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New York, 25 September 2026 – At a time of profound strain on the international legal order, the Republic of South Africa and Malaysia convened the High-Level Meeting in Defence of International Law at United Nations Headquarters.

The meeting brought together 40 States of The Hague Group, represented by Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Justice and senior diplomats, alongside representatives of intergovernmental organisations and international legal experts, to consider a fundamental question: how can States act collectively to ensure that international law is not merely proclaimed, but enforced, and that the institutions entrusted with upholding it are protected from efforts to undermine their independence and effective functioning?

Concrete proposals – Participants advanced a series of concrete proposals to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of international law. These included consideration of a new United Nations mechanism, drawing upon the experience of the Special Committee against Apartheid, to monitor implementation, report on compliance and facilitate coordinated action among States; continued efforts towards a United Nations Security Council arms embargo on Israel; and coordinated measures to protect the International Criminal Court, its judges and officials from threats, sanctions and intimidation.

The Charter of the United Nations established an international order founded upon the sovereign equality of States, the peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for international law, and the equal rights of nations large and small. Eighty-one years later, these principles face profound challenges. Grave violations of international law continue in multiple contexts, while the institutions and individuals entrusted with upholding it face growing political, financial and coercive pressure.

Participants reaffirmed that the defence of international law cannot depend upon where violations occur, who commits them, or the political power of the States involved. The consistent application of international law is essential to the legitimacy and integrity of the multilateral system.

State representatives highlighted that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, remains an urgent test of that system. International judicial bodies have made their determinations, including in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024. The General Assembly acted upon those determinations through resolution A/RES/ES-10/24. Yet grave violations continue, accountability remains elusive, and structures of illegality and impunity persist. The challenge before the international community is therefore not simply one of establishing legal norms. It is one of giving those norms practical effect.

Discussions at the High-Level Meeting focused on three interconnected priorities.

Towards a new multilateralism

Participants reaffirmed the sovereign equality of States and the need for a multilateral system capable of protecting the equal rights of nations large and small. Discussions emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation among States in defence of the Charter and considered proposals for renewed multilateral mechanisms capable of responding to persistent and systematic violations of international law, including consideration of a United Nations mechanism drawing upon the experience of the 1962 Special Committee against Apartheid.

From complicity to compliance

Participants discussed the responsibility of States to give practical effect to their existing obligations under international law, including third-State obligations arising in situations of serious violations. Proposals included strengthening coordination across national and international mechanisms; sharing experiences concerning measures already adopted by States; and continuing efforts towards a United Nations Security Council arms embargo in relation to Israel.

Participants emphasised that legal obligations must be reflected in the practical decisions States take across their national systems and that greater coordination can strengthen the effectiveness of measures undertaken by individual States.

From impunity to accountability

Participants expressed concern regarding efforts to weaken or obstruct the institutions entrusted with upholding international law. They noted attempts to intimidate, sanction or otherwise undermine international courts, their judges and officials, United Nations mandate holders, human rights organisations and other actors carrying out mandates connected to the defence of international law.

Particular concern was expressed regarding intimidation, threats and sanctions directed at the International Criminal Court, its judges and officials. Participants considered measures through which States can collectively protect the independence and effective functioning of the Court and other international legal institutions, oppose retaliation against those carrying out their mandates, and support the implementation and enforcement of their decisions.

The meeting underscored that international institutions cannot defend the international legal order alone. Their decisions depend upon States for implementation, and their independence requires States to defend their ability to discharge their mandates without intimidation or retaliation.

Participants further emphasised the importance of greater coordination among States. Collective action can strengthen implementation, increase the effectiveness of measures taken at the national level, reduce fragmentation and support States facing threats or pressure for acting consistently with their international legal obligations.

We, the Meeting’s co-sponsors, welcome the perspectives and proposals advanced during today’s meeting and will continue consultations with participating States on avenues for practical cooperation emerging from these discussions.

We reaffirm our conviction that the authority of international law derives not merely from its proclamation, but from its enforcement.

We reaffirm the Charter of the United Nations and its promise of the equal rights and self-determination of peoples and of the equal rights of nations large and small.

We affirm that international law must apply equally and consistently; that international institutions must be able to fulfil their mandates independently and without intimidation or retaliation; that grave violations must carry consequences; and that States must cooperate to give practical effect to their international obligations. The alternative is an international order in which power determines which laws are respected, which judgments are implemented and whose rights are protected. That is not the international order promised by the Charter.

The defence of international law is therefore not the responsibility of any one State, region or institution. It is a common responsibility.

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Note: New global platform brings together researchers, governments, technology companies and women’s rights organizations to help shape AI and digital transformation in ways that advance gender equality and benefit women and girls.

