News headlines in February 2025, page 2

The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday stressed that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza must hold, urging all parties to honour their commitments and prevent a breakdown of the agreement.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 (IPS) - From late 2024 to early 2025, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine has taken a turn for the worst, with poverty, violence, displacement, and damage to critical infrastructures having grown in intensity. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, tensions have grown among member states of the United Nations (UN) on how to resolve the Russo-Ukrainian War.

BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb 27 (IPS) - Gina Romero is UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and of associationThe U.S. administration has the prerogative to review and adjust public expenditure policies, including foreign aid. However, this power must be exercised responsibly, adhering to national and international legal frameworks, including the principles of human rights law.

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 27 (IPS) - Renewable energy and climate change activists have challenged African heads of state to take a united stance to safeguard essential mineral resources, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other parts of the continent, which are selfishly exploited by foreign miners with disregard for poverty-stricken local communities.

MANILA, Philippines / PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb 27 (IPS) - The world took a historic step in the fight against tobacco when the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) came into force—the first legally binding global health treaty of its kind.

The United States has cut $377 million worth of funding to the UN reproductive and sexual health agency, UNFPA, it was confirmed on Thursday, leading to potentially “devasting impacts”, on women and girls.

The head of UN peacekeeping operations on Thursday called for more investment in the UN Police service, highlighting the mounting challenges officers face in conflict affected regions.

Ongoing gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than a million people, nearly a tenth of the population, or three times more than last year, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said on Thursday.

Since the ceasefire began in Gaza on 19 January, “unparalleled progress” has been made in providing desperately needed aid to families across the devastated enclave, said UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, on Thursday.