BANGKOK, November 2 (IPS) - Speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week in Bangkok (November 1–5), Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International and a passionate human rights advocate, highlighted his concerns about rising inequality, growing authoritarianism, and the misuse of AI and surveillance. Yet, he expressed optimism that, even as civic spaces shrink, young people across Asia are driving meaningful change. He also shared his vision of a just society—one where power is shared, and grassroots movements lead the way.

BLOOMINGTON, USA, November 2 (IPS) - Strengthening Indigenous land rights will protect more forest in Brazil’s Amazon and avoid large amounts of carbon emission, according to new research released ahead of COP30.

The UN Secretary-General expressed solidarity with Jamaicans on Sunday struggling to cope with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Against a quiet morning sky, the flags of the United Nations and the State of Qatar rose together in Doha on Sunday, ahead of the Second World Summit for Social Development.

BANGKOK, November 1 (IPS) - It is a bleak global moment—with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.

The world of work is undergoing rapid and destabilising change, with widening inequality and job insecurity leaving millions without stable livelihoods or basic protections.

Journalists risk their lives every day to bring facts to light, yet most attacks against them go unpunished.

After two years of war that kept them out of classrooms, Gaza’s children are finally returning to the classroom, surrounded by devastation – but determined to learn.

MOGADISHU / ROME, October 31 (IPS) - Food has always been political. It decides whether families thrive or fall into poverty, whether young people see a future of opportunity or despair, whether communities feel included or pushed aside. Food is also a basic human right – one recognized in international law but too often unrealized in practice. Guaranteeing that right requires viewing food not as a form of emergency relief, but as the cornerstone of sustainable social development.

BULAWAYO & BANGKOK, October 31 (IPS) - From the streets of Bangkok to power corridors in Washington, the civil society space for dissent is fast shrinking. Authoritarian regimes are silencing opposition but indirectly fueling corruption and widening inequality, according to a leading global civil society alliance.