Hopeful Syrians head home to an uncertain future

Every day, buses arrive at the Afghanistan-Iran border, carrying exhausted and desperate Afghan refugee families with all their belongings. Many are returning to a country they barely know, forced to leave Iran after decades of living there.Following a recent visit to the Islam Qala border area, Arafat Jamal, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Representative in Afghanistan, told UN News that the number of returnees has surged amid rising tensions following the recent Israel-Iran war.Together with its partners, the UN agency is working to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of returnees, providing food, water, shelter, protection, financial support, and access to health care, legal aid and reintegration services.However, severe funding cuts have had a “brutal impact” on these efforts. “The level of cash assistance has dropped dramatically, from $2,000 per family to just $156, making it far more difficult for people to rebuild their lives,” Mr. Jamal told UN News’ Sachin Gaur.

As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, the Organization is undertaking a wide-ranging reform effort aimed at strengthening how it delivers for people around the world. The UN80 Initiative seeks to make the UN more nimble, efficient and responsive — at a time when global needs are rising and trust in multilateral institutions is being tested.To better understand what’s behind the initiative and where it’s headed, UN News’ Laura Quiñones spoke with Guy Ryder, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Policy and Chair of the UN80 Task Force.

With over 5.5 billion people online - nearly all of them active on social media - digital platforms have become the main arena for public debate.But a steady rise in misogynistic content online is fuelling a toxic environment that not only silences women and girls but also reinforces harmful gender norms, the UN Agency for gender equality, UN Women, warns.Experts say that addressing this trend requires more than just protecting girls. It also means building a world where boys are free from the pressures of toxic masculinity and restrictive gender expectations.UN Women’s Kalliopi Mingeirou, who leads the effort to end violence against women and girls, outlined to UN News’s Ana Carmo the alarming spread of online misogyny – and what can be done to stop it.

Women’s rights in Afghanistan have taken a hard hit since the Taliban returned to power nearly four years ago.The country now has the second largest gender gap in the world, according to UN Women’s 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index, which shows a 76 per cent disparity between women and men when it comes to health, education, financial inclusion and decision-making.Afghan journalist Zahra Nader has been forced to flee her homeland twice to escape Taliban rule.She told UN News’s Nancy Sarkis that everyone has the responsibility to raise awareness about “the most severe women's rights crisis of our time” and to ensure that those living in “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan have a voice.

“Sevilla is a moment in time. It is really the beginning, not the end of the process,” says one of the senior UN officials helping Member States navigate high-stakes negotiations ahead of a landmark conference on sustainable development in Spain later this month.Shari Spiegel is Director of Financing for Sustainable Development at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).She told UN News’s Matt Wells that the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development aims to address a staggering $4 trillion gap in global financing. Countries reached agreement this week on an outcome document that sets out critical reforms.

Since civil war erupted in April 2023 in Sudan, vast areas of the country have been devastated, fuelling the world’s largest displacement crisis. Over 12 million people have been forced on the run – mostly women and children.Amid this deepening emergency, women-led organizations remain on the frontlines, continuing to deliver life-saving support.Backed by UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, these grassroots groups are helping communities cope with the trauma and violence. UN News’ Nathalie Minard spoke to a representative from one such group, who asked us not to use her real name.

Over two years after civil war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former allies-turned rival militia, the RSF, Sudan is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 13 million displaced.  Rape used as a weapon of war, together with other sexual violence, has disproportionately shattered the lives of women and girls. Today, gender agency UN Women estimates that 12.1 million people – 25 per cent of the population – is at risk.  Just ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis spoke to Esméralda Alabre, who leads the UN reproductive health agency UNFPA’s work to counter gender based-violence in Sudan.  

What does climate change look like through a child’s eyes? From Nepal’s melting glaciers to the Maldives’ rising seas, the impacts are vastly different.  With more at stake in the future than older generations, young people around the world are taking notice – be it protecting medicinal plants in remote mountain villages, or speaking on global stages about vanishing islands, they are showing resilience and leadership.UN News’ Vibhu Mishra sat down with Alice Akunga and Edward Addai, UNICEF Representatives in Nepal and the Maldives, about how climate change is reshaping childhood – and how children are fighting back.His first question was to Ms. Akunga, who described how climate change is broadly impacting Nepal’s children.

Small island States are among the most vulnerable communities facing rising sea levels and marine degradation – but this invaluable firsthand experience puts them in a powerful leadership position to shape inclusive, effective ocean policies.Safiya Sawney, Grenada’s Special Envoy and Ambassador for Climate, has been at this week’s UN Ocean Conference in Nice and told UN News that “a big part of our heritage, of our culture, of our economy is derived from the ocean.”Describing the small island nations as “large ocean nations,” she outlined to Heyi Zou some of the pressing challenges ahead as global warming continues.

Persons with disabilities living in institutions face a heightened risk of being trafficked as their reliance on others for daily support can be manipulated; that’s according to an expert in disability rights speaking at the United Nations.Eric Rosenthal leads Disability Rights International. He told a side event at COSP, the UN’s largest annual meeting focusing on issues that persons living with disabilities face, that people isolated from their families are easier targets for exploitation.  The number of trafficking victims of all types has seen a troubling rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 25 per cent increase in global detections between 2019 and 2022.UN News' Anna O'Donnell sat down with Mr. Rosenthal and began by asking him to explain why people with disabilities are being trafficked.