On 6 March, armed groups linked to the deposed Assad regime ambushed forces of the caretaker administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, targeting military and internal security forces as well as several hospitals.

Mr. Pedersen described the violence as “sectarian and retaliatory,” with reports of entire families executed and widespread fear among the civilian population.

“The coordinated attack on the caretaker authority, the heavy counterattacks against this, and the mass killings of civilians all came against a background of already-fomenting insecurity,” said Mr. Pedersen.

The Special Envoy noted the “great hopes and huge fears” that have emerged since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

Calling for transparent, independent and public investigations into the violence, he urged for those responsible to be held accountable, “with a clear signal that the era of impunity in Syria is in the past.”

Meanwhile, humanitarian efforts by UN agencies and partners continue, amid a mixture of progress and setbacks.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher underscored the work being done by the international community.

“We are making progress,” he stated, noting expanded routes for cross-border deliveries and increased support for vulnerable communities. One recent success saw the Atareb Water Station in Aleppo resume operations, bringing water to 40,000 people.

The Syrian Ambassador also expressed gratitude to Qatar and Jordan, alongside the UN Development Programme (UNDP), for the initiative to supply Syria with gas through Jordan and the ability to generate 400 megawatts of electricity.

Meanwhile, the European Union has committed nearly €2.5 billion for 2025 and 2026, having raised an overall of €5.8 billion towards Syria’s recovery.

But despite pledges of support, the humanitarian response remains critically underfunded, Mr. Fletcher explained.

“Last year’s appeal was only 35 per cent funded – causing us to reduce our humanitarian response by more than half,” he stated.

On a more hopeful note, Mr. Pedersen highlighted the recent agreement between caretaker authorities and the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which speaks to the future integration of civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria.

“We will continue and deepen engagement in support of the process,” he said, expressing cautious optimism, warning that the road ahead would not be easy.

“The issue of foreign fighters in the senior ranks of the new armed forces, as well as individuals associated with violations, remains a key concern,” he added.

Echoing this sentiment, representative of Syrian civil society and legal adviser, Joumana Seif,  emphasised: “We don’t want to build our new country on the back of new massacres.”

“Syria stands at a historic crossroads, with a rare chance to unite and transition to democracy,” she said, calling for the lifting of sanctions on the Syrian government.

In response, some ambassadors in the chamber noted that they had already relaxed unilateral sanctions on Syria, including an end to asset freezes.

Both Mr. Pedersen and Mr. Fletcher concluded their statements with calls for urgent action.

Mr. Fletcher underscored that humanitarians cannot make the “toughest choices” alone, urging the international community to provide additional resources.

“The cost of hesitation is greater than the risk of decisive action,” he warned.

Finally, Mr. Pedersen highlighted the choice Syria faces: either a return to violence and instability or a path toward a peaceful, inclusive future.

The analysis underscores the devastating impact of toxic air on young lives, with air pollution now linked to nearly one in four deaths of under fives in the region.

Exposure begins in the womb, increasing risks of premature birth and low birth weight, and continues throughout childhood, impairing lung development, reducing cognitive function, and contributing to chronic diseases such as asthma and cardiovascular conditions.

“Every breath matters but for too many children every breath can bring harm,” said June Kunugi, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific.

“The air they breathe, at a time when their bodies and minds are still developing, too often contains unhealthy levels of pollution that can comprise their growth, harm their lungs, and impair their cognitive development.”

Every child at risk

The report reveals that all 500 million children in the region live in countries with unhealthy air.

Over 325 million children are exposed to annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines by five times or more, while 373 million live in areas with dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide, a gas emitted by vehicles and industrial processes.

Nearly half of PM2.5 pollution in the worst-affected countries comes from the burning of fossil fuels, biomass, and agricultural waste – also major contributors to climate change.

As extreme weather events worsen due to climate change, air pollution is expected to become an even greater threat, UNICEF warned.

Impacts beyond health

The impacts of the air pollution crisis go beyond health.

High pollution levels force school closures, disrupt learning, and increase medical expenses, straining already overwhelmed healthcare systems.

The World Bank estimates that in 2019, the economic cost of air pollution from PM2.5 in East Asia and the Pacific amounted to $2.5 trillion, or 9.3 percent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).

© UNICEF/Patipat Janthong

Students at a primary school in Bangkok wear masks during their morning lineup as air pollution levels soar.

Urgent call for action

In response to the “silent killer,” UNICEF called on governments, businesses, healthcare professionals, parents, and educators to take immediate steps to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health.

Governments must enforce stronger environmental policies, transition to clean energy sources, and implement air quality standards aligned with WHO guidelines, alongside, businesses should adopt cleaner technologies, reduce emissions, and ensure their practices prioritize child safety.

Parents and educators also have a crucial role in raising awareness, advocating for cleaner environments, and empowering young people to take action, UNICEF highlighted.

Solutions exist

Furthermore, UNICEF is collaborating with governments, businesses, and communities on multiple initiatives to reduce children’s exposure to air pollution.

These include pushing for stronger environmental regulations, improving air quality monitoring by installing affordable sensors and implementing programmes to reduce household air pollution, such as cleaner cooking stoves and better ventilation.

The agency is also working to strengthen healthcare systems to better diagnose and treat pollution-related illnesses and is supporting young people to become clean air advocates, raising awareness, and pushing for stronger policies.

“Addressing air pollution will lead to enormous improvements in children’s health, education, and well-being, with ripple effects across entire societies and economies,” Ms. Kunugi underscored.

“Solutions exist, and our collective future depends on implementing them.”

“We need to move fast,” said UNICEF representative in the country Peter Hawkins. “I was in Hudaydah over the past three days…I went through the western lowlands, where there are people on the streets, on the side of the roads, begging and looking for assistance. They have given up. We cannot give up.”

Speaking from Yemen’s capital Sana’a, Mr. Hawkins told reporters that the “manmade” disaster has decimated Yemen’s economy, healthcare system and infrastructure.

“Even during periods of reduced violence, the structural consequences of the conflict, especially for girls and boys, have remained severe,” he said, underscoring that more than half of the country’s population of close to 40 million people relies on humanitarian assistance.

Aid lifeline under threat

UNICEF supports life-saving health facilities and malnutrition treatment across the country, but its activities are only 25 per cent funded this year. The agency will not be able to sustain even minimal services without urgent action from donors, Mr. Hawkins warned.

Houthi rebels – formally known as Ansar Allah – have been battling Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade and overthrew the country’s President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in March 2015.

While a resumption of large-scale ground military operations in Yemen has not occurred since the UN-mediated truce of April 2022, military activity continues. 

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned on 6 March in a briefing to the Security Council that the cessation of hostilities is increasingly at risk. 

Earlier this month the United States launched multiple strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in the country, reportedly in retaliation for the Houthis’ continued targeting of merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea following the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire.

Mr. Hawkins spoke of the damage he witnessed first-hand in the port city of Hudaydah and stressed that eight children died in the most recent airstrikes across northern Yemen.

Food, medicines blocked

“Critical ports and roads, lifelines for food and medicine, are damaged and blockaded,” Mr. Hawkins said. Food prices have soared over 300 per cent in the past decade, driving hunger and malnutrition.

The UNICEF official said that one in two children under the age of five is malnourished in Yemen, “a statistic that is almost unparalleled across the world”.

“Among them are over 540,000 girls and boys who are severely and acutely malnourished, a condition that is agonizing, life-threatening and entirely preventable,” he added.

