Peace deals may be negotiated by leaders, warring parties, and external powers. But to achieve lasting peace, formal agreements must be connected to peacebuilding from the grassroots up
Global
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Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed, yet too often expected to do so within work systems built around separation. If we want to improve breastfeeding rates, those systems must change – through stronger legislation on workplace responsibilities, flexible working, and care arrangements that allow mothers and babies to stay together
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More frequent extreme weather events, as well as gradual changes to the global climate, are increasingly harming people and economies. Integrating climate risk into economic management can help unlock the finance needed to build resilience and protect progress towards the SDGs
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Across much of the Global South, formal housing markets fail to reach the people most in need of affordable homes. Recognizing incremental, community-driven housing systems is essential for achieving inclusive, climate-resilient cities
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As conflicts grow more protracted, climate shocks intensify, and aid budgets shrink, gender equality cannot be treated as optional. Women’s leadership and rights must be central to effective humanitarian action
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Inequality is undermining progress across the SDGs, distorting economies, politics, and societies alike. Tackling it will require structural economic transformation, political will, and stronger global coordination
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Safe, affordable water in urban areas is central to sustainable development, yet progress remains uneven. To close this gap, cities need to adopt integrated, evidence-based approaches that build resilient and equitable services in practice
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Universal health coverage – a central target of the SDGs – seeks to guarantee access to essential health services without financial hardship. Achieving it, however, requires confronting the inequalities in access and quality that coverage alone cannot resolve
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We have built an intricate understanding of the dynamics between climate change, environmental systems, and resource use. We have also made huge strides in developing tools to analyze and model data. Why, then, are we not using this science to direct policy?
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Education can be a powerful force for shifting unequal gender norms, but schools do not transform them automatically. Embedding gender equality in education systems at scale – and defending that work against growing backlash – requires sustained political commitment, institutional reform, and public support
