News – The United Nations Correspondent

Record 756 million women now live in the shadow of armed conflict

Note: A new report finds that the number of women living in conflict zones has nearly tripled since 1990, with the sharpest rise in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number has increased fivefold since 2010. The report highlights how today’s conflicts are reaching more women, lasting longer, and placing growing pressure on healthcare, education, livelihoods and security.

Oslo, Norway, 18 August 2026 – Almost one in five women globally were living within 50 kilometres of a deadly conflict event in 2025, according to a new report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

The number of women living in conflict zones has nearly tripled since 1990, as violence spreads and becomes increasingly protracted.

The epicenter of this crisis is in sub-Saharan Africa where one-third now live, and where the number has increased fivefold since 2010. At the same time, millions of women are trapped in conflicts that have lasted for years – with 8.8% of women in sub-Saharan Africa living in areas affected by conflict for more than a decade.

Published as global conflict reaches its highest level in decades, the report finds that the burden of today’s wars is increasingly borne by women – not only through direct exposure to violence, but through deteriorating access to healthcare, education, livelihoods and security. While conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza dominate international attention, violence is escalating across parts of Africa with far less global visibility.

“Conflict today is reaching more women than at any point since the end of the Cold War,” said Siri Aas Rustad, Research Director at PRIO and author of the report. “These figures are more than a measure of violence – they reflect millions of lives shaped by insecurity, disrupted healthcare, lost education and fewer opportunities.”

The analysis shows that conflict is not only becoming more widespread but also more entrenched. Countries with the highest levels of conflict exposure also score substantially lower on the global Women, Peace and Security Index, underlining the close relationship between insecurity and women’s wellbeing.

The report also points to a troubling international backdrop. As conflict has spread, new United Nations peacekeeping missions have become increasingly rare, development assistance has fallen sharply, and arms transfers to some conflict-affected regions have increased. Together, these trends risk deepening instability at a time when women’s needs are growing most acute.

“Reversing these trends will require renewed international commitment to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and multilateral cooperation. Without stronger action, the number of women living in the shadow of war is likely to continue rising,” warned Rustad.

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About PRIO
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) is a world-leading institute for the study of peace and conflict. Through cutting-edge research, PRIO examines the drivers of violence and the conditions that enable peaceful relations between states, groups and individuals.

For more information or to arrange an interview

Contact Michelle Delaney, Communication Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) | michelle@prio.org | mobile 0047 941 65 579.
Click to download the full report, ‘Women exposed to Armed Conflict, 1990-2025’
Please get in touch if you’d like to speak with the report’s author, Siri Aas Rustad.
The estimates in this report are based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program’s (UCDP) Georeferenced Events Dataset, combined with population data from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the UN World Population Prospects 2025.

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Refugees in South Sudan Face Extreme Hunger as Funds Run Out

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Juba, South Sudan, 14 August 2026 – More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing further access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned today in a joint press release.

Without immediate and urgent funding, the final food and nutrition assistance for the most vulnerable 240,000 refugees across the country will be provided in September, cutting off a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people already living on the edge. These are the last remaining refugee families of the 650,000 who had been receiving food support across the country.

For hundreds of thousands of refugee families, the consequences of an interruption in critical aid would be immediate and long-lasting, including with heightened risks of malnutrition, and exploitation and abuse of women and children. Of particular concern to UNHCR is the risk of yet more cross-border movement as people search for food and assistance.

The warning comes as conflict across the region continues to force people to flee across borders into neighbouring countries in search of food, shelter and safety. In South Sudan, up to 3,000 refugees and returnees continue to arrive from Sudan each week, placing further pressure on already overstretched humanitarian resources.

“We are seeing the devastating impact of conflicts that force people from their homes collide with a severe shortage of resources that is now making the crisis worse,” said Adham Effendi, Deputy Country Director for WFP in South Sudan. “For refugees and host communities, food assistance is often the difference between coping and crisis. Urgent support to save lives and livelihoods is vital – to meet essential needs and reduce long-term dependence on humanitarian assistance.”

WFP faces an immediate USD 37 million funding gap for its refugee response and an overall funding shortfall of USD 258 million for the remainder of 2026 – threatening lifesaving support for 4.2 million food-insecure people across the country. Meanwhile, UNHCR has secured only 28 percent of the USD 286 million needed this year to sustain core protection and assistance for nearly four million refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees, and vulnerable host communities.

This funding crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of one of the world’s deepest hunger emergencies. More than 7.8 million people across South Sudan – more than half the population – are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, while 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished. WFP has already been forced to prioritize assistance for only the most vulnerable refugee families, who are receiving just 50 percent of a full food ration.

The anticipated cut in critical support comes at the height of the rainy season when food becomes scarcer, market prices rise and flooded or degraded roads make humanitarian access increasingly difficult. Many refugee families are already eating fewer and smaller meals, borrowing money to buy food, selling what little they own, and cutting spending on health, education and shelter.

“Every week, thousands more refugees and returnees continue to arrive from Sudan with almost nothing, many exhausted, hungry and in urgent need of protection and assistance,” said Mesfin Degefu, UNHCR Deputy Representative in South Sudan. “At the same time, we see refugees who have been in South Sudan for many years, working to rebuild their lives and move towards greater self-reliance. Cutting assistance now undermines hard-won progress in education, livelihoods and resilience and may force refugee families to make desperate choices, including moving onward along dangerous routes to survive.”