New York, 25 September 2026 – Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how people work, communicate, access public services, and exercise their rights. Yet women remain significantly underrepresented among those developing the technologies and making decisions about how they are governed and deployed: men hold nearly eight in 10 artificial intelligence jobs and almost nine in 10 senior leadership positions shaping the technology.

As world leaders gather in New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81), artificial intelligence is at the forefront of discussions on economic transformation, the future of work, development, warfare, and international peace and security. And still, women and girls, and the implications of these technological shifts on their rights and empowerment, remain largely absent from the debate.

“The artificial intelligence systems we build today will shape how we live and work tomorrow. If women are missing from their design and governance, we risk carrying the inequalities of the present into the future”, said Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.

Women are already experiencing the consequences of AI systems that fail to account for their realities. A global analysis of 133 AI systems found that 44 per cent demonstrated gender bias. Meanwhile, nearly one in four women human rights defenders, activists and journalists surveyed by UN Women reported experiencing AI-assisted online violence.

The Hub aims to change both who shapes technology and who it serves. It will bring together researchers, governments, technology companies, AI experts and women’s rights organizations to generate evidence on how emerging technologies affect women and girls. It will support Member States in developing gender-responsive digital and AI policies that benefit society as a whole, while working with technology companies to embed gender equality principles into the design and governance of technology.

The Hub will help ensure that gender equality is at the heart of AI and digital governance, strengthening the UN system’s capacity to act, while giving women and women’s rights organizations a stronger voice in shaping the policies, rules and technologies that will define the future of AI.

“AI can deepen gender inequality or help overcome it. That is a human choice – and those choices are being made now by engineers, companies, investors and governments”, said Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. At UNGA81, UN Women’s message is clear: equality is not only about representation. It is also about power. AI is already helping to reshape economic, social and political power. Women and girls, their rights, voices, needs and perspectives – must therefore be central to designing it and shaping its future.”

The Digital, Innovation and AI Hub forms part of UN Women’s broader work to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of rapid technological change. Its work will contribute to international efforts to ensure that digital transformation and AI support inclusive and sustainable development and respect human rights.

About UN Women

UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As the lead UN entity on gender equality, we shift laws, institutions, social behaviours and services to close the gender gap and build an equal world for all women and girls. We keep the rights of women and girls at the centre of global progress – always, everywhere. Because gender equality is not just what we do. It is who we are.

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New York, 22 September 2026 – Government leaders attending the 81^st annual United Nations General Assembly session at the UN Headquarters used the unique opportunity to demand solutions for some of the biggest challenges facing the world, from reforming the powerful UN Security Council and preventing climate disasters to an AI technology with accountability.

Opening the session attended by representatives of the 193 UN member states, including more than 80 heads of states, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pointed out the absence of permanent members from Africa in the powerful UN Security Council, which has 15 countries, five of which are permanent members: the US, Russia, United Kingdom, China and France. Those members can veto decisions by other council members.

“We must also reform the Security Council so that it reflects today’s world with the legitimacy and effectiveness that today’s challenges demand,” Guterres said. “The Security Council was designed in the aftermath of World War II. But the world has fundamentally changed since then. When the UN was founded, most of Africa was still under colonial rule. Today, Africa still has no permanent seat on the Council.

A 21st century Security Council without permanent African representation is unjust and indefensible.”

Guterres pointed out two challenges, saying that climate change is the “most profound intergenerational power imbalance,” warning of a near-certain breach of the 1.5°C threshold. He said polluters have to “pay” and for developed nations to triple adaptation funding. Turning to AI, Guterres warned that power is increasingly concentrated in data, computing capacity and algorithms, advancing faster than humanity’s capacity to govern it.

“The danger is not technology,” he said. “The danger is technology without accountability.”

“Life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines. Killer robots must have no place in our future,” he said, adding that a multilateral AI risk management framework with independent oversight, stating firmly that children must never become test subjects for unregulated systems and that life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, told the high-level meeting that the UN has failed to rid humanity of the scourge of war and its credibility has never been lower.

“We are all held hostage by the inaction of the Security Council failing to fulfil its role,” he said, citing the high numbers of conflicts since the end of World War II and massive expenses for weapons.

US President Donald Trump said his administration has worked with many countries to implement “the most sweeping reform in UN history.” Trump said the UN budget was cut by 15 per cent in 2026 and over 4,000 positions were eliminated from its bureaucracy and added that while the world organization has “great potential”, it must “stop imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected.”

“There is no global government, and while I am president, there will be no global taxes,” he said.  He also called on all States Parties to the International Criminal Court to formally withdraw from this “rogue institution.”

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Türkiye, said trust must be restored in the international organization and he welcomed the UN80 Initiative, which offers reform of the organization. He called for Security Council reform, noting that “the world is bigger than five,” referring to the five permanent council members. “Moreover, international law must not be applied differently for the strong than for the weak.”

