65 per cent since 2015, making the capital the world’s third least financially viable city due to its punishing combination of soaring housing costs and traditionally low wages. This crisis, driven by tourism, foreign investment and short-term rentals, has pushed property ownership beyond most people’s reach, creating widespread frustration with governments perceived as ineffective or indifferent to everyday struggles.
Immigration has provided another flashpoint. The number of legal migrants tripled from under half a million in 2018 to over 1.5 million in 2025. This rapid demographic change has fuelled populist narratives about uncontrolled migration and its alleged impact on housing and employment markets. It was precisely these grievances that Chega, led by former TV commentator André Ventura, expertly exploited.
As an outsider party untainted by association with the cycle of scandals and governmental collapses, Chega positioned itself as the defender of ‘western civilisation’ and channelled anti-establishment anger into electoral success. It combines promises to combat corruption and limit immigration with a defence of what it characterises as traditional Portuguese values, including through extreme criminal justice policies such as chemical castration for repeat sexual offenders.
Despite Ventura’s insistence that Chega simply advocates equal treatment without ‘special privileges’, the party’s ranks include white supremacists and admirers of former dictator António Salazar. Its openly racist approach to immigration and hostility towards women, LGBTQI+ people, Muslims and Roma people reflects a familiar far-right playbook that has proven successful across Europe. Chega has cultivated significant connections with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, Germany’s Alternative for Germany, and Spain’s Vox party, and Ventura was among the European far-right leaders invited to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Montenegro has so far refused to work with Chega, which he has publicly characterised as demagogic, racist and xenophobic – a rejection that may have inadvertently strengthened Chega’s anti-establishment credentials. However, the arithmetic of Portugal’s fractured parliament suggests that any significant policy initiatives will require either Socialist abstention or, more controversially, Chega support, creating new opportunities for far-right influence, particularly on criminal justice and immigration policies.
Portugal’s experience offers sobering evidence that far-right influence should no longer be viewed as a passing fad but rather as an established feature of contemporary European politics. The speed of the shift offers a stark reminder that no democracy is immune to the populist pressures reshaping the continent.
The question now is whether Portugal’s institutions can adapt to govern effectively in this new fractured landscape while preserving democratic values. Portugal’s civil society has an increasingly vital part to play in holding newly influential far-right politicians to account and offering collective responses to populist challenges.
Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 5 2025 (IPS) - A particularly virulent outbreak of cholera was detected in the Khartoum State of Sudan and is a direct result of the Sudanese Civil War, warns the United Nations.
“The resurgence of cholera is more than a public health emergency – it is a symptom of deep, persistent inequality. Cholera takes hold where poverty is entrenched, where healthcare is scarce, and where conflict has shattered the systems that keep children safe. Without access to safe water and sanitation and essential services, communities are left exposed, and children are paying the price,” said Joe English, the Emergency Communication Specialist of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Cholera is an acute bacterial infection caused by the consumption of contaminated food or water, which can be fatal and lead to death by dehydration if left untreated. Cases of cholera are most concentrated in Africa and South Asia, as these regions are known to be particularly sensitive to flooding, have high rates of poverty and displacement, and lack adequate water, sanitation and health (WASH) infrastructure in many areas.
UNICEF has warned that worldwide cases of cholera have nearly doubled in the past two years, with approximately 1.1 billion people being at risk of succumbing to the disease. Children under the age of five and people living in poverty face the highest risks of death as many of them also suffer from other health complications such as malnutrition.
Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that there were 804,721 cases and 5,805 deaths across 33 countries in 2024, marking a 37 percent increase in cases, and a 27 percent increase in deaths from 2023. The latest figures show that there have been 157,035 cases and 2,148 deaths recorded across 26 countries in the first four months of 2025. Although cholera is difficult to monitor, WHO projects an increase in cases this year.
On May 28, UNICEF released a report detailing the most recent outbreak occurring in Sudan. Attributed to the deterioration of conditions due to the Sudanese Civil War, the outbreak is most prevalent in Khartoum State. As the conflict ravages residential areas, displacement has reached new peaks and hordes of civilians reside in overcrowded and unsanitary shelters. Attacks from armed forces have also damaged the national supplies of electricity and water, forcing families to rely on water from contaminated sources.