South Sudan has continued to uphold its open-door policy for refugees despite facing significant humanitarian and development challenges of its own. More than 1.4 million refugees and returnees have crossed into South Sudan since war erupted in Sudan in 2023. UNHCR and WFP jointly appeal to the international community for immediate, flexible funding to prevent a suspension of lifesaving assistance and protect families on the frontlines of this regional crisis.

# # #

Note to Editors

Broadcast quality video footage can be downloaded here

High resolution photographs can be downloaded here

About UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

About WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

WFP

Tomson Phiri, WFP/Juba, Mob. +211 928 008 037

Azfar Deen, WFP/ Nairobi, Mob. +39 345 846 6425Julian Miglierini, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 348 2316793
Martin Rentsch, WFP/Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30
Nicola Kelly, WFP/London, Mob +44 (0)796 8008 474Rene McGuffin, WFP/ Washington Mob. +1 771 245 4268

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Five years after the Taliban takeover: the normalization of the exclusion of women and girls in Afghanistan

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Note: New UN Women data reveals that half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement and access to public spaces.

New York, 12 August 2026 – Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world.
Over the past five years, the de facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, institutionalizing discrimination and stripping them of their fundamental rights – with profound consequences for their lives and for their communities, according to new UN Women data. In the past year alone, this exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, public life, justice systems, and healthcare has only intensified, entrenching what remains the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis.

This unparalleled crisis of women’s and girls’ rights is at risk of being forgotten by the world.

The following facts and figures illustrate how the systematic dismantling of women’s and girls’ rights has reshaped every aspect of life in Afghanistan:

Women are unequal before the law:

In addition to a broad range of decrees since 2021, key decrees issued in 2026 have further restricted women’s and girls’ access to justice and stripped them of equal status and protection under the law. Decree no. 12 abolishes legal equality between men and women before the law, placing husbands in a position of legal authority over their wives and limiting women’s ability to seek justice. It criminalizes violence within marriage only when it results in severe, visible physical injuries. Decree no. 18 makes it significantly harder for a woman to leave a marriage, while preserving men’s unilateral right to divorce. It also implicitly permits child marriage, further eroding the rights and protection of women and girls.

The women’s health crisis is worsening:

Being confined to the home – often while exposed to higher risks of violence – has profound mental health consequences. The loss of rights and opportunities, as well as limited access to physical activity, community, and emotional support has triggered a mental health crisis among women and girls, who report rising levels of anxiety, hopelessness and despair. According to a new UN Women report, seven in 10 women now describe their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad.’
Accessing healthcare has also become increasingly difficult for Afghan women due to mobility restrictions and growing shortages of women nurses and doctors. Afghanistan already has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, with an estimated 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.

Women are excluded from public life:

Restrictions on movement and access to public spaces intensified in 2025. According to UN Women data more than half of women now report leaving their homes only twice a month or less.
Nearly three-quarters of women have reported to UN Women that they feel unsafe leaving home without a male guardian, or mahram, and more than half say they avoid public spaces, such as markets and health facilities, altogether.
There is a growing system of surveillance and enforcement by thousands of men and women with wide ranging powers to detain people, which has led to a palpable sense of fear and insecurity felt sharply by women and girls.

Girls are still out of school, jeopardizing current and future generations:

Afghanistan remains the only country to enforce a systematic ban on girls attending high school and women attending university – many of whom would have become future teachers, doctors, nurses, and midwives. According to the latest estimates, Afghanistan could lose more than 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030 if current restrictions persist. Girls now face almost insurmountable challenges to accessing any form of education once they complete primary school.

Women and girls are the most affected by the growing humanitarian crisis:

In 2026, more than 10.7 million Afghan women and girls require humanitarian assistance. Across the country, deteriorating health outcomes, food insecurity, and shrinking access to services delivered by female professionals are deepening the crisis. In parallel the sustained returnee crisis with Afghans continuing to cross from Iran and Pakistan is placing extra pressure on already stretched local communities and economies. Fewer than one in five Afghan women returning from Iran and Pakistan can earn an income, contributing to rising debt and food insecurity among returnee families.
De facto authority restrictions on women working for non-governmental organizations, combined with international aid cuts, are making it harder to deliver support to the women and girls who need it most.

Women remain excluded from the labour market:

Women’s participation in the labour force in Afghanistan remains chronically low, with only 7 per cent of women employed, compared to 84 per cent of men. The continued social and economic exclusion of women is projected to result in cumulative losses to the economy of USD $920 million (5.8 per cent of GDP) between 2024–2026.

International funding cuts are putting lifesaving services at risk:

Nearly three-quarters of women-led organizations surveyed in Afghanistan experienced funding cuts in 2025, with more than half of them expecting to suspend operations or close within the next year.
Women’s organizations remain one of the last lifelines for Afghan women and girls, delivering life-saving services including protection from violence, healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support, livelihoods, and other types of humanitarian assistance.

UN Women works across Afghanistan to stand with all women and girls so they can stay safe, build their skills, earn a living, access vital services, receive support in emergencies, and shape and lead humanitarian responses.
—–

Recent Afghanistan photos are available on the UN Women Multimedia Library homepage: https://multimedia.unwomen.org/

To learn more, visit In Focus: State of women’s rights in Afghanistan

Five years after the Taliban takeover: the normalization of the exclusion of women and girls in Afghanistan

Note: New UN Women data reveals that half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement and access to public spaces.

