A new global synthesis report and refugee voices from East Africa and the Middle East warn that reductions in humanitarian footprints risks breaking the refugee protection system.
Sahrawi refugees walk near the Awserd Refugee Camp in the Tindouf Province of Algeria. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider
SRINAGAR, India, Dec 16 2025 (IPS)* –– The global refugee system is entering a period of deep strain. The delivery of protection and assistance is undergoing a transformation due to funding cuts, institutional reforms, and shifting donor priorities.
How harmful stereotypes undermine migrant women and what must change
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–Migration is often talked about in numbers – how many people cross borders, what it costs, and how much migrants contribute to economies. Yet each statistic hides a personal journey driven by courage, ambition, and resilience.
“Corruption breeds disillusion with government and governance… Corruption can be a trigger for conflict,” notes António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.
UN Photo/Leonora Baumann | Port au Prince.
“As conflict rages, corruption prospers. And even if conflict ebbs, corruption can impede recovery.”
Below, find out how corruption can exacerbate conflicts and impede sustainable peace plans – and how the United Nations is working to strengthen integrity, the rule of law and anti-corruption measures in peacekeeping and peacebuilding contexts.
Last year,one in five people who dealt with a public official were asked to pay a bribe, according to a UN report.
The world is doing something about it.
Rabik Upadhayay | Young Nepalis protesting against endemic corruption in the capital Kathmandu earlier this year. Security forces responded with a violent crackdown, leaving more than 50 people dead in the ensuing crisis.
Heads of State, civil society and private sector leaders will be discussing the most pressing issues surrounding corruption and how to tackle the scourge, at a a UN anti-corruption conference (COSP11) this week in Doha, Qatar.
(Beirut) – Qatari government clients and other major businesses are failing to pay contractors on time for projects, leaving migrant workers unpaid, Human Rights Watch on 14 December 2025 said.
(UN News)* — Humanitarian assistance in Gaza is being delayed because aid cargo is routinely deprioritised in favour of commercial goods, the UN’s aid coordination office (OCHA) warned on Monday [], as winter storms continue to worsen already dire living conditions for displaced families.
Despite sustained efforts by the UN and its partners, needs are rising faster than aid can be delivered, according to Olga Cherevko, an OCHA spokesperson in Gaza.
(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the “heinous deadly attack” on Sunday against Jewish families gathered in Sydney, Australia, to celebrate Hanukkah.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe | UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaking at a press conference at the UN Headquarters, in New York. (file photo)
In a social media post, Mr. Guterres said he was “horrified” by the incident.
“My heart is with the Jewish community worldwide on this first day of Hannukah, a festival celebrating the miracle of peace and light vanquishing darkness,” he wrote.
Online violence is spilling offline: Four in ten of the women surveyed also reported experiencing offline attacks connected to digital abuse.
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Geneva –Online violence against women human rights defenders, activists and journalists has reached a tipping point, often fueling offline attacks, according to a new report released on , produced by UN Women’s ACT to End Violence against Women programme.
More than half the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services.
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And a quarter of them face financial hardship when paying for health care out of their own pockets, often at the expense of food, education or housing.
On 12 December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) – the idea that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality, affordable health care.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 11 2025 (IPS)* –When there was widespread speculation that a UN Under-Secretary-General (USG), a product of two prestigious universities—Oxford and Cambridge—was planning to run for the post of Secretary-General back in the 1980s, I pointedly asked him to confirm or deny the rumor during an interview in the UN delegate’s lounge.
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The Security Council in session. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider
“I don’t think”, he declared, “anyone in his right mind will ever want that job”.
Fast forward to 2026.
As a financially stricken UN is looking for a new Secretary-General, who will take office beginning January 2027, the USG’s remark in a bygone era was a reflection of a disaster waiting to happen.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 