UNRWA Continues Operations in Gaza Amid Ongoing Insecurity and Shortages of Essential Services

After nearly two years of conflict between Hamas and Israel, displaced Palestinians in Gaza have begun returning home as humanitarian organizations work to restore essential, life-saving services. Despite recent progress, the United Nations (UN) and its partners continue to face major obstacles in reaching the most vulnerable populations due to ongoing insecurity and heightened restrictions. With winter fast approaching—and expected to further worsen living conditions—sustained aid operations remain critical.

Africa Wants Health to Be at the Center of Adaptation Finance

With the COP30 Presidency prioritizing health at the United Nations climate summit in Belém, African leaders are calling for finance to be channeled towards improving the health systems of developing countries.

‘This People’s March for Climate is For My Son’s Future’

In the scorching heat and humidity, Canru Pataxo marched with his one-year-old son firmly held in his arms.

‘Just Transition Must Make Climate Work for People Living its Consequences’

An open letter by more than 1,000 organizations from 106 countries, including trade unions, Indigenous leaders, feminist and youth movements, Afro-descendants, peasant groups, environmental advocates, disability networks and community organizations, to all States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is calling for a people-centered Just Transition.

Belém’s Hunger, Poverty Declaration Places World’s Most Vulnerable Populations at Centre of Global Climate Policy

A young woman at COP30 speaks about retracing her father’s footsteps. At only 16, her father and her grandfather were among the first families displaced by an unfolding climatic crisis of erratic weather and worsening climate conditions that goes on to date from their ancestral village in Sundarbans. Nearly 60 years later, she is on a mission to reclaim her ancestral lands.

We’re All in the Same Storm, Different Boats, Says Young Activist With Disability

At the UN Climate Conference venue in Belém, young activist João Victor da Costa da Silva is trying to make his case heard by negotiators. The 16-year-old Da Silva has a specific request for the parties: the needs of young people with disabilities should be addressed through the lens of climate justice.

Brazil is Breathing Life into Climate Commitments—Human Rights Lawyer

Binaifer Nowrojee, a human rights lawyer and the president of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), has lauded the Brazilian government “for significant steps taken to breathe life into the climate commitments.”

Poor Countries Welcome Loss and Damage Fund’s Call for Requests, Warn It Falls Short of Needs

Least Developed Countries have hailed the debut call for proposals for the Loss and Damage Fund, which was launched on 11 November at the United Nations climate summit known as COP30 in Belem, Brazil.

Demonstrators Face-Off With Security as COP30 Activism Intensifies

In a departure from the past three COPs, in Egypt, Dubai and Azerbaijan, there have been increasingly intense demonstrations from activists at the COP30 venue in Belém, the capital of the northern Brazilian state of Pará.

Syria’s Fragile Transition Threatened by Severe Aid Shortfalls and Increasing Abductions, UN Warns

Eleven months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria continues to grapple with severe instability as the country navigates a turbulent political transition. Rates of displacement have surged, and humanitarian organizations are struggling to support large numbers of refugees returning home. In recent weeks, the United Nations (UN) has documented numerous cases of enforced disappearances and abductions, calling for stronger accountability measures as the transition continues to unfold.

Displaced Farmers in Southern Lebanon Still Denied Access to Land

Food security and livelihoods in southern Lebanon are under severe threat as the repercussions of Israeli bombing continue to be felt across the region, a report released today (NOV 10) has warned.

Nuclear Disarmament Conversations Cannot Lose Traction

In recent days, nuclear state leaders have flouted the regulations and norms around nuclear non-proliferation and are flirting more openly with nuclear might in the name of projecting strength.

Global Emissions Falling Too Slowly, Expert Urges Renewables Push, Fair Finance

A decade has passed since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and a United Nations synthesis report released ahead of COP30 in Belém shows that "Parties are bending their combined emission curve further downwards, but still not quickly enough."

Hurricane Melissa Devastates The Caribbean As The UN Distributes Lifesaving Aid

In late October, Hurricane Melissa, a powerful Category 5 storm, made landfall in the Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage to civilian infrastructure and a devastating loss of life. Humanitarian agencies have mobilized on the ground to deliver urgent assistance to affected communities facing widespread destruction of homes, mass displacement, fatalities, and severe shortages of essential services, including food, water, medicine, shelter, and electricity.

Rajagopal PV’s Blueprint for Another World: Peace

"If nations can have defense ministries, why not peace ministries?" asks Rajagopal PV, the soft-spoken yet formidable founder of Ekta Parishad. "We are told to see issues through a gender lens—why not a peace lens? Why can’t we imagine a business model rooted in non-violence or an education system that teaches peace?”

Lawmakers Urged to Consider Emerging Drivers of Child Marriage

Closing the chapter on child marriages is still a distant ambition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and despite great strides at developing and passing legislation to eradicate it, existing and emerging drivers are still at play, making youngsters vulnerable to the practice.

Challenging Elites, Defending Democracy: Oxfam’s Amitabh Behar Speaks Out

Speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week in Bangkok (November 1–5), Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International and a passionate human rights advocate, highlighted his concerns about rising inequality, growing authoritarianism, and the misuse of AI and surveillance. Yet, he expressed optimism that, even as civic spaces shrink, young people across Asia are driving meaningful change. He also shared his vision of a just society—one where power is shared, and grassroots movements lead the way.

Defending Democracy in a “Topsy-Turvy” World

It is a bleak global moment—with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.

The Biggest Single Contributor to the UN Budget is also the Biggest Single Defaulter

The United States, the largest single contributor to the UN budget, is using its financial clout to threaten the United Nations by cutting off funds and withdrawing from several UN agencies. In an interview with Breitbart News U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Mike Waltz said last week “a quarter of everything the UN does, the United States pays for”.

Adaptation Finance Shortfalls Leave Developing World Exposed

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica yesterday—the strongest hurricane to impact the island on record since 1851—with expectations of tens of thousands of people being displaced and devastating damage to infrastructure. The tropical storm, slightly downgraded but nevertheless devastating, made landfall in Cuba today as UNEP’s newly released Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty shows that the finance needed for developing countries to adapt to the climate crisis is falling far behind their needs.

A Power Imbalance Frozen in Time: The Case for Security Council Reform

In June 2025, the international community celebrated the 80th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter. On October 24, we celebrated UN Day, commemorating its ratification. This is an opportune moment to reflect on how far we have come, and the ground we have yet to traverse.