AMMAN, 12 September 2025 (UNICEF)* – “The escalating military offensive in Gaza City is having devastating consequences for over 450,000 children, already traumatized and exhausted by nearly two years of unrelenting war. They are teetering on the edge of survival as both famine and deadly violence spread.
UNICEF/UNI767014/Nateel2 year old Alma. Gaza City, Al-Rimal, Omar Al-Mukhtar Street March 2025
“UNICEF is warning of an impending catastrophe as the military operation expands. With limited or nonexistent shelter and services, the ongoing escalation is already resulting in disproportionate civilian casualties and driving the near total collapse of the remaining lifelines children need to survive.
(UN News)* — Applause rang out in the UN General Assembly Hall on Friday [] as countries endorsed a declaration on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and implementation of the two-State solution with Israel.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | The UN General Assembly votes on whether to back the “New York Declaration,” a resolution that seeks to breathe new life into the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
The New York Declaration is the outcome of an international conference held in July at UN Headquarters, organized by France and Saudi Arabia, which resumes later this month.
The General Assembly comprises all 193 UN Member States and 142 countries voted in favour of a resolution backing the document.
Israel voted against it, alongside nine other countries – Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga and the United States – while 12 nations abstained.
In recent weeks, widespread flooding has engulfed large parts of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states in the north of the country.
The agency’s representative in South Sudan, Marie-Helene Verney, said that “if the flooding continues, up to 400,000 people are likely to be displaced by the end of the year, exceeding flood displacement levels seen in 2024.”
(UN News)* — A high-level independent rights probe into the brutal war in Sudan condemned the many grave crimes committed by all combatants, citing evidence indicating that civilians have been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
Shortly after presenting a mandated report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday [], chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, Mohamed Chande Othman, insisted that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia had carried out atrocity crimes.
Among the testimonies gathered for the report, survivors from RSF detention sites described the locations as “slaughterhouses”.
(UN News)* — Attacks on schools in conflict zones around the world have increased by a “staggering 44 per cent” over the past year according to the United Nations, resulting in the death, abduction and trauma of thousands of teachers and students.
Over 41,000 incidents of violence against school-age children were reported by the UN in 2024.
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Countries with the highest levels of violations in were Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti.
(UN News)* — UN rights chief Volker Türk on Monday [] condemned what he called a worldwide “glorification of violence” which is underway, as well as “coordinated efforts” to undermine fundamental birthrights. “It is time for States to wake up and to act,” he insisted.
Dakar –In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately three out of four working women (76 percent) are employed in agrifood systems, and women make up 49 percent of the agrifood systems workforce.
Within agrifood systems, women’s employment in off-farm segments – such as production, processing, distribution, consumption and packaging – is increasing across the region, rising to 29 percent in 2022 from 21 percent in 2005.
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 8 2025 (IPS) –– When the high-level meeting of over 150 world leaders takes place at the United Nations, September 22-30, one of the political highlights would be the announcement by at least 10 Western nations to recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation state.
Protesters demonstrate outside the Columbia University campus in New York City. October 2024. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider
The 10 countries– some already announcing their recognition ahead of the UN meeting — include UK, France, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Norway– proving the longstanding support for Israel is gradually diminishing in the Western world. Continue reading →
Millions of women and girls worldwide still cannot afford menstrual products or access water and sanitation facilities to manage their menstrual health and hygiene.
Periods make them miss school, work, and negatively impact their health, but it does not have to be that way.
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In Sitamarhi State, Bihar, India, in 2022, women hold sanitary pads during an awareness campaign as part of a menstrual hygiene management program organized by UNICEF. Photo: UNICEF/Priyanka Parashar
SRINAGAR & KISTIWAR, India, Sep 4 2025 (IPS)* ––The relentless rain that battered the mountains and valleys of Jammu and Kashmir this August shattered lives and records.
The Kishtwar cloudburst on August 26 buried Chesoti village beneath a torrent of mud and boulders, killing at least 65 people, with several still missing. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 