‘Thousands will die’

Mr. Hawkins highlighted the dangers facing children who cannot access treatment, as they are “away from service delivery in the most remote areas up on the mountains, and deep down in the in the valleys of northern Yemen…Malnutrition weakens immune systems, stunts growth and robs children of their potential.”

Furthermore, some 1.4 million pregnant and lactating women are malnourished in Yemen – “a vicious circle of intergenerational suffering”, Mr. Hawkins said.

In certain areas including the west of the country, severe and acute malnutrition rates of 33 per cent have been recorded.

“It’s not a humanitarian crisis. It’s not an emergency. It is a catastrophe where thousands will die,” Mr. Hawkins insisted.

Last month was 1.75 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level and 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average, despite expectations that the La Nina weather phenomenon might bring cooler temperatures.

In 2015, the international community agreed to try to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Surprise data

The January data was “surprising” even to climate change experts at Copernicus, the European climate change service, which noted that it was the 18th month in the last 19 where the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.

“January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the last two years, despite the development of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures,” said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus Strategic Lead for Climate.

For many in the northern hemisphere January 2025 will be remembered by “wetter-than-average conditions” over western Europe, as well as parts of Italy, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, Copernicus said, highlighting “heavy precipitation” and flooding in some regions.

Regional variations

On the other hand, drier than average conditions were recorded in the northern UK and Ireland, eastern Spain and north of the Black Sea.

Beyond Europe, it was wetter than average in Alaska, Canada, central and eastern Russia, eastern Australia, southeastern Africa, and southern Brazil, with regions experiencing floods and associated damage.

But drier-than-average conditions took hold in southwestern United States and northern Mexico, northern Africa, the Middle East, across Central Asia and in eastern China as well as in much of southern Africa, southern South America and Australia.

Global temperature rise is primarily attributed to humans burning fossil fuels which have led to record concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Other factors are also key, including deforestation. 

Ten years. That’s how long Yemenis have been putting their lives on hold – through airstrikes, through hunger, through loss. A decade of war has left Yemen’s infrastructure in ruins and its people exhausted. And yet, as the eleventh year begins, the world seems not to notice Yemen’s plight.

Today, close to 20 million people in Yemen depend on aid to survive. Nearly five million remain displaced, pushed from one place to another by violence or disaster. The international community, once moved by the staggering images of war and suffering, has switched its focus to new emergencies. But for those who work in Yemen – and for those who live this crisis every day – the story is far from over.

Ten years. That’s how long Yemenis have been putting their lives on hold – through airstrikes, through hunger, through loss. And yet, as the eleventh year begins, the world seems not to notice Yemen’s plight.

No one feels this reality more deeply than our Yemeni colleagues, who have remained at their posts through it all to help their own people. Many have worked through airstrikes, instability, and loss, all while worrying about the safety of their families. Now, with rising tensions and deepening funding cuts, they fear for their jobs too. Unlike most of us, they don’t have the option to simply start over. They can’t rely on savings or opportunities elsewhere – their passport alone often determines how far their future can stretch.

This is the daily reality in a country that, too often, is reduced to headlines about war. But Yemen is so much more than a crisis zone. It is a place of stunning landscapes, ancient cities, rich traditions, warm hospitality and the kind of food that stays in your memory long after you’ve left. But these aren’t the stories that make headlines. Instead, Yemenis are seen only through the lens of conflict and poverty. It’s time we remember the people behind the statistics.

Like Basma, a mother from Al Hodeidah who was forced to flee with her children to Al Makha in search of safety and water. She used to walk for hours every day just to fill a few jerrycans. Her youngest child once fainted from thirst while waiting in the heat. For years, clean water was a dream until a recently completed water project finally brought some relief to her village.

Or Ibrahim, a 70-year-old man displaced by heavy floods in Ma’rib. When the waters swept through the settlement, he carried his adult son, who lives with a disability, on his back to safety. They lost everything – their shelter, belongings, and sense of stability – but Ibrahim never complained. He focused only on finding help for his son. Now, they live in a temporary tent exposed to the elements, dependent on aid that may not arrive in time or at all.

Or Mohammed, a young man from Ethiopia who crossed deserts and conflict zones with nothing but the hope of reaching a better life. He never made it to the Gulf. Instead, he found himself stranded in Yemen – detained, beaten, and left without food or shelter. By the time he reached IOM’s Migrant Response Point, he was weak, traumatized, and desperate to go home. The only option left was to register for voluntary return – a journey home that many others never get to take.

Yemenis are not just victims, They are survivors, caregivers, builders, teachers, mothers, fathers, and children with hopes and ambitions like anyone else.

These are just three among millions of lives caught in the margins of this protracted crisis. One of the poorest countries in the Arab world is getting poorer – not because of its people, but because the world is slowly turning its back. This war didn’t start yesterday, but its consequences grow heavier by the day. Yemenis are not to blame for what is happening in the world, and yet, they bear the weight of it all. They don’t need our pity – they need our solidarity. Let this be the year we turn empathy into action.

As the international community gathers in conferences, makes pledges, and sets priorities, Yemen must not be left behind. Yemenis are not just victims. They are survivors, caregivers, builders, teachers, mothers, fathers, and children with hopes and ambitions like anyone else. But words alone will not keep people safe, fed, or sheltered. Don’t let these conversations remain just talk – Yemen needs action. To look away now would not just be a failure of diplomacy – it would be a failure of humanity.

Originally published on IOM Blogs on 26 March 2025.

Latest information gleaned from patent filings featuring in WIPO’s Technology Trends report on the Future of Transportation, offers a tempting glimpse of a not-so distant and enticing future where there’s less traffic pollution, fewer snarl-ups and air travel to the other side of the world – made possible in just a few hours.

“Analysis of patents shows that inventors are working hard to ensure that how we get around tomorrow is cleaner and better than today,” maintained WIPO, which said that patent filings for future transportation solutions have grown by 700 per cent over the last two decades, from 15,000 inventions in 2003 to 120,000 in 2023.

“Autonomous ships and smart ports are revolutionizing transportation at sea; electric vehicles, high-speed trains and smart traffic management systems are driving change on land,” WIPO insisted.

“Vertical take-off and landing aircraft are offering new ways to travel by air, while reusable rockets and satellite technology are pushing what is possible beyond the earth’s atmosphere.”

Driving this trend is the recognition that transportation accounts for more than one-third of CO2 emissions globally, which has encouraged the development of sustainable technologies that reduce the environmental impact of transportation.

These include the adoption of electrified propulsion, the shift to renewable energy sources and the promotion of public and shared transport options.

Digitalization is also revolutionizing the transportation sector, WIPO insists, pointing to the rise of autonomous driving, “which is projected to generate from $300 billion to $400 billion in revenue by 2035”.

Patently true

According to the Geneva-based UN agency, intellectual property supports this kind of groundbreaking innovation – such as wireless charging for electric vehicles – by encouraging investment in research and development.

Competition is fierce as firms jostle for access to rare earth minerals, while AI is also taking centre stage, WIPO says.

“The report also shows flatlining growth in patenting activity for legacy products like the internal combustion engine and other fossil fuel-based systems” such as catalytic converters, the UN agency noted.

Its data indicated that more than 1.1 million inventions have reshaped transportation since 2000, introducing the prospect of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-based systems such as renewable energy cells, air taxis and self-piloting cargo ships.