The report further details that the recent outbreak in Khartoum spread particularly quickly. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recorded over 500 cases in a single day on May 21. This represents a quarter of the cases recorded in the past three weeks. UNICEF added that between May 15 and 25, the number of recorded cases surged ninefold from 90 per day to 815.
Additionally, Sudanese officials confirmed that there have been over 2,500 cases recorded in the past week, as well as 172 deaths. Since January, there have been approximately 7,700 cases of cholera recorded in Sudan and 185 associated deaths. Over 1,000 of these cases comprise of children under the age of five.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has expressed concern as the rapid rise in cases greatly outpaces Sudan’s national epidemic response supplies. With Sudan lacking the adequate resources to respond to a widespread public health crisis, it is imperative that humanitarian organizations distribute vaccines and continue to monitor the spread.
“Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster. The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure, and limited access to clean water is fueling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases. With the rainy season fast approaching, the need for immediate, coordinated action could not be more urgent,” said Eatizaz Yousif, IRC’s Sudan Country Director.
At present, the main challenge in Sudan is in monitoring the spread of infection and supplementing the collapsing healthcare system. Dr. Sayed Mohamed Abdullah from Sudan’s Doctors Union stated that roughly 80 percent of hospitals are not functional, and the remaining are operating on shortages of water, electricity, and medical supplies. These remaining facilities struggle to assist large influxes of patients on a daily basis. Humanitarian aid workers and medical personnel are also at heightened risks of exposure.
“Part of what we are doing with health authorities is to reinforce the epidemic surveillance system to have a better understanding of where most of the patients come from, what the main problems are, and how we could improve our support,” said Slaymen Ammar, MSF’s medical coordinator in Khartoum. “In a context like this, with very few operational health facilities, we need to quickly address the needs of patients to prevent them from progressing to a severe form of the disease.”
The United Nations (UN) and its partners have been on the frontlines supporting vaccination campaigns that target the most vulnerable communities. According to UN Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, cholera vaccinations began on May 27 in Jabal Awliya, a village that borders Khartoum which was hit particularly hard.
That same day, WHO announced that they had delivered eight tonnes worth of medical supplies including treatments for non-communicable diseases, mental health issues, and malnutrition. This is estimated to provide roughly six months of support to the hospital.
UNICEF has delivered over 1.6 million oral cholera vaccines along with numerous cholera treatment kits. They have also distributed water treatment chemicals to households and water plants in an effort to mitigate the spread. Furthermore, UNICEF is also facilitating community awareness through social media campaigns and dialogues.
“We are racing against time with our partners to provide basic healthcare, clean water, and good nutrition, among other lifesaving services, to children who are highly vulnerable to deadly diseases and severe acute malnutrition,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative for Sudan. “Each day, more children are exposed to this double threat of cholera and malnutrition, but both are preventable and treatable, if we can reach children in time.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
WASHINGTON DC, Jun 5 2025 (IPS) - On June 10, the World Bank’s board will meet to consider lifting an outdated ban on nuclear energy – one that has remained in place for decades despite the growing global need for clean, reliable electricity.
The ban limits options for developing nations, undermines climate goals, and leaves countries vulnerable to authoritarian influence. Here are some key facts to know about the ban and its impact:
FACT: Over 3 billion people lack reliable electricity.
Nuclear power can help close this gap by delivering large-scale, dependable energy to regions where renewables alone are insufficient to meet rising demand.
FACT: Global electricity demand will double by 2050, led by emerging and developing countries.
Most of the world’s growth in energy demand will be among World Bank client countries in Asia, Middle East, and Africa that are open to nuclear power but still require financing.
FACT: Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest, most reliable sources of electricity.
Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power generates electricity without carbon emissions – and unlike solar and wind, it provides round-the-clock baseload power essential for economic growth and industrialization.
FACT: The World Bank’s ban leaves developing nations dependent on Russia and China.
