Aid cuts threaten progress in ending maternal mortality
6/4/2025: Unprecedented aid cuts are putting global progress to end maternal deaths at risk, UN agencies have warned. Their report shows that maternal deaths declined by 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023 but that the rate of improvement is slowing. Sub-Saharan Africa still accounted for approximately 70 per cent of the global burden of maternal deaths in 2023 due to high rates of poverty and multiple conflicts.
Source: UN News
Hungary’s withdrawal from ICC evades international justice
3/4/2025: The Secretary General of Amnesty International has said that by welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide. Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice.
Source: Amnesty International
China’s big development projects are getting smaller
3/4/2025: China’s shift from massive infrastructure projects in low-income countries was partly a response to rising international criticism for inducing debt crises. With the dismantling of USAID and Europe’s aid cuts, the strategy has new relevance in an increasingly volatile development landscape.
Source: Devex
Backsliding on landmines endangers civilian lives
1/4/2025: For over three decades, the US has been the world's largest contributor to humanitarian demining. But the Trump administration’s deep cuts to foreign aid are now disrupting mine clearance operations. Meanwhile defense ministers from Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have announced their intention to withdraw from the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel mines.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Eliminating malaria is an economic boost for Africa and the US
31/3/2025: The US has been the largest contributor to global malaria control efforts. If its sudden cessation of funding continues, it would leave significant gaps in malaria programs in many African countries.
Source: Devex
UN Refugee Agency hails launch of Kenya’s landmark inclusion plan
28/3/2025: Kenya is home to two of the world’s largest refugee camps, hosting over 700,000 people. Under the recently launched Shirika Plan, these refugee-hosting areas will be developed into municipalities to increase economic opportunities, education, health, and essential services for both refugees and local communities.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Building resilience in Least Developed Countries
28/3/2025: The UN High Representative for the 44 Least Developed Countries calls for increased concessional financing and enhanced support for debt relief to build a more equitable, sustainable future for all. These nations, home to over one billion people, contribute merely 3.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they bear the brunt of climate impacts.
Source: Inter Press Service
Perfect storm in South Sudan demands urgent action
28/3/2025: The UN Secretary-General has warned that recent events in South Sudan may signal a severe unravelling of the peace process. The main opposition leader, Riek Machar, has been arrested, alongside mounting military clashes and the growing regional spillover from the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
Source: UN News
Highest recorded incidence of acute food insecurity in DRC
27/3/2025: UN food agencies report that an alarming 28 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are now facing acute hunger, including 3.9 million experiencing emergency levels of hunger. Conflict, economic instability and surging food prices are contributory factors.
Source: World Food Programme
How to reinforce the multilateral climate system in 2025
27/3/2025: With so many challenges facing the multilateral system, the President of last year's COP29 in Azerbaijan looks ahead to COP30 in Brazil. Each country needs to honour their respective commitments to provide climate finance and develop an ambitious national climate plan.
Source: Climate Home News