By Babatunde Jose
“So do not lose hope, nor fall into despair, for you will be superior if you are true in faith.” (Surah Al-Imran; 139)
Our world is in big trouble. As world conditions worsen, more of us are suffering the tragic consequences of both natural disasters and man-made problems. Divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider. Challenges are spreading farther. Today’s rarest commodities: hope and security are receding. We need hope — and more. We need action. We also need to ease the global insecurity and food crisis.
We already have reports of farmers in West Africa and beyond cultivating fewer crops because of the price or lack of availability of fertilizers, insecurity due to violent acts of terrorists and the fear of accessing their farms.
We need action across the board. We are in rough seas. A season of global discontent is on the horizon. A cost-of-living crisis is raging. Trust is crumbling. Inequalities are exploding. Hunger is everywhere. Our planet is burning. People are hurting – with the most vulnerable suffering the most. People are becoming hopeless and helpless. The United Nations Charter and the ideals it represents are in jeopardy.
And yet we are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction. The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age. Crises like the war in Ukraine and Gaza, the multiplication of conflicts around the globe. Crises like the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. Crises like the dire financial situation of developing countries and the fate of the Sustainable Development Goals. And crises like the lack of guardrails around promising new technologies to heal disease, connect people and expand opportunity.
Our world is in peril and paralyzed. Geopolitical divides are undermining the work of the Security Council; undermining international law; undermining trust and people’s faith in democratic institutions; undermining all forms of international cooperation. We cannot go on like this. Even the various groupings set up outside the multilateral system by some members of the international community have fallen into the trap of geopolitical divides, like in the G-20. At one stage, international relations seemed to be moving toward a G-2 world; now we risk ending up with G-nothing. No cooperation. No dialogue. No collective problem-solving.
But the reality is that we live in a world where the logic of cooperation and dialogue is the only path forward. No power or group alone can call the shots. No major global challenge can be solved by a coalition of the willing. We need a coalition of the world.
In Ukraine, war has unleashed widespread destruction with massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The fighting has claimed thousands of lives. Millions have been displaced. We are seeing the threat of dangerous divisions between West and South. The risks to global peace and security are immense.
In Libya, divisions continue to jeopardize the country. In Iraq, ongoing tensions threaten stability. In Israel and Palestine, cycles of violence under the occupation continue as prospects for peace based on a two-State solution grow ever more distant.
In Myanmar, the appalling humanitarian, human rights, and security situation is deteriorating by the day. In the Sahel, alarming levels of insecurity and terrorist activity amidst rising humanitarian needs continues to grow. In Syria, violence and hardship still prevail. The list goes on.
The world is embroiled in multiple crises – from disasters to conflict to climate emergency, threatening the right to health of millions globally, with those facing marginalization or vulnerability suffering the most.
The war in Ukraine has sparked the world’s fastest and largest displacement crisis in decades, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Many still in the country are without access to food, water, health care, and other essential supplies. The conflict also continues to have ripple effects across the world affecting the shipment of grains and fertilizer.
In Haiti gang violence and climate change combine for chaos as political instability and violence surge. Armed gangs regularly take control of distribution routes, causing shortages of basic goods and fuel.
In Mali, security and economic crises have left 6.2 million people in need of humanitarian support. The recent withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping force has raised safety concerns, especially of renewed fighting between the government and Tuareg armed groups in northern Mali.
Niger’s July 2023 coup has triggered political tensions with neighboring countries and led to the withdrawal of international security assistance. Public spending has decreased by 40%, weakening key services.
The situation in Burkina Faso grows increasingly dire as armed groups intensify their attacks and seize land. Some towns in northern Burkina Faso are almost entirely cut off. The price of food has increased 30 percent, among the highest food inflation rates in the world. Burkina Faso is facing rapidly growing and spreading violence as the Burkinabe military struggles to contain armed groups. Roughly half of the country is now outside government control, with armed groups including Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) blockading cities and towns and preventing residents from accessing basic goods and services.
South Sudan is still recovering from a civil war that ended in 2018. While conflict has decreased, localized fighting remains widespread. The country is one of the most fragile in the world. Climate disasters including severe floods and droughts make it increasingly difficult for people to access food and basic resources. Currently, 9 million people in South Sudan need humanitarian assistance. This amounts to 72% of the population. Despite severe flooding, destroyed crops and disease outbreaks, funding shortages forced the World Food Program to suspend part of its food aid.