Without financing options from trusted institutions like the World Bank, countries turn to state-backed Russian and Chinese nuclear deals – often opaque, long-term arrangements that undermine sovereignty and energy security.
FACT: Developing countries want nuclear power – but can’t finance it.
Countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are actively exploring nuclear power but face steep financing barriers. Without World Bank support, they’re denied a viable path to energy independence.
FACT: Every credible path to a low-carbon future includes nuclear.
More than two dozen countries have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2030 to meet climate goals. Continued exclusion of nuclear from World Bank policy contradicts the urgency of the climate crisis.
FACT: The World Bank’s ban is copied by over 20 other development finance institutions.
This domino effect means that outdated policy by a few powerful shareholders is depriving low- and middle-income countries around the world of access to a key clean energy technology.
FACT: Modern nuclear technology is safer, smaller, and more flexible than ever.
Advanced reactors and small modular designs address past safety concerns and are well-suited for the needs of emerging markets, including off-grid, industrial, and remote applications.
FACT: Lifting the ban would open the door to U.S. and allied technology.
American nuclear firms are at risk of being shut out of deals due to the financing gap, while authoritarian states step in. Reversing the ban would promote fair, open competition and high safety standards.
FACT: A simple first step: build World Bank expertise.
The Bank doesn’t yet have a team of nuclear energy experts to assist and advise client countries. Creating a technical team to assess nuclear options would help countries make informed decisions – and allow the Bank to modernize itself and better serve its shareholders.
IPS UN Bureau
Excerpt:
Todd Moss is founder and executive director of the Energy for Growth Hub.
TOKYO / ASTANA , Jun 4 2025 (IPS) - On the windswept steppe west of Astana, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev led a solemn ceremony this week to mark Kazakhstan’s Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repressions and Famine—an annual reflection on one of the nation’s darkest chapters.
The ceremony was held at the ALZHIR Memorial Complex, a former Stalin-era camp where nearly 8,000 women—wives of those declared “enemies of the state”—were once imprisoned.
“The lessons of history must never be forgotten,” Tokayev declared, referring to the Stalin-era policies that left deep scars on Kazakhstan’s cultural and intellectual life.
Credit: Map of Gulag locations in Soviet Union, Public Domain
Kazakhstan’s experience forms part of the broader story of Stalinist repression, which extended well beyond Russia’s borders. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, an estimated 560,000 to 760,000 Japanese prisoners of war and civilians were forcibly relocated and detained across Soviet territory. Among them, about 50,000 were sent to camps in what was then the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan). In camps such as Spassky near Karaganda, many perished under harsh forced labor and brutal conditions.
Kazakh citizens suffered even greater losses. In the early 1930s, famine caused by Stalin’s agricultural collectivization policies and the forced destruction of the traditional nomadic way of life claimed as many as 2.3 million Kazakhs. This was followed by purges in which countless intellectuals and landowners were executed or exiled.
Migration of Kazakh People due to theFamine in 1932 – 33.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has sought not only to confront this painful legacy but also to embrace the vision of a multiethnic and multifaith society rooted in tolerance. Its constitution guarantees equality for all ethnic and religious groups, and more than 300,000 victims have been officially rehabilitated. Declassified archives continue to shed new light on this era.
But Kazakhstan’s progress is not merely about reconciliation with the past. It has also chosen to make tolerance and dialogue central pillars of its national identity.
As I wrote in a 2023 INPS Japan article, Kazakhstan’s leadership has placed global interfaith dialogue at the heart of its foreign engagement. The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, launched in 2003, has become a signature platform bringing together leaders from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other faiths for sustained dialogue.
7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions Group Photo by Secretariate of the 7th Congress
Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri
Hosted at the iconic Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Congress reflects Kazakhstan’s role as a bridge between East and West and its commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, and dialogue.
This approach holds particular relevance in a world increasingly fractured by sectarian conflict and geopolitical tensions. Kazakhstan’s efforts to transform a history marked by division and repression into a model of inclusion and cooperation offer valuable lessons for the global community.
Such values were echoed by Pope Francis, who attended the 7th Congress in 2022. In his closing address, the pontiff stated, “Religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility or extremism, but instead become a beacon of hope for peace.” He emphasized the importance of interreligious dialogue and coexistence.
