News headlines in 2025, page 264

PRETORIA, South Africa, Mar 21 (IPS) - World Water Day, celebrated on March 22 every year, raises awareness about the importance of water and advocates for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme for 2025 focuses on glaciers — those grandiose ice masses that are a crucial part of the world's water resources.

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, Mar 21 (IPS) - World Water Day calls us all to promote the essential element of life: water. But we must also look this year at the rapidly vanishing sources of freshwater that we depend on, especially glaciers. Although glaciers may be remote for many of us, they are an essential component of the water cycle, nourishing rivers and lakes that are important for millions of people around the world. As precious resources with sources under threat, glaciers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are an area of focus.

NEW DELHI, Mar 21 (IPS) - While a local community prides itself on caring for a sensitive biodiverse region, and despite centuries-long stewardship of the Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the authorities rebuff—sometimes aggressively—their attempts to remain involved.

OVALLE, Chile, Mar 21 (IPS) - Chile's goat tradition began in 1544. Now, despite a prolonged drought, the women herders are adapting it to climate change and producing award-winning cheese.Women goat herders in the municipality of Ovalle, in northern Chile, are confronting climate change by defending their heritage through improvements in the quality and variety of their products, which has led some to win international awards for their cheeses.

BRIGHTON, UK, Mar 21 (IPS) - The principle of leaving no one behind is central to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The progress toward achieving SDG 6, which aims to ensure universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030 is increasingly under threat with recent development funding cuts posing a significant barrier.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday strongly condemned the looting of vital humanitarian supplies from Al Bashair Hospital in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, warning that the theft puts thousands of malnourished children and mothers at risk.

The United Nations commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Friday, calling on the global community to uphold its shared responsibility to combat racism in all its forms.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is descending further into violence, with mounting civilian casualties in the West Bank and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the UN’s top envoy for the region warned on Friday.

Children, refugees and displaced people worldwide are paying the price for the deep-seated funding crisis that has engulfed the international aid sector, made worse by pronounced cuts in Washington, the UN children’s and refugee agencies said on Friday.

Classes cut short by air raid sirens have become a routine part of school life for many Ukrainian youngsters in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, a new UN report published on Friday details.