(UN News)* —The United Nations paid tribute on Thursday to the 168 staff members who lost their lives in 2024. They include 126 personnel killed in Gaza, all but one of whom served with the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
Ahead of a memorial service at Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General António Guterrestold journalists that the men and women being honoured “were not just names on a list” but “extraordinary individuals – each one a story of courage, compassion, and service.”
(UN News)* — The lack of food entering Gaza caused by ongoing Israeli aid restrictions is leaving increasing numbers of Palestinians “vulnerable to starvation”, with daily energy intake now well below what a human body needs to survive, the UN warned on Thursday .
NICE, France, Jun 2 2025 (IPS)** – As David Attenborough reflects in his new documentary Ocean, “After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea”.
Credit: NOAA Photo Library
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), scheduled to take place in Nice, France from 9-13 June, will bring together Heads of State, scientists, civil society and business leaders around a single goal: to halt the silent collapse of the planet’s largest – and arguably most vital – ecosystem.
(UN News)* —As coral reefs bleach, fish stocks collapse, and sea temperatures break records, world leaders are heading to the French Riviera — not for leisure, but for one of the most urgent diplomatic gatherings of the year.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 5 2025 (IPS)* – A particularly virulent outbreak of cholera was detected in the Khartoum State of Sudan and is a direct result of the Sudanese Civil War, warns the United Nations.
UNICEF’S cholera response in Sudan. A doctor mixes an oral rehydration solution, which treats cholera. Credit: UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih
“The resurgence of cholera is more than a public health emergency – it is a symptom of deep, persistent inequality. Cholera takes hold where poverty is entrenched, where healthcare is scarce, and where conflict has shattered the systems that keep children safe…”
(UN News)* — Dozens of bodies have been discovered at official and unofficial detention sites in Libya. The grim findings confirm deep concerns about abuse and torture at the facilities, according to the UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
“Our worst held fears are being confirmed: dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings,” Türk said.
(UN News)* —A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe | UN Security Council members voting in favour of the draft resolution.
The text, co-sponsored by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia – collectively known as the E-10 – received 14 votes in favour, with the US casting the lone vote against.
Rome, 26 May 2025 – Less than five percent of the Gaza Strip’s cropland area remains available for cultivation, according to the latest geospatial assessment carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), further deteriorating food production capacity and exacerbating the risk of famine in the area.
GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2 June 2025 –“Sometimes I need pads and soap more than I need food,” said Aisha*, a young displaced girl in Gaza, revealing a serious burden too often overlooked in crisis settings – menstrual health.
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza that has caused the complete depletion of hygiene supplies, including sanitary pads for menstrual health.
Almost 90 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed or partially damaged, and fuel for water pumping and distributions has now run out.
(UN News)* — The UN Secretary-General has condemned the reported killing and injury of Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza on Sunday 1 June 2025, calling for an investigation into the matter.
More than 30 people were killed and over 100 wounded while waiting in the morning to get food from two sites in Rafah and Middle Gaza run by the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to media reports.
The organization is backed by Israel and the United States and uses private US security contractors supervised by the Israeli military.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 