UN calls for decisive steps to end conflict as Gaza and West Bank crises deepen

UN calls for decisive steps to end conflict as Gaza and West Bank crises deepen

“Today the world looks on in horror as the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory continues to deteriorate to levels not seen in recent history,” said Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, speaking from Jerusalem. He began by focusing on Gaza, which is “sinking deeper into disaster, marked by […]

Pakistan floods leave villages cut off as monsoon devastation continues

Pakistan floods leave villages cut off as monsoon devastation continues

Aid agencies are continuing to work tirelessly to reach the hardest-hit areas. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said nearly 800 people have died since late June – almost three times the toll during the same period last year. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been hardest hit, where flash floods and landslides swept away homes and […]

UN peacekeeping mandate in Lebanon faces scrutiny ahead of Security Council vote

UN peacekeeping mandate in Lebanon faces scrutiny ahead of Security Council vote

As members of the UN Security Council negotiate the renewal of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ahead of a 31 August deadline, the mission’s future role and capacity are under intense debate. UNIFIL has long been a stabilising presence in southern Lebanon, working alongside the Lebanese armed forces, mediating between parties, and supporting […]

World News in Brief: More deaths in Ukraine, lengthy detentions in Egypt, AI governance, US postal tariffs

World News in Brief: More deaths in Ukraine, lengthy detentions in Egypt, AI governance, US postal tariffs

Since Friday, 11 civilians have been killed and more than 90 wounded, according to the authorities. Schools and energy infrastructure also were damaged. The Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine was the most affected, with the town of Kostiantynivka particularly hard hit.  Six other regions – Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia – were also […]

One in four still lacks access to safe drinking water and sanitation

One in four still lacks access to safe drinking water and sanitation

The report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and children’s agency (UNICEF) issued as World Water Week gets underway, highlights persistent gaps in access, with vulnerable communities facing the greatest disparities. Some 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, while 106 million worldwide are forced to rely on untreated surface sources. “Water, […]

Thailand grants work rights to long-term refugees from Myanmar, UN welcomes resolution

Thailand grants work rights to long-term refugees from Myanmar, UN welcomes resolution

Some 81,000 forcibly displaced people are hosted in temporary shelters along the Thai-Myanmar border where they have been living in the camps for decades. Nearly half the refugee population were born under canvas, where displaced families have largely depended on humanitarian assistance. Over a million Rohingya, a mostly-Muslim minority from Myanmar, have fled conflict and […]

Gaza: UN calls for probe following deadly strikes on Nasser Hospital

Gaza: UN calls for probe following deadly strikes on Nasser Hospital

At least 20 people were killed, including four health workers and five journalists, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said in a tweet. Fifty other people were injured, including critically ill patients who were already receiving care. Healthcare under attack “While people in Gaza are being starved, their already limited access to healthcare is being further […]

Putting water management at the centre of the climate change fight

Putting water management at the centre of the climate change fight

Currently underway in Stockholm from 24 to 28 August, the 35th World Water Week meeting highlights the crucial link between water and global warming, under the theme, Water For Climate Action. At the core of sustainable development and basic human survival, safe drinking water is critical for socio-economic development, energy and food production – and […]

UN urges renewed solidarity eight years after forced exodus of Rohingya

UN urges renewed solidarity eight years after forced exodus of Rohingya

More than 700,000 of them fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after armed attacks by a militant group against Myanmar security forces sparked a brutal military crackdown that began on 25 August 2017. They joined thousands of others who had escaped earlier waves of violence and discrimination now living in refugee camps just across the border in […]

DR Congo: The doctor who couldn’t leave Goma

DR Congo: The doctor who couldn’t leave Goma

Gunfire tore through the dark. Night after night, the 44-year-old physician from Guinea clung to the hope that the besieged city would hold somehow. Then, one morning in late January, the call came: he and the remaining international staff had to be evacuated immediately. “We took the last flight out,” he recalled. Hours later, Goma […]

Yemen: How acts of compassion light the way for healing

Yemen: How acts of compassion light the way for healing

Her journey into humanitarian work began after years of serving in hospitals in Aden, where she witnessed firsthand the struggles vulnerable communities face in accessing healthcare services. “In Aden, I worked at a private hospital,” she recalled. “I found that many people couldn’t afford treatment. That reality pushed me to find a way to help […]

Health and aid workers targeted in conflicts around the world, UN agency says

Health and aid workers targeted in conflicts around the world, UN agency says

Attacks against health facilities doubled between 2023 and 2024, and more than 900 health workers were killed last year, the agency reported. Humanitarian aid workers were also killed in record numbers in 2024. Yet, 2025 is outpacing even these dark statistics at a time when funding for humanitarian work is shrinking and support services established […]

DR Congo: Rising insecurity in the east impedes diplomatic progress, Security Council hears

DR Congo: Rising insecurity in the east impedes diplomatic progress, Security Council hears

Despite diplomatic progress in recent months, with the United States brokering a peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda, and Qatar facilitating a Declaration of Principles between the Congolese Government and M23 rebels, tensions remain high in the eastern DRC – where multiple armed groups operate.   The Security Council has also sought to promote […]

Momentum builds towards marine biodiversity treaty, as experts convene in New York

Momentum builds towards marine biodiversity treaty, as experts convene in New York

Formally titled the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, it was adopted in June 2023 after years of negotiation, and is open for signature until 20 September. With only eight ratifications left before it can enter into […]

UN agencies warn of rising heat stress risks for workers worldwide

UN agencies warn of rising heat stress risks for workers worldwide

The new joint report, Climate change and workplace heat stress, underscores the mounting risks as climate change fuels longer, more extreme, and more frequent heatwaves. Stressing that workers in agriculture, construction, and fisheries are already suffering the impacts of dangerous temperatures, the report points out that vulnerable groups in developing countries – including children, older adults, […]

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