News headlines for “Rights of Indigenous People”
RightsCon’s Cancellation Signals a Growing Threat to Human Rights and Digital Freedoms
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, June 19 (IPS) - RightsCon, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age, has served for over a decade as a vital global gathering, bringing together civil society, academics, technologists, policymakers, and the private sector in cross-border collaboration. The abrupt cancellation of RightsCon 2026, following intervention by Zambia’s government just days before the convening was due to commence in Lusaka, should concern us all.
Papua New Guinea Bets on Indigenous Communities to Protect 700,000 Hectares of Highlands
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 11 (IPS) - The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved USD 6.4 million for a new conservation initiative in Papua New Guinea that seeks to protect 700,000 hectares of critical highland ecosystems by placing Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the centre of conserving and managing their ancestral lands.
Make Last Sprint for Nature a ‘Turning Point’ for Nature Finance, Eighth GEF Assembly Told
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 5 (IPS) - “While pressures on public budgets are growing and geopolitical tensions rising, it can be tempting to see environmental finance as optional. It is not,” GEF Interim CEO and Chair Claude Gascon told the closing plenary of the Eighth GEF Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, today.
As Global Demand for Gold Grows, UN Mercury Head Warns Toxic Fumes Put Women in a Motherhood Dilemma
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 5 (IPS) - Ask any woman miner in the Katoro goldfield in Tanzania’s northern Geita region, and she will tell you that she touches toxic mercury with her bare hands when extracting gold from crushed ore.
GEF Pushes Innovation, Blended Finance Ahead of the Eighth Assembly
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 3 (IPS) - As the Global Environment Facility (GEF) steps into the starting blocks of its next financial cycle, the Interim CEO Claude Gascon reflects on what he termed a “moment of transition and delivery”.
As Three COPs Converge, Leaders at GEF Council Call for Unified Global Action
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 2 (IPS) - On day 2 of the Global Environment Facility’s 71st Council Meeting, which focused on process and procedure, a clear message emerged: global environmental governance cannot afford fragmentation.
GEF-8 Assembly Welcomes New Green Pledges, Highlights Old Access Barriers
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, May 31 (IPS) - The Eighth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) opened today amid a sharp divide, with donor nations urging broader and increased funding commitments, while developing countries called for more equitable and accessible pathways to environmental finance.
Brazil’s Indigenous Communities Receive $9M in GEF Funding to Protect Lands, Traditions Under Threat
- Inter Press Service

BELÉM, Brazil, May 21 (IPS) - On Brazil’s northeastern coast, the Indigenous community, Tremembé da Barra do Mundaú, lives on a preserved stretch of land shaped by mangroves, dunes, and deserted beaches. The group of around 160 families is led by women and depends on the 3,500-hectare territory for fishing and subsistence farming.
‘Do More With Less’: GEF CEO Claude Gascon on Speed, Scale and Reform
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON D.C. & HYDERABAD, India, May 19 (IPS) - As governments prepare for the Eighth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – scheduled to be held from May 30 to June 6 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan – the stakes are unusually high.
How Santa Marta Finally Made Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Politically Discussable
- Inter Press Service

SRINAGAR, India, May 6 (IPS) - The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, may eventually be remembered as a defining moment in global climate politics, not because it produced a treaty or a formal negotiation outcome, but because it changed the tone, structure, and ambition of the conversation itself.