He said that Gaza “has become the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time,” Turning to recent settler violence in the West Bank, he said, “we are faced with a genocidal mindset that can never get enough of killing” and the situation is “shocking” while the UN has failed to fulfill its missions in crisis zones, including in Lebanon and Sudan.

Emmanuel Macron, President of France, said in his address, referring to current world situation: “Do we want to live under this state of affairs – with a return to the law of the jungle – or do we want to live in a civilized international society?”

He said France is committed to the United Nations, calling for a revival of multilateralism to “tackle common challenges together.” Enumerating crises and wars, he declared, “we will not yield to defeatism.” International law does not describe reality, but described the limits of countries, he said, adding the forgotten lessons of the 20th century, can be seen in industrialized warfare and a new era of barbaric acts.

“The Geneva convention is being dismantled,” citing El Fasher and Gaza, among other humanitarian crises. “There cannot be peace without justice,” though, and France will continue to support the International Court of Justice.   “We simply cannot accept this new order of impunity which some are trying to erect”, he said calling for the Security Council reform and specifying further that the council must be allowed to act in the face of atrocities. 

Lee Jae Myung, President of Republic of Korea – “Today, I stand here to make clear the Republic of Korea’s bold resolve to lead the effort to restore the spirit of the United Nations and reconnect the world, as a nation that has risen through the solidarity of the international community,” Lee said.

Turning to the fast-paced AI development, in which the UN has called for a global effort to set up technological accountability, Le said his government plan to build the Global AI Hub platform to benefit the international community with its technological progress.

On the decades-old situation on the Korean peninsula, Lee called for inclusive, stable, and responsible, peaceful coexistence between “the two Koreas”and for a resumption of dialogue between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States, and there must be an end to further advances in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile capabilities, leading to an eventual nuclear weapons-free Peninsula.

“I am confident that the dialogue for establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula can provide a valuable framework not only for normalizing relations among the parties concerned, but also for fostering shared growth through multilateral cooperation and promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia,” he said.

(By J.Tuyet Nguyen)

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Halting this incident is no assurance that humans will keep control of more capable
Systems. Following is a press release from the panel.

New York, 21 September 2026 – The Independent International Scientific Panel on AI,
established by the UN General Assembly, released its first thematic brief, an assessment of the
breach of Hugging Face’s systems by AI agents under evaluation at OpenAI this summer. The Panel,
made up of 40 independent experts from all regions, is publishing it as an advance unedited version
as world leaders gather in New York for the Assembly’s High-Level Week.

“Researchers have long warned that three conditions could lead to loss of control: a misaligned goal,
the capability to pursue it, and an environment that allows it. This summer, all three came together
in a real system, not a laboratory. Since this is not an isolated observation of misaligned goals, this
raises serious questions about the way AI agents are currently trained.”

–Yoshua Bengio, Co-Chair of the Panel and Turing Award laureate

The Panel finds that stopping this incident is no assurance that humans can reliably keep AI agents
under control today, particularly as they become more capable, harder to monitor and better at
finding loopholes or hiding their activity. The default interpretation and immediate lesson is that
basic cybersecurity practices were overlooked, and safeguards are not advancing at the pace of
capabilities. The more insidious and grave concern is that current training methods can lead agents
to adopt goals of their own, knowingly violate safety instructions, and conceal their actions. This is
not only a question of speed. It leaves open whether safeguards designed today will work once
agents can understand them and plan around them. In simple terms, the traditional model of
safeguarding is unravelling.

The brief, AI Agents, Misalignment and the Risk of Losing Human Control: Evidence from the OpenAI-
Hugging Face Incident, sets those findings against wider research on agentic misalignment and AI
control. The brief defines loss of control as a situation in which humans cannot reliably direct,
constrain or stop an autonomous AI system. It separates what the 2026 incident shows from
possible future trajectories, examining how the same mechanisms could lead to more serious risks
in more capable AI agents. It does not predict severe loss of control, nor does it treat that uncertainty
as evidence that these systems will stay controllable.

The Panel also finds that the governance challenge is moving from AI models to AI agents. A local
failure could spread across organisational and national boundaries, and the brief suggests that AI
safety may be becoming a matter of collective security as well as corporate governance.
The brief also reviews practical approaches already in use in other high-risk sectors.

