North Korea’s unrelenting human rights crisis
17/2/2025: The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a new report alleging that North Korea’s persistent use of forced labor, detention, and torture to maintain totalitarian rule amounts to crimes against humanity. It recommends that the UN Security Council should refer North Korea’s situation to the International Criminal Court.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Judge orders Trump administration to unfreeze existing aid programs
14/2/2025: A US federal judge has ruled that, while the president could order a 90-day review, the administration could not compel USAID staff to stop work or freeze funding for existing programs with contractual obligations. This ruling is a first step toward restoring US foreign assistance programs.
Source: Devex
Sudan has become a devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis
14/2/2025: Recent fighting in Sudan has forced the UN to evacuate Khartoum, just as it is launching a call for record funding of $4.2 billion to support aid operations. Over two thirds of the total population is in need of humanitarian assistance, while over three million people are classified as refugees.
Source: UN News
Thousands of African health workers lose jobs due to US aid freeze
13/2/2025: As USAID’s funding freeze leads to mass layoffs of African health workers - around 54,000 in Kenya alone - experts warn of an escalating crisis in healthcare access. Those affected include professionals working in maternal and child health, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria prevention.
Source: Devex
WHO warns that US funding cuts threaten global health
12/2/2025: The World Health Organization's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has urged the US Government to reconsider its funding suspension. He points to disruptions to HIV treatment, setbacks in polio eradication and limited resources for responding to mpox epidemics in Africa.
Source: UN News
US pausing of foreign bribery enforcement will harm global governance
11/2/2025: US President Trump has issued an order to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pending new guidelines. Transparency International warns that this step risks undermining decades of progress in tackling cross border corruption.
Source: Transparency International
Negotiations open for UN Tax Treaty
10/2/2025: UN member states have opened discussion on a first-ever treaty on international tax cooperation. On the first day of negotiations, the US left the room but the process continued on how to end the current system that deprives governments of billions in revenue.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Trump authorizes International Criminal Court sanctions
7/2/2025: US government sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) would undermine international accountability for the worst crimes and deprive victims around the globe of justice, according to Human Rights Watch. US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that authorizes asset freezes and entry bans on ICC officials and others supporting the court’s work.
Source: Human Rights Watch
UN Rights Council launches inquiry into atrocities in Eastern DR Congo
7/2/2025: The creation of a commission of inquiry by the UN Human Rights Council demonstrates growing international recognition of the need to address impunity for past abuses in eastern Congo. Human rights groups, the UN, and the media have reported summary killings, rapes including gang rapes, looting, and unlawful forced labor and conscription.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Trump’s grotesque Gaza proposal is appalling on every level
6/2/2025: The former executive director of Human Rights Watch warns that forcibly removing people en masse from their homeland is a war crime and a crime against humanity. The US president’s plan to expel 2 million Palestinians from Gaza is mind-bogglingly outrageous.
Source: The Guardian