Mukesh Kapila
Mukesh Kapila
Contributor


Both US President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump were urged to undergo cognitive testing. Mr Biden was eventually persuaded to withdraw but with Mr Trump still in the race, the ability of leaders is of legitimate public interest. Reuters
How should we assess a leader's fitness to govern?

Medical screenings, and cognitive and personality tests are commonly used in many sectors but not so for the most consequential job of leading a nation

July 24, 2024, 2:00 PM
A damaged wall bearing the UNRWA logo at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah last month. AFP
Should UNRWA step back from its Gaza operations?

Despite being a noble agency, it has become politically controversial and ineffective

June 12, 2024, 4:00 AM
Recent official development assistance from governments have increased, including support for Gaza and the West Bank. AP
Foreign aid is welcome, but it shouldn't come with strings attached

In our needy and troubled world, compassion must be the only justification for it

May 10, 2024, 4:00 AM
Humanitarian aid has been used in many conflicts as a way to build bridges between opposing sides. Getty Images / Nick Donaldson
Weekend Essay: A new humanitarian diplomacy is needed for a world of disorder

Geopolitical shifts require new forms of problem-solving to tackle growing human suffering

April 19, 2024, 6:00 PM
A Palestinian child searches for food scraps at a street kitchen in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, on March 19. Bloomberg
Hunger is an immoral accompaniment to war

Starvation and famine must not be allowed to become the inevitable result of conflicts

April 04, 2024, 2:00 PM
A woman wounded in the ongoing fighting between M-23 rebel forces and Congolese forces in the Sake region West of Goma, eastern Congo, on a hospital bed in Goma, on February 13. AP Photo
Why are we doing so badly in living up to humanitarian ideals during conflicts?

Increased suffering from the changing nature of wars necessitates re-setting the international humanitarian system

February 19, 2024, 2:00 PM
Palestinians take boxes from a humanitarian aid truck as it crossed into the Gaza Strip AP
A new humanitarian compact is needed for victims of conflicts everywhere

The current humanitarian system is underfunded, overburdened and mistrusted

January 10, 2024, 7:00 AM
Bloomberg
Better global health care is within reach

Everyone should be entitled to universal health care but 4.5 billion people are not fully covered by essential health services, including in rich countries

December 13, 2023, 2:00 PM
Children by a dug out water hole in a dry river bed in the village of Fenoaivo, in Madagascar. AP
An overheated world is bad news for our bodies

As the planet heats, billions of people risk falling out of their natural temperature zone

November 27, 2023, 2:00 PM
Members of the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL keep watch on the Israeli town of Misgav Am from Aadaysit in southern Lebanon. EPA
In the Israel-Gaza war, the UN must play a bigger political role

Its humanitarian role is indispensable, yet why is it sidelined in the search for political solutions to the crisis?

October 19, 2023, 4:00 AM
A man cleans a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at Marina beach in Chennai, India. EPA
On Gandhi's 154th birthday, does non-violence still have a place?

Today is the International Day of Non-Violence. But how does one counter violence when reasoned dialogue fails?

October 02, 2023, 4:00 AM
The UN member states had unanimously adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals intended to guide global efforts to improve the lives of millions of people. Getty Images
We should not abandon the Sustainable Development Goals

These objectives provide the vision for a better world that our struggling humanity needs

September 24, 2023, 12:30 PM
An Afghan woman begs on the snow in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP
Afghanistan is in urgent need of a 'mental health first aid' programme

Tackling the psychological trauma of its decades-long crisis is essential to the country's recovery.

September 05, 2023, 7:00 AM
A car bombing at UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003, kills 22 people, including senior envoy Sergio Vieira De Mello.
My boss died in a Baghdad bombing that changed humanitarian work forever

Twenty years after Sergio de Mello and 22 others were killed, humanitarianism continues to face daunting challenges

August 18, 2023, 5:00 AM
Nando Potiguara from the Potiguara tribe holds a copy of the Brazilian constitution during a protest against violence suffered by Yanomami Indigenous people in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 6, 2022. Reuters
Treating indigenous people fairly benefits humanity

Development approach that leaves behind indigenous communities is a loss on many levels

August 08, 2023, 2:00 PM