Collated by Peter Hulm
January 2026
Ethiopia declares end of Marburg outbreak that killed nine — (LINK) ground.news: 10 media reports — 26 January 2026 (LINK)
UN: US withdrawal from WHO 'risks global safety', agency says in detailed rebuttal — 24 January 2026 (LINK)
— A significant portion of the statement is dedicated to defending the WHO against US accusations of "failures" during the COVID-19 pandemic: according to the administration, the WHO obstructed the "timely and accurate sharing of critical information" and "concealed those failures".
Lebanese PM says international force needed after UNIFIL disbands at end of 2026 — 24 January 2026 (LINK)
UN on International Day of Education 24 January: Young people must be 'truly involved' in transforming education — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
— Young people under 30 make up more than half of the global population but over 272 million children and youth are still out of school. In the poorest countries, out-of-school children and youth represent 36 per cent of the age school population compared to 3 per cent only in the richest countries. Lack of platforms is one of the main barriers. Answer: the SDG4 Youth and Student Network, with 110 members from 80 countries, selected out of 5000 applicants.
Guterres: Global education must integrate AI, centred on humanity — (LINK)
UNHCR to take over Al-Hol camp in Syria for IS families after unrest — (LINK) ground.news: 43 media reports — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
— About 24,000 people live in al-Hol camp, mostly women and children, including about 14,500 Syrians and almost 3,000 Iraqis, while humanitarian operations and critical services for 15,000 children were suspended after aid centres were torched.
WHO: Countries progress negotiations in support of WHO Pandemic Agreement — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
ECOSOC marks 80th anniversary with call to 'deliver better' for people and planet — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
Guterres urges swift UN Economic and Social Council reform: "Inequalities grow, while development funding is in free fall" — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
UN: Eighty years at the heart of global development — (LINK)
— From humanitarian crises and youth unemployment, to climate resilience and development financing, many of today's global challenges pass through a single United Nations body that is quietly turning 80 this year: "Seldom in the headlines".
UN rights council steps up scrutiny of Iran crackdown as NGO puts death toll past 5,000 — 23 January 2026 (LINK)
US set to quit World Health Organization today after Trump decision: The WHO said that the U.S. has not yet paid the fees it owes for 2024 and 2025 — 22 January 2026 (LINK)
UNEP: For every $1 spent protecting nature, $30 goes to destroying it: State of Finance for Nature 2026 — 22 January 2026 (LINK)
UN rights experts issue statement of alarm at reports of forced labour of Uyghur, Tibetan and other minorities across China — 22 January 2026 (LINK)
— "Forced labour in China is enabled through the State-mandated 'poverty alleviation through labour transfer' programme, which coerces Uyghurs and members of other minority groups into jobs in Xinjiang and other regions. [...] Tibetans are also subject to forced labour through similar schemes such as the Training and Labour Transfer Action Plan, with calls for systematic training and transfer of 'rural surplus labourers'. The number of Tibetans affected by labour transfers in 2024 are estimated to be close to 650'000. Tibetans are also reportedly displaced through the 'whole-village relocation' programme which applies coercion to manufacture consent, such as repeated home visits, implicit threats of punishment, banning of criticism, or threats of cutting essential home services. "Between 2000 and 2025 some 3.36 million Tibetans have been affected by government programmes requiring them to rebuild their house for nomads to become sedentary, whilst official statistics say that around 930,000 rural Tibetans have been relocated through either whole village relocation or individual household relocations."
— They also expressed serious concern over goods produced through forced labour which enter global supply chains indirectly via third countries, raising broader questions about the overall effectiveness of targeted trade restrictions and human rights due diligence in the regulation of supply chains.
UNCTAD: World Investment Forum 9: 25 to 27 October in Doha — 22 January 2026 (LINK)
World now in a state of 'global water bankruptcy', UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) report warns (LINK) 21 January 2026
UN: Assembly president defends multilateralism, UN Charter in Davos — 21 January 2026 (LINK)
'Dangerous nostalgia' is a threat to multilateralism, UN deputy chief tells Danish MPs: "stand up for a rules-based order" — 22 January 2026 (LINK)
! Israel just bulldozed the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem (LINK) 20 January 2026
UN: world news in brief: Gaza education update, the General Assembly at 80, Venezuela's humanitarian needs (LINK) 16 January 2026
UN treaty to protect 'extraordinary' marine life due to come into force on 17 January (LINK) 16 January 2026
— 148 countries, representing more than three-quarters of all UN member states, have signed on to the High Seas Treaty since it was adopted in June 2023. 81 governments agreed to include it in their national laws, bringing it into force. The treaty offers new protections to an area covering two-thirds of the world's oceans and as many as 10 million different species, many of which are still unidentified.
Secretary-General on UN at 80: Speaking at Methodist Central Hall in London, the same venue where the first-ever UN General Assembly was held on 10 January 1946, he said the "values of multilateralism are being chipped away" (LINK) 17 January 2026
UN chief warns of a world in chaos as impunity and unpredictability spreads (LINK) 15 January 2026
UN chief's last annual speech slams world leaders for lack of cooperation — (LINK)
UN chief attacks world leaders putting cooperation on 'deathwatch' in final annual speech — (LINK)
AP: UN chief lashes out at countries violating international law — (LINK)
Major lunch food officially classed as cancer-causing by World Health Organization: sodium nitrite found in many processed meats, hams, and deli meats leads to a 32% increased risk of prostate cancer (LINK) 15 January 2026
UN chief warns he could refer Israel to ICJ over laws targeting UNRWA (LINK) 13 January 2026
Alcohol too cheap in Europe as health impact mounts, WHO warns: official says "More affordable alcohol drives violence, injuries and disease" (LINK) 13 January 2026
— Beer has become more affordable in 11 EU countries since 2022, and less affordable in six, a WHO report revealed. There was a similar but even more dramatic trend for spirits, which became more affordable in 17 EU countries and less affordable in two. And for wine, 14 EU countries do not tax it at all, including big producers Italy and Spain, the report found.
'Dire' financial crisis forces UNRWA to drop 571 ex-Gazan staff from payroll (LINK) 11 January 2026
Gates Foundation: The health issues set to dominate 2026 (LINK) 10 January 2026
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: global health's defining test (LINK) 9 January 2026
Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on US decision on withdrawal from UN entities (LINK) 8 January 2026
— "As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States."
GEN: A global hub for environment governance and the host region of the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands, Geneva is key place to protect wetlands and reverse the trend of global loss of wetlands (LINK) 8 January 2026
Trump administration suspends support for 66 international organizations, agencies and commissions (LINK) 7 January 2026
— France24: Most of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels focused on climate, labour and other issues the Trump administration has categorised as catering to diversity and so-called "woke" initiatives, according to a partial list obtained by The Associated Press.
— "The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation's sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity," the State Department said in a statement.
Trump moves to pull US out of bedrock global climate treaty, becoming first country to do so (LINK) 7 January 2026
UN experts condemn US aggression against Venezuela (LINK) 7 January 2026
Past week Ukraine Gaza Switzerland AI / ChatGPT Media UN Trump China Youth Travel
Afghanistan Bahamas Thailand Putin watch Biden News Metoo Science Sites to explore Digital tools World Economic Forum 2026
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