“We are not starting from zero. Aviation, medicine and cybersecurity learned to manage high-risk
systems through incident reporting, independent scrutiny, and layered safeguards. But those
practices may not be enough as AI agents become more capable, autonomous and difficult to
monitor. We need to adapt existing safeguards and develop new ones to provide system-level
assurance, covering both the AI itself and the system around it, and ensure these protections remain
effective as agents’ capabilities grow. We need to adapt existing safeguards and develop new ones
to provide system-level assurance, covering both the AI itself and the system around it.”
— Qinghua Lu, Member of the Panel and Expert in AI Engineering, AI Safety and Responsible AI

About the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence

The Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence was established by UN
General Assembly resolution A/RES/79/325 of 26 August 2025, building on the Global Digital
Compact. Its 40 members were appointed by the General Assembly and serve in their personal
capacity. The Panel produces annual policy-relevant but non-prescriptive reports on the
opportunities, risks and impacts of AI in the non-military domain, alongside thematic briefs on
emerging issues, to inform the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance. Its first Co-
Chairs are Yoshua Bengio (Canada) and Maria Ressa (Philippines).

The Panel Secretariat is coordinated by Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and
Emerging Technologies Amandeep Gill and the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and
includes members from ITU and UNESCO while also drawing on other system-wide capacities. Its
role is enabling, including logistical, administrative, and other substantive support as requested by
the Panel. The Secretariat does not direct the Panel’s scientific work, and the Panel’s findings are not
subject to UN review or approval.

An advance unedited version is available here:
https://www.un.org/independent-international-scientific-panel-ai/en/thematic-briefs/ai-agents-
misalignment-risks

Select panel members are available for interviews during High-Level Week.

Media contacts
UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (ODET)
Karoline Hassfurter, karoline.hassfurter@un.org ;
Anamika Madhuraj, anamika.madhuraj@un.org;
aiscientificpanel@un.org

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The UN warns that a deliberate political retreat from gender equality is reversing decades of progress, and calls for equal power for women everywhere

New York, 17 September 2026 – The Gender Snapshot 2026 report, released today by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), shows that where women hold real power, outcomes improve across every dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – from peace to education, and from poverty to climate action.

Yet the very institutions built over decades to advance gender equality are being systematically weakened, stalling or reversing progress at precisely the moment when the world cannot afford to go backwards.

The findings of the Gender Snapshot 2026 report reveal a political retreat from gender equality that is crosscutting, measurable, and compounding. One in three institutional mechanisms for gender equality has had its institutional power eroded over the past two years. Around one in four have seen their operating budgets cut over the same period, and nearly one in ten have lost control of their budget altogether. Funding for gender equality has fallen to its lowest level since 2021, with funding for women’s rights organizations most impacted. Meanwhile, amid funding cuts, 42 per cent of UN entities report a weakening of their gender equality efforts.

The concentration of political power remains stark: six in seven countries are led by men. Women continue to face systemic barriers at every stage. The cost of running for office can exceed 100 times a country’s average per-capita income, excluding many women before the race even begins. In some countries, as many as eight in 10 women running for office face violence in public life. And when women do reach cabinet, they are still disproportionately steered away from the portfolios that command the highest security and economic power.

Close to nine in 10 defense ministers and more than eight in 10 finance ministers are men. As women continue to face barriers to equal participation and influence, decades of political and legal gains on gender equality are increasingly being contested and, in some cases, dismantled. Not one single indicator on the Sustainable Development Goal for gender equality (SDG 5) is on track to be met by 2030.“The evidence is clear: when women lead, societies are stronger, economies are more resilient and outcomes are better for everyone. Yet as long as power remains concentrated in institutions that systematically exclude women, societies will continue to fall short of their full potential. Equality cannot be achieved without equal access to power—because equality without power is not equality at all,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous.

“The data leave no room for ambiguity: at current rates gender equality remains 171 years away. What the Gender Snapshot 2026 shows is that this is not inevitable — it is the result of choices, made visible through data. Investing in gender equality, institutions, and the statistical systems that hold them to account is not a cost. It is the fastest route back to the 2030 Agenda’s promise of equal power for all,” said Li Junhua, United Nations Under- Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

The pattern extends beyond government. Women hold only six per cent of corporate Chief Executive Officer positions globally and lead fewer than 20 per cent of the highest courts, leaving the decisions shaping business, law, employment, and the global economy overwhelmingly in the hands of men.

The findings of the report come at a consequential moment for the multilateral system.

World leaders are gathering for the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA81) as the United Nations moves towards selecting its tenth Secretary-General – a position that no woman has held in the UN’s 80-year history. As governments debate the future of multilateralism, the report argues that no vision for the future of the world is credible without women and girls having an equal share of power in shaping it.

UN Women and UN DESA are calling for a reversal of the political retreat on gender equality – and for power to be shared more equally. That means ensuring women have an equal voice in political and economic decisions, properly funding gender equality institutions, protecting women’s rights organizations and civic space, and ensuring women have equal power to shape the decisions that affect economies, peace and security, technology and public life.