In the driver’s seat of this travel transformation are China, Japan, the US, South Korea and Germany, which represent the world’s top inventors. Land transportation patents dominate global filings, at 3.5 times more than for air, sea and space combined. The US, meanwhile, has filed the most international patents.

The largest area of growth in patenting is related to sustainable propulsion – such as batteries for electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cells – which represent efforts to ensure that people and goods are moved around in a “cleaner, more climate-friendly fashion”.

Experts with an eye on imaginative transport solutions for the future say that AI is also poised to play a key role. They point to the rise of autonomous driving, although infrastructure has not adapted swiftly enough for such vehicles to take over, the WIPO report notes.

Drone dilemma

The scarcity of minerals, meanwhile, will determine whether the world can massively adopt electric cars – vehicles that report co-author Christopher Harrison says may not be miracle solutions for private owners.

“Having these rare and limited raw earth minerals in an electric vehicle for personal use that’s been utilized only a few per cent of the day is not an effective use of those tools,” he told journalists.

In the air sector, drones will continue their sky-high ascension.

“I would not like to look up at a sky full of drones delivering pizzas or a pair of gloves to my house and causing visual and noise pollution,” said Robert Garbett, the founder of Drone Major Group, cited in the WIPO report.

“If a delivery is to a remote location that is really hard to get to, people will be more likely to accept it as a beneficial solution,” he added, citing emergency medicine as an example.

According to WIPO, transport patent growth in China has been strong given its recent dominance of the electric vehicle market. But other countries have also contributed with strong patent filings activity including Sweden, Italy, India and Canada.

And as supplies of food, medicine and other supplies run low, aid teams are increasingly concerned about growing anxiety in bread lines outside the enclave’s remaining bakeries.

“Most attempts by humanitarian organizations to coordinate access with Israeli authorities within #Gaza result in #AccessDenied,” the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said in an online post.

Five out of seven such attempts were denied on Monday and six out of nine were rejected on Tuesday, it explained.

Hospitals need protection

Medical teams in Gaza are also exhausted “and urgently need protection and reinforcement” from ongoing strikes across the Strip, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Wednesday.

It cited new reports of attacks against health workers, ambulances and hospitals and warned of “hundreds of casualties, a severe drop in medical stocks and a lack of equipment, blood units and personnel” since the ceasefire ended.

“No one is safe. The world must have zero tolerance for atrocities,” the UN agency insisted.

Nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent days following the resumption of Israeli bombardment on 18 March, according to the health authorities. This includes a reported 38 individuals killed in the last 24 hours.  

In just the last week, eight aid workers have been killed in the enclave, bringing the total killed in Gaza to 399. That number includes at least 289 UN personnel, OCHA said, with staffers from the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) killed last Wednesday in an apparent Israeli tank strike on a United Nations compound in Deir al-Balah that also seriously wounded six others. Israel denied responsibility for the attack.

Three of those injured worked in support of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) which is involved in clearing unexploded ordnance in Gaza.

OCHA noted that on 20 March, the Israeli military re-deployed along the eastern and central part of the “Netzarim corridor” in Gaza. Movement between the north and south of Gaza was only allowed via the Al Rashid coast road.

Evacuation order misery

These military activities and new displacement orders issued by the Israeli military have triggered “new waves” of displacement across Gaza, with more than 142,000 people likely uprooted between 18 and 23 March, the UN aid office said.

“Israeli evacuation orders have covered 55 square kilometres across six areas of the #Gaza Strip – nearly the size of Manhattan,” OCHA said in an online post.

Around 15 per cent of the enclave has been impacted by evacuation orders – in addition to “no-go zones” that run along borders and in central Gaza.

The Israeli Government’s decision to ban the entry of humanitarian aid and any other supplies via all land crossings into Gaza is the longest such closure since October 2023, OCHA added, warning that gains made during the ceasefire to support survivors “have been reversed”.

To date, at least 50,000 Palestinians have been confirmed dead by local authorities with 113,828 wounded since the war erupted on 7 October 2023, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that left more than 1,100 dead and more than 250 taken hostage. 

In a crucial year for climate action which, in accordance with the Paris Agreement, seeks to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, World Radio Day is dedicated in 2025 to highlighting the power of broadcasting to bring climate change issues to prominence.

That’s the goal of Climate Radio Route.

Radio democratises

Radio is considered the most reliable medium, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which supports radio stations, like Climate Radio Route, in their journalistic coverage of this year’s theme.

Adrián Martínez, director of La Ruta del Clima – the Climate Route – a Costa Rican non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting public participation in climate and environmental decision-making that has been an observer, advocating at the UN climate summits since 2014.

“Radio in all its versions, whether digital or transmitted by antennas, is super important because it democratizes,” he told UN News . “Radio traditionally reaches places and communities where there is no Internet. It is also very generational. People interact with the radio day by day because it is ephemeral.”

Climate hits the radio waves

The Climate Route studies and exposes impacts “on the human rights of people in vulnerable communities in Latin America, especially in Central America, who have to deal with the adverse effects of climate change, for which they have very little responsibility but which is transforming their territories and ways of life”, Mr. Martínez explained.

With the aim of disseminating and raising awareness in society about these issues, in 2015 the organization created the Ruta del Clima Radio – the Climate Radio Route.

The programme was broadcast in the first years by a radio station of the University of Costa Rica and then by digital media through podcasts.

Communities can make their voices heard

“Communication that can have a massive reach has become very expensive and elitist,” Mr. Martínez said. “However, digital or traditional radio opens up that opportunity for communities, social organizations and movements to create their window and make their voices heard.”

UNESCO argues that beyond popularising environmental concepts, by disseminating information independent of economic, ideological and political powers, radio can condition listeners’ perception of climate change, and the importance given to the issue.

As such, radio can also contribute to shaping the public agenda and influencing policies in this regard.

A training workshop on damage and loss in the community of Cahuita in Costa Rica.

Connecting climate change to people

The Climate Radio Route has focused a lot on connecting the issue of climate change with people, not only at the national level in Costa Rica, but throughout the Latin American region.

The programme discusses issues most relevant in climate governance and amplifies the work and experiences and opinions of colleagues,  activists and experts from this region and others on climate issues.

“Citizens can have information and criteria beyond what is in the official media and thus can have a more comprehensive vision and promote the effective participation of our communities in climate decisions,” Mr. Martínez said.

Climate Route Radio productions are self-contained and include climate summits, community interviews and online interviews with people around the world in English or Spanish.

In line with the SDGs

The Climate Route underlines the importance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those that refer to: climate action; peace, justice and solid institutions; and partnerships to achieve the goals.

Mr. Martínez points out that the NGO has worked with some UN agencies, such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

“We collaborate, for example, with the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on climate change issues, and we are always discussing with them and with the rapporteurs of the United Nations system or the OAS [Organization of American States] on environmental issues,” he said.

The impact of Storm Nate was catastrophic for Costa Rica, affecting 117 national roads and 113,000 hectares of agricultural production, damaging 423 bridges and causing more than $380 million in losses. (file)

Climate justice claims

Costa Rica is a country that for years has stood out for the ecological and climate awareness of its population and government, and the Climate Radio Route could have something to do with that awareness.

“We know that we have a very specialised community of listeners and have helped to interact with this technical group from various countries: politicians, activists or members of governments or national delegations,” Mr. Martínez said, adding that it has also helped to talk about issues of human rights, gender and community perspective as well as make constructive criticism.

This interaction, he adds, has made it possible to strengthen demands for climate justice.