New York, 12 August 2026 – Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world.
Over the past five years, the de facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, institutionalizing discrimination and stripping them of their fundamental rights – with profound consequences for their lives and for their communities, according to new UN Women data. In the past year alone, this exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, public life, justice systems, and healthcare has only intensified, entrenching what remains the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis.

This unparalleled crisis of women’s and girls’ rights is at risk of being forgotten by the world.

The following facts and figures illustrate how the systematic dismantling of women’s and girls’ rights has reshaped every aspect of life in Afghanistan:

Women are unequal before the law:

In addition to a broad range of decrees since 2021, key decrees issued in 2026 have further restricted women’s and girls’ access to justice and stripped them of equal status and protection under the law. Decree no. 12 abolishes legal equality between men and women before the law, placing husbands in a position of legal authority over their wives and limiting women’s ability to seek justice. It criminalizes violence within marriage only when it results in severe, visible physical injuries. Decree no. 18 makes it significantly harder for a woman to leave a marriage, while preserving men’s unilateral right to divorce. It also implicitly permits child marriage, further eroding the rights and protection of women and girls.

The women’s health crisis is worsening:

Being confined to the home – often while exposed to higher risks of violence – has profound mental health consequences. The loss of rights and opportunities, as well as limited access to physical activity, community, and emotional support has triggered a mental health crisis among women and girls, who report rising levels of anxiety, hopelessness and despair. According to a new UN Women report, seven in 10 women now describe their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad.’
Accessing healthcare has also become increasingly difficult for Afghan women due to mobility restrictions and growing shortages of women nurses and doctors. Afghanistan already has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, with an estimated 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.

Women are excluded from public life:

Restrictions on movement and access to public spaces intensified in 2025. According to UN Women data more than half of women now report leaving their homes only twice a month or less.
Nearly three-quarters of women have reported to UN Women that they feel unsafe leaving home without a male guardian, or mahram, and more than half say they avoid public spaces, such as markets and health facilities, altogether.
There is a growing system of surveillance and enforcement by thousands of men and women with wide ranging powers to detain people, which has led to a palpable sense of fear and insecurity felt sharply by women and girls.

Girls are still out of school, jeopardizing current and future generations:

Afghanistan remains the only country to enforce a systematic ban on girls attending high school and women attending university – many of whom would have become future teachers, doctors, nurses, and midwives. According to the latest estimates, Afghanistan could lose more than 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030 if current restrictions persist. Girls now face almost insurmountable challenges to accessing any form of education once they complete primary school.

Women and girls are the most affected by the growing humanitarian crisis:

In 2026, more than 10.7 million Afghan women and girls require humanitarian assistance. Across the country, deteriorating health outcomes, food insecurity, and shrinking access to services delivered by female professionals are deepening the crisis. In parallel the sustained returnee crisis with Afghans continuing to cross from Iran and Pakistan is placing extra pressure on already stretched local communities and economies. Fewer than one in five Afghan women returning from Iran and Pakistan can earn an income, contributing to rising debt and food insecurity among returnee families.
De facto authority restrictions on women working for non-governmental organizations, combined with international aid cuts, are making it harder to deliver support to the women and girls who need it most.

Women remain excluded from the labour market:

Women’s participation in the labour force in Afghanistan remains chronically low, with only 7 per cent of women employed, compared to 84 per cent of men. The continued social and economic exclusion of women is projected to result in cumulative losses to the economy of USD $920 million (5.8 per cent of GDP) between 2024–2026.

International funding cuts are putting lifesaving services at risk:

Nearly three-quarters of women-led organizations surveyed in Afghanistan experienced funding cuts in 2025, with more than half of them expecting to suspend operations or close within the next year.
Women’s organizations remain one of the last lifelines for Afghan women and girls, delivering life-saving services including protection from violence, healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support, livelihoods, and other types of humanitarian assistance.

UN Women works across Afghanistan to stand with all women and girls so they can stay safe, build their skills, earn a living, access vital services, receive support in emergencies, and shape and lead humanitarian responses.
—–

Recent Afghanistan photos are available on the UN Women Multimedia Library homepage: https://multimedia.unwomen.org/

To learn more, visit In Focus: State of women’s rights in Afghanistan

Note to editors
About UN Women

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

For more information about UN Women, contact the media team at: media.team@unwomen.org.

For the latest updates and more, visit unwomen.org and follow our social media channels below! If you have received this email as a forward, sign up to our Press Mailing List here. View all UN Women News & Announcements here.

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Afghanistan: Five years on, the world has turned its back on Afghan civilians

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Note: This new press release from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) marks five years since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and it calls on NATO countries to step up support for Afghans.

Oslo, Norway, 10 August 2026 – Afghanistan faces a deep humanitarian, economic and climate crisis, but NATO-countries have forgotten their solemn promises to stand by the Afghan people, says the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Five years after Western soldiers, diplomats, and development agencies left Afghanistan, they have turned their back on a civilian population caught in an increasingly dire humanitarian situation.

