Quo Vadis UN @80?

The United Nations turned 80 this year. What should have been a moment of pride and celebration at the high-level session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025 turned instead into an occasion of bitter irony.

Abusive Governments Set to Win Seats in Human Rights Council

Egypt and Vietnam are on track to secure seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council despite being woefully unfit for membership. The UN General Assembly will elect members to the UN’s premier rights body in a noncompetitive vote on October 14, 2025.

UN’s Cost-Cutting Mergers Come Under Scrutiny While Search for Locations Worldwide Continues

Faced with a severe liquidity crisis and a hostile Trump administration, the UN continues to merge some of its multiple agencies, and move them out of New York, relocating to Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Perhaps the first two agencies to be merged will be UN Women (created in 2010) and the UN Population Fund (created in 1967), with some staffers moved to Bonn and others to Nairobi.

Science-Informed Policy Action Key to Biodiversity Conservation

Global biodiversity is disappearing at breakneck speed and, in the process, threatening the future of humanity. The loss is not a future threat but a present crisis that Dr. Luthando Dziba, the new Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), believes can be tackled with science-based policy action.

Civil Society on the Edge

The collapse of aid architecture is one of the greatest dangers for civic space. This shift is not accidental but systemic, reflecting deliberate policy choices – not only by the US but accelerated by its decisions- that prioritize security agendas over human rights and solidarity.

Wealthy Nations Urged to Curb Climate Finance Debt For Developing Countries

In recent years, international climate financing has declined sharply, leaving billions of people in developing nations increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters and unable to adapt effectively. With major cuts in foreign aid, these communities are expected to face the brunt of the climate crisis, while wealthier nations continue to reap economic benefits.

Two-Thirds of Climate Funding for Global South are Loans as Rich Nations Profiteer from Escalating Climate Crisis

New research by Oxfam and the CARE Climate Justice Centre finds developing countries are now paying more back to wealthy nations for climate finance loans than they receive—for every USD 5 they receive, they are paying USD 7 back, and 65 percent of funding is delivered in the form of loans.

Explainer: COP30’s ‘Granary of Solutions’ Will Be Showroom of World’s Best Climate Fixes

Once a year, the COP presidency or the role held by the Minister of Environment from the host government at a Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting, sets out on an ambitious, year-long journey in hopes of delivering the climate deal of a lifetime.

When Women Lead, Peace Follows

We meet on the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325—a milestone born of the multilateral system’s conviction that peace is more robust, security more enduring, when women are at the table.

It’s Past Time to Make Polluters Pay

I was 16 years old when Super-Typhoon Haiyan tore through my community in Eastern Samar in the Philippines. It remains one of the deadliest storms in history, killing more than 6,000 people and displacing millions. My community lost everything: Loved ones, family homes and land, our ways to earn a living and rebuild, and our sense of safety all vanished overnight.

UNGA80: Lies Spread Faster Than Facts

DANGER – WARNING – ALARM: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa is warning that lies are being weaponized deliberately to manipulate people around the world. Big, profit-oriented, and technology-enabled companies are now disregarding or trampling over the sanctity and veracity of facts and information to speed up disinformation, (using AI) in ways that quickly erase truth and leave people manipulated.

Beijing+30: A Culmination of International, Intergenerational Dialogue

Thirty years since the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the resolve that defined and united the world toward a global agenda for gender equality make it just as relevant in 2025.

From Reforestation to Low-Emission Food, Climate Action Starts with Seeds

When you think of climate action, images of wind farms, solar panels, bicycles or electric vehicles may come to mind. Perhaps lush forests or green landscapes. What you may not think of is the humble seed.

Nuclear Testing Threats are Returning & Saber Rattling is Getting Louder, warns UN Chief

Is the unpredictable Trump administration toying with the idea of resuming nuclear tests? The New York times reported April 10 that some of Trump’s senior advisers had proposed the resumption of “test denotations for the sake of national security". The last such US explosion took place in 1992.

Multilateralism Minus the People: 80 Years of the UN’s Broken Promise

Last week, the United Nations (UN) marked its 80th anniversary against the backdrop of an unprecedented global crisis. With the highest number of active conflicts since 1946, trust in multilateralism is faltering.

Climate Finance Will Be the First Casualty of Rising Militarism: Ali T. Sheikh Warns Ahead of COP30

As the COP30 approaches amid darkening geopolitical clouds—marked by  rising rightwing extremism, corporate backtracking and rising militarism—Ali T. Sheikh, Pakistan’s leading expert on sustainable development and climate change, views the world’s largest diplomatic gathering with a mix of apprehension and caution.

Empower Her, Empower Us: A Call to Empower UN Women Now

In her opening statement, Annalena Baerbock (Germany), President of the 80th UN General Assembly, only the fifth female to hold this position over 80 years, stated, “Our future as an institution will also be shaped by the selection of the next Secretary-General. And here we must pause and reflect. In nearly eighty years, this Organization has never chosen a woman for that role. One might wonder how out of four billion potential candidates, there could not be found a single one. … Like 80 years ago, we are standing at a crossroads.”

UN80: Three Tests to Make Reform About People, Not Spreadsheets

This September the UN turns 80, but the lessons of peace, justice, and cooperation are still unfinished. The world today faces the flames of inequality, conflict, ecological collapse and growing digital threats. In short, the very problems the UN was created to solve are once again staring us in the face.

UN Member States Convene To Discuss Urgent Need for Equity in NCD and Mental Health Responses

World leaders convened in New York to deliberate over the efforts needed to address non-communicable diseases. On September 25, the United Nations (UN) convened a high-level meeting on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the promotion of mental health and well-being during the 80th session of the General Assembly (UNGA80).

African Voices at UNGA80: Building Sustainable and Self-Reliant Systems Through Innovation

On September 24, African-led organizations convened a high-level side event during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) The event - African-led Innovation: Shaping Sustainable Futures With or Without Aid - was organized in partnership with eHealth Africa, Population Services International (PSI), Population Council, and Reach Digital Health. The dialogue amplified voices from African-led organizations and highlighted the importance of homegrown innovations for sustainability—regardless of the availability of foreign aid—amid shrinking donor funding and widening global inequalities.

Attention World Leaders: Prevent Nuclear War, End Arms Race & Abolish Nuclear Weapons

In 2013, frustrated at the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament, the United Nations General Assembly declared September 26 as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. This international day provides an opportunity to enhance public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination.