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.
(UN News)* — The UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has warned of an alarming rise in violence and restrictions by Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinian farmers, as the crucial olive harvest season gets underway.
Ajith Sunghay said on Tuesday [] that “settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency, with the acquiescence, support, and in many cases participation, of Israeli security forces – and always with impunity.”
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In the first half of 2025 alone, there were 757 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage — a 13 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
As humanitarian aid dries up, these countries are especially vulnerable
Afghanistan
People lining up for WFP assistance in earthquake-hit eastern Afghanistan. The country faces soaring needs – even as WFP assistance is being deeply cut. Photo: WFP/Arete/Muktar Nikrawa
There are 9.5 million food-insecure people in Afghanistan – a number that WFP fears will rise. WFP has a US$622 million funding shortfall over the next six months.
(UN News)* — Women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are trapped in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and face rampant insecurity, a senior United Nations official warned on Tuesday [] following a visit to the country.
Speaking to journalists at the UN Office at Geneva, Shoko Arakaki, director of humanitarian affairs at the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA), said that essential services have been severely disrupted, while incidents of rape and conflict-related sexual violence have surged by a third compared to last year.
Tens of thousands of bundles of flatbread are being delivered daily, as part of a broader WFP effort to scale up food assistance to reach 1.6 million people.
Even before the ceasefire, WFP-supported bakeries in Gaza had already resumed bread production, churning out 100,000 loaves a day for hungry residents. Photo: WFP/Maxime Le Lijour
Even before the guns fell silent in Gaza, the cavernous Nuseirat bakery was back in service, churning out hundreds of hot, fragrant loaves for famished residents.
(UN News)* —Holding the line on the existing rules-based international trading system remains an essential challenge if the world is the keep a damaging tariff war at bay, a top UN trade official said on Monday [].
Addressing the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s 195 Member States in Geneva, Rebeca Grynspan said that 72 per cent of global trade “still moves under WTO rules” – a reference to the World Trade Organization, whose agreements are negotiated and signed by trading nations.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 2025 (IPS)* –The US hostility towards the UN is threatening to escalate, as a cash-starved world body is struggling for economic survival.
Addressing the UN’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee last week. Ambassador Jeff Bartos, U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform said: “President Trump is absolutely right – the United Nations can be an important institution for solving international challenges, but it has strayed far from its original purpose”.
“Over 80 years, the UN has grown bloated, unfocused, too often ineffective, and sometimes even part of the problem. The UN’s failure to deliver on its core mandates is alarming and undeniable.“
(UN News)* — The United Nations faces a “race to bankruptcy” unless Member States pay their dues in full and on time, Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Friday [], presenting a sharply reduced $3.238 billion regular budget for 2026.
UN News/Vibhu Mishra | The Secretariat building with flags of Member States in the foreground, at UN Headquarters, in New York.
15 October 2025 —Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere soared by a record amount to new highs in 2024, committing the planet to more long-term temperature increase, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
(UN News)* —Nearly 80 per cent of the world’s poor – 887 million people – live in regions that are exposed to extreme heat, flooding and other climate hazards, highlighting the urgent need for global action to address the issue.
That’s according to a report released on Friday [17 October 2025] by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil next month.
By overlaying climate hazard data with multidimensional poverty data for the first time, it reveals how the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 