Military conflicts at historic high
12/6/2025: A report by the Peace Research Institute Oslo identifies a staggering 61 conflicts across 36 countries last year, the highest number of state-based armed conflicts in over seven decades. Africa remained the most conflict-affected region.
Source: Inter Press Service
Atomic watchdog says Iran not complying with nuclear safeguards
12/6/2025: The International Atomic Energy Agency has passed a resolution declaring that Iran is not complying with its obligations regarding nuclear non-proliferation. Tehran has “repeatedly” been unable to explain and demonstrate that its nuclear material was not being diverted for further enrichment for military use.
Source: UN News
Funding cuts force new thinking for world’s largest refugee camp
10/6/2025: Funding cuts will soon dramatically change conditions for the more than one million Rohingya refugees who live in camps near Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh. Repatriation remains elusive while fighting plagues Rakhine State, where most of the Rohingya used to call home.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Seville Conference on Financing for Development can deliver
9/6/2025: The secretary-general of the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development sets out his agenda. The current draft outcome aims to increase domestic taxation in low income countries and reduce the international debt burden.
Source: Devex
Trump’s travel ban will spread hate and discrimination
5/6/2025: Amnesty International has condemned Trump's ban on travel to the US from 12 countries as discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel. It also violates the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution.
Source: Amnesty International
Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’
5/6/2025: A cure for HIV could be a step closer after researchers in Melbourne found a new way to force the virus out of hiding inside human cells. It is based on mRNA technology, which came to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: The Guardian
As education funding crumbles, the sector must adapt
5/6/2025: Since the Trump administration’s January dismantling of USAID, the world’s largest bilateral donor to the education sector, delivery partners have had to cancel 396 education programs in 58 countries. The sector must now seek innovative financing mechanisms to survive.
Source: Devex
As the rules of global cooperation shift, here is plan B
5/6/2025: The international landscape in mid-2025 is characterized by a retreat from liberal institutionalism, as seen by the US withdrawal from the UN Sustainable Development Goals. An alternative approach champions flexible coalitions of countries and groups bound by shared values and interests.
Source: Devex
Trump unveils ‘draconian’ cuts to foreign aid
5/6/2025: If fully enacted, the Trump administration's 2026 budget cuts would bring funding to its lowest level since before World War II, just 0.03% of the country’s gross domestic product, compared to a 0.3% average across the last decade.
Source: Devex
Trump budget request slashes global health funding
4/6/2025: The Trump administration's 2026 budget request excludes any funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which provides vaccines to lower-income countries. Similar cuts affect the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the UN Population Fund.
Source: Devex