The urgency of building peace
14/7/2025: There are more armed conflicts today than at any point since the end of World War II. The chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission explains how the project strives to help countries rebuild after war and sustain peace over the long run.
Source: Devex
Sustainable Development Goals remain way off track
14/7/2025: The UN’s annual Sustainable Development Goals report reveals that only 18 per cent of the Goals are on track to be met by 2030 while a similar percentage have gone backwards. Implementation is impeded by a $4 trillion funding shortfall and geopolitical tensions which are undermining multilateralism.
Source: UN News
UN funding crisis threatens work of Human Rights Council
11/7/2025: The UN Human Rights Council has expressed concern that certain activities mandated by the Council cannot be delivered due to a lack of funding. Virtually all the Council’s work has been affected, with investigations into rights abuses—for example in Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine—reportedly operating at approximately 30-60 percent of capacity.
Source: Inter Press Service
Gaza: ‘Unacceptable’ choice between getting shot or getting fed
11/7/2025: The UN Human Rights Office has serious concerns about respect for essential international humanitarian law in relation to killings of Gazans at or around aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Since 27 May, the Office has recorded 798 killings in the vicinity of the Foundation sites.
Source: UN News
US terminates protected status for Afghans
10/7/2025: The Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghans leaves over 11,000 Afghans in the US subject to immediate detention and deportation. Women and girls who are returned to Afghanistan will be particularly vulnerable.
Source: Human Rights Watch
US sanctions UN expert Francesca Albanese over Israel criticism
9/7/2025: The US administration has imposed sanctions on the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory over her documentation of Israel’s abuses against Palestinians during its war on Gaza. Albanese appears to dismiss the Trump administration’s economic penalties, calling them ‘mafia-style intimidation techniques’.
Source: Al Jazeera
Europe’s top rights court finds Russia responsible for downing of MH17
9/7/2025: Europe's top human rights court has ruled unanimously that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 and also that Moscow has repeatedly and systematically violated human rights in Ukraine. The court is expected to rule in due course on possible compensation but it has no way of enforcing its rulings.
Source: Reuters
ICC issues warrant for Taliban’s supreme leader for persecution of women
8/7/2025: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for the persecution of women and girls. A recent UN report highlighted the suspension of a law on violence against women.
Source: The Guardian
When journalism disappears, so does democracy
7/7/2025: The sudden, chaotic, and unpredictable nature of the US cuts in funding for independent journalism abroad has hit hard. In countries like Myanmar, Sudan, and Venezuela, the loss of funding hasn’t just meant fewer headlines – it has meant fewer protections against propaganda, censorship, and state violence.
Source: The New Humanitarian
WFP airdrops food to prevent catastrophe in South Sudan
7/7/2025: The UN's World Food Programme is delivering emergency food assistance to South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, where surging conflict has forced families from their homes. More than one million people across Upper Nile are facing acute hunger, including over 32,000 people already experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger, on the brink of famine.
Source: World Food Programme