Adrián Martínez, director of La Ruta del Clima, facilitates a workshop on climate reparations at COP 29.

A ‘very special’ radio

“We are not a very large radio station, but perhaps very special in its message,” Mr. Martínez said. “I think that has opened doors for us to make our perspective known and create a link with this community that is sometimes difficult to engage.”

In this vein, he underlined the relevance of radio.

“It allows us to access communication in an oral way, which is sometimes very necessary to be able to have understanding,” he said. “The way we communicate orally is very different from the way we do in writing and sometimes we cannot communicate in the same way.”

Radio is essential to be able to generate that dialogue of ideas, emotions and feelings that can enhance decision making for peace and for the construction of a better relationship with the environment.

“I think we must continue to explore not only the use of radio, but also other media that connect us and understand the need to work together,” he said. “That is the important thing about the media: to be able to understand others and then to be able to take common action.”

UNICEF’s Rosalia Bollen, who’s on the ground there, said that hundreds of children had been killed and injured – some with severe burns, shrapnel lodged in their bodies, fractures and amputations.

“Even on 18 March with that very heavy, intense bombing, children still kept hope because they thought maybe it’s a one-off, but it’s not,” she told UN News.

“The attacks continue, the airstrikes continue, tank shelling, shooting and displacement orders continue…people keep being pushed around with very few belongings.”

‘Inhumane ordeal’

The head of the UN’s Palestine refugee relief agency (UNRWA), which is now outlawed by Israel although continuing to operate inside the shattered enclave, said everyone feared the worst is yet to come in Gaza.

“For nearly three weeks now, the Israeli authorities continue to ban the entry of any humanitarian aid or basic commercial supplies,” Philippe Lazzarini said in a social media post.

“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again and again going through their worst nightmare. An endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”

Also on Thursday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that hundreds of thousands of Gazans risk severe hunger and malnutrition as food stocks dwindle and borders remain closed.

WFP now has approximately 5,700 tons of food stocks left in Gaza, which is enough to support operations “for a maximum of two weeks”, the agency said.

The agency has decided with the deteriorating security situation, rapid displacement of people, and growing needs, to distribute as much food as possible, as quickly as possible in Gaza:

      Food parcels: WFP plans to distribute food parcels to half a million people; the reduced size parcel will feed a family for roughly one week.

      Bakeries: Wheat flour supplies are sufficient to support bread production for 800,000 people for five days only. Currently 19 of 25 WFP-supported bakeries remain operational, and many struggle with severe crowd control issues as fear of bread shortages spreads throughout the Strip.

      Hot meals: WFP has supplies to support 37 kitchens across Gaza cooking 500,000 hot meals per day for the next two weeks. 

      Fortified biscuits: WFP has emergency stocks of fortified biscuits – enough  for 415,000 people – which can be used as a last resort if all other food stocks are exhausted.   

WFP and partners have positioned more than 85,000 tons of food commodities outside Gaza, ready to be brought in if border crossings are opened.

Clear and present danger

Intensified hostilities continue across the Strip, killing and injuring people and severely constraining the ability of humanitarian workers to provide life-saving support, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York.

Since Israel’s ground operation commenced in Rafah on Sunday, several ambulances belonging to the Palestinian Civil Defense – as well as the Palestine Red Crescent Society – were hit trying to rescue the wounded and their crews became trapped in the area.

“Contact with the teams was lost, but several casualties have been reported,” he added.

Yesterday, a UN humanitarian and Red Crescent team attempted to extract any casualties and recover the ambulances, but they were unable to reach the area.

“Health workers, including first responders, should never be targeted,” Mr. Dujarric said. “Civilians fleeing fighting must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be allowed to return voluntarily when the situation allows it.”

More people in Gaza are being forced to flee, and displacement orders now cover 18 per cent of Gaza’s territory again.

“The UN and our partners are responding to people’s deepening needs as the situation allows it, but the complete closure of the crossings for the entry of cargo, which includes humanitarian aid – coupled with the ongoing hostilities – is making all of this increasingly challenging,” the UN Spokesperson underscored.

Waiting at the border

Tens of thousands of tents and hundreds of thousands of shelter items are waiting to enter Gaza, and many families forced to flee are unable to bring any of their belongings, further intensifying the shelter crisis.

“Dwindling shelter stocks in Gaza are completely insufficient to meet the immense needs,” said Mr. Dujarric.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the health system in Gaza is in freefall.

Health partners report that essential supplies for mass casualty incidents need to be restocked due to the sharp increase in trauma cases and the severity of injuries.

WHO reports there are fewer than 500 units of blood available, when 8,000 are needed every month.

“Last year brought both successes and disappointments in global efforts to tackle the triple planetary crisis,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, introducing the agency’s latest Annual Report.

She also pointed to ongoing geopolitical tensions that are hindering environmental cooperation.

“Environmental multilateralism is sometimes messy and arduous. But even in complex geopolitical times, collaboration across borders and across our differences is the only option to protect the foundation of humanity’s existence – Planet Earth.”

Ambitious climate targets vital

UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2024 warned that countries must cut emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 to keep global warming within the 1.5°C target agreed in the landmark Paris Agreement.

Without drastic action, temperatures could rise between 2.6°C and 3.1°C this century, climate models warn, with catastrophic consequences.

UNEP is actively working with over 60 low and middle-income countries to accelerate their transition to electric vehicles, part of a larger push to cut emissions from the transport sector.

UN scientists highlight the kind of national projects making a difference, including Antigua and Barbuda procuring fleets of electric buses, and Kenya introducing legislation for major investments in electric motorcycles and public transit.

Ending plastic pollution

Plastic pollution, one of the most pressing global environmental threats, is another major focus, as international efforts continue to negotiate a legally binding ban.

In Busan last year, 29 out of 32 articles of a new global plastic treaty were agreed. However, negotiations are continuing on a final text.

UNEP is calling on countries to bridge their differences before the next round of negotiations.

“Nations must work towards agreeing on a strong instrument to end plastic pollution before the seventh UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in December,” Ms. Andersen said.

A call for greater action

The UNEP head called for bolder commitments, particularly as countries prepare to submit their next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to limit global warming later in February.

“Humanity is not out of the woods,” Ms. Andersen warned.

“Temperatures are rising, ecosystems are disappearing, and pollution remains a deadly threat. These are global problems that require global solutions. The world must pull together to build a fairer, more sustainable planet.”

According to local health authorities in Gaza, 830 people were killed between 18-23 March, including 174 women and 322 children. A further 1,787 were injured.

“The acts of war that we see bear the hallmarks of atrocity crimes,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “Hundreds of children and other civilians have been killed in health and Israeli airstrikes. Intensely populated areas hospitals are once again battlegrounds; patients killed in their beds, ambulances shot at, and first responders killed.”

It has been 10 days since Gazans woke up to renewed Israel bombing, abruptly ending the two-month ceasefire.

“It has been 10 days of witnessing – because the UN remains on the ground in Gaza – a callous disregard for human life and dignity,” Mr. Laerke maintained.

No to evacuations

Maryse Guimond, UN Women Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, relayed testimonies of Palestinians in Gaza who say they will not heed new evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, on the grounds that “there are no safe places anyway”.

Speaking from Amman, she added: “It is a situation of pure survival and survival of their families because, as they say, there is simply nowhere to go…”

“As a woman recently said to us from Deir al Balah, ‘My mother says death is the same whether in Gaza City, or in Deir al Balah; we just want to return to Gaza.’”

