To stem this pollution crisis, countries agreed in 2022 to establish a new body that would provide policymakers with robust, independent information on chemicals, waste and pollution prevention.
Negotiators are finetuning the details of this new science-policy panel, with the latest round of discussions set for 15-18 June in Uruguay.
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 13 June 2025 – Amina sits behind a wood stove, exposed to the elements, a small teapot warming over the fire.
Amina prepares something to eat for her family with the few food supplies she has left. Photo: IOM 2025
She has been displaced six times in just under 20 months – sometimes twice in the same month. Today, she lives in a tent, with only the memory of a home that no longer stands.
Her story echoes the reality of nearly two million people in Gaza, living through what has become one of the most devastating chapters in the region’s history.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)* – The United States, a longstanding and unyielding Israeli ally, is threatening UN member states urging them to keep off an upcoming high-level meeting aimed at recognizing a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
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Delegates discuss preparations for the high-level conference at UN Headquarters in New York. May 2025. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The meeting, to be co-chaired by France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and Saudi Arabia, a strong political ally of the US, is scheduled to take place June 17-20.
According to the London Guardian, the Trump administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending the conference.
(UN News)* — Meeting in emergency session on Thursday in New York, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
The move followed the Security Council’s failure to pass a similar resolution last week due to a lone veto by permanent member the United States.
The resolution was backed by 149 Member States, with 12 voting against and 19 abstaining.
Among those opposing the resolution were the United States and Israel, who were joined among others by Argentina, Hungary and Paraguay. India, Georgia, Ecuador, Romania and Ethiopia were among the countries abstaining.
OSLO, Norway, Jun 12 2025 (IPS)* –The world is experiencing a surge in violence not seen since the post-World War II era. 2024 marked a grim new record: the highest number of state-based armed conflicts in over seven decades.
The scene of a destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. Credit: UNOCHA/Dmytro Filipskyy
“This is not just a spike – it’s a structural shift. The world today is far more violent, and far more fragmented, than it was a decade ago,” warned Siri Aas Rustad, Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and lead author of the report.
(UN News)* — With 13.5 million people displaced by over 13 years of brutal civil conflict, Syria used to represent the largest displacement crisis in the world. This is no longer the case.
In December last year, the overthrow of the Assad regime by opposition forces reignited hope that most Syrians could see home again soon.
As of May, 500,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their areas of origin. But that’s not the only reason Syria is no longer the largest displacement crisis in the world.
(UN News)* — The ocean is under siege – and greed is to blame. UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday urged world leaders and grassroots groups to confront the powerful interests driving marine destruction, from illegal fishing and plastic pollution to the accelerating impacts of climate change.
The World Day against Child Labour is widely supported by these actors, along with UN agencies and individuals committed to building a world free of child labour. PHOTO: UNFPA Asia and the Pacific
The Israeli military has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians by destroying homes and essential civilian infrastructure in Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps rendering them uninhabitable, as part of its ongoing brutal military operation in the occupied West Bank,said Amnesty International.
Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images
On 5 June, Palestinians mark Naksa Day, commemorating the forced displacement of approximately 300,000 Palestinians during the June 1967 war, when Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
(UN News)* — The worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached “unprecedented levels of despair,” the UN said on Monday , amid more reports of people being killed and injured near newly-established distribution sites.
Since the end of May, aid distribution in Gaza has been carried out by a mechanism backed by Israel and the United States bypassing UN agencies and their established partners, which has been plagued by deadly incidents and chaos.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 