The return of more than six million Afghans from neighbouring countries since late 2023 has created additional humanitarian needs in a country already plagued by overlapping crises. Recurring climate shocks, regional tensions, and the shrinking space for women and girls since the Taliban retook power have placed additional pressure on communities. At the same time, steep cuts to humanitarian and development funding has left millions of Afghans struggling to survive.

“NATO countries have forgotten their solemn promises to Afghan girls and boys and turned their backs on Afghan civilians. We find ourselves increasingly alone in facing growing needs and shrinking rights for girls and women across Afghanistan. A growing funding gap is forcing humanitarian organisations to scale down food, water, shelter and medical assistance to homeless and starving Afghan families,” said Jan Egeland, NRC Secretary General.

Millions of Afghan refugees have returned to an uncertain life and future where they must start again from scratch. Up to 73 per cent of those returning remain unemployed, and there are very few livelihood opportunities.

“Shelter and livelihood support remains among the most critical needs of returnees. Shrinking aid funding means that many families are left without a proper roof over their heads, and are struggling to feed their children,” Egeland said.

Afghan authorities plan to distribute land plots to returnees as the centre of Afghanistan’s response to returnees. But, the high influx of returnees, complex procedures around distribution process, absence of sufficient investment and the lack of essential services make successful reintegration difficult.

Mohammad Jabbar, a returnee from Pakistan, told NRC “Most of the returnees, like us, urgently need shelter and opportunities to earn a living. We want the land distribution process to be prompt and responsive to these urgent needs.”

Despite these crises and continued humanitarian needs across Afghanistan, funding for the humanitarian response has continued to decline considerably. The annual Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan was nearly 96 per cent funded in 2021. In 2025, this had dropped to 42 per cent and so far this year, only 26 per cent of the required funding has been provided.

“NRC calls for increased development investment to support long-term solutions and recovery in Afghanistan. At the same time, the international community must engage meaningfully with the Afghan authorities to ensure that the humanitarian response and basic service delivery are not affected by politics, allowing vulnerable communities to access the assistance they need to rebuild their lives,” said Egeland.

More than six million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran since late 2023. (IOM DTM)
73 per cent of Afghan returnees are unemployed (Returnee resilience overview|Afghanistan).
3.2 million people were internally displaced people as of December 2025 (UNHCR Afghanistan Situation Report)

A summary of the annual Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans can be found here.
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 450 million US dollars have been provided for the humanitarian response, about 26 per cent of the 1.7 billion dollars needed (UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service)

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

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

Maisam Shafiey, Advocacy and Communications Manager, Kabul, Afghanistan: maisam.shafiey@nrc.no, +93 706453029

Afghanistan: Five years on, the world has turned its back on Afghan civilians Read More »

Update: AI4 2026 sets new records with 50 % attendance growth as more than 12,000 global AI leaders from 100 countries gather in Las Vegas to explore the future of AI

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Las Vegas, Nevada, 7 August, 2026 — Ai4 2026, America’s largest and most influential artificial intelligence conference, concluded yesterday after welcoming more than 12,000 attendees from 100 countries to The Venetian Conference and Expo Center for three days of groundbreaking discussions, world-class education, and unparalleled networking focused on the future of artificial intelligence.

The ninth annual conference marked a year of extraordinary growth, reflecting the accelerating adoption of AI across every industry. Attendance increased by more than 50 percent over 2025, growing from 8,000 to more than 12,000 participants. The event also expanded its international reach, welcoming attendees from 100 countries, while the exhibition grew to include more than 400 exhibitors and sponsors, up from 250 the previous year. The number of startup companies exhibiting nearly tripled, increasing from 25 to 66, underscoring the rapid pace of AI innovation and investment worldwide.

“This year’s growth demonstrates that artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation to become a strategic priority for organizations across every sector,” said Michael Weiss, Co-Founder of Ai4. “From Fortune 500 executives and pioneering researchers to entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors, Ai4 continues to bring together the global AI ecosystem to share ideas, forge partnerships, and accelerate responsible innovation.”

The conference featured more than 1,000 speakers across 80 dedicated education tracks, providing attendees with in-depth insights into every aspect of artificial intelligence—from foundation models, agentic AI, robotics, cybersecurity, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and enterprise transformation to AI governance, infrastructure, and responsible deployment. Educational programming included keynote presentations, executive roundtables, technical deep dives, workshops, fireside chats, and industry-specific sessions designed to help organizations move from AI experimentation to successful implementation at scale.

Among the week’s most anticipated moments was “The Architects of Intelligence: A Historic Convergence,” featuring Nobel Prize recipient and widely recognized “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton, pioneering AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, and Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.AI. Moderated by Yun-Hee Kim, Deputy Editor of The Washington Post, the standing-room-only discussion explored the scientific breakthroughs, ethical considerations, and opportunities that will shape the future of artificial intelligence.

Additional keynote presentations featured many of the world’s leading AI researchers and enterprise technology executives, including Pat Gelsinger, Sachin Katti, Jeetu Patel, Sebastian Thrun, Dmitri Dolgov, Srini Venkatesan, Anastasis Germanidis, and Inhi Cho Suh, along with hundreds of industry experts representing the companies, institutions, and organizations driving AI innovation around the globe.

The expanded exhibition showcased more than 470 exhibitors and sponsors, including many of the world’s leading technology companies, such as AMD, AWS, Cisco, NVIDIA, Google Cloud, SAP, Siemens, HPE, Dell Technologies, EY, IBM, Mistral AI, Dataiku, Vultr, Red Hat, and PayPal. Attendees experienced the latest advances in enterprise AI, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, developer tools, autonomous systems, robotics, and generative AI through live demonstrations and interactive exhibits.