****

The Gender Snapshot report is the world’s leading source of data on gender equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Drawing from more than 100 data sources, it tracks progress for women and girls across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs
 

*Data refer to all gender equality mechanisms. Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Equality or gender equality mechanisms refer to state-based structures mandated to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (e.g., ‘ministry of women and child development’ ’directorate of gender equality’). These mechanisms are responsible for promoting the rights, status, and well-being of women and girls, and for addressing discriminatory gender norms.

Media contacts:

UN Women Media Team: media.team@unwomen.org

Sharon Birch, UN Department of Global Communications, birchs@un.org

Helen Rosengren, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, rosengrenh@un.org

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Note: The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) argues in a press release below that five years after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan has been utterly abandoned by the international community with terrible consequences for women and girls. This week NRC’s Secretary General Jan Egeland is visiting Afghanistan and meeting with families and Taliban officials to discuss the depth of the crisis hitting the country.

Oslo, Norway, 9 September 2026 – Families in Afghanistan face a crisis that is worsening month-on-month, driven by displacement, conflict, climate shocks, and gender discrimination. The country has been utterly abandoned with terrible consequences for women and girls, warns Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland during a visit to the country this week.  

While Afghanistan was at the centre of the international community’s attention before August 2021, it has since faded from the global agenda. NATO countries have withdrawn leaving millions of vulnerable Afghans to face deepening humanitarian needs with scarce international attention and support. 

“This is my fifth visit to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Each time I have seen a deepening humanitarian crisis that is hardest for women and girls, that has received only lip service from the Western countries who pledged to ‘never forget them.’ Where is the aid to families who suffer alone and abandoned? Where are the diplomats and envoys who could mobilise desperately needed international support for Afghan families in need, and bring relief to women and girls here?” said Egeland.  

“This week I have met with mothers who have nothing to give their children, and who fear the coming winter. Infant malnutrition is soaring, and communities are at rock bottom, with nowhere to turn. Humanitarians have less than a third of the funding needed, forcing organisations to make impossible decisions about who can be helped.”

Afghanistan is experiencing one of the largest return movements in the world. In 2025 alone, 2.9 million Afghans returned from Pakistan and Iran, while more than one million people have returned to Afghanistan so far this year.  

The scale and speed of these returns places enormous pressure on communities, housing, livelihoods and already overstretched public services. Months of sporadic fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan has added to the uncertainty facing civilians already unable to support themselves.  

“When I visited the Iran-Afghanistan border last year, and again this week during my visit to our Community Resource Centre in Kandahar, I met many families who had returned to Afghanistan. They arrive here with almost nothing, and will be met with little or no support,” said Egeland. 

“This week I have listened to families forced to live in the most basic of shelters, sometimes lacking roofs and with nothing but sticks and discarded packaging for walls. They must get the opportunity to rebuild their lives and once again support themselves with dignity.”  

Women and girls across Afghanistan continue to face severe restrictions imposed since 2021, including restrictions on education, work, movement, and access to basic services. These challenges are often even greater for women and girls who return to the country, whose families have little or no income and are often forced by their lack of resources to find shelter in areas with no access to healthcare or education.   

It is vital that donors invest not only in the emergency response, but also in longer-term initiatives that can help returnees reduce their dependence on humanitarian assistance. 

“Today in Afghanistan, returnee families are trapped in a terrible position,” said Egeland. “Political limitations to engagement with Afghan authorities further restrict opportunities to identify long term solutions, leaving humanitarian organisations struggling to meet ever-growing, urgent needs. The international community must engage meaningfully with the Afghan authorities to ensure that people here do not pay the price for shifting geopolitical priorities.”  

Mohammad Ali, a father of six, who returned from Iran and now lives on the outskirts of Herat province, explained, “For the past year that I am back here from Iran, I seldomly got any emergency assistance. I appreciate that [support] but this kind of assistance does not sustain life. I am willing to work but there is no job or [lasting] assistance that can secure mine and my children’s future.” 

“Donors are indeed facing competing global priorities, but being here and seeing the way that Afghan civilians are being abandoned is truly shocking,” said Egeland. 

“After years of high-cost military interventions, the testimonies I have heard come from communities who have been consigned to oblivion. Where are the diplomats? Where are the international institutions? Those with the experience in providing support in complex settings should be doing far more here. 

“These past five years have been a desperate downward spiral: it is vitally important that civilians in Afghanistan do not become invisible.” 

