News headlines for “United Nations on Development Issues”
Funding for Human Rights Organizations – including at the Grassroots Level – have Been Slashed Worldwide
- Inter Press Service

GENEVA, December 11 (IPS) - Human rights are underfunded, undermined and under attack. And yet. Powerful. Undeterred. Mobilizing.This year no doubt has been a difficult one. And one full of dangerous contradictions. Funding for human rights has been slashed, while anti-rights movements are increasingly well-funded.
A New UN Secretary-General Needs the Blessings of the US – or Get Vetoed
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 (IPS) - When there was widespread speculation that a UN Under-Secretary-General (USG), a product of two prestigious universities– Oxford and Cambridge– was planning to run for the post of Secretary-General back in the 1980s, I pointedly asked him to confirm or deny the rumor during an interview in the UN delegate’s lounge.
The Daunting Tasks Ahead for the New UN Secretary-General
- Inter Press Service

KATHMANDU, Nepal, December 10 (IPS) - The election of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations comes at a highly inopportune moment in 2026, when the UN is being bypassed, and multilateralism—with the UN at its core—is under increasing challenge from some of the world’s most powerful states and leaders.
Sri Lanka & the Global Climate Emergency: The Lessons of Cyclone Ditwah
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON DC, December 9 (IPS) - Tropical Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall in Sri Lanka on 28 November 2025, is considered the country’s worst natural disaster since the deadly 2004 tsunami. It intensified the northeast monsoon, bringing torrential rainfall, massive flooding, and 215 severe landslides across seven districts.
UN seeks $1 billion for ‘first-responder fund’ in emergencies
- UN News

Countries rallied at UN Headquarters on Tuesday to shore up a key humanitarian fund that provides timely assistance for millions worldwide when conflict and climate-related disasters strike.
Africa’s Industrial Future is Within Reach: What we Need now is Intentional Investment
- Inter Press Service

VIENNA, Austria, December 8 (IPS) - Africa enters 2025 at a pivotal moment in its development. The ambition to transform the continent’s economies through sustainable industrialization, regional integration, and innovation is clearer than ever, and is picking up pace. The foundations are being laid. Industrial strategies are expanding, regional integration is progressing, infrastructure projects are advancing, and a young, dynamic private sector powers local economies.
UNGA’s Long-Drawn Revitalization Efforts Need a Meaningful Outcome, not Another Repetitive Regularity of an Omnibus of Redundancy
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, December 5 (IPS) - From its inception, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has been engaged in improving its working methods, mindful of, as early as in 1949, “… the increasing length of General Assembly sessions, and of the growing tendency towards protracted debates”.
Any Resumption of US Tests May Trigger Threats from Other Nuclear Powers
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, December 5 (IPS) - President Trump’s recent announcement to resume nuclear testing rekindles nightmares of a bygone era where military personnel and civilians were exposed to devastating radioactive fallouts.
For 78 Years, the Palestinians have Been Denied their Inalienable Rights & their Right to Self-Determination
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, December 4 (IPS) - For seventy-eight years, the question of Palestine has been on the agenda of this General Assembly, almost as long as the institution itself.
Resumption of Nuclear-Explosive Testing: A Dangerous Path
- Inter Press Service

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, December 2 (IPS) - In a Truth Social post that reverberated around the world, on October 29 President Donald Trump wrote: “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
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