Semipalatinsk former Nuclear test site. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri
This commitment to nuclear disarmament also extends to interfaith diplomacy. Since the 6th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in 2018, Kazakhstan has worked closely with Soka Gakkai International (SGI) of Japan and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), advancing a shared vision of peace, dialogue, and the abolition of nuclear weapons, grounded in the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use and the testimonies of Hibakusha, while promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and deepening international cooperation.
A Group photo of participants of the regional conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear-free-zone in Central Asia held on August 29, 2023. Credit: Jibek Joly TV Channel
The ALZHIR Memorial itself continues to bear witness to the injustices of the past. Its preserved barracks and “Arch of Sorrow” leave a powerful impression on visitors.
Yet as this week’s remembrance ceremony and Kazakhstan’s ongoing interfaith efforts make clear, the country is determined to build a future grounded in tolerance, justice, and peace.
“Such injustices must never be repeated,” Tokayev affirmed—a principle that now informs both Kazakhstan’s domestic policies and its multi-vector diplomacy aimed at fostering dialogue and harmony on the international stage.
Katsuhiro Asagiri is the President of INPS Japan and serves as the director for media projects such as “Strengthening awareness on Nuclear Weapons” and SDGs for All” In 2024, he was honored with the “Kazakhstan Through the Eyes of Foreign Media” award, representing the Asia-Pacific region.
This article is brought to you by INPS Japan in collaboration with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.
IPS UN Bureau
Jun 4 2025 (IPS) -
A better internet that supports democracy rather than undermines it is possible.
In 2025, we stand at a crossroads in the digital era. Our platforms have become the new public squares, but rather than fostering democracy and dignity, many are optimized for manipulation, division, and profit. The Council on Technology and Social Cohesion’s “Blueprint on Prosocial Tech Design Governance” offers a systems-level response to this crisis.
Digital harms are not accidental. They stem from deliberate choices embedded in how platforms are built and monetized. Infinite scroll, addictive recommendation systems, and deceptive patterns are not technical inevitabilities—they are design policies that reward engagement over truth, attention over well-being, and outrage over dialogue. These antisocial designs have proven devastating: eroding mental health, fuelling polarisation, spreading disinformation, and concentrating power in a handful of corporate actors.
Tech companies blame users for harmful content online. But this avoids their own responsibility in how they design platforms. The Blueprint shifts the focus from downstream content moderation to upstream focus on platform design.
No technology has a neutral design. Companies make choices about what a platform will allow you to do, prevent you from doing, and what the design will persuade, incentivise, amplify, highlight, or manipulate people to do or not do online.
Prosocial Building Codes
Like building codes in architecture, the report proposes a tiered certification system for prosocial tech, outlining five levels of increasing ambition—from minimum safety standards to fully participatory, socially cohesive platforms. This is not window-dressing. It’s a structural intervention to address the root causes of harmful tech designs.
Tier 1 begins with establishing baseline protections: Safety by Design, Privacy by Design, and User Agency by Design. These aren’t abstract ideals but concrete practices that give users control over what they see, how they’re tracked, and whether manipulative features are opt-in rather than default. Tier 2 scales up with low-barrier user experience tools like empathy-oriented reaction buttons, friction to slow down impulsive posting, and prompts to reflect before sharing.
Iin Tier 3, prosocial algorithms that highlight areas of common ground and diverse ideas replace engagement-maximising recommender systems that offer news feeds skewed toward polarising topics. Tier 4 introduces civic tech and deliberative platforms explicitly built for democratic engagement, and Tier 5 pushes for middleware solutions that restore data sovereignty and interoperability.
Research Transparency and Protections
The report highlights the need for research to understand how platform design impacts society, safe harbour laws to protect independent researchers, and open data standards for measuring social trust and cohesion. The paper calls for mandated platform audits, researcher safe harbours, and public infrastructure to enable independent scrutiny of algorithmic systems and user experiences. Without these safeguards, crucial insight into systemic harms—such as manipulation, bias, and disinformation—remains inaccessible.