Notes to editors: 

• Photos and b-roll from Egeland’s visit to Afghanistan is available for free use here. 
• Infant malnutrition rates in Afghanistan are rising rapidly. 3.7 million children are acutely malnourished, including 1 million who have life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (UNICEF). 
• Over six million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran since late 2023 (IOM DTM). 
• Around 2.9 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran only in 2025 (UNHCR). 
• One million Afghans have returned so far in 2026 (UNHCR). 
• 73 per cent of Afghan returnees are unemployed (IOM). 
• 3.2 million people were internally displaced people as of December 2025 (UNHCR). 
• A summary of Afghanistan’s annual Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans can be found here.   
• The stark conditions facing Afghan civilians are being compounded by increasingly frequent natural disasters. Last August a devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing and injuring thousands. More than 8,000 families, including 28,000 women, were directly affected across Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman provinces, and many were left without any shelter at all.   
• The funding available for the humanitarian response has been cut by almost 70 per cent, from 3.3 billion dollars in 2022 to 1 billion dollars in 2025. So far this year, only 500 million US dollars have been provided for the humanitarian response, about 30 per cent of the 1.7 billion dollars needed (OCHA). 
• NRC supports displaced people across nine provinces in Afghanistan including providing water and sanitation support, protection from violence, information and legal assistance, and education. Our community resource centers function as a central hub for the response, ensuring families can receive the services they need. In 2025 we provided assistance to more than 340,000 people, including 49 per cent women. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: 

• NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62 329 

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New York, 8 September 2026 – The United Nations has opened its 81st annual session trusting that world leaders who will take part in the discussions will work out solutions for the current geo-political divisions, on-going conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, climate disasters and starvation in many parts of the world.

The high-level political session to be held in the UN General Assembly will last a whole week starting from 22 September with the presence of more than 80 heads of state and dozens of prime ministers and ministers representing the 193 UN member states.

The session was launched under the theme of “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.” Ambassador Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh is the new president of the assembly for the next 12 months, taking over from Annalena Baerbock, a former foreign minister of Germany.

“We must make the United Nations fit for the future,” Rahman said in first address to the assembly. “We have a situation where trust is in deficit. This is not 1945. This is the 81st session. The world has moved on. The Organization must move on, and I’ll help that process.”

Political debate 22-28 September – On the first day of the political debate, a total of 32 presidents have registered to deliver speeches, including presidents of Brazil, the United States, Jordan, Turkeye, Peru, Egypt, France, South Korea, Mongolia and Japan. Scores of other heads of state and high-ranking ministers will also speak.

UN Secretary-General Antonion Guterres urged UN member states to rebuild  trust in the multilateral system.

“The institutions of the multilateral system, from the UN Security Council to the international financial architecture, are straining to meet the moment,” he said. “International law and human rights — the core of our organization — are too often flouted with impunity. And geopolitical mistrust and suspicion continue to block the effective solutions we need — and erode people’s faith in the possibilities of global cooperation.”

“But as I join you in this opening of a General Assembly session for the last time as Secretary-General, I have enormous hope thanks to the work that happens here.”

In her final address as president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock said she was moved by the determination of many inspiring colleagues who are convinced more than ever of the importance and necessity of the United Nations.

“And to those out there who argue that the UN is irrelevant or failing – especially in these new geopolitical realities, I would simply say consider, for just one minute, the alternative – a world without the UN: Consider the millions of children who would not be in school without UNICEF. Consider the women who only dare to walk out of their homes without fear of being raped because UN peacekeepers are deployed. Consider the thousands of families around the world receiving humanitarian assistance, including right now in Nepal and China.”

UN Secretary general selection – Member states are called to make a difficult decision during the session, which is to select a new UN Secretary General to replace the current leader Antonio Guterres of Portugal who is completing his two five-year terms by the end of 2026. Some UN member states and organizations have demanded that the next UN secretary general should be a woman after only men have been leading the UN since it was established in 1945.

So far candidates included: Michelle Bachelet (from Chile); María Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador); Rafael Grossi (Argentina); Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica); Olara Otunnu (Uganda); Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (Guyana); Macky Sall (Senegal); Virginia Gambia (Argentina) and Ivonne A-Baki (Ecuador).

While world leaders are addressing the UN General Assembly session, the UN also holds discussions on various important topics. They include:

23 September – Climate Action and the Just Transition. The UN said climate summit, convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, will bring together leaders from major economies, developed and developing countries, vulnerable nations, and major energy producers and consumers to strengthen cooperation at a pivotal moment. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the climate crisis has entered a new phase in which overshoot is now inevitable, while the energy transition accelerates.

24 September – High-level Plenary Meeting to Address the Existential Threats Posed by Sea Level Rise. This meeting will focus on building common understanding, mobilizing political leadership, and promoting multisectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration and international cooperation towards the objective of “addressing the threats posed by sea-level rise”. Participants will work towards developing comprehensive solutions and actionable commitments to combat sea level rise, ensuring a resilient and sustainable future including for small island developing states and low-lying coastal areas.

25 September – High-level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. The meeting aimsat mobilizing political will at the national, regional and international levels for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Guided by the theme, “Fostering a multilateral and intergenerational approach to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics and public health emergencies, through the principles of equity and solidarity,” the meeting will culminate in the approval of a concise, action-oriented political declaration agreed upon by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations.

