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Week in Review

13 December 2025

Catch up on this week's must-read stories

From Riyadh to New Delhi, culture and scientific breakthroughs were on the UN agenda this week gone, alongside the ongoing emergencies, disasters and conflicts.

Saudi Arabia hosted the UN Alliance of Civilizations, a platform promoting intercultural dialogue, while in India, UNESCO celebrated cultural practices that form part of the world's "intangible heritage". The country will also host the upcoming World Health Organization's second summit on traditional medicine.

Meanwhile, in Sudan, UN aid agencies say they may soon gain access to the besieged city of El Fasher following talks with the occupying RSF milita.

In Gaza and Ukraine, civilians continue to suffer attacks, including strikes on hospitals, placing pregnant women among the most vulnerable.

As we marked Human Rights Day this week, the UN reiterated that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law.

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Eastern DR Congo has seen repeated waves of violence and displacement. Pictured here, families sheltering at an IDP camp in Ituri province in September 2025.

Peace falters as fighting in eastern DR Congo raises fears of regional war

Civilians across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are facing collapsing health services and mass displacement as fighting spreads, undermining recent peace efforts and raising fears of a wider regional crisis.

Peace and Security

Iraq's rich cultural diversity demonstrates how young children can inspire adults to respect differences, live in harmony, promote tolerance and respect for each other. (2022)

UN mission's exit marks milestone in Iraq's post-conflict transition

After more than two decades working alongside Iraq through war, political upheaval and the fight against ISIL terrorists, the UN Assistance Mission there (UNAMI) ends its mandate on 31 December – a closure its top official describes as "honourable, dignified, and earned".

Peace and Security

Deep concerns for Palestinians amid intense Israeli raids in occupied West Bank

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has expressed alarm at reports of a so-called "settler road" being built in the occupied West Bank.

Peace and Security

Giles Duley served as the first UN Global Advocate for Persons with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations.

'The system has failed': Giles Duley's mission to reframe disability in war

Talking to journalists earlier this week on his final day as the first UN Global Advocate for Persons with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations, Giles Duley said he felt he had failed in his core mission. More importantly, he added, the system itself has failed.

Peace and Security

Children whose families fled El Fasher attend a village school in Tawila, North Darfur. The desert town's population is now as large as Luxembourg's, at more than 650,000.

Sudan war: Aid teams say deal struck to reach stricken El Fasher

In Sudan, deep concerns persist for the many tens of thousands of people believed to still be trapped in El Fasher in the Darfur region, but UN aid agencies believe they may soon get access to the embattled city.

Peace and Security

Waheeb Al-Eryani, UNDP Area Manager, Mazar-i-Sharif.

'We won't stop': Afghan women keep businesses alive despite sweeping rights abuses

In Afghanistan, where sweeping restrictions have pushed most women out of public life, thousands are refusing to give up on work.

Women

Youth Forum participants brought messages of peace to the UN Alliance of Civilizations, in Cascais, Portugal.

Can dialogue heal a fractured world? A UN-led alliance is making the case

As 2025 draws to a close, geopolitical divides are deepening – North and South, East and West. Against this backdrop, the UN Alliance of Civilizations marks two decades of bridging divides as its Riyadh Forum takes on intolerance, hate speech, and the fight for mutual respect in a multipolar world.

Culture and Education

A mother watches over her newborn in an incubator at the Kherson City Perinatal Centre in Ukraine. (file)

Risks mount for pregnant women in Ukraine

Pregnant women took shelter in a bunkerised maternity unit in the Ukrainian city of Kherson last week, after a hospital was struck just 1.5 km from the frontline.

Peace and Security

A health worker immunizes a girl with the HPV vaccine in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of Africa's largest vaccination campaign.

WHO expert group reaffirms no link between vaccines and autism

A World Health Organization (WHO) expert committee has again confirmed that there is no causal link between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), following a new review of global scientific evidence.

Health

Traditional medicine use is now a global reality: WHO

The vast majority of World Health Organization (WHO) member States say 40 to 90 per cent of their populations now use traditional medicine.

Health

Astrid van Genderen Stort is OHCHR's Chief of External Engagement and Partnership Service.

Global campaign reveals how human rights 'are the basis of our existence'

To commemorate this year's Human Rights Day, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, invited members of the public to write in their most cherished values and everyday essentials.

Human Rights

Champions of the Earth Award winner Cynthia Houniuhi, a climate justice advocate from the Solomon Islands who co-founded and led Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.

Five climate trailblazers: UNEP'S 2025 Champions of the Earth

Global temperatures rises are projected to surpass 1.5°C (2.7°F) within the next decade, underscoring the urgency of the climate crisis.

Climate and Environment

Social networks can enable cyberbullying.

Social media: Age-related bans won't keep kids safe, UNICEF warns

A social media ban for children under 16 came into effect in Australia on Wednesday, marking a global first.

Law and Crime Prevention

Chief Martin Azia Sodea, the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award's 2025 Global Laureate, is a visionary leader who has touched thousands of lives with his humanity and generosity.

Nansen Award winners show compassion for refugees is far from fading

The UN refugee agency's (UNHCR) prestigious Nansen Award is shining a light on the people proving that compassion and solidarity with displaced communities remain strong – even in some of the most difficult places on earth.

Migrants and Refugees

Chaloka Beyani (at podium), Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, addresses the dedication of the "Flower of Srebrenica" Memorial at UN Headquarters honouring the victims of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica.

Global atrocity risks rising, warns new UN adviser on genocide prevention

The world is witnessing an alarming erosion of respect for international law, with conflicts increasingly targeting civilians and heightening the risk of atrocity crimes, warns the United Nations' newly appointed Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.

Law and Crime Prevention

A woman walks through a camp for people who fled violence in North Darfur.

'All we want for Sudan is peace' say children fleeing violence

Nahed was visiting Sudan's capital Khartoum with her family to celebrate Eid, a major Islamic holiday, when the war broke out between the rival armies vying for control of her homeland.

Humanitarian Aid

A newborn at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Aid agencies say that Israeli aid restrictions have depleted hospitals and "starved and stressed" mothers.

Gaza's babies 'scarred by war before first breath' by malnutrition

Mothers who've been left starving in Gaza are now giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.