Echoing those concerns, Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that the situation “is as bad as it ever was”. A new ceasefire is needed immediately for the sake of all Gazans, she insisted.

“We knew it was bad before the ceasefire, when we were constantly begging to be allowed to do our job just to help the ordinary people. No, they can’t keep going.”

Healthcare in the enclave is also suffering from the aid blockade, with supplies dwindling dangerously low since the cut-off began on 2 March.

“The key supplies now for safe labour and delivery…will be running out soon,” said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the OPT.

A dozen ambulances have also been put out of action through lack of fuel, the veteran humanitarian medic said, speaking from Jerusalem.

Collective punishment warning

Sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel, the war in Gaza has devastated the enclave and prompted widespread international condemnation over its impact on civilians, who should be spared from violence in times of war.

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” OCHA’s Mr. Laerke insisted.

“International law is clear, it prohibits indiscriminate attacks, obstruction of life saving aid, destruction of infrastructure indispensable for civilian survival and hostage-taking.

“The International Court of Justice’s provisional measures on the application of the Genocide Convention remain in place; yet the alerts that we issue in report after report reveal an utter lack of respect for the most basic principles of humanity.”

Mr. Guterres was speaking during the opening of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Meeting in the capital Bridgetown, where he called for unity to achieve progress in peace and security, climate and sustainable development.

“A unified Caribbean is an unstoppable force,” he said. “I urge you to keep using that power to push the world to deliver on its promises.”

‘Trouble in paradise’

The Secretary-General noted that the region’s “exquisite beauty is famed the world over, but there is trouble in paradise.”

He told leaders that “wave after wave of crisis is pounding your people and your islands – with no time to catch your breath before the next disaster strikes.”

Caribbean countries are experiencing uncertainty fuelled by geopolitical tensions, along with the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring debt and interest rates, and a surge in the cost of living. 

Global solutions exist

These are all happening “amidst a deadly swell of climate disasters – ripping development gains to shreds, and blowing holes through your national budgets,” and as countries “remain locked-out of many international institutions – one of the many legacies of colonialism today.”

The UN chief insisted that “the cure for these ills is global,” and the world needs to deliver on hard-won global commitments to address the immense challenges the international community is facing.

He listed three key areas “where, together, we must drive progress.” 

Peace in Haiti

Mr. Guterres called for unity for peace and security, “particularly to address the appalling situation in Haiti – where gangs are inflicting intolerable suffering on a desperate and frightened people.”

He said CARICOM and its Eminent Persons Group have provided invaluable support in this regard. 

“We must keep working for a political process – owned and led by the Haitians – that restores democratic institutions through elections,” he said.

Security and stability

A Security Council-backed Multinational Security Support Mission is currently on the ground to assist the Haitian National Police.

The Secretary-General said he will soon report to the Council on the situation in the country, including proposals on the role the UN can play to both support stability and security, and address the root causes of the crisis.

He intends to present a proposal similar to the one for Somalia, in which the UN assumes responsibility for the structural and logistical expenditures necessary to put the force in place. Salaries are paid through a trust fund that already exists.

“If the Security Council will accept this proposal, we will have the conditions to finally have an effective force to defeat the gangs in Haiti and create the conditions for democracy to thrive,” he said, drawing applause.

Hurricane Beryl last July caused devastation on Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Climate crisis opportunity

His second point – unity on the climate crisis – underlined “a deplorable injustice” as Caribbean countries “have done next to nothing” to create it. Moreover, they have “fought tooth and nail for the global commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.”

Mr. Guterres said countries must deliver new national climate plans ahead of the COP30 UN climate conference later this year.  The plans must align with the 1.5 goal, with the G20 group of industrial nations leading the way.

“This is a chance for the world to get a grip on emissions,” he said. “And it’s a chance for the Caribbean to seize the benefits of clean power, to tap your vast renewables potential, and to turn your back on costly fossil fuel imports.”

As finance is required, he underscored the need for confidence that the $1.3 trillion agreed at the previous COP will be mobilized. Developed countries also must honour their promises on adaptation finance and make meaningful contributions to the new Loss and Damage Fund.

“When the Fund was created, the pledges made were equivalent to the new contract for just one baseball player in New York City,” he remarked.

Finance for sustainable development

Meanwhile, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “are starved of adequate finance, as debt servicing soaks-up funds, and international financial institutions remain underpowered.”

The Secretary-General said Caribbean countries have been at the forefront of the fight for change, pioneering bold and creative solutions.  He said the Pact for the Future, together with the Bridgetown Initiative, marks significant progress.

Mr. Guterres thanked Caribbean leaders for supporting the Pact, which UN Member States adopted last year. 

Key deliverables include support for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion annually and commitment to reform international financial institutions to allow greater participation by developing countries. 

The clearly identified humanitarian workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestinian Civil Defence and the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, had been despatched to collect injured people on 23 March in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, when they came under fire from Israeli forces who were advancing in the area, said the UN aid coordination office’s (OCHA) top official in the Palestinian Occupied Territory in a detailed post on X.

Jonathan Whittall said that on the day of the attack, five ambulances, a fire truck – and a clearly marked UN vehicle which arrived following the initial assault – were all hit by Israeli fire, after which contact was lost with teams.

No access for days

“One survivor said Israeli forces had killed both of the crew in his ambulance. For days, OCHA coordinated to reach the site but our access was only granted five days later,” Mr. Whittall said.

When UN staff then travelled to the area they encountered hundreds of civilians fleeing under Israeli fire.

“We witnessed a woman shot in the back of the head. When a young man tried to retrieve her, he too was shot. We were able to recover her body using our UN vehicle,” he added.

‘Devastating scene’

He said aid workers we were finally able to reach the site on Sunday, discovering “a devastating scene: ambulances, the UN vehicle, and fire truck had been crushed and partially buried. After hours of digging, we recovered one body – a civil defence worker beneath his fire truck.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society – part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – expressed outrage on Sunday over the deaths, adding that a ninth staff member is still missing.

“These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people…They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families: they did not,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.

Humanitarian law ‘could not be clearer’

“Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules,” he added. “These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected.”

The incident represents the most deadly attack on Red Crescent Red Cross workers since 2017.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X Monday that another staffer from his agency had died in addition to the colleague’s body retrieved on Sunday, bringing the total killed to 280 killed since the violence erupted on 7 October 2023.

“Targeting or endangering emergency responders, journalists or humanitarian workers is a flagrant and severe disregard of international law,” he added, noting these killings had become “routine” in Gaza.

Israeli forces said the emergency responders had been fired on after their vehicles “advanced suspiciously”, according to news reports, adding that a Hamas operative had been killed along with “eight other terrorists”.

The attack occurred following the collapse of the fragile two-month ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas militants on 18 March. On Monday, Israel issued a new mass evacuation order for the whole of the Rafah region.

‘This should never have happened’

OCHA’s Jonathan Whittall reiterated on Sunday that first responders should never be a target.

“Today, on the first day of Eid, we returned and recovered the buried bodies…They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened.”

The UN Humanitarian Affairs chief, Tom Fletcher, on Monday send condolences to the families of all who had been killed.

“They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers and justice,” he said.

Over 150 countries will be meeting from 25 to 27 February to advance biodiversity finance, accountability and the integration of agrifood systems into global conservation strategies.