29 September – High-level Plenary Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Achieving global nuclear disarmament is the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations. This annual high-level plenary meeting commemorates and promotes the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

(By J.Tuyet Nguyen)

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The plan aims to reach over 84,000 people with aid, supporting the Government-led response

Kathmandu, Nepal, 4 September 2026 — The United Nations and humanitarian partners today launched a US$49.6 million flash appeal to deliver life-saving relief to over 84,000 people affected by catastrophic flash floods and landslides across northern Nepal.

Operating under the overall leadership of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the four-month response plan addresses critical operational gaps identified by the Government to prevent further hardship and disease outbreaks as winter approaches in high-altitude Himalayan communities. The United Nations and humanitarian responders are working in partnership with ongoing Nepalese emergency operations. 

The catastrophe, triggered on 26 August, has claimed over 1,250 lives, leaving thousands missing and displacing entire villages across the Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading regions. Survivors face tragic losses of family members, homes, and rural livelihoods. Widespread destruction of critical infrastructure has severed transport routes, disrupted power grids, and washed-out local water supply and sanitation systems, leaving isolated populations without basic necessities.

To mitigate immediate suffering and safeguard vulnerable populations, the joint response targets essential humanitarian needs across multiple sectors. Direct cash transfers will be deployed where local markets remain functional to give families the dignity to buy essential goods while stimulating local economies. To protect displaced communities before winter sets in, aid teams will distribute cold-weather shelter materials and supply portable solar units to households to restore essential power and light in off-grid zones.

Humanitarian operations will also restore damaged water networks, deploy rapid purification systems, and deliver hygiene supplies to halt the spread of waterborne illnesses. Emergency mobile clinics will provide immediate medical treatment and nutrition support, while protection teams work to reunify children separated from their families. In addition, aid teams will distribute emergency food aid and manage surviving livestock to protect rural livelihoods.

“Families have lost everything: their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods, swept away in minutes,” said Lila Pieters Yahia, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nepal. “Working under the Government’s leadership, this appeal will get cash, shelter, health care, clean water and protection to the hardest-to-reach communities before winter closes in.”

• Video: https://bit.ly/4gATyNx 
• Photos: https://bit.ly/4A2wvD5 
• Flash Appeal: https://reliefweb.int/report/nepal/nepal-rasuwa-flood-flash-appeal-4-september-2026

For More Information:

Simrika Sharma

National Information Officer

Email: Simrika.sharma@un.org

Mob: +977 9841592692

UN Information Center, Kathmandu 

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Note: El Niño is firmly established and is expected to strengthen further. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Forecasts show near 100% likelihood that it will persist through February 2027. Exceptionally warm tropical Pacific Ocean conditions support further intensification. A very strong El Niño can significantly shift rainfall and temperature patterns worldwide and fuel extreme weather. WMO and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services step up preparedness and early-warning efforts for an exceptional event. WMO Update:

Geneva, Switzerland, 3 September 2026 _ El Niño is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with big impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns and associated risks of floods, drought and extreme heat, according to a new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Forecasts from WMO’s Global Producing Centres indicate an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100%” that El Niño will persist through to February 2027. This is the first time that a WMO El Niño/La Niña Update has been so unequivocal, reflecting the strong agreement within WMO’s extensive network.

Fueled by exceptionally warm ocean conditions across the tropical Pacific, El Niño is expected to strengthen further during the coming months to a very strong intensity before peaking towards the end of this year, with climate impacts continuing well into 2027.

“El Niño is being supersized before our eyes. The science leaves no room for doubt: the planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are heating up. Sea surface temperatures are rising, temperatures keep climbing, and the world is in the danger zone of extreme weather. The race now is between rising risks and our commitment to take climate action and protect people. We must win that race,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

“El Niño in Spanish means boy child – but it has the potential to deliver a massive blow to communities and economies across the world. We are already seeing disruption and devastation from droughts and floods and we expect these impacts to increase as El Niño intensifies,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“This exceptional El Niño demands exceptional preparation and response. Never before in the 50-year history of the World Meteorological Organization have we launched such a major mobilization with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services who are on the frontline of delivering the forecasts and services to save lives and livelihoods,” she said.

“WMO is committed to working closely with partners across the United Nations and humanitarian system to provide the climate intelligence and insights needed to support disaster management and climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, health, energy and water resources,” she said.  “We have no time to lose.”

WMO El Niño/La Niña Updates are the world’s most authoritative source of information for governments and decision-makers. These seasonal forecasts are based on a consensus of models from WMO Global Producing Centres, experts from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and climate prediction centres around the world.

