New York, 4 February 2026 – The United Nations has launched what it calls a first global panel of 40 distinguished individuals working independently from governments or institutions to close the gap of knowledge and assess the real impacts of Artificial Intelligence across economies and societies.
The new Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence will comprise the 40 specialists selected (see the list below) from a list of 2,600 applicants from every region, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when he announced the completion of the selection process to the media at the UN Headquarters. He said the list of names was submitted to the 193-nation UN General Assembly, which established the panel for a three-year term in September 2025, for its consideration.
“It will be the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” Guterres said in an address to the media at the UN Headquarters.
“And this could not be more urgent. AI is moving at the speed of light. No country can see the full picture alone. We need shared understandings to build effective guardrails, unlock innovation for the common good, and foster cooperation.”
“The Panel will help the world separate fact from fakes, and science from slop. It will provide an authoritative reference point at a moment when reliable, unbiased understanding of AI has never been more critical.”
The UN chief said all panel members will serve in their personal capacity – “independent of any government, company, or institution” and they will submit a first report expected in July to inform the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. He said the panel’s members are individuals “with deep expertise across disciplines – including
machine learning, data governance, public health, cybersecurity, childhood development, and human rights.”
“AI is transforming our world,” he said. The question is whether we will shape this transformation together or allow it to shape us. At a time of deep geopolitical tension and growing technological rivalry, we urgently need common ground – and a practical basis for cooperation based on science and solidarity. That is what this panel can help deliver.”
Members of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence:
1. Girmaw Abebe Tadesse (Ethiopia)
2. Tuka Alhanai (United Arab Emirates)
3. Joëlle Barral (France)
4. Yoshua Bengio (Canada)
5. Tegawendé Bissyandé (Burkina Faso)
6. Loreto Bravo (Chile)
7. Mark Coeckelbergh (Belgium)
8. Carlos Coello Coello (Mexico)
9. Melahat Bilge Demirköz (Türkiye)
10. Adji Bousso Dieng (Senegal)
11. Awa Bousso Dramé (Cabo Verde)
12. Mennatallah El-Assady (Egypt)
13. Hoda Heidari (Islamic Republic of Iran)
14. Juho Kim (Republic of Korea)
15. Anna Korhonen (Finland)
16. Aleksandra Korolova (Latvia)
17. Vipin Kumar (United States of America)
18. Sonia Livingstone (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
19. Qinghua Lu (Australia)
20. Teresa Ludermir (Brazil)
21. Vukosi Marivate (South Africa)
22. Bilal Mateen (Pakistan)
23. Yutaka Matsuo (Japan)
24. Joyce Nakatumba Nabende (Uganda)
25. Andrei Neznamov (Russian Federation)
26. Maximilian Nickel (Germany)
27. Rita Orji (Nigeria)
28. Román Orús (Spain)
29. Alvitta Ottley (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
30. Martha Palmer (United States of America)
31. Johanna Pirker (Austria)
32. Balaraman Ravindran (India)
33. Maria Ressa (Philippines)
34. Lior Rokach (Israel)
35. Piotr Sankowski (Poland)
36. Silvio Savarese (Italy)
37. Bernhard Schölkopf (Germany)
38. Haitao Song (China)
39. Leslie Teo (Singapore)
40. Jian Wang (China)
(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)
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Geneva, 3 February 2026 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an appeal for nearly US$ 1 billion which it said would allow it to respond to this year’s increasing demand for health emergency support due to climate extremes, conflicts and infectious disease outbreaks.
“This appeal is a call to stand with people living through conflict, displacement and disaster – to give them not just services, but the confidence that the world has not turned its back on them,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “It is not charity. It is a strategic investment in health and security. In fact, access to health care restores dignity, stabilizes communities and offers a pathway toward recovery.”
WHO said in announcement that the 2026 appeal will respond to 36 emergencies worldwide, “including 14 Grade 3 emergencies requiring the highest level of organizational response. These emergencies span sudden-onset and protracted humanitarian crises where health needs are critical.”
“The 2026 appeal comes at a time of converging global pressures,” WHO said. “Protracted conflicts, the escalating impacts of climate change and recurrent infectious disease outbreaks are driving increasing demand for health emergency support – while global humanitarian financing continues to contract.”
WHO said the priority emergency response areas in 2026 will include Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen, as well as ongoing outbreaks of cholera and mpox.
