The United Nations opens its 80th General Assembly this week, a milestone session meant to celebrate eight decades of diplomacy and collective action. Yet the mood in New York is anything but celebratory. The war in Gaza, grinding on into its second year, has left more than 65,000 Palestinians dead and pushed the enclave to…
The United Nations opens its 80th General Assembly session Tuesday, Sept. 23, with world leaders gathering in New York amid global crises. The annual debate, the diplomatic centerpiece of the UN calendar, runs through Sept. 29 under the theme: “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” Leaders from 193 member…
Regular budget reduced to $11.6 billion; peacekeeping support trimmed 15% but aid for refugees and technical cooperation preserved. Secretariat trims regular and peacekeeping accounts while maintaining support for UNHCR, UNRWA, and development in fragile states. The United Nations Secretariat has released revised estimates for its 2026 program budget and the 2025/26 Support Account for peacekeeping,…
As the United Nations opens its 80th General Assembly this week, Secretary-General António Guterres stood before journalists in New York and delivered a blunt assessment: The world is drifting toward “an endless nightmare” of conflict, inequality, and institutional paralysis. His words were not just a curtain-raiser for a week of diplomacy, but a stark reminder of what…
The world stands at a crossroads. A new report, Gender Snapshot 2025, released by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), offers a stark but hopeful picture: with the right investments, gender equality is not only within reach but could transform global societies and economies. The report highlights striking…
In a significant move underscoring the growing concern among international diplomats and humanitarian workers, UN Staff for Gaza has announced the appointment of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as its Honorary Chair. The announcement marks a critical moment for the organization, which has mobilized United Nations staff in response to what it calls “brazen…
26 New Sites Join UNESCO’s World Heritage List From sacred landscapes to sites of remembrance, UNESCO’s 2025 additions reflect a global commitment to cultural resilience, ecological unity, and the power of local voices. In a world often marked by division, the enduring legacy of shared history took center stage once again in Paris, where the…
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…
A Troubled Marriage Between the U.S. and the U.N. Manhattan’s Turtle Bay waterfront, roughly 42nd–48th Street on the East River, was once a dirty and industrial area crowded with slaughterhouses, stockyards, and coal yards. Locals even called the block “Blood Alley.” Everything changed in December 1946, when philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased six blocks…
COP30 in Belém puts Brazil at the center of a global test—can the world still act together to fight climate change? The Amazonian city of Belém will host COP30 (U.N. Climate Conference) in November. However, the destiny of the rainforest will not be the sole issue on the agenda. The meeting unexpectedly became a test…
The United Nations takes on the challenge of AI governance with scientific panel modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change For all its lofty ideals, the United Nations is not known for its lightning speed. Yet ambassadors Héctor Gómez Hernández and Maritza Chan Valverde, permanent representatives of Spain and Costa Rica, are proud to…
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes knowledge systems, governance structures, and global development pathways, a fundamental question arises: Who owns the algorithms shaping our collective future? To date, AI development has been largely concentrated in the hands of a few powerful corporations and countries—predominantly in the Global North. Yet a growing chorus of voices, particularly…
Washington reopens dialogue with Tehran as it seeks a quick foreign policy win As the geopolitical chessboard of the Middle East grows increasingly unstable, quiet signals have emerged from Washington and Tehran that suggest a potential thaw -or at least a reassessment- in the long-frozen U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Yet any movement towards renewed diplomacy occurs…
“Space is not a technical issue anymore, it is a peace and security issue, and an economic issue…” Amal Mudallali remembers being fascinated by space for as long as she can remember. When she was a child in the early 1970s, she first heard the seed of skepticism that would later grow into a lifelong…
Thanks to a network of Diaspora West Africans, the grain many call the “Next Quinoa” is being grown in Guinea, Milled in Senegal, and marketed worldwide as the social impact carb of the future. Pierre Thiam, who rose from New York City restaurant dishwasher to restaurant proprietor to James Beard-awarded culinary writer, is adding a…
For Saeeda, coffee farming in the Taiz region of southern Yemen, is more than a livelihood; it’s a legacy. Growing up on her father’s farm in Sabr Al-Mawadem, Saeeda learned to care for coffee trees alongside her parents, who taught her to prune, harvest, and respect the land. Today, as she cultivates her family’s 8,400…
