Text: Samuel Jegede and Kristine Grønhaug Photo: Samuel Jegede
Violent attacks. The Boko Haram crisis. Fighting over land. Economic insecurity. There are many dangers facing the people of Nigeria. What is it like for parents, teachers and children to live with these threats?
“We don’t have peace of mind. We never know what could happen, whether we’re at home or on our farm or elsewhere. You can be attacked anywhere nowadays,” said Aishatu Musa, mother of four (pictured above).
The Greek government has introduced an immigration bill with measures that explicitly link nongovernmental groups and humanitarian workers with criminal conduct, when in reality they are helping people in distress trying to reach Greece.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 30 2026 (IPS)* –– UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was dead on target when he told the Security Council last week that the rule of law worldwide is being replaced by the law of the jungle.
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres (seated at right) speaks to reporters at a press conference at UN Headquarters, in New York. UN Photo/Mark Garten
“We see flagrant violations of international law and brazen disregard for the UN Charter. From Gaza to Ukraine, and around the world, the rule of law is being treated as an à la carte menu,” he pointed out, as mass killings continue.
“The New York Times on January 28 quoted a recent study pointing out the four-year war between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in over “two million killed, wounded or missing.”
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 2026 (IPS)* –– Judging by the mixed signals coming out of the White House, is the Board of Peace, a creation of President Donald Trump, eventually aimed at replacing the UN Security Council or the United Nations itself?
At a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland last week, Trump formally ratified the Charter of the Board — establishing it as “an official international organization”.
The UN on Thursday [] issued a call for widespread financial reform as the most powerful way to shift global markets towards realising a better world, for people and the planet.
For every dollar invested in protecting nature, 30 dollars are spent on destroying it– that’s the central finding of theState of Finance for Nature 2026report, which calls for a major policy shift towards scaling up solutions that help the natural world – and support the economy at the same time.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan 13 2026 (IPS)* – At the moment, ICE’s advancement in the U.S. is apparently dividing the nation’s population into desired and undesirable elements.
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Refugees by Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was born after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers and intended to be a response to terrorism.
However, with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, federal immigration agents have become the president’s praetorian guard, implementing his immigration politics.
BRATISLAVA, Jan 14 2026 (IPS)* –Israel must lift all restrictions on medicine, food and aid coming into Gaza, rights groups have demanded, as two reports released today (Jan 14) document how maternal and reproductive healthcare have been all but destroyed in the country.
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Cardiologist Dr. Marwan Sultan, then Director of the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza, in February 2025 showing damage to hospital equipment following an Israeli attack on the facility a few months prior. In July 2025, Dr. Sultan was killed in an Israeli strike on the apartment where he was sheltering with his family. Credit: PHR/GHRC
(Beirut) –Saudiauthorities executed at least 356 people in 2025, setting a new record in the country for the highest number of executions in one year since monitoring began, Human Rights Watch on 13 January 2026 said.
As the world rings in a new year, the need to address ongoing and long-lasting humanitarian crises remains urgent. In 2026, several regions will face challenges that will demand global attention.
Occupied Palestinian territory
Displaced Palestinians make their way back to their homes in northern Gaza. Photo: Amjad al Fayoumi/NRC
A fragile ceasefire came into effect in Gaza in October, yet civilians remain in urgent need of food, medicine, shelter, clean water and other essential items and services.
More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and 170,000 injured over two years of hostilities, and the death toll continues to rise. 1.9 million people – around 90 per cent of the population – have been forcibly displaced, often multiple times.
(UN News)* — The United States’ intention to withdraw from a host of UN bodies announced this week targets programmes and initiatives focusing on a wide range of crucial areas, including the climate crisis, trade, gender and development.
When UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric briefed correspondents in New York on Thursday [8 ] following the release of the White House Memorandum, he insisted that the Organization will continue to carry out its mandates from Member States “with determination.”
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Wednesday’s memorandum states that the US administration is “ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law.”
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Several of the bodies listed in the memo are funded principally or partially by the regular UN budget, implying that voluntary funding will be impacted, although central funding will continue.