Exceptional ocean heat in the tropical Pacific  – Sea surface temperatures across the central-eastern equatorial Pacific, the region at the heart of El Niño, are already well above average – one of the tell-tale signs of El Niño – and are continuing to rise.

The widely used Niño 3.4 index, which measures sea surface temperature anomalies in central-eastern equatorial Pacific has strengthened markedly from an average +1.5 °C above normal during May-July 2026 and +2.0 °C above normal in July. Weekly values subsequently increased further between late July and mid-August, ranging from approximately +2.2 °C to +2.6 °C above average, indicating continued intensification.

Even more exceptional warmth is present below the ocean surface. In some areas, subsurface ocean temperatures were more than 8°C above average during July and early August.

Together, the surface and subsurface ocean conditions provide strong support for continued El Niño conditions and the potential for further strengthening during the coming months, the Update says.

Confidence in the outlook is high. Strong and mutually reinforcing oceanic and atmospheric signals, together with close agreement among seasonal prediction systems indicate that El Niño will persist at least into early 2027.

 Very Strong El Niño does not mean the same impacts everywhere – El Niño and La Niña are among the most powerful naturally occurring influences on the global climate system. A very strong event increases the likelihood of major changes in rainfall, temperatures and atmospheric circulation across many regions of the world.

However, the strength of an El Niño event alone does not determine how severe its impacts will be in any individual country or region.

Its effects vary according to location and season and can be modified by other climate drivers, including conditions in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

WMO has therefore issued a complementary Global Seasonal Climate Update, which  brings together information about El Niño and other major climate drivers, enabling a more refined picture of expected conditions.

For September–November 2026, WMO multi-model forecasts indicate an increased likelihood of above-normal temperatures across almost all land areas, alongside rainfall patterns showing a pronounced and classic atmospheric response to the strong Pacific El Niño.

A positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is also expected to develop, reaching a September-October-November 2026 seasonal mean value of 0.9°C. Meanwhile, the equatorial Atlantic basin is forecast to remain generally warm, with SSTs in both the North and South Tropical Atlantic staying above normal.  These conditions may reinforce, weaken or alter typical El Niño impacts in different regions.

Probabilistic forecasts of surface air temperature and rainfall for the season September-November 2026. The tercile category with the highest forecast probability is indicated by shaded areas. The most likely category for below-normal, above-normal, and near-normal is depicted in blue, red, and grey shadings respectively for temperature, and yellow, green and grey shadings respectively for rainfall. White areas indicate equal chances for all categories in both cases. The baseline period is 1993–2009. (Source: The WMO Lead Centre for Seasonal Prediction Multi-Model Ensemble)

More detailed and locally applicable information is provided through WMO Regional Climate Centres, WMO Regional Climate Centres, WMO Regional Climate Outlook Forums and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

Turning forecasts into early action – El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO); one of the most powerful naturally occurring climate patterns on Earth.

El Niño is characterized by a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific. It typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts around nine to twelve months.

El Niño generally begins developing between March and June and reaches its peak intensity between November and February.  Its impact on global temperatures can extend beyond the period of peak ocean warming and be most pronounced in the year after development.

Because El Niño can reshape weather and climate patterns thousands of kilometres away from the tropical Pacific, reliable forecasts provide governments, humanitarian agencies, businesses and communities with valuable time to prepare.

WMO Members and partners will therefore continue to closely monitor the evolution of the event and regularly update forecasts of its likely regional impacts.

National Meteorological and Hydrological Services remain the authoritative source of official warnings and locally relevant climate information.

El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon and is not caused by climate change.

Notes to Editors – The WMO El Niño/La Niña Update is prepared through a collaborative effort between the WMO and Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) / International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) Columbia Climate School, USA, and is based on contributions from experts worldwide, inter alia, of the following institutions: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno El Niño (CIIFEN), China Meteorological Administration (CMA), Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) and Pacific ENSO Applications Climate (PEAC) Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States of America (USA), European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Météo-France, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Met Office of the United Kingdom, Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS), WMO Global Producing Centres of Seasonal Prediction (GPCs-SP) including the Lead Centre for Seasonal Prediction Multi-Model Ensemble (LC-SPMME).

 Since the 1980s, the dominant approach to measuring or identifying El Niño has been the use of the Oceanic Niño Index wherein scientists calculate the Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly in a specific region of the Pacific called the Niño 3.4 region.

 When computed over a three-month average, this becomes the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI). In recent years and with global warming, a newer metric of measurement called the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI) has gained ground. This approach measures relative warming, not just absolute warming, helping scientists assess whether a warming event is ENSO-driven or mostly due to global ocean warming. 

The World Meteorological Organization is the United Nations System’s authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water

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For further information contact:

Clare Nullis, Press and Media Officer, Email: cnullis@wmo.int and media@wmo.int, Cell: +41 79 709 13 97

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