Global Desk

Geneva, 9 July 2026 – As humanitarian organizations increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to prepare for crises and deliver aid more effectively, a key contribution from the Government of Luxembourg will help the International Organization for Migration (IOM) advance the responsible use of AI, enabling better-informed decisions for crisis-affected populations. 

After thousands of buildings were destroyed in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, local teams and civil defense personnel continue the arduous and delicate mission to remove rubble and search for the remains of missing persons believed to still be buried under the debris of homes destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) urged international lenders to expand debt-for-education swaps, warning in a Friday report that many developing countries are spending more on debt servicing than on schooling their children. 

As drought risk intensifies in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state, a new UN-backed plan aims to protect thousands of people before the worst impacts take hold. 

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, there has been a “lost continuity of knowledge” on Tehran’s nuclear programme, Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN peace affairs chief, warned the Security Council on Friday as tensions mounted amid new strikes across the Middle East.

In war-torn Sudan, a deadly new cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 100 lives, heightening serious concerns for vulnerable communities including in besieged El-Obeid, where daily drone attacks have continued to hamper aid access. 

At least one million women and girls have lost access to critical humanitarian support since January 2025 as unprecedented aid cuts push women’s organizations in crisis zones to the brink of collapse, the UN’s gender equality agency, UN Women, said on Friday. 

Trade in urea and phosphate fertilizers has been severely disrupted by the conflict in the Persian Gulf, according to data analysed by the WTO Secretariat. Certain economies in Africa and Asia are particularly vulnerable to resulting fertilizer shortages and price hikes. Opening of the Strait of Hormuz – a key channel for fertilizer trade –

Representatives from 12 countries carried out a “virtual diplomatic field visit” to a displacement site in the Gaza Strip and heard from some of the residents about their pressing needs, the United Nations said on Thursday. 

This year marks the hottest June recorded for Western Europe and the second warmest globally, according to the latest report from a climate tracking service released on Thursday.