UN News - Global perspective Human stories

• In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, journalism is ‘both a battleground and a lifeline’
  More than 260 media professionals were killed in the recent hostilities in Gaza – the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades. 
• UN chief warns unpaid dues near $1.6 billion, as budget cuts deepen
  With nearly $1.6 billion in unpaid dues, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday that chronic late payments are hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping cuts move forward through the General Assembly’s main budget committee.
• Gaza: UN reports expanded winterisation efforts as cold weather intensifies
  The UN says humanitarian partners in Gaza are scaling up winterisation efforts as cold weather and heavy rain continue to impact displaced Palestinians.
• HIV and AIDS: Despite funding setbacks, prevention sees progress
  Pooja Mishra’s health kept worsening until she began treatment for HIV at age 19, two years after her diagnosis. From wondering if she’d ever be able to live a normal life, today she is youth coordinator at a coalition for people with the disease in India.
• WHO backs wider use of weight-loss medicines, calling obesity a chronic disease
  The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its first guideline on the use of a new class of weight-loss medicines, marking a significant shift in global health policy as obesity rates continue to rise. 
• Landmine casualties hit four-year high as treaty setbacks deepen
  Civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants of war have risen to their highest level in four years, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report launched in Geneva on Monday.
• Record cocaine seizure in Haitian waters underlines country’s ‘pivotal’ trafficking role
  A record seizure of cocaine off the coast of Haiti has underlined the island nation’s “pivotal role in trafficking routes linking South America, the Caribbean and the United States of America,” according to the United Nations.
• Cyclone Ditwah brings worst flooding in decades to Sri Lanka, killing hundreds
  Sri Lanka is facing one of its worst flood disasters in two decades, with nearly one million people affected and more than 400 reported dead or missing after Cyclone Ditwah unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides across the island.
• ‘Every step a struggle:’ Nigerian woman with disabilities leads push for dignity and inclusion
  A woman living with disabilities in a camp for displaced people in Nigeria is demonstrating why it is essential that people like her are included in society and how dignity can be protected even in the harshest places.
• World News in Brief: Children hit by HIV funding gaps, risks to Pakistan’s courts, minority exclusion
  Children and adolescents living with HIV continue to be left behind in access to early diagnosis, life-saving treatment and care, as shrinking funding threatens to reverse decades of progress, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday, ahead of World AIDS Day.
• UN warns Myanmar’s planned elections will deepen repression and instability
  Myanmar’s planned late-December elections are unfolding in what UN rights officials describe as an atmosphere of fear, violence and deep political repression, with thousands detained and major parties excluded in a process that risks entrenching instability rather than restoring democracy.
• Global measles cases surge as 30 million children miss vaccines, UN health agency warns
  Measles deaths have dropped by 88 per cent since 2000 – yet an estimated 95,000 people, mostly children, still died from the virus last year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday.  
• UN rights office condemns ‘apparent summary execution’ of two men in the West Bank
  The UN human rights office, OHCHR said on Friday that it was “appalled” by the “brazen killing” of two Palestinian men by Israeli border police in the West Bank, describing it as “an apparent summary execution.” 
• UN chief condemns Guinea-Bissau coup, urges restoration of constitutional order
  The United Nations has strongly condemned the military coup in Guinea-Bissau, warning that the overthrow of elected authorities just days after national elections represents a grave violation of constitutional order and democratic principles.
• Millions in Asia migrate out of necessity as jobs and services fall short
  Soaring inflation, fragile job markets and shrinking access to healthcare and education are pushing millions of people in South and South-East Asia onto risky migration paths, the UN human rights office said on Thursday, as regional migration reaches historic highs.
• Mass displacement, trafficking fears deepen crisis in Sudan’s El Fasher
  The humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s El Fasher remains dire as mass displacement accelerates and aid access stays restricted, amid warnings of widespread trafficking, sexual violence and the recruitment of children.
• A decisive turning point: Setting global industry on a fairer, greener path towards economic growth
  The world moved closer to ensuring that industrial development is a net positive for people and the planet on Thursday, with the adoption of the Riyadh Declaration on the closing day of the Global Industry Summit, a week-long UN event in the Saudi capital. 
• ‘A language everyone understands’: Jordanian cartoonist on art as hope
  Cartoons have long been used to provoke thought, raise questions and challenge power, but for Jordanian artist and activist Omar Abdallat, they’re also a bridge between people.
• Aid access and hospital operations remain constrained in Gaza
  Aid deliveries into Gaza continue to face difficulties as fighting continues across the territory, with the UN warning that most hospitals are only partially functioning and more than 16,500 patients still require urgent medical evacuation.
• Peacebuilding Fund hits $1 billion milestone amid funding gap
  The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund on Wednesday announced a major milestone, with the approval of more than $1 billion in support to global peacebuilding and conflict-prevention initiatives since 2020.
• Ukraine’s children enter fourth school year under invasion as 4.6 million face education barriers
  This year alone, 4.6 million children in Ukraine are struggling to access education as they endure a fourth academic year under full-scale war.
• Defying the odds: Young entrepreneurs vow to take their chances and build the industries of tomorrow
  Young people make a vital contribution to the creation of industries that benefit people and the planet. Their role was recognised on Wednesday at Generation Future day of the Global Industry Summit in Riyadh, with commitments to ensure that their voices are heard and their ideas shared more widely.  
• Somalia declares drought emergency as millions face hunger after failed rains
  Somalia is facing a rapidly worsening drought emergency, with vast swaths of the country now parched after four failed rainy seasons, leaving millions at risk of hunger and displacement, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday.
• Over 600 million children exposed to violence at home, UNICEF warns
  More than one in four children globally – around 610 million – live with mothers who have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse by an intimate partner in the past year, making violence a part of their everyday lives, according to new data released by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday.
• On International Day of Solidarity, UN urges greater support and aid for Palestinians
  For over two years, tens of thousands of people have been killed in Gaza. The enclave faces its most severe economic collapse in history, and even amid a fragile ceasefire, children continue to die.