Syria: Years of war trigger a health crisis. Over a decade of war has destroyed Syria’s health system and left the country on the brink of economic collapse. A decade of conflict in neighboring Lebanon has further increased food prices and poverty. Currently, 75 percent of Syrians are unable to meet their most basic needs and millions rely on humanitarian aid.
The crisis in Yemen is deepening as an eight-year conflict between armed groups and government forces remains unresolved. While a ceasefire reduced fighting for several months, it collapsed and failed to mitigate the economic and health consequences of conflict. As it stands, 80 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty and 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); following the collapse of a truce between the government and the armed group M23. This exacerbated a protracted crisis that had already exposed millions of Congolese to conflict, political tensions, economic pressures, climate shocks and persistent disease outbreaks. The country entered 2024 with 25.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance—more than any other country on earth.
The magnitude of the crisis has strained services, created high levels of food insecurity, and fueled the spread of disease.
Afghanistan: An entire population is pushed into poverty. Since the shift in power, Afghans remain in economic collapse while the root cause of the crisis persists. Ongoing efforts to engage the government and improve the economy have fallen short. Almost the entire population is now living in poverty. Afghan women and girls experience the brunt of this hardship. They remain at risk of violence and exploitation. And many are left without a voice as the government places bans on education, dress, travel, and political participation for women.
Across Ethiopia, livelihoods have been decimated by three consecutive years of drought alongside multiple conflicts and now, there is a risk of El Niño-induced flooding. The November 2022 ceasefire between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) continues to hold in northern Ethiopia, but other conflicts, particularly in the central Oromia region and in Amhara in the northwest, are fueling humanitarian needs and raising the risk of a return to large-scale fighting. Persistent inflation is further deepening the crisis.
After facing five consecutive failed rainy seasons, Somalia is now experiencing widespread flooding. These repeated climate shocks have devastated agricultural lands, damaged critical infrastructure, and driven humanitarian needs. The country entered 2024 with 4.3 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity and a limited ability to restore food production. An ongoing government offensive against the armed group al-Shabaab risks driving civilian harm and displacement, further worsening conditions for 6.9 million in need of humanitarian aid.
This is no natural disaster, decades of conflict have eroded Somalia’s ability to respond to shocks of any kind, destroying systems and infrastructure that would have provided a guardrail against the current crisis. For instance, with its food production decimated by climate change and conflict, Somalia’s dependence on imports has proven disastrous—over 90% of its wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine.
We live in a world run by greedy and selfish people, where the majority of humans, even the ones that think they are “good”, take advantage of the disadvantaged and hurt others for gain. People are losing the capacity to think beyond themselves, our priorities are a mess and most of us are crippled by or manipulated by fear. People aren’t raised with a sense of obligation, charity, or any kind of social action or sacrifice. We derive pleasure from hurting each other.
Qualitatively we are in a constantly worsening state. For all our progress, technological ability we have reached a generation where human life had become completely aimless, and purposeless.
Moreover, after all the experiments with different ideologies we have clearly failed with liberal, parliamentary democracy, free market capitalism, and we stagnate in a state of limbo. In actual fact, democracy has failed us; No dividend, whatsoever.
We evolved into a globally integrated, interdependent system and we are desperately helpless in adapting to it as our inherently individualistic, egocentric, subjective nature is incompatible with such a system.
There are those who believe the chaos and turmoil we see in the world is a part of Bible prophecy. See Matthew 24:3–14, Mark 13:3–13, Luke 21:7–19, 2 Timothy 3:1–5,13,2 Peter 3:3,4, l.
Despite the many problems we see today, the Quran gives us a positive hope for the future: Do not lose hope, nor be sad. You will surely be victorious if you are true in Faith. (Quran 3:139)
Let us remember the killing fields of Gaza and the missile rattling between Iran and Israel and the possibilities of a wider conflagration.
Continue to pray for the Palestinians. The extent of the oppression they are facing is reaching new heights and increasing day by day. May Allah Almighty create the means to seize the oppressors and bring relief to the oppressed Palestinians. May Allah Almighty also grant wisdom and understanding to the neighboring countries, so that their voices may unite, and they strive to fulfil the rights of their brethren. Amin
“Your fate has been written with the ink of His love and sealed with His mercy so fear not, place your trust in Him and have hope in His decree.” (Gems of Jannah).
Barka Juma’at and happy weekend.
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