BY 2030, 3 billion people will need access to adequate housing—an unmet need that amounts to roughly 96,000 new affordable, accessible homes every day. By 2030, 3 billion people will need access to adequate housing—an unmet need that amounts to roughly 96,000 new affordable, accessible homes every day, according to UN-Habitat. That gap…
For Ethiopian and Eritrean comics, family migration routes, refugee histories and diaspora restaurants have become the infrastructure of a new transnational scene. On a breezy Tuesday evening, lanky Simone Shiferaw—whose stage name is Chifforobe—is pacing outside a restaurant on U Street. Positioning himself before commuters emerging from a nearby Metro station, he hands out…
As diaspora crowds cheered Khamenei’s death, rival opposition camps are still battling over what comes next. From above the crowd, a man’s voice booms out from a speaker like thunder. He chants, slowly at first, in Farsi, “We are a proud and great nation. We will reclaim Iran from tyranny!” and the people standing…
As war broke out during the Paralympic Games, a new initiative seeks to name and shame violators of the millennia-old Olympic Truce. The final event of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics featured a fiercely competitive hockey game between arguably the two best men’s teams. On February 22, 2026, the United States upset…
Security Council diplomats backed a Gaza reconstruction body. What emerged became Donald Trump’s most powerful personal institution yet. It had been two years of conflict with no end in sight, and diplomats came to the inevitable conclusion that one country, and one country only, had the power to stop the hostilities in Gaza:…
The current international order is under strain. Article 109 offers a chance to renew it by updating the U.N. Charter. World leaders are ringing the death knell of the international order. The current order’s largest backer, the United States, seems to have abandoned it – instead seeking to reshape international relations in a new…
At United Nations Headquarters, cocktail receptions are rarely where geopolitical tremors become visible. Diplomatic gatherings in New York tend to follow a familiar script. Journalists attend them regularly, knowing that behind the polite conversations and glasses of wine, there is rarely much substance. Speeches are usually cautious, carefully calibrated not to disturb the delicate balance…
As the Donroe Doctrine shakes up Latin America, Brazil rethinks its longtime security policy. The capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela last January sent political shockwaves in Brazil, some of which may reverberate for years to come. Hours after the military operation, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered his generals to assess the…
Tonight, many of us will walk around our homes and have the luxury of flipping on a light switch, reading a book to our children before bed, or having a porch light on for security without thinking twice. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, hundreds of millions of families will ration light or spend…
Ancestral governance meets state-led negotiation at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues As the United Nations prepares for the 25th session of the UN Permanent Forum on. Indigenous Issues, leaders heading to New York are getting ready for discussions extending far beyond ceremonial acknowledgment. The forum has become a strategic arena where they can…
The latest report from the World Meteorological Organization paints a clear picture: the Earth’s climate system is increasingly out of equilibrium. As it explains, “the amount of incoming radiation exceeds the amount of outgoing radiation… [and] heat is accumulating in the Earth’s climate.” This imbalance is intensifying. “In 2025, the observed Earth energy imbalance (EEI)…
Data Privacy and Human Rights: Balancing Security and Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism The Day the Phone Rang In a quiet neighborhood in Nairobi, Amina’s phone rang one morning with a message she didn’t understand. It wasn’t spam—it was a notification from a digital ID system designed to protect citizens from terrorism….
Global Hunger Declines Slightly, But Inequality Deepens. Global hunger levels declined slightly in 2024, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 report, released at the Second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) in Addis Ababa. But this modest progress masks a troubling reality: hunger is worsening in Africa…
The United Nations Headquarters in New York has arguably the highest concentration of diplomats per square foot — especially during the annual General Assembly High-level Week, which this September will gather for its 80th session. In the world of international diplomacy, ambassadors usually wear suits, negotiate resolutions, and bang gavels. But lately, some of those…
Expert tips on protecting your child’s privacy in the digital age Navigating parenthood in the digital age is no easy task. Social media, smartphones, and other technologies are advancing at a rate that seems to grow faster than our children, and it’s not always clear how to use them safely, even when you have the…
Global leaders call for major reforms to save UN peacekeeping missions as violence surges, political deadlock deepens, and the threat of reduced U.S. funding looms With wars flaring across continents and trust in global institutions waning, the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin this week became a pressure valve for an overburdened and underfunded system….