Despite groundbreaking agreements on genetic data and recognising the stewardship role of Indigenous Peoples at the first round of the COP16 conference in Colombia late last year, this new Conference of the Parties – or COP16.2 – aims to close some crucial gaps which are instrumental for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

With nature declining at an alarming rate, the challenge now is turning commitments into action.

Farmers on board

FAO chief Qu Dongyu called for urgent action to transform agrifood systems, stressing that biodiversity must be embedded in food and farming policies. A key focus is the Agri-NBSAPs Support Initiative, launched at COP16 in Cali, Colombia.

The initiative is designed to help governments integrate agrifood systems into their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, to eliminate any conflicts between agricultural policy and biodiversity goals.

Colombia’s COP16 President, Environment Minister María Susana Muhamad, and Agriculture Minister Martha Carvajalino, underscored the importance of full implementation.

Mr. Dongyu highlighted the deep connections between biodiversity and food security, noting that over half of the Kunming-Montreal Framework’s 23 targets are directly linked to agriculture.

He explained that “biodiversity is also in the soil and in the water” and that it is critical “to look at biodiversity from a holistic, three-dimensional perspective”.

‘On the brink’: Guterres

Despite commitments made at COP15, funding remains a sticking point.

Secretary-General António Guterres, warned in a statement that biodiversity is “on the brink” and urged governments to translate pledges into investment. “Success requires accountability. And action demands finance,” he said.

With only a fraction of the required $200 billion per year mobilised, developing nations are pushing wealthier countries to meet their financial obligations.

Discussions in Rome are expected to focus on accountability frameworks to track spending and ensure resources reach the communities most affected by biodiversity loss.

What’s next?

In the coming days, negotiators will work to finalise agreements on biodiversity finance, implementation strategies and monitoring frameworks.

Mr. Dongyu closed his statement by calling for an integrated approach across government sectors.

“We need an integrated approach across government sectors, across Ministries, to ensure the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind,” he said.

With time running out to meet the 2030 targets, COP16.2 is a key test of global commitment – whether countries will step up or risk falling short on protecting the planet’s ecosystems.

Tuesday morning’s strike reportedly targeted a Hezbollah official who Israel accused of aiding Hamas in planning an imminent terror attack against civilians.

It was the second Israeli strike in the southern suburb in five days.

“The UN reiterates the calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from further escalatory activities, which endanger civilians and jeopardize the progress already made to restore stability on both sides of the Blue Line,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at a regular press briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York.

He emphasised the importance of fully implementing Security Council resolution 1701, which was adopted in August 2006 to end the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The resolution called for a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the creation of a demilitarized zone.

“It remains crucial that the parties undertake tangible steps towards the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and uphold their commitments made under the cessation of hostilities agreement,” Mr. Dujarric said.

He added that the Office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the UN Interim Force in the country (UNIFIL) remain in contact with all stakeholders to dial down tensions.

Shots fired at peacekeepers

He also reported that over the weekend, the Israeli army fired warning shots from a machine gun at UN peacekeepers across the Blue Line – which separates Israeli and Lebanese armed forces – near Rmeish in the south.

The incident was “a clear violation of resolution 1701,” Mr. Dujarric said.

In a separate incident, the peacekeepers reported that an IDF patrol aimed a laser at them.

“Any attempt to interfere with peacekeepers’ mandated duties and any act that compromises their safety is unacceptable,” Mr. Dujarric stressed, adding that the security of peacekeepers must be respected.

He said UN peacekeepers remain in position in southern Lebanon and continue to monitor and report on the situation on the ground.

New food security assessments indicate that 4.4 million people – nearly a quarter of the population – could face “crisis” levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or higher) between April and June 2025, marking a sharp increase from 3.4 million people currently experiencing acute hunger.

“Worsening drought, erratic rainfall and ongoing conflict are eroding livelihoods, pushing families deeper into crisis,” said Etienne Peterschmitt, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Somalia.

The hunger crisis is expected to be most severe among internally displaced persons (IDPs), pastoralists with limited livestock and farming households that have exhausted their food supplies.

Consecutive climate shocks

Somalia has suffered consecutive climate shocks, with below-average rainfall in late 2024 severely reducing crop yields, depleting water sources and leading to livestock losses. The effects of erratic rainfall and riverine flooding in key agricultural areas – such as Hiraan, Middle Shabelle and Middle Juba –further devastated crops.

As a result, food prices remain high, worsening food insecurity for millions of Somalis already struggling with poverty and conflict-driven displacement.

According to the latest report by the global food security tracker, IPC, 1.7 million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025, including 466,000 with severe acute malnutrition – an increase of 9 per cent compared to last year.

Nearly two-thirds of these cases are concentrated in southern Somalia, where food insecurity is most extreme.

Children most at risk

“Past climate events demonstrate that children are the most affected, facing severe malnourishment and diseases that increase their risk of death and long-term developmental issues,” said Nisar Syed, Officer-in-Charge for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Somalia.

He underscored the need to urgently implement better prevention measures, emphasising a multi-sector approach.

This must combine immediate humanitarian response with long-term investments in resilience and health systems, he added.

Multiple pressures

Somalia’s food crisis is driven by multiple, overlapping factors: the 2024 Deyr rainy season (October–December) brought below-average rainfall, impacting both agropastoral communities and urban dwellers reliant on local food markets.

The upcoming Gu season (April–June) is also forecast to be drier than normal, raising fears of further crop failures.

At the same time, conflict and insecurity continue to displace families and disrupt livelihoods. Fighting in central and southern Somalia has hindered access to markets and aid, making it harder for affected communities to access food and basic services.

“Recurrent climate shocks, protracted conflict, disease outbreaks and widespread poverty, among other factors, have aggravated the humanitarian crisis in Somalia,” said Crispen Rukasha, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Somalia.

“Aid agencies are doing their best to save lives, but they urgently need adequate funding to meet the most critical needs at this juncture in Somalia,” he stressed.

Droughts are a constant threat in Somalia, in the horn of Africa.

Action stations

The agencies warned that without swift intervention, the situation could deteriorate to catastrophic levels.

Though they are working to scale up food assistance, nutrition and livelihood support, programmes could be forced to scale down or stop altogether amid “critically low” funding.

The 2025 Somalia Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, which requires $1.42 billion, is currently only 12.4 per cent funded.

“Famine was narrowly avoided in 2022 due to large-scale humanitarian support, which is needed again to provide immediate assistance while implementing longer-term solutions,” said El-Khidir Daloum, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Somalia.

“However, funding shortfalls are forcing us to prioritize and reduce assistance at the worst possible time,” he added, urging greater international support.

“This is a huge blow to us…These people were shot,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk issued a statement on Monday condemning the Israeli military’s attack, calling for an independent, prompt and thorough investigation into the apparently systematic killings. 

“Normally we are not at a loss for words, and we are spokespeople, but sometimes we have difficulty finding them. This is one of those cases,” he told journalists in Geneva, referring to video footage taken near Tal-As-Sultan by an OCHA rescue party showing a crushed UN vehicle, ambulances and a fire truck that had been flattened and buried in the sand by the Israeli military.

Rafah mission

The clearly identified humanitarian workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestinian Civil Defence and the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, had been despatched to collect injured people on 23 March in the Rafah area.

They came under fire from Israeli forces who were advancing in the area, OCHA’s top official in the Palestinian Occupied Territory said, in a detailed post on X.

Jonathan Whittall explained that on the day of the attack, five ambulances, a fire truck – and a UN vehicle which arrived following the initial assault – were all hit by Israeli fire, after which contact was lost with teams.

