Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Sexual violence against children is one of the six grave violations against children identified and condemned by the Security Council. Ending this abomination, the Secretary-General says, requires protection, accountability and prevention.
A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report finds that extreme weather and climate-related events impacted at least 13 million people and led to over 3,000 reported fatalities in Africa in 2025, with knock-on effects across all sectors of the economy and society. The continent is warming faster than the global average, the report adds.
In Sudan, the World Health Organization, UN Children’s Fund and the Government have launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign to reach over 4 million children under the age of five in high-risk and conflict-impacted areas in Kassala and North Kordofan. Nearly 1.5 million children remain inadequately protected.
A draft resolution concerning a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS took a recorded vote today in the General Assembly, as delegates disagreed on its organizational arrangements, including the participation of key populations affected by this issue and non-governmental organizations.
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations System Staff College, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), is launching the European edition of the UN Fellowship Training Programme on Small Arms and Light Weapons Control, established by the United Nations General Assembly under resolution 77/71, adopted on 7 December 2022.
Conceived as a project of peace in the wake of the Second World War, the European Union today remains one of the United Nations’ staunchest and most important regional partners, senior officials from both organizations told the Security Council today, even some delegates sparred over the bloc’s influence in an increasingly multipolar and unstable world.
The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is monitoring the situation in the Pyla plateau, where peacekeepers have stepped up patrols and are maintaining a visible presence on the ground, following the observation of unauthorized entry by Turkish Cypriot security personnel into the United Nations buffer zone.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $48 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to maintain aid operations of the UN Humanitarian Air Service, run by the World Food Programme, in Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria.
