The world we share
News and context on the challenges shaping lives around the world, and the efforts helping communities move forward.
UNRWA operates under extraordinary pressure, with nearly 400 staff killed, hundreds of sites damaged, a $100 million cash shortfall and worsening shelter and health needs for 1.7 million refugees.
Read the storyHumanitarian aid
Leaders at the UN General Assembly highlighted the Ukraine conflict’s threat to regional security and food supplies, noted the return of 3.5 million displaced Syrians, and renewed calls for Security Council reform to better reflect Africa’s one‑quarter UN membership.
Humanitarian aid
Marking the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, the UN chief presented a new blueprint that links human‑rights‑based development to the SDGs, while warning of widening inequality, climate breakdown and digital exclusion.
Displacement
Syria’s president announced that more than 3.5 million displaced people have voluntarily returned, sanctions have been lifted and reconstruction projects are under way, while security forces and justice mechanisms are being restored.
Displacement
Nine years after Myanmar’s 2017 crackdown, about 1.2 million Rohingya remain in Bangladesh, with over 30,000 children born each year, while protection gaps and funding shortfalls heighten exploitation risks and underscore calls for a durable, rights‑based return.
Humanitarian aid
With global military spending edging toward $3 trillion and development aid down 23 % to about $175 billion, the United Nations is under pressure to address funding imbalances, representation deficits and emerging technology risks.
Displacement
Pacific island states facing up to two metres of sea‑level rise are lobbying for fixed baselines, protecting maritime rights and pioneering a digital nation model to keep their people and culture intact.
Food & water
A WHO‑UNICEF report shows that in 2025 over 429 million school‑age children lacked drinking water at school, 460 million lacked basic sanitation and more than 545 million missed essential hand‑washing services, leaving the world far from the 2030 SDG target.
Humanitarian aid
The UN warns that extreme wealth concentration and unequal growth are deepening poverty, fueling unrest and limiting access to health, resources and climate resilience worldwide.
Humanitarian aid
A bomb‑damaged building in Gaza City collapsed on 16 September, killing at least 20 and trapping dozens of residents, including 50 children. Regional aid and UNDP machinery are on the ground, but officials warn that hundreds of unsafe shelters across the Strip leave families vulnerable as the rainy season approaches.
Humanitarian aid
Benin’s steady rise in domestic revenue and its pioneering SDG bond have doubled water access and created 25,000 jobs, while worldwide SDG gains are offset by a $4 trillion financing gap and rising climate risks.
Health
The glacier‑triggered floods of 26 August 2026 left more than 84 000 people affected and created an urgent demand for mental‑health and psychosocial aid for about 17 000 children in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
