NEW YORK, July 23 (IPS) - United Nations member countries should use the ministerial-level conference on Palestine on July 28-29, 2025, to publicly commit to concrete actions aimed at ending decades of impunity for Israeli authorities’ violations of international humanitarian and human rights law against Palestinians, Human Rights Watch said today.

A second convoy from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) reached battered Sweida on Wednesday, the UN Spokesperson reported in its latest update.

Escalating gang violence and displacement continue to drive humanitarian needs in Haiti, the UN said on Wednesday.

At a time of escalating violence and record levels of hunger in Nigeria, critical funding shortfalls are forcing the UN World Food Program (WFP) to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in the northeast of the country.

When Denis Jobin, a senior evaluation specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), visited a slum in Kenya in March as part of an ongoing evaluation, the smell was overwhelming.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, issued its advisory opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, read out by the President of the Court, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, on Wednesday.

A senior UN official on Wednesday urged the Security Council to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, warning that the war has become “a nightmare of historic proportions” and it is “long past time” for the fighting to end and for hostages to return home.

Pregnant women and newborns in Gaza face “catastrophic” conditions, including a dysfunctional healthcare system, psychological stress and food deprivation the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) reported on Wednesday.

The Security Council meets today for its quarterly open debate on the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on the worsening crisis in Gaza. UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari is expected to brief on the situation in the war-ravaged enclave where food entry and distribution remain severely restricted, malnutrition is rising, and fuel and shelter supplies are critically scarce. UN News, in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage, brings you live updates from today’s discussions. UN News App users can follow here.

KISUMU, Kenya, July 22 (IPS) - In June 2025, Kenyan climate-tech firm Tera became the first African project developer to have its carbon removal initiative independently validated and registered under Riverse, a European standard for engineered climate solutions.