7 September 2025 —In the midst of bombing, shelling and access denial, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) continues to deliver safe water to thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
Photo: Nasser Harara/NRC
Since October 2023, Israel has repeatedly attacked water facilities, wells, pipelines, desalination units and sewage systems in Gaza.
(UN News)* — Governments, academia and other stakeholders must “double down on delivering reparatory justice” for people from the African diaspora, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Wednesday [].
2 September 2025 —More than 1 billion people are living with mental health disorders, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), with conditions such as anxiety and depression inflicting immense human and economic tolls.
WHO / Christopher Black | Community mental health teams are one way of providing mental health care, Ukraine, 2023.
While many countries have bolstered their mental health policies and programmes, greater investment and action are needed globally to scale up services to protect and promote people’s mental health.
Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in all countries and communities, affecting people of all ages and income levels.
4 September 2025 — In this Q&A, Human Rights Watch examines the application of the right to reparation to redress past and present harms stemming from colonial atrocities, including enslavement,[1]systemic racial inequalities, and other related human rights violations.
4 September 2025 — Rich countries have broken their climate finance promises to a key grouping of eight highly vulnerable African countries..
A group of shepherds and their livestock arrive in the community of Sincaro, in the Sanag region, Somalia, where Oxfam has built a water supply system for people and animals. Credit: Pablo Tosco/ Oxfam
Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda – collectively called the IGAD region – have together received, on average, $1.7 billion annually, between 2013 to 2022, in “grant equivalents”, being the true value of climate support after interest and debt repayments.
(UN News)* — Thousands of Palestinians have been caught in the crossfire while trying to escape attacks and dire food shortages in war-torn Gaza, with extraordinary challenges for some, according to latest reports from UN officials on the ground and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
A 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who depends on a wheelchair was among crowds fleeing Israeli military aircraft operations east of Rafah in Gaza on 13 October 2023, said committee member Muhannad Salah Al-Azzeh, who presented a report on the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday [3 September 2025] in Geneva.
In the melee, she lost her wheelchair.
“She was crawling on the sand and asking her family, telling them ‘you can leave me here’ because she felt that she was slowing them down,” he said.
(UN News)* — A massive assistance mission for earthquake survivors continued in Afghanistan on Wednesday [] as aid teams tackled blocked roads and downed communications lines in a bid to reach the most remote communities still in need of help.
Latest updates from UN assessment teams who reached affected communities in mountainous Ghazi Abad district on foot on Tuesday [2 September 2025] underscored the urgent need to press on with the humanitarian response.
“The issue of getting people out from under the rubble is urgent,” said Salam Al-Jabani from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in Kabul.
“People are saying what is urgently needed is people to help us bury the dead and get them out.”
TORONTO, Sep 2 2025 (IPS)* –– If European colonialism had never happened in Canada, matriarchy would still have been strong in Indigenous culture. Matriarchy was the backbone of society’s structure and line of dominance in Turtle Island (North America) before the arrival of Westerners.
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Indigenous People’s Celebration in Canada. Photo courtesy of Chrystal Tabobandung
In practice, Indigenous women in Canada have been victims of violence and discrimination.
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Across the world, wars are being waged on the very systems set up to protect civilian populations: Health workers, hospitals, health centres and ambulances are being targeted in horrifying numbers.
On 30 March 2025, a rescue operation in Tal Al Sultan, Rafah, Gaza,recovered the bodies of 15 humanitarian workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the Palestinian Civil Defense and the United Nations. The available information indicates that they were killed by Israeli forces on 23 March and buried under the sand.
Attacks against health facilities doubled between 2023 and 2024, and more than 900health workers were killed last year.
Humanitarian aid workers dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable in multiple crises were also killed in record numbers in 2024. Yet 2025 is outpacing even these dark statistics.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 25 2025 (IPS)* –– Sexual violence against women and children during wars should not be considered collateral damage. “It is strategy, it is systematic, and it is used more and more,” Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations (UN) Christina Markus Lassen said.
Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefs the Security Council during the meeting on women, peace and security. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Lassen was speaking at the August 19 Security Council meeting on Women and Peace and Security after the 16th annual Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violencerevealed a 25 percent increase in conflict-related sexual violence from the previous year and concerning global trends on the use of sexual violence as a form of torture and against prisoners of war.
Women and girls made up 92 percent of the victims; sexual violence against children increased by 35 percent, the report, which was published on August 14 said.
A group of shepherds and their livestock arrive in the community of Sincaro, in the Sanag region, Somalia, where Oxfam has built a water supply system for people and animals. Credit: Pablo Tosco/ Oxfam
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 