Links to recent news and analysis on efforts to prevent and resolve violent conflicts, including the role of the UN and International Criminal Court, and weapons control.
Funding cuts curtail assistance to victims of sexual violence in DR Congo
5/9/2025: The UN has warned that the cash crunch affecting its human rights work has impeded a potential war crimes probe into sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Violations of international humanitarian law have been committed by all parties to the conflict.
Source: UN News
Sudan: UN should extend arms embargo
29/8/2025: Human Rights Watch calls on the UN Security Council to renew and expand the arms embargo on Darfur to cover the whole of Sudan and impose sanctions against the warring parties’ leadership. UN officials have warned that civilians trapped in areas in North Darfur and the Kordofan region face starvation.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Was the attack on Gaza’s Nasser hospital a war crime?
27/8/2025: There has been widespread international outrage at Israel’s attacks on Nasser hospital in northern Gaza, on August 25. The second attack on the same location, minutes after the first, killed five journalists and several medical staff treating people injured. Journalists are marked out for special protection under the Geneva Conventions.
Source: The Conversation
What’s the future of women’s participation in peacekeeping
26/8/2025: In the 25 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 mandated the women peace and security agenda, peace operations have advanced women’s inclusion and promoted gender-sensitivity. But persistent gaps remain visible and they demand urgent attention as global conflicts intensify.
Source: PassBlue
Did Trump really resolve six conflicts in a matter of months?
21/8/2025: The US president, Donald Trump, claims to have “solved six wars in six months”. Six academic experts outline what Trump actually did, and whether it made a difference.
Source: The Conversation
UN chief calls for total elimination of nuclear weapons
8/8/2025: 80 years after the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the UN Secretary-General has told a conference in Nagasaki that "nuclear weapons have no place in our world.”
Source: UN News
Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
6/8/2025: In January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling that Israel must take all measures to prevent a genocide from occurring in Gaza. Five Australian experts in international law and genocide offer their opinion as to whether the evidence shows one is occurring.
Source: The Conversation
UN renews push for two-State solution for Gaza conflict
30/7/2025: The UN Secretary-General has reiterated that there is no alternative to the two-State solution to achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. The US and Israel did not participate in a UN conference to jumpstart political momentum toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Source: UN News
US withdraws from UNESCO
22/7/2025: The US government will withdraw from UNESCO in 2026. The State Department cites UNESCO’s "outsized focus" on the Sustainable Development Goals and its inclusion of Palestine as a member state.
Source: Devex
Why is Israel bombing Syria?
16/7/2025: Israel is backing the two prominent allied minorities in Syria — the Kurds in the northeast and the Druze in the south — in their push for a federal governance model. The transitional government in Damascus is pushing for a centralised state and seeking to reassert full control over the entire Syrian territory.
Source: The Conversation