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NL The dubious celebration of 10 years of SDGs
Source: Wikimedia Commons The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are officially 10 years old today. The goals, which originated as a hopeful successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), after 10 years give mixed feelings about how the world is doing. Between 2000 and 2015, the eight MDGs had proved to be a good formula for getting countries across [...]
Lessons from Seville: the outcomes of the FfD4 summit
In a world increasingly marked by geopolitical bloc thinking, rising protectionism and growing global inequality, a UN summit took place in Seville at the end of June 2025: the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). The FMS was there. Not only to listen and learn, but also to take a critical look at the [...]
A choice for Western multinationals: corporate due diligence or co-finance a war?
Photo: Demonstrators at the Global SUmmit of Consumer Goods Forum in Amsterdam - B4Ukraine From 10 to 13 June, the Global Summit of the Consumer Goods Forum took place in Amsterdam. Inside, it focused on issues of sustainability and ethics. Outside were protesters. On 11 June, Queen Máxima addressed attendees at [...]
Myanmar in the shadows: the democratic struggle behind the humanitarian disaster
Photo: Protests in Myanmar against Military Coup in February 2021 - Wikimedia Commons Myanmar was briefly in the news after a massive earthquake on 28 March 2025. Since then, media coverage of the situation has largely disappeared. Although the devastation is similar to the earthquake in Morocco in 2023, Myanmar gets three times [...]
Green ambitions in the textile industry: who wins, who loses?
Photo: Textile factory in Malaysia - Free Malaysia Today Is the fire of second-hand clothes at the textile market in Ghana on 30 January the wake-up call the garment industry needs? While the flames show the impact of uncontrolled textile waste, the European garment industry remains one of the biggest polluters. After food, housing and mobility, European textile consumption has [...]
Georgia's unfair elections should not be recognised
The opposition gathered in front of the Georgian parliament on 28 October in protest against the conduct of the elections (Source: Flickr) An abridged version of this post appeared earlier in the FD Last week, elections took place in Georgia - a crucial moment for the country's geopolitical orientation. The [...]
With a second term of Trump, abortion rights are at risk worldwide
Photo: Overturn of Roe v. Wade - The Organisation for World Peace The outcome of the US presidential election will not only be felt within the borders of the United States; the consequences will reach worldwide. Abortion rights and reproductive health care are particularly at stake. A re-election of Donald Trump [...]
How the power of big pharmaceutical companies leads to mpox vaccine apartheid
Photo: WHO Vaccination - Wikimedia Commons As fears of an mpox outbreak mount in the Netherlands and Health Minister Fleur Agema favours keeping available vaccines within our own borders, a humanitarian disaster is playing out in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The mpox virus continues to spread there unimpeded, [...]
How power comes before justice - the Indian government's protection of perpetrators of sexual violence
In recent weeks, the ongoing problem of violence against women in India has once again become painfully visible. There was much controversy surrounding the rape and murder of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor from Kolkata. This shocking event brought thousands of women to the streets in several Indian cities, where they massively demanded justice. In response, [...]
All Eyes on Sudan
In Khartoum, Sudan's capital, heavy fighting broke out in April last year between the government army the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary army Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A bloody war has been raging in Sudan ever since. But even before this escalation in 2023, the country was experiencing major problems. The population of [...]