One of the fastest-growing areas of the conference was Startup Alley, where 66 emerging AI companies showcased innovative technologies to enterprise buyers, investors, and strategic partners. The exhibit hall also featured the popular Agentic Live demonstrations, the Podcast Pavilion, international pavilions, executive networking lounges, and numerous hands-on experiences that enabled attendees to engage directly with the technologies transforming business and society.

Ai4 2026 also attracted a record 225 credentialed journalists from leading business, technology, broadcast, and international media organizations – more than doubling the previous year’s attendance – reflecting the conference’s growing influence as one of the world’s premier destinations for breaking AI news and thought leadership.

“The pace of innovation in artificial intelligence continues to accelerate, and Ai4 has become the place where the industry’s most important conversations take place,” said Marcus Jecklin, Co-Founder of Ai4. “Whether attendees came to learn from the world’s leading researchers, discover breakthrough technologies, meet emerging startups, or build strategic partnerships, the energy and collaboration throughout the week demonstrated the extraordinary momentum driving AI worldwide.”

With record participation across every major category – including attendance, exhibitors, speakers, educational programming, startups, media, and international representation – Ai4 2026 further strengthened its position as the industry’s premier event for organizations seeking to understand, implement, and scale artificial intelligence.

Planning is already underway for the next edition of Ai4, which will take place August 3-5, 2027 at the Venetian Conference & Expo Center in Las Vegas. As the conference continues its mission of bringing together the global AI community to explore the technologies, ideas, and partnerships shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2018, Ai4 has become the premier destination for leaders seeking to understand and apply artificial intelligence responsibly and effectively. By convening the brightest minds in AI research, strategy, and implementation, Ai4 continues to advance innovation while helping organizations confidently navigate the AI-powered future. For more information, visit https://ai4.io/.

# # #

Photos & Video for Media Use

High-resolution photos and broadcast-quality b-roll from Day One are available here:

• Photos: Link to Photos and b-roll footage from Ai4 2026

• B-Roll: Link to B-roll Footage from each day of Ai4 2026

• Press Releases: Link to exhibitor and speaker press releases from Ai4 2026

• Press Resources: Link to logos, photos, video, news releases, etc.

Please credit Ai4 when using event photography or video.

# # #

For Further Information, Contact

Amy Riemer, Media Relations

978-502-4895 (cell)

amy@riemercommunications.com

Update: AI4 2026 sets new records with 50 % attendance growth as more than 12,000 global AI leaders from 100 countries gather in Las Vegas to explore the future of AI Read More »

WORLD’S LEADING AI INNOVATORS, RESEARCHERS AND ENTERPRISE EXECUTIVES ATTEND AI4 2026

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Note: AI4 2026 opens today at The Venetian in Las Vegas with more than 12,000 attendees from 85 countries expected at America’s largest Artificial Intelligence Conference featuring Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, and Andrew Ng. Following is a press release from the conference.

Las Vegas, Nevada, 4 August, 2026 — Now in its eighth year, Ai4 2026 has become the premier global gathering for organizations seeking to understand, implement and scale artificial intelligence across every major industry. With more than 1,000 speakers, nearly 400 exhibitors and sponsors, and hundreds of educational sessions, the conference offers unparalleled opportunities to discover emerging technologies, hear from the world’s leading AI pioneers, and build strategic partnerships. The trade show and conference is running through Thursday, August 6th at the Venetian, Las Vegas.

The conference opens Tuesday, August 4, at 8:30 am with a series of keynote presentations exploring the technologies and business strategies driving the next wave of AI innovation. Highlights include:

• AI’s Race to Reinvent Medicine features Alex Zhavoronkov, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine, and Eric Nguyen, CEO of Radical Numerics, moderated by Alice Park, Senior Health Correspondent at TIME.

• The One Decision That Separates AI Winners from AI Casualties, featuring Mark Abramowitz, Chief Marketing Officer at Dataiku, and Jed Dougherty, SVP of AI & Platform at Dataiku.

• The AI Reckoning: Chips, Constraints and the Next Generation of Compute, bringing together technology visionary Pat Gelsinger, former Intel CEO and General Partner at Playground Global, with Sachin Katti, Head of Compute at OpenAI. The discussion will be moderated by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, technology writer for The New Yorker.

• Mistral: Pioneering Transparent and Transformative Frontier AI, featuring Pavan Kumar Reddy, one of Mistral’s first U.S.-based AI scientists.

On Wednesday, August 5, one of the conference’s most anticipated moments will be “The Architects of Intelligence: A Historic Convergence,” bringing together three of the most influential figures in modern AI for a rare conversation on the future of artificial intelligence. The session features:

• Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel Prize recipient and widely recognized as the “Godfather of AI”

• Fei-Fei Li, pioneering researcher and leader in human-centered AI

• Andrew Ng, Founder of DeepLearning.AI and one of the world’s leading AI educators

Moderated by Yun-Hee Kim, Deputy Editor of The Washington Post, the discussion will examine the scientific breakthroughs shaping AI, the challenges that lie ahead, and the opportunities and responsibilities that accompany the technology’s rapid evolution. The Wednesday keynote program also includes presentations from Srini Venkatesan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at PayPal, and Kevin Cochrane, Chief Marketing Officer at Vultr.