One survivor said Israeli forces had killed both of the crew in his ambulance, Mr. Whittall said. “For days, OCHA coordinated to reach the site but our access was only granted five days later…After hours of digging, we recovered one body – a civil defence worker beneath his fire truck.”

Bodies buried in the sand

The week-long rescue operation ended on Sunday 30 March with the recovery of the bodies of 15 humanitarian colleagues: eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six from the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD) and the UNRWA worker.

The body of one more PRCS worker is still missing at the site, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which on Monday repeated its calls for information from the Israeli military.

Available information indicated that the first team had been killed by Israeli forces on 23 March; the other emergency and aid crews were struck one after another over several hours as they searched for their missing colleagues, OCHA said.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said in his statement that the discovery of the bodies buried next to their “clearly destroyed” vehicles was “deeply disturbing”.

“This raises significant questions with regard to the conduct of the Israeli army during and in the aftermath of the incident,” he added.

The fate and whereabouts of the missing PRCS worker must be clarified, he stressed.

On Monday, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher demanded “answers and justice” from the Israeli military.

408 aid workers killed

According to UNRWA, 408 aid workers including more than 280 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the war began on 7 October 2023.

Additional video footage released by OCHA taken from within a UN vehicle near the site of last Sunday’s incident also showed two people walking and then running to escape sniper fire.

According to OCHA, a woman was shot in the back of the head and a young man trying to retrieve her was also shot. The OCHA team managed to recover her body in the UN vehicle.

Despite a demand for “answers and justice” from Israel by the UN’s emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher, no information has yet been provided, his office said.

“We keep engaging with the Israeli authorities daily on this and on other burning matters including, importantly, the critical need to reopen crossings for supplies,” said Mr. Laerke. “Because while this is a huge blow to us on all levels, the crisis itself, just moves on and gets worse every day.”

Atrocity crimes warning

The development comes days after the UN agency warned that acts of war in Gaza “bear the hallmarks of atrocity crimes”, with hundreds of children and other civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes in intensely populated areas and hospital patients “killed in their beds, ambulances shot at and first responders killed”.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, condemned “unprecedented breaches” of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Gaza linked to the resumption of Israeli bombardment and ground operations inside the shattered enclave.

Every day since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel broke down on 18 March with heavy Israeli strikes, “100 children have been killed and maimed every single day since that moment”, Mr. Elder insisted.

Will-power alone will not help anyone survive “when we see breach after breach of IHL, breach after breach of restricting aid,” the UNICEF spokesperson continued, four weeks since the Israeli authorities shut Gaza’s borders to all commercial and humanitarian aid.

Echoing those concerns, IFRC’s Mr. Della Longa reported that hospitals “are literally overwhelmed” and running out of medicine and medical equipment.

The IFRC spokesperson also warned that a lack of fuel or damage have put “more than half” of ambulance teams of the Palestine Red Crescent out of action.

Delegates met in Rome this week for the resumption of the UN Biodiversity Conference to hammer out an agreement at COP16.2 after attempts to reach a deal on financing at COP16 in Cali, Colombia, fell short last November.

It is hoped that the hard-won decisions made by parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will shore up biodiversity and fragile ecosystems which are bearing the brunt of increased conflict, deforestation, mining, toxic waste dumping and other environmental impacts worldwide.

“We very much welcome this announcement,” the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Friday. “We need to mobilise at least $200 billion dollars a year by 2030 to close the global biodiversity finance gap.”

However, discussions on who pays to protect the Earth’s biodiversity have long been a point of contention, while more than a million plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction.

Hammering out an agreement

“These days of work in Rome have demonstrated the commitment of the parties to advance the implementation of the [Kunming-Montreal] Global Biodiversity Framework,” said COP16 president Susana Muhamad, referring to the landmark 2022 agreement and underscoring “the collective effort to reach consensus of key issues that were left pending in Cali”.

Why is biodiversity important? Read our explainer here.

Delegates worked through Friday morning following days of intense negotiation and reached decisions on outstanding issues including biodiversity finance, planning, monitoring, reporting and review.

Negotiators also agreed on a set of indicators to measure global and national progress towards implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The framework was finalised a little over two years ago – a historic UN-driven agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030, which was hashed out at meetings in Kunming, China, and Montreal, Canada, in 2022.

Keeping promises made in Canada and China

The Global Biodiversity Framework aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, who suffer disproportionately from biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.

The global framework also contains concrete measures to halt and reverse nature loss, including protection measures covering 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

Currently only 17 per cent of land and around eight per cent of marine areas are protected.

“Only by working together can we make peace with nature a reality,” said Ms. Muhamad.

‘Multilateralism works’

Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the positive outcome in Rome shows that “multilateralism works” and is “the vehicle to build the partnerships needed to protect biodiversity and move us towards peace with nature”.

After intense negotiations, parties to the convention agreed on a way forward in terms of resource mobilisation with a view to close the global biodiversity finance gap and achieve the target of at least $200 billion a year by 2030.

This includes working to improve existing financial tools, especially to provide resources for developing countries, under the temporary leadership of UN agencies and partners.

“We now have a clear mandate” for implementation, Ms. Schomaker said. “As we do this and implement the other supporting elements for resource mobilisation, the world will have given itself the means to close the biodiversity finance gap.”

Call for pioneering investors

On the margins of COP16.2, the Cali Fund, which was created in Colombia in late 2024, was officially launched, ushering in a new era for biodiversity financing.

“Today’s launch is the culmination of multilateralism that delivers,” said Elizabeth Mrema, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

“The ball is now in the court of businesses around the world. Those who pay into the fund will go down in history as pioneers and will reap the benefits as the public increasingly recognises the importance of giving back to nature.”

Here’s how the Cali Fund will benefit biodiversity:

• Companies making commercial use of data from genetic resources in nature in a range of lucrative industries will be expected to contribute a portion of their revenue to the fund
• Contributions to the Cali Fund will be used to implement the UN Biodiversity Convention, including by supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
• At least 50 per cent of the Cali Fund resources will be allocated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, recognising their role as custodians of biodiversity

He condemned the reported killing of more than a thousand people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 18 March.

In his daily press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that large-scale Israeli shelling and ground operations have resulted in widespread destruction and the displacement of more than 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah in the past two days alone, most of whom have been displaced multiple times.

Deadly attack on medical personnel

“The Secretary-General is shocked by the attack of the Israeli army on a medical and emergency convoy on 23 March resulting in the killing of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian workers in Gaza,” he said.

Mr. Dujarric stressed that all parties to the conflict must protect medical, humanitarian and emergency workers at all times, and respect and protect civilians, as required by international humanitarian law. He underscored the need to end the denial of life-saving assistance.

Since October 2023, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 280 UN humanitarian personnel.

Resume the ceasefire

Mr. Dujarric said the Secretary-General honours all humanitarian workers killed in this conflict and demands a full, thorough and independent investigation into these incidents.

The UN chief reiterated his strong condemnation of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, stressing that there was no justification for the terror attacks or the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Mr. Guterres renewed his urgent call for the immediate resumption of the ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

UN rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change

Mr. Dujarric was asked about the plans Israel has announced to take control of more land in Gaza.

“The Secretary-General also reminds that Security Council resolution 2735 (2024) rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza,” he said.

In this regard, the UN chief is increasingly concerned about inflammatory rhetoric which calls on the Israeli military to “capture extensive territory that will be added to the State of Israel’s security areas.”