The paper offers a set of prosocial metrics on three areas of social cohesion. This includes individual agency and well-being, or the ability of users to make informed choices and participate meaningfully; social trust and intergroup pluralism referring to the quality of interaction across diverse social, cultural, and political groups; and public trust or the strength of relationship between users and public institutions.
Shifting Market Forces
The report concludes with a set of market reforms to shift incentives toward prosocial tech innovations. Market forces drive antisocial and deceptive tech design. Venture capital (VC) funding is the main source of financing for many major tech platforms, especially in their early and growth stages. It significantly entrenches antisocial tech design, expecting rapid scaling, high returns, and market dominance—often at the expense of ethical development.
Market concentration inhibits innovation and confines users within systems that prioritise profit over well-being. Numerous large technology companies function as monopolies, employing opaque strategies and dominating value chains. Such technology monopolies pose significant challenges for smaller, prosocial platforms seeking growth. When a limited number of tech giants control infrastructure, data, and user attention, smaller platforms with ethical, inclusive, or democratic designs encounter difficulties in achieving visibility and viability.
The report recommends shifting market forces by codifying liability for platform-induced harms, enforcing antitrust to level the playing field for ethical alternatives, and identifying a range of options for funding and monetising prosocial tech startups.
Too often piecemeal tech regulation has failed to show the flood of toxicity online. Using a system’s approach, the report offers a comprehensive plan to make prosocial tech not only possible, but competitive and sustainable. Just as we expect bridges to be safe and banks to be audited, the Blueprint insists we treat digital infrastructure with the same seriousness. Platforms should not be allowed to profit from harm while hiding behind the myth of neutrality.
At its core, the Blueprint argues that platform design is social engineering. Platforms that currently amplify outrage could, with the right design and incentives, foster empathy, cooperation, and truth.
Now the question is political will. Will regulators adopt tiered certifications that reward responsibility? Will investors fund platforms that prioritise well-being over profit? Will designers centre the needs of marginalised communities in their user experience decisions? The Blueprint gives us the tools. The next step is collective action for governments, technologists, and civil society alike.
Download the report here.
Related articles:
How technology can build trust in the Israeli-Palestinian context
Mapping tech design regulation in the Global South
Deliberative technology: Designing AI and computational democracy for peacebuilding in highly-polarized contexts
Building tech “trust and safety” for a digital public sphere
Dr. Lisa Schirch is Research Fellow with the Toda Peace Institute and is on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame in the Keough School of Global Affairs and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She holds the Richard G. Starmann Sr. Endowed Chair and directs the Peacetech and Polarization Lab. A former Fulbright Fellow in East and West Africa, Schirch is the author of eleven books, including The Ecology of Violent Extremism: Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Human Security and Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy: The Tech-tonic Shift. Her work focuses on tech-assisted dialogue and decision-making to improve state-society relationships and social cohesion.
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from the original with their permission.
IPS UN Bureau
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jun 4 2025 (IPS) - “It’s brought me some closure,” said Shafaq Zaidi, a school friend of Noor Mukadam, reacting to the Supreme Court’s May 20 verdict upholding both the life sentence and death penalty for Noor’s killer, Zahir Jaffer.
“Nothing can bring Noor back, but this decision offers a sense of justice—not just for her, but for every woman in Pakistan who’s been told her life doesn’t matter,” Zaidi told IPS over the phone from Islamabad. “It’s been a long and painful journey—four years of fighting through the sessions court, high court, and finally, the Supreme Court.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, rights activist Zohra Yusuf said, “It’s satisfying that the Supreme Court upheld the verdict,” but added that the crime’s brutality left little room for relief. “It was so horrific that one can’t even celebrate the judgment,” she said, referring to the “extreme” sadism Noor endured—tortured with a knuckleduster, raped, and beheaded with a sharp weapon on July 20, 2021.
Yusuf also pointed out that the “background” of those involved is what drew national attention.
Noor Mukadam, 27, was the daughter of a former ambassador, while Zahir Jaffer, 30, was a dual Pakistan-U.S. national from a wealthy and influential family. Her father and friends fought to keep the case in the public eye, refusing to let it fade into yet another forgotten statistic.
Still, the response has been muted—many, including Yusuf, oppose the death penalty.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded at least 174 death sentences in 2024—a sharp rise from 102 in 2023—yet not a single execution was reportedly carried out. The last known hanging was in 2019, when Imran Ali was executed for the rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab Ansari.
However, Noor’s father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam, has repeatedly stated that the death sentence for Zahir Jaffer was “very necessary,” emphasizing, “This isn’t just about my daughter—it’s about all of Pakistan’s daughters,” referencing the countless acts of violence against women that go unpunished every day.
The HRCP’s 2024 annual report painted a grim picture of gender-based violence against women in Pakistan.
According to the National Police Bureau, at least 405 women were killed in so-called honor crimes. Domestic violence remained widespread, resulting in 1,641 murders and over 3,385 reports of physical assault within households.
Sexual violence showed no sign of slowing. Police records documented 4,175 reported rapes, 733 gang rapes, 24 cases of custodial sexual assault, and 117 incidents of incest-related abuse—a chilling reminder of the dangers women face in both public and private spaces. HRCP’s media monitoring also revealed that at least 13 transgender individuals experienced sexual violence—one was even killed by her family in the name of honor.
The digital space offered no refuge either. The Digital Rights Foundation recorded 3,121 cases of cyber-harassment, most reported by women in Punjab.
Justice Remains Elusive
But numbers alone can’t capture the brutality—or the deep-rooted disregard for women that drives it.
“We recently took a man to court and secured maintenance for twin baby girls,” said Haya Zahid, CEO of the Karachi-based Legal Aid Society (LAS). “The father divorced their young mother while she was still in the hospital—just because she gave birth to daughters.”
LAS offers free legal aid to those who can’t afford it, handling cases like rape, murder, acid attacks, forced and child marriages, and domestic violence.
Bassam Dhari, also from LAS, recalled Daya Bheel’s gruesome murder, which took place after Noor Mukadam’s but failed to stir national attention because it happened in a remote village in Sindh’s Sanghar district.
“She was skinned, her eyeballs removed, her breasts chopped off, and her head severed from her body,” said Dhari.
He said the postmortem report confirmed that she was neither raped nor sexually assaulted, and the attack did not appear to be driven by rage or revenge.
While Mukadam’s family may have found closure, justice remains elusive for thousands of Pakistani women.
“Noor Mukadam’s case is indeed a rare instance where justice was served,” said Syeda Bushra, another lawyer at the LAS.
“It’s not that there aren’t enough laws to protect women and children—far from it,” said Bushra. “There are plenty of laws, but what good are they if investigations are weak?” According to her, only a small percentage of women can seek redress. “Justice is denied or delayed every single day,” she added.
“The problem is that these laws are crafted in a social vacuum,” observed Fauzia Yazdani, a gender and governance expert with over 30 years of experience working with national governments, the UN, and bilateral development partners in Pakistan.
She acknowledged that although many progressive, women-friendly laws have been passed over the years, they’ve failed to resonate in a society resistant to change. “Laws are essential, but no amount of legislation can end violence against women if the societal mindset remains misogynistic, patriarchal, and permissive of such crimes,” she said.
Buying Justice Through Blood Money
At the same time, Dahri highlighted critical flaws in the justice system.
In Pakistan, where the death penalty remains legal under its Islamic status, such sentences can be overturned through the diyat (blood money) law, which allows perpetrators to buy forgiveness by compensating the victim’s family.
“In our country, money can buy anything,” said Dahri. “This blood money law is routinely abused by the rich and powerful to literally get away with murder.”
He stressed the urgent need to reform these laws. “Many families initially refuse compensation, but intense pressure and threats—especially against the poor—often force them to give in.”
In 2023, 10-year-old Fatima Furiro’s death might have gone unnoticed if two graphic videos—showing her writhing in pain, then collapsing—hadn’t gone viral. The resulting public outcry led to her body being exhumed. Her employer, a powerful feudal lord in Sindh’s Khairpur district, who appeared in the footage, was swiftly arrested.
