As global leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, UN agencies are warning that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian emergencies but growing threats to global economic stability.
Despite a downward trend in the use of the death penalty globally, 2025 saw an ‘alarming’ increase in the number of executions in a small number of retentionist countries, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) warned on Monday.
Nearly three years of war have plunged Sudan “into an abyss of unimaginable dimensions” and human rights must be at the centre of efforts to end the fighting and build lasting peace, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Sunday in Nairobi.
Three months into the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the UN and partners have delivered tonnes of assistance items and carried out critical repairs, but this is only a temporary “Band-Aid” solution, a veteran aid worker has warned.
Powerful forces are lining up to undermine global cooperation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned at a landmark event in London on Saturday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the General Assembly, but he urged that “humanity is strongest when we stand as one”.
The rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence worldwide is putting electrical grids under huge pressure and many believe that, to meet that need without contributing to the climate crisis, a full-scale expansion of nuclear energy is essential.
Myanmar on Friday rejected allegations of genocide against the Rohingya minority, telling the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Gambia’s case rests on “unsubstantiated allegations,” as public hearings continued in a landmark case on the application of the Genocide Convention.
More children in war-ravaged Gaza are now back in the classroom, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
A staggering 55 million people across West and Central Africa are expected to suffer crisis levels of hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August as funding cuts to humanitarian operations continue amid rising violence and displacement.
Almost two decades in the making, an international agreement to protect marine life in international waters and the seabed is due to come into force on Saturday, marking a major step forward in efforts to ensure the health of ocean ecosystems for decades to come.
