October 2025
UN warns of civilian fight for survival in Ukraine: civilian casualties are up 30% since last year. A third of all recorded civilian deaths and injuries in 2025 were caused by drone attacks. Front-line areas see over 57,000 evacuees seeking aid. UN's winter response plan is only 50% funded (LINK) 31 October 2025
UN Security Council approves resolution backing Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara, in a major shift (LINK) — ground.news: 64 media reports (LINK) 31 October 2025
— Morocco considers the territory its own, while the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic
UN human rights chief says US strikes on alleged drug boats are 'unacceptable' (LINK) 31 October 2025
Caribbean nations receive life-saving support from UN following devastation of Hurricane Melissa (LINK) 31 October 2025
— In Jamaica, the World Food Programme (WFP) has assisted the Government with logistics, communications, and cash-based support, delivering 5,000 food kits — enough to feed 15,000 people for a week. Meanwhile, from its Regional Strategic Stockpile in Panama, PAHO has dispatched 2.6 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba.
UN climate fund posts record year with $3.26 billion in greenlighted projects as chief Mafalda Duarte defends loans (LINK) 30 October 2025
— Her goals include cutting project review times from two years to nine months, and reducing the time to accredit partner institutions, like national agencies and banks, from three years to nine months. When it does give loans, the GCF prides itself on "concessionality," meaning very low interest rates -- far better deals than middle income countries with poor investment ratings could hope to get on the commercial market. It argues that grants, which account for around 45 percent of its outlay, cannot achieve the scale of financing required to deliver the Paris accord goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.
State of the Climate 2025: Earth's vital signs worsen, but science shows options for a livable future (LINK) 29 October 2025
— 22 of the planet's 34 vital signs are at record levels, with many of them continuing to trend sharply in the wrong direction. The authors note that 2024 was the hottest year on record and likely the hottest in at least the last 125,000 years. "Climate mitigation strategies are available, cost-effective and urgently needed, and we can still limit warming if we act boldly and quickly": renewable energy sources, protecting and restoring ecosystems, reducing food loss and waste.
UN condemns US embargo on Cuba for a 33rd year, but Washington's stand draws bit more support (LINK) 29 October 2025
— AP: The vote was 165-7, with 12 abstentions. Last year, it was 187-2, with votes against from the United States and Israel and one abstention. This year, countries including Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary also opposed the measure. Such resolutions are not legally binding but reflect world opinion.
'Change course now': humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head: 'Devastating consequences' now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30 (LINK) 28 October 2025
World's climate plans fall drastically short of action needed, analysis shows: Recent plans submitted to UN by more than 60 countries would cut carbon by only 10%, a sixth of what is needed (LINK) 28 October 2025
Russia using 'rule of fear' to silence anti-war dissent, says UN independent human rights expert (LINK) 28 October 2025
Russian army committing murder in Ukraine: Independent rights commission (LINK) 27 October 2025
UN News: 65 nations sign first UN Treaty to fight cybercrime: milestone for digital cooperation (LINK) 25 October 2025
— Adopted by the General Assembly in December 2024 after five years of negotiation, the Convention against Cybercrime establishes the first universal framework for investigating and prosecuting offences committed online — from ransomware and financial fraud to the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. The signing ceremony was hosted by Viet Nam in collaboration with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It will enter into force 90 days after the 40th State deposits its ratification. Global cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, according to industry experts.
US urges global race for next UN chief in move likely to annoy Latin America (LINK) 24 October 2025
Israel told US it will not allow UNRWA to operate in Gaza despite ICJ ruling — report (LINK) 23 October 2025
Russia and China accused of damaging UN human rights funding: actively trying to block United Nations scrutiny into violations through obscure budget talks (LINK) 22 October 2025
International Court of Justice says Israel must allow UN relief agency to supply aid to Gaza (LINK) — ground.news: 7 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025
— It issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel is under the obligation to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met. The panel of 11 judges added Israel is forced to support relief efforts provided by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip and its entities, including UNRWA, the United NationsRelief and WorksAgency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Advisory opinions of the ICJ carry legal and political weight, but they are not binding and the court has no enforcement power.
The International Court of Justice just rejected EVERY SINGLE LIE Israel told them (LINK) 22 October 2025
New CHF4m funding from Switzerland for UNCTAD to boost inclusive digital economy for 2025-9 (LINK) 21 October 2025
— State Secretariat for Economic Affairs's Head of Trade Promotion Monica Rubiolo announced the contribution agreement alongside Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, during the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) hosted by Switzerland from 20 to 23 October 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Since 2021, UN Trade and Development and SECO have partnered to help developing countries such as Ghana, Peru and Tunisia assess their e-trade readiness and implement reforms.