He spent a year in prison before the case was closed, after Fatima’s impoverished family accepted blood money—despite forensic evidence confirming she had been raped, beaten, and tortured over time.
Shafaq Zaidi—Noor Mukadam’s school friend—stood outside the Islamabad Press Club on July 25, 2021, at the very spot where Noor had once protested. This time, Zaidi was seeking justice for Noor herself, who had been killed just days earlier, on July 20, 2021. Courtesy: Shafaq Zaidi
Law vs Prejudice
Alongside a flawed justice system, women must battle deep-rooted social taboos—amplified by relentless victim-blaming and shaming.
“In such an environment,” said Bushra, “it’s no surprise that many women, worn down by the long and exhausting process, eventually withdraw their complaints.”
“A woman’s trial begins long before she ever enters a courtroom,” said Dahri.
In Noor Mukadam’s case, the claim of a “live-in relationship”—real or fabricated—was used by the convict’s lawyer to downgrade his death sentence for rape to life imprisonment.
“A boy and girl living together is a misfortune for our society,” remarked Justice Hashim Kakar, who led the three-member bench hearing Mukadam’s case.
“Her reputation was sullied—even in death,” said Yazdani, adding that judges should refrain from moralizing and preaching.
“A judge’s verdict should rest solely on an impartial reading of the law,” said Bushra.
But as Dahri pointed out, few lawyers in Pakistan dare to say this openly. “Judges can take it personally,” he said, “and we risk facing repercussions in our very next case.”
According to Yazdani, even a few targeted reforms—like faster hearings, clearing case backlogs, setting up GBV and child protection courts, and training judges, lawyers, and police on the realities of misogyny and gender-based violence—could cut victim-blaming in half.
But she also offered a word of caution: reforms alone don’t guarantee empathy, which she called the cornerstone of real justice.
“Social change doesn’t happen overnight,” Yazdani said. “Anthropologically speaking, it takes five years for change to take root—and another ten for it to truly take hold.”
Gender balance matters in justice
Judicial gender inequality worsens the situation. Some experts argue that increasing the number of women judges and lawyers could lead to a more fair, dynamic, and empathetic justice system.
A 2024 report by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) reveals that women make up less than 20 percent of the country’s judges, lawyers, and judicial officers—an alarming gap in a nation of over 117 million women. Of the 126 judges in the superior judiciary, only seven are women—just 5.5 percent. In the Supreme Court, that number drops to two.
Meanwhile, the 26 judges of the apex court (including the chief justice) are burdened with a backlog of more than 56,000 cases—not all related to violence against women.
Bushra believes more women must be encouraged to enter the justice sector—particularly as prosecutors, police officers, and judges. “I’ve seen how distressed victims become when forced to repeat their ordeal to male officers—often multiple times,” she said.
But she emphasized that simply increasing the number of women won’t end victim-blaming or guarantee survivor-centric justice. “Everyone in the system—including women—must be genuinely gender-sensitized to overcome personal biases and deep-rooted stereotypes,” said Bushra.
Special Courts
In 2021, the government passed the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, leading to the formation of an anti-rape committee by the Ministry of Law and Justice to support victims, including setting up special courts nationwide. “Special investigation units with trained prosecutors now handle 77 percent of complaints, and 91 percent of cases go to special courts,” said Nida Aly of AGHS, a Lahore-based law firm offering free legal aid and part of the committee.
By 2022, Sindh had set up 382 such units. Aly noted that a survivor-centered, time-bound, and coordinated approach raised conviction rates from 3.5 percent to 5 percent. A national sex offenders registry, managed by police, was launched in 2024. In Punjab, all 36 districts now have crisis and protection centers offering legal and psychosocial support, though some face resource limitations.
Nearly five years after gender-based violence courts were established in Karachi, she sees a promising shift in how judges handle such cases. “Prosecutors now take time to prepare women complainants—something that never happened before,” she said.
However, she added, the number of such courts and sensitized judges remains a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming number of violence committed against women and such cases flooding the system across Sindh.
IPS UN Bureau Report