Beyond the keynote stage, attendees will have access to more than 1,000 expert speakers presenting across dozens of industry-focused tracks covering healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, retail, cybersecurity, government, life sciences, energy, education, marketing, transportation and more. Sessions will explore the latest developments in generative AI, AI agents, foundation models, enterprise deployment, responsible AI, governance, robotics and emerging research.

Additional conference highlights include:

• Nearly 400 Exhibitors and Sponsors: Discover the latest AI technologies, platforms and solutions from the industry’s leading technology providers, startups and innovators.

• Technical and Business Summits: Dedicated programming for both technical practitioners and business leaders, featuring hands-on learning and real-world implementation strategies.

• AI Policy Summit: Bringing together policymakers, industry leaders and researchers to discuss the future of AI governance and regulation.

• Agentic Live: Live demonstrations showcasing next-generation autonomous AI agents solving real-world business challenges.

• Startup Alley: Featuring emerging AI startups presenting breakthrough technologies to investors, customers and enterprise decision-makers.

• Podcast Pavilion: Live interviews and conversations with leading AI experts, executives and innovators throughout the conference.

• Networking Events: Daily receptions, executive roundtables, industry meetups, the Women in AI Reception and the official Ai4 Afterparty provide countless opportunities to connect with peers from around the world.

Founded in 2018 by Michael Weiss and Marcus Jecklin, Ai4 has become the world’s leading enterprise AI conference, bringing together the global artificial intelligence community to accelerate innovation, foster collaboration and explore the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies. Through world-class programming, industry-leading speakers and unmatched networking opportunities, Ai4 continues to serve as the epicenter of the rapidly expanding global AI ecosystem.

For additional information, visit www.ai4.io.

# # #

For Further Information, Contact

Amy Riemer, Media Relations

978-502-4895 (cell)

amy@riemercommunications.com

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AFGHANISTAN’S CHILD MALNUTRITION CRISIS DEEPENS AS CUTS TO AID PUT LIVES AT RISK

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Note: WFP News Release

Kabul, Afghanistan, 4 August 2026 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is sounding the alarm over a deepening child malnutrition crisis in Afghanistan, warning that funding shortfalls are forcing life-saving food and nutrition programmes to be scaled back at the very moment they are needed most. Without urgent support, WFP and its partners will be unable to prevent more children from becoming dangerously malnourished, putting lives at risk in the coming months.

WFP’s warning follows the release of an alert that highlights that malnutrition is at critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces – a record number – and projected to continue to rise through October. Critical levels of child acute malnutrition indicate an urgent need for lifesaving treatment; 12 provinces are currently in this phase—Helmand, Daykundi, Zabul, Baghlan, Urozgan, Paktika, Nuristan, Sar-e-Pul, Ghor, Kandahar, Faryab, and Logar.

Child malnutrition typically peaks in Afghanistan between July and October, driven by a surge in communicable diseases, poor water and sanitation, reduced access to essential nutrition services and increasing levels of food insecurity. However, this year, many children did not have enough to eat even during periods of peak food availability: child food insecurity rose to afflict 47 percent of the population in the first quarter. Malnutrition among Afghan children is rarely isolated and it dramatically increases the risk of child death.

“Feeble cries of malnourished babies haunt the health clinics of Afghanistan as worried mothers—many themselves weakened by hunger—bring their children, desperate for treatment,” said WFP Country Director in Afghanistan John Aylieff. “We are witnessing the next generation waste away in spite of this being harvest time – a time of plenty. This is not simply heartbreaking—it is unacceptable.”

Colliding crises—including conflict, unemployment, elevated food prices and reduced humanitarian funding—have driven this alarming rise in malnutrition. In 2025, 142 health centres across the country closed and more than 13,000 children were cut from nutrition treatment due to reductions in humanitarian assistance. This year, remaining nutrition programmes were crippled by a severe shortage of nutrition products driven by conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Pakistan border for nine months. These conflicts blocked supply routes and drove up costs. As a result, nearly one million malnourished mothers and children in Afghanistan missed out on essential nutrition services for five months.

In Afghanistan nearly 3.7 million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition, while 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are also expected to be malnourished – without immediate investment, these figures are set to rise.

“Afghanistan is already gripped by one of the world’s most severe and unrelenting malnutrition crises, and these staggering numbers could climb even higher. This crisis could eclipse all previous projections and condemn countless more children and mothers to preventable death,” added Aylieff.

Scaling up nutrition treatment and prevention services is critical to stop this crisis from escalating further. However, there is no funding available for prevention services which remain the most effective, cost-efficient and sustainable way to stop the crisis from deepening. WFP urgently requires USD 540 million over the next six months.

Note to the editor

Link to the nutrition alert here

Hi-res photos here

Broadcast quality footage here

# # #

For more information please contact:

Ziauddin Safi, WFP/Kabul, Mob. +93 70 693 4875

Geeta Bandi-Phillips, WFP/Bangkok, + 66 63 197 7831

Julian Miglierini, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 348 2316793
Martin Rentsch, WFP/Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30

Rene McGuffin, WFP/ Washington Mob. +1 771 245 4268

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UN renews calls for equal sharing of AI progress at China’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference

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Shanghai, China, 17 July 2026 – The United Nations and China shared the view that progress made in developing artificial intelligence technology should benefit all of humanity and not just a handful of countries and companies.

“Artificial intelligence can be one of humanity’s greatest opportunities in the 21st century,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an address to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. “It could also become one of its greatest risks. As your Conference theme reminds us, a brighter future depends on partnership.”

“The launch by President Xi of the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan For Good And For All is a very strong message of Chinese commitment, and the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) can be instrumental in that regard,” Guterres said. “Partnership is also at the centre of the Global Digital Compact adopted by the UN General Assembly – with the full support of China.”

The UN chief said Compact made it clear: “Technology that will shape the future of humanity must be shaped by all of humanity. It cannot be governed by a handful of countries or companies. Every nation needs a seat at the table. That table has now been built through the Global Dialogue on AI Governance – as called for in the Compact.”

Representatives from dozens of countries attended the four-day conference in Shanghai. They agreed to establish WAICO before the meeting opened.

President Xi Jinping said in opening the conference, “In China’s view, all countries should take a people-centered approach and develop AI for the positive and for good. We should ensure that AI is an important driver for shared prosperity and common security. We should join hands to build a just and equitable system for global AI governance.”

Xi said his demand for people-centered AI rests on four observations: countries should adhere to the principle of openness and win-win and boost innovation-driven development; strengthen risk-awareness and ensure that “AI is secure and controllable, AI should be a trusted tool for humanity;”
encourage inclusiveness and promote mutual learning between civilizations, and advocate solidarity and improve global governance.

Xi said China, as a “responsible major country,” has proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative and promoted the adoption of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution on Enhancing International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence by consensus. He said the creation of WAICO demonstrated that his country has been contributing steadily to the global AI governance.

In order to further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity building, President Xi said that in the next five years, China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs; develop international AI application cooperation centers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS; and enable 30 countries to use the AI-powered meteorological warning system, or MAZU, to safeguard homes around the world.

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Ai4 2026 to Unite the World’s Most Influential AI Leaders

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Note: AI leaders such as Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Andrew Ng, Sebastian Thrun, Pat Gelsinger, Tim O’Reilly, among more than 1,000 AI leaders, will headline North America’s largest artificial intelligence event for an unprecedented gathering of innovation, research, and enterprise transformation.

Las Vegas, Nevada, 16 July, 2026 — As artificial intelligence reshapes every industry and redefines the future of business, the world’s leading AI researchers, entrepreneurs, executives, policymakers, and innovators will gather at Ai4 2026, taking place August 4–6 at The Venetian Las Vegas, for America’s largest AI conference.

Now in its eighth year, Ai4 will welcome more than 12,000 attendees from over 85 countries, feature more than 1,000 speakers, and showcase nearly 400 exhibitors and sponsors, creating the industry’s largest forum for exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming business, government, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, education, and society. Throughout the three-day conference, attendees can choose from more than 1,000 sessions exploring every major facet of AI innovation.

“Artificial intelligence has reached a pivotal moment,” said Michael Weiss, Co-Founder of Ai4. “Organizations are moving beyond experimentation and deploying AI at enterprise scale. Ai4 brings together the researchers creating the next generation of AI, the executives implementing it across global organizations, and the entrepreneurs building the technologies that will define the next decade.”

• The One Decision That Separates AI Winners from AI Casualties, featuring Mark Abramowitz, Chief Marketing Officer at Dataiku, and Jed Dougherty, SVP of AI & Platform at Dataiku.

• Mistral: Pioneering Transparent and Transformative Frontier AI, featuring Pavan Kumar Reddy, one of Mistral’s first U.S.-based AI scientists.

• Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel Prize recipient and widely recognized as the “Godfather of AI”

• Fei-Fei Li, pioneering researcher and leader in human-centered AI

• Andrew Ng, Founder of DeepLearning.AI and one of the world’s leading AI educators

Thursday’s keynote program explores how AI is moving beyond digital applications into the physical world while addressing the infrastructure required to support the next generation of intelligent systems.

Featured sessions include:

• AI That Understands the Real World, featuring Anastasis Germanidis, Co-Founder and CEO of Runway; Inhi Cho Suh, CEO of Niantic Spatial; and Oliver Cameron, CEO of Odyssey. Moderated by Jared Perlo, AI Reporter for NBC News, the session explores how AI is evolving from generating digital content to mapping, understanding, and acting in real-world environments.

• The Waymo Journey: From Moonshot to Global Deployment, where autonomous vehicle pioneer Sebastian Thrun, founder of Waymo and Udacity, joins Dmitri Dolgov, Co-CEO of Waymo, for a discussion moderated by Tim O’Reilly, Founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media.

• Critical Infrastructure for the AI Era: Scaling and Securing Agentic AI, featuring Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, in conversation with Matt Egan, Senior Reporter at CNN, exploring the infrastructure demands created by the transition from AI assistants to autonomous AI agents.

The conference concludes Thursday afternoon with additional keynote presentations, including:

• Building an AI-Native Company at Global Scale, presented by Praveen Neppalli Naga, Chief Technology Officer at Uber.

• Building Ethical AI, presented by Chloe Bakalar, AI Ethics Lead at OpenAI.

Beyond the keynote stage, Ai4 2026 brings together one of the most comprehensive collections of AI leaders ever assembled. Executives from organizations including Cisco, PayPal, Dataiku, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM, NVIDIA, SAP, Siemens, Dell Technologies, Red Hat, and EY will share practical strategies for deploying AI across customer experience, cybersecurity, software development, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and enterprise operations.

The exhibition hall will feature nearly 400 leading AI companies and emerging startups demonstrating the latest breakthroughs in enterprise software, robotics, infrastructure, developer tools, data platforms, cloud computing, and generative AI applications. New features for 2026 include Startup Alley, Agentic Live demonstrations, an expanded International Pavilion, the Podcast Pavilion, executive networking lounges, and interactive technology showcases.

“Since launching Ai4 in 2018, we’ve watched artificial intelligence evolve from an emerging technology into one of the defining forces shaping business and society,” said Marcus Jecklin, Co-Founder of Ai4. “This year’s speaker lineup reflects that transformation by bringing together the scientists advancing the field, the executives deploying AI at a global scale, and the entrepreneurs building the next generation of intelligent technologies.”

With thousands of executives, investors, researchers, developers, founders, policymakers, and enterprise decision-makers expected to attend, Ai4 2026 continues to serve as the premier destination for discovering breakthrough technologies, building strategic partnerships, and defining the future of artificial intelligence. For the complete agenda, speaker lineup, and registration information, visit the Ai4 website. Register before August 2 and Save $600.

# # #

For further information, contact:

Amy Riemer, Communications Director

978-502-4895 (mobile)

amy@riemercommunications.com

Media Registration: Reporters, analysts, and content creators covering artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are invited to apply for press credentials at https://ai4.io/press-resources/

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At least one million women and girls lose access to critical support as aid cuts dismantle women’s organizations working in humanitarian crises

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A new UN Women report finds that 84 per cent of women’s organizations report that demand for their services has increased since January 2025, while nearly nine in 10 can no longer meet current levels of need — the result of the steepest annual decline in official development assistance on record.

New York/Geneva, 10 July 2026 – As armed conflicts reach the highest levels in 80 years, organizations providing life-saving services to women and girls are running out of money. Beyond the Breaking Point, a new UN Women report published today on the impact of aid cuts, finds that at least one million women and girls have lost access to critical support since January 2025. The report is based on responses from 855 women-led and women’s rights organizations across 52 crisis-and conflict-affected countries.

“The women’s organizations at risk of being shut down are on the frontlines of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. In countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti, they operate where international actors cannot and stay long after global attention has moved on. Every dollar withdrawn from women’s organizations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced from school, and communities struggling to survive”, said Sofia Calltorp, UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action.

The collapse of women’s organizations is happening as needs reach historic levels. Some 120 million women and girls require humanitarian assistance and protection worldwide [1] and 84 per cent of women’s organizations surveyed report that demand for their services has increased since January 2025. Nearly nine in 10 say they can no longer meet current levels of need. Two in five organizations surveyed expect to shut down, temporarily or permanently, within the next year.

To keep life-saving services afloat, women leading or working in the organizations surveyed are paying with their own labour, income, and wellbeing. Many are crisis-affected themselves. Sixty-five per cent of women-led organizations report staff working without pay to keep services running. As organizations slip into survival mode, 48 per cent – nearly half – report rising burnout among their staff, while 88 per cent say the mental health of the women and girls they serve is deteriorating.

The consequences of the funding cuts are already visible. Half of women’s organizations have introduced waiting lists or are turning away women and girls in need. Ninety-two per cent of organizations report increasing levels of poverty among the women they serve, while 82 per cent report seeing more girls dropping out of school.

Conflict-related sexual violence doubled in 2025, just as the systems designed to protect survivors are collapsing. Eighty-six per cent of women’s organizations report an increase in gender-based violence in the communities they serve. Sixty-two per cent of organizations report that safe spaces are no longer available or have been significantly reduced.

Behind these numbers are devastating consequences. A woman seeking refuge from violence might show up at the door of a shelter that has shut down; a pregnant woman may have to walk for hours to reach a health clinic; or a mother may be denied food for her children. The women and girls left behind first are those with the fewest alternatives: women and girls in remote, conflict-affected and hard-to-reach communities. Nearly two-thirds, or 63 per cent, of organizations have already cut services in those areas.

The report warns that the consequences extend far beyond humanitarian response. The dismantling of women’s organizations is not happening in a vacuum but against a global backlash on the rights of women and girls. One in five organizations has already suspended work advancing women’s leadership and gender equality. More than half are already witnessing declining participation of women in community leadership and local decision-making.

UN Women is calling for sustained investment in women’s organizations as indispensable first responders, defenders of women’s rights, and the foundation of peace and recovery. “Without immediate action, the organizations that have kept women and girls alive through the world’s worst crises risk becoming another casualty of war”, concluded Calltorp.

UN Women works with and invests in women-led organizations as essential partners in humanitarian action – providing funding, technical support, and advocacy to strengthen their leadership, expand access to life-saving services, and advance inclusive, locally led humanitarian responses that meet the needs of women and girls.

Note to editors: [1] UN Women estimate according to 2026, OCHA Humanitarian Needs Overview. All information provided is reported by respondents and has not been independently verified by UN Women unless otherwise specified. Contact: For multimedia assets or to interview UN Women experts, please contact media.team@unwomen.org.

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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