US and Saudi Arabia block a global fee on shipping emissions as IMO meeting ends without new regulations (LINK) — ground.news: 131 media reports (LINK) 17 October 2025
Valendas in Grisons joins exclusive Swiss list of World Tourism Organization/UN Tourism's 10 'Best Tourism Villages' (LINK) 17 October 2025
— UN Tourism honoured Valendas for its commitment to the global sustainable development of tourism and for its various initiatives to preserve, promote and enhance the cultural heritage and natural resources. Alongside Valendas, the municipality of Evolène (Valais) has been selected to participate in the “Best Tourism Villages” upgrade programme for villages with great potential but which do not fully meet the criteria.
— The locations that can already boast the title of "Best Tourism Villages" in Switzerland are Andermatt (canton Uri), Gruyères (Fribourg), Morcote (Ticino), Morat (Fribourg), Romoos (Lucerne), Saas-Fee (Valais), Saint-Ursanne (Jura), Splügen (Graubünden/Grisons) and Valposchiavo (Graubünden/Grisons).
PassBlue: The UN needs a major reset. A Charter Review could make it happen (LINK) 15 October 2025
Spread of drug-resistant superbugs surging, WHO warns: nearly 40% of antibiotics became ineffective between 2018 and 2023: one in six bacterial infections confirmed by laboratories in 2023 no longer responded to standard antibiotic treatments (LINK) — ground.news: 76 media reports (LINK) 13 October 2025
Plastic pollution treaty not dead in the water, says UN Environment Chief (LINK) — ground.news: 47 media reports (LINK) 10 October 2025 2025
— Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ecuador's ambassador to Britain who chaired the last three of six negotiation rounds, has announced he is stepping down, leaving the process rudderless. The Guardian reported that staff from Andersen's UNEP team held a covert meeting on the last night in Geneva, aimed at coaxing members of civil society groups into pressuring Vayas to quit. Andersen: "I did not know and obviously had not asked anyone to do something of this sort."
UN Rights Chief says 53 civilians killed during 3 days of attacks in and near el-Fasher camp in western Sudan (LINK) — ground.news: 9 media reports (LINK) 9 October 2025 2025
UNICEF warns that number of children in Haiti displaced by violence has nearly doubled to 680,000 (LINK) — ground.news: 73 media reports (LINK) 8 October 2025
UN to slash a quarter of peacekeepers globally over lack of funds (LINK) 8 October 2025
Nigerian woman officer wins UN award (Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers) for transforming prisons in Congo (LINK) 8 October 2025
— Passblue: Olukemi Ibikunle, as a corrections official, got the authority to literally knock down the wall of Nigeria's oldest prison to create a service gate for deliveries of large supplies into the fortress and evacuating human waste out. She proposed and led the installation of a biogas system, a renewable-energy source, in the Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Center, in Lagos, housing the most-hardened criminals in 2018. But perhaps the toughest success for her was getting the government, weighed down by decades-long fights with a range of rebel groups, to agree to creating a prison system respecting the dignity of inmates and protecting incarcerated women from sexual violence. Ibikunle and her team of correctional experts with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, called Monusco, developed a policy and a construction prototype that was adopted by the Kinshasa government to improve aspects of the country's prison system. She is now based in Beni, eastern Congo.
UNHCR cuts close to 5,000 jobs amid funding shortfall (LINK) 6 October 2025
ICC convicts militia leader in first Darfur war crimes verdict: 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in massacres and other atrocities in Darfur region in 2003 and 2004 (LINK) — ground.news: 208 media reports (LINK) 6 October 2025
UNCHR sets up investigative mechanism on Afghanistan (LINK) 6 October 2025
Al Jazeera: Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,321: IAEA said that "two rounds of shelling struck around 1.25 km" from the perimeter of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Monday afternoon (LINK) 6 October 2025
Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the UN's carbon neutrality programme for the banking sector, says it will cease its activities. Swiss bank UBS withdrew last August (LINK) 3 October 2025
— The NZBA, introduced in 2021 under UNEP's FI, aims to push banks toward tangible actions that shrink the carbon impact of their loans and investments, positioning them as pivotal players in moving toward a carbon-neutral economy.
Developing countries chart new trade strategies: by deepening South-South cooperation, developing economies are building resilience and creating new opportunities amid global uncertainty (LINK) 2 October 2025
— The 33rd session of the Committee of Participants (COP) of the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) was held in Geneva on 25 September. GSTP member countries account for 20.5% of global goods imports: about $5 trillion in demand within a combined $18 trillion market. By tackling tariffs and non-tariff measures, the GSTP enables its members to diversify, build resilience, enhance predictability and forge inclusive trade partnerships at a time when external shocks and policy uncertainty disproportionately hurt economies with limited market power. The agreement has been in force since 1989, covering 42 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The committee meeting paves the way for the GSTP Ministerial Meeting slated for 22 October during the 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16), where 195 member States will come together to reimagine a broader path to development through key enablers including trade.
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