Women in the health and care sector face a larger gender pay gap than in other economic sectors, earning on average 24 per cent less than their male peers. PHOTO:ILO
The care economy
Care work, both paid and unpaid, is crucial to the future of decent work.
Growing populations, ageing societies, changing families, women’s secondary status in labour markets and shortcomings in social policies demand urgent action on the organization of care work from governments, employers, trade unions and individual citizens.
As Hurricane Melissa moved north of Jamaica on Wednesday, the head of the UN team there said that preliminary damage assessments from the category 5 storm showed a level of devastation “never seen before” on the Caribbean island.
As Hurricane Melissa moved north of Jamaica on Wednesday, the head of the UN team there said that preliminary damage assessments from the category 5 storm showed a level of devastation “never seen before” on the Caribbean island.
29 October 2025 (UN News)* —Horrific stories of mass-atrocities committed by the RSF militia continue to emerge, along with the tens of thousands of civilians who have fled the North Darfur city of El Fasher in Sudan.
The World Health Organization says it’s appalled and deeply shocked by reports that 460 patients and their companions have been killed at Saudi Maternity Hospital in the city.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that prior to this latest attack, WHO has verified 285 attacks on healthcare in Sudan with at least 1,204 deaths and over 400 injuries of health workers and patients, since the start of the conflict.
Harqabobe, Somalia – On nights when storm clouds gathered over the valley, fear ran through the community. “When it rained, we worried what might come from the valley,” recalls Huria.
“Would the water rise while we slept? Would it come without warning on a clear day?”
Huria stands among those leading efforts to restore the land and protect their homes from future floods. Photo: IOM 2025/Yusuf Abdirahman
For years, this small village in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, north of Mogadishu, was caught in a brutal cycle. Rains came hard and erratic, washing through the valley and tearing apart homes and fields.
(UN News)* —Imagine this: you visit the familiar website of your local hardware store. Everything looks the same — the same design, the same brand name, the same interface.
You place your order, make the payment, and only later notice a small detail: just one letter in the website address was different.
That’s how easily you can fall into a cybercriminal trap. If you’re lucky, the amount lost is small, and your bank acts fast — refunding the money and reissuing your card.
But not everyone is so fortunate: in many countries, recovering stolen funds is nearly impossible.
(UN News)* — Over 900 days of brutal conflict, widespread human rights violations, famine, and the collapse of essential services have driven millions of people in Sudan to the “brink of survival” – with women and children bearing the heaviest burden.
Sudan stands at the epicentre of one of the world’s “most severe” humanitarian crises, according to the UN.
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Over 30 million people now need urgent humanitarian assistance, among them 9.6 million displaced from their homes and nearly 15 million children caught in a struggle for daily survival.
(UN News)* — The UN and its partners are accelerating deliveries of life-saving aid across Gaza, but relief efforts remain constrained by access restrictions and overwhelming humanitarian needs, officials said on Friday [].
Since the ceasefire on 10 October, the UN migration agency IOM has dispatched more than 47,000 relief items, including 2,500 tents, to help families rebuild amid devastation.
“People in Gaza have endured unimaginable loss,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.
Achieving gender equality and empowering women is not only the right thing to do but is a critical ingredient in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger and climate change.
Women engaged in wage employment in agriculture earn 82 cents for every dollar that men earn, according to a recent FAO report. PHOTO:Sasint/Adobe Stock
Rivers cut by dams, farmland expansion and urban growth are putting food, water, biodiversity and livelihoods at risk unless urgent action is taken.
Bonn/Abu Dhabi, – Nearly one-third of the Earth’s land surface has already been profoundly transformed by human activity, leaving ecosystems degraded and fragmented, according to the Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Ecological Connectivity and Land Restoration, launched on 11 October 2025 at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi.
BANGALORE & PAKHIRALAY, India, Oct 15 2025 (IPS)* – Bapi Mondal’s morning routine in Bangalore is a world away from his ancestral village, Pakhiralay, in the Sundarbans, West Bengal.
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Bapi Mondal and his wife Shanti in Bangalore. Climate change has forced the couple from their traditional livelihoods in the Sundarbans. Credit: Diwash Gahatraj/IPS
He wakes before dawn, navigates heavy traffic, and spends eight long hours molding plastic battery casings.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 