‘Even ruins have become a target’

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA), reported on Wednesday that Israeli forces shelled one of its buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

He said in a social media post that the building was previously a health centre and had been badly damaged earlier in the war.  In Gaza, “even ruins have become a target,” he remarked.

Initial reports indicate that the facility was sheltering more than 700 people when it was bombed, and that “among those killed are reportedly nine children, including a two-week-old baby,” Mr. Lazzarini said, noting that displaced families had stayed in the shelter after it was hit because “they have nowhere else to go.”

Investigate all attacks

Since the war began, more than 300 UN buildings have been destroyed or damaged, although the coordinates of these locations have been shared regularly with the parties to the conflict. He said more than 700 people had been killed while seeking UN protection.

Mr. Lazzarini added that too many UNRWA premises have also reportedly been used for military and combat purposes by Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, or by Israeli forces.

“The total disregard of UN staff, premises or operations is a profound defiance of international law,” he said.

“I call once again for independent investigations to find out the circumstances of each of these attacks and the serious violations. In Gaza, all lines have been crossed over and over again.”

Gaza ‘a death trap’

Jonathan Whittall, acting director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described the situation in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as a “war without limits.”

He described what is happening there as “an endless loop of blood, pain, death,” saying “Gaza has become a death trap.”

Mr. Whittall was briefing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York via video link from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

The top official noted that he was not sure what he could say to describe the situation on the ground, but decided against mincing his words especially after having coordinated a mission on Sunday that uncovered the mass grave of a number of humanitarian workers who were killed in Rafah.

The dead paramedics were “still wearing their uniforms, still wearing gloves” and killed while trying to save lives, he said. He added that their ambulances “were hit one by one” as they entered an area where Israeli forces were advancing.

He noted that the grave where they were buried had an emergency light from one of the ambulances. 

Mr. Whittall said he began by highlighting this case as it was emblematic of where the Strip stands today: “What is happening here defies decency, it defies humanity, it defies the law,” he said. “It really is a war without limits.”

He said that forced displacement orders resumed after the collapse of the ceasefire, and 64 per cent of the Gaza Strip is now under active forced displacement orders by Israel or within the so-called “buffer zone.”

One month since Israeli aid blockade began

“Nowhere and no one is safe,” according to Mr. Whittall, who said his colleagues tell him they “just want to die with their families” and that their worst fear is to survive alone.

“We cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are dehumanized to the point of being somehow unworthy of survival,” he said, noting that a month has passed since aid supplies were blocked from entering Gaza.

Responding to reporters’ questions, he said there was nowhere else in the world, to his knowledge, where an entire population of 2.1 million people is under siege, denied all forms of humanitarian aid, and the commercial sector is destroyed and then expected to survive entirely dependent on aid in a besieged and bombarded area.

He added that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was spiraling out of control, with all bakeries supported by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) closed, markets reduced to rubble, ambulance teams being killed, and people living on an aid system which is under attack.

Mr. Whittall emphasized the lack of humanitarian solutions to the problems facing Gaza. He stated that the crisis requires political action that begins with accountability, stressing that aid cannot compensate for political failures.

End the cruelty

“I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that what is happening in Gaza is not going to stay in Gaza,” he warned. “We cannot let the rules-based order be replaced by one set of rules for some people, and another set of rules for others.”

The UN official expressed hope that Member States would use their political and economic influence to enforce international law, that a ceasefire would be reached to stop the slaughter and free the hostages, that “Palestinians would be finally seen as human, and that this cruelty will end.” 

In the run-up to the UN Ocean Conference 2025 in June, the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD, emphasised that oceans are essential to all life, by sustaining biodiversity, regulating the climate and generating oxygen.

Oceans also have massive untapped economic potential that is capable of delivering food security, creating jobs and driving global trade.

“The amount of exports of ocean goods and services reached $2.2 trillion in 2023, so it’s growing very fast,” said David Vivas, UNCTAD Chief for Trade, Environment and the Sustainable Development Branch, on the sidelines of the 5th UN Ocean Forum in Geneva.

According to the UN agency, the world’s ocean economies have grown 250 per cent since 1995, far outpacing the global economy, which grew by 190 per cent over the same period.

Rising tide of potential

Behind this growth is growing South-South trade, where fresh fish exports have increased by 43 per cent; processed fish exports have risen by a staggering 89 per cent from 2021 to 2023.

Today, 600 million people are sustained by and therefore dependent on the fishing industry alone, most of them in developing countries.

According to UNCTAD, two thirds of species living in the ocean have yet to be identified, offering the potential for the discovery of new antibiotics, low-carbon foods and other bio-based materials such as plastic substitutes, which provide a $10.8 billion market opportunity alone.

In 2025, the marine biotechnology market is set to grow by more than 50 per cent this year, compared to 2023.

© Unsplash/Benjamin L. Jones

Seagrass, which evolved over 70 million years ago from terrestrial grass, is one of the most diverse and valuable marine ecosystems on the planet.

Looming dangers

However, despite this potential, the ocean economy faces imminent threats from poor governance, underinvestment and climate shocks.

These include our already warming oceans, rising sea levels and extreme weather hazards which endanger marine ecosystems, fish populations, coastal infrastructure and shipping routes, particularly for coastal communities.

And while most national climate plans do not take into account the ocean economy, UNCTAD’s Mr. Vivas underscored its importance in achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement as an estimated 11 per cent of all emissions worldwide are caused by ocean-based activities.

Drop in the ocean

Beyond climate-related impacts, woeful underfunding for ocean preservation and harmful practices further threaten the industry.

“While oceans represent 70 per cent of the biosphere, less than one per cent of the global development assistance is invested into its conservation and sustainable use,” Mr. Vivas told journalists in Geneva.

Achieving the universally agreed Sustainable Development Goal 14 of protecting life below water requires $175 billion annually, yet only $4 billion has been contributed from national funds, philanthropists and private investment, making it the most underfunded sustainability goal (SDG).

The sum “is nothing less than peanuts; basically, politicians are not putting their money where their mouth is,” Mr. Vivas said. “This huge part of the planet is totally invisible in terms of sustainable-use conservation for future generations.”

This stands in stark contrast to $22 billion invested in harmful subsidies in the global fishing industry, which contributes to overfishing.

Further obstacles limiting the potential of the marine economy involve extraordinarily high tariffs among developing countries. While high-income countries apply 3.2 per cent tariffs on fish products, developing countries on average apply 14 per cent tariffs among themselves, curbing trade heavily.

The Fazenda de Camarão shrimp farm in Calhau, Cabo Verde, aligns with goals of promoting sustainable agriculture and fisheries.

Buoyed by innovation

Among the UN agencies calling for action, UNCTAD recommends:

• integrating ocean-based sectors into national climate and biodiversity plans
• reducing trade barriers
• expanding data collection on ocean-related emissions, trade and investment
• ending harmful subsidies
• finalising legally binding treaties on plastic pollution

To drive urgently needed progress, the UN agency’s Ocean Forum will launch initiatives that include a renewed Ocean Trade Database to help analyse the fast-evolving sector, a proposal for a UN task force on seaweed development and a project on evidence-based ocean climate action.

The latter, involving UNCTAD and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), uses artificial intelligence (AI) and data innovations to support Caribbean small island developing States in particular.

The UN Ocean Conference 2025 takes place in the French Riviera city of Nice from 9 to 13 June.