Judge rules against Trump’s seizure of US Institute of Peace
19/5/2025: In early April, all but four of USIP’s 300 board members and staff were terminated and a 28-year-old staffer affiliated with DOGE had taken over as president. Now a federal judge has ruled that Trump’s action violated constitutional law.
Source: Devex
Broad backing for UN peacekeeping as global threats mount
14/5/2025: More than 130 countries have pledged military, technical and political support to UN peacekeeping at a high-level ministerial summit in Berlin. Peacekeeping remains one of the UN’s most visible activities, with over 61,000 uniformed personnel from 119 countries currently deployed across 11 missions.
Source: UN News
Israel’s Gaza aid plan crosses red lines for UN
9/5/2025: Participating in Israeli plans to enforce a military-controlled aid system in Gaza could implicate the UN in ongoing atrocity crimes, just one of the warnings in an internal UN briefing. The UN and many humanitarian NGOs have refused to participate, but face pressure from the US to get in line.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Israel must end ‘cruel collective punishment’ in Gaza
1/5/2025: The UN’s top humanitarian official has ssued a stark warning over the continuing blockade of aid into Gaza, calling on Israel to lift restrictions that have left civilians without food, medical care, and hope. He stressed that “international law is unequivocal: as the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in.”
Source: UN News
Kashmir crisis adds more troubles for the Indus Waters Treaty
25/4/2025: India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the attack by militants in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. The Treaty was already under pressure from environmental change not predicted when it was signed in 1960.
Source: The Conversation
The tragedy in Sudan must end
24/4/2025: The human toll of Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, has reached catastrophic proportions and yet the international community sits on its hands. Both sides are sustained by external backers. The United Arab Emirates backs the RSF, while Egypt supports the SAF, prolonging the conflict. The recent London conference may turn out to be nothing but another round of aimless speeches.
Source: Inter Press Service
UN landmines resolution highlights human rights impact
14/4/2025: The UN Human Rights Council has passed a resolution which strongly endorses the long-standing international treaty prohibiting antipersonnel mines. Since March, five European countries have announced their intention to withdraw from the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, while US government aid cuts have disrupted mine clearance operations around the world.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The Sudan crisis now threatens regional stability
13/4/2025: An Oxfam report warns that, as Sudan’s conflict enters its third year, massive displacement and fighting are spilling over into neighbouring countries, worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The report urges all warring parties to halt fighting and prioritize diplomacy, in order to forge an immediate and lasting ceasefire.
Source: Oxfam International
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
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