Blogs

Today, European Parliamentarians will cast their vote on the EU’s next long-term budget – a vote that will send a powerful political signal to the European Commission ahead of its proposal due out in July. But behind these numbers lies a key question: will the EU maintain its role as a credible donor, or will it quietly shift towards a transactional approach shaped by short-term political interests? 

This month, the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) issued a seismic ruling in the case of A.R.E. v. Greece, condemning, for the first time ever, Greece for its “systematic practice of pushbacks”. This landmark verdict exposes not only Greece’s, but also Europe’s failure to handle migration fairly at its borders.The case in question centres on A.R.E., a woman who entered Greece to seek asylum in 2019. Instead of examining her asylum application as required by international and European law, the Greek authorities forcibly returned her to Turkey after holding her in a police station where her phone, shoes, and money were taken from her. 

Women and girls across Ukraine are suffering the impacts of the war. With the escalated attacks on civilian infrastructure including energy infrastructure, access to essential services has become more difficult.

This month, development and humanitarian NGOs faced a significant challenge when the Dutch government announced substantial funding cuts of 70%. These cuts are not an isolated incident: earlier this year, Germany announced further cuts in official development aid (ODA), with Belgium and France seeming to follow suit with announced cuts ranging from 15 to 40%. 

Recently, more and more news about the appearance and danger of pesticides has been spotlighted by the media in Europe. Not only that it's affecting consumers’ health, but also nature. Europe plays a key role in the pesticides industry.

In October 2024, Oxfam published “Climate Finance Unchecked,” a report diving into a significant oversight in the World Bank’s climate finance record-keeping. Specifically, the Bank’s method estimates climate finance only at the time projects are approved, with no assessment of climate finance when projects close. This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s common for projects to change during implementation —for example, adjustments to budgets, timelines and objectives. We’ve put together a short FAQ to explain what we found and why it matters.

The UN Summit of the Future was billed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ‘forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future’, a recommitment to the Sustainable Development Goals; at the Summit, States adopted the Pact for the Future.

Under the dark skies of Sekota, where the threat of rain looms over the dusty market, amidst the vibrant chatter and bleating of goats, Wirqa Bere, a 20-year-old single mother from the nearby community of Birbir, stands with renewed hope. 

I chose to work as a humanitarian because, at the core, I'm driven by a sense of shared humanity. While everyone is human, we all make different choices, and for me, the path to humanitarian work was guided by both circumstance and the organizations I became involved with.

In a manmade war, female activists like Khaidja have defied rigid gender norms to forge peace and safety in Yemen, risking everything for their seat at the peace table.