It said the appeal In 2025 was launched with partners to support 30 million people funded through its annual emergency appeal, which helped to deliver life-saving vaccination to 5.3 million children, enabled 53 million health consultations, supported more than 8000 health facilities, and facilitated the deployment of 1370 mobile clinics. As the world’s leading health organization, WHO said it coordinates more than 1500 partners across 24 crisis settings globally, ensuring that national authorities and local partners remain at the centre of emergency response.
WHO warns funding cuts will undermine global health system
The WHO Director-General warned on 2 February that cuts to international aid and persistent funding gaps are undermining the global health system as the risk from pandemics, drug-resistant infections and fragile health services are on the rise, as reported by UN News.
Addressing the WHO Executive Board in Geneva, Tedros stressed the impact of workforce reductions last year due to “significant cuts to our funding,” which have had significant consequences.
“Sudden and severe cuts to bilateral aid have also caused huge disruptions to health systems and services in many countries,” he told health ministers and diplomats, describing 2025 as “one of the most difficult years” in the agency’s history.
While WHO had managed to keep its lifesaving work going, Tedros said the funding crisis exposed deeper vulnerabilities in global health governance, particularly in low and middle-income countries struggling to maintain essential services.
The WHO Executive Board has a sweeping agenda covering pandemic preparedness, immunisation, antimicrobial resistance, mental health and health emergencies in conflict zones.
“In response to funding cuts, WHO is supporting many countries to sustain essential health services, and to transitionaway from aid dependency towards self-reliance,” Tedros said, pointing to domestic resource mobilisation – including higher health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks – as a key strategy.
Yet the scale of unmet needs remains vast. According to WHO, 4.6 billion people still lack access to essential health services, while 2.1 billion face financial hardship because of health costs. At the same time, the world faces a projected shortage of 11 million health workers by 2030, more than half of them nurses.
Note: The World Economic Forum ended its annual meeting (19-23 January) attended by close to 3,000 leaders from across regions, sectors and generations from 130 countries came together, including a record 400 top political leaders, nearly 65 heads of state and government, a majority of G7 leaders, close to 830 of the world’s top CEOs and chairs, and almost 80 leading unicorns and technology pioneers. It said participants exchanged insights on peace, security, technology, growth, investing in people and building prosperity within planetary boundaries. The following is a summary of the meeting.
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January 2026 – The 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum convened nearly 3,000 leaders from government, business, civil society and academia under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue”, against the most complex geopolitical backdrop in decades. The meeting provided an essential and leading platform for open exchange among leaders. They worked to find areas of agreement on the world’s most pressing challenges, from peace and security to technology, growth, people and the planet.
The meeting welcomed a record 400 top political leaders, including nearly 65 heads of state and government, with a majority of G7 leaders present in Davos. Some 200 sessions and workshops took place, serving as an impartial platform for the exchange of views and ideas and enabling the engagement of a wide range of voices. With a decisively future-oriented approach, the meeting focused on frontier innovation and actionable insights.
“This is a moment of uncertainty, but also possibility; not a moment to retreat, but a moment to engage,” said Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum. “The World Economic Forum is not about responding to current events. It is about creating the right conditions that enable us to move forward.”
“We believe economic progress should be shared,” said Larry Fink, Interim Co-Chair, World Economic Forum, and CEO, BlackRock. “We believe prosperity should reach further than it has, and we believe institutions like the World Economic Forum still matter in making that happen.”
“This year, Davos has reached a new level. Not only was it the intended platform for dialogue, but it also marked turning points and drove decisions,” said André Hoffmann, Interim Co-Chair, World Economic Forum, and Vice-Chairman, Roche Holding.
How can we cooperate in a more contested world? – At a time of geopolitical and societal shifts, with geoeconomic confrontation emerging as the top global risk for 2026, long-held assumptions about security and sovereignty are being challenged, all of which point to the need for new mechanisms for collaboration. Building on its 56-year track record and unique legacy in connecting leaders to move the world forward together, the meeting brought participants together to spur dialogue, advance cooperation and rebuild trust on the most contested issues of the day and protracted crises that garner less attention.
The fundamental importance of trust in preserving and deepening cooperation was a consistent theme throughout the week’s conversations. Leaders warned of the dangers of declining trust, both in institutions and in global politics, saying that it erodes the ability to respond to shared challenges, from inequality and conflict to the climate crisis. Participants highlighted that, despite some challenging headwinds, fresh bright spots of regional cooperation continue to emerge, echoing the findings of the Global Cooperation Barometer 2026. They reiterated that effective communication and dialogue remain the only true way to rebuild trust at global, regional and local levels.
Finding that the volatile and uncertain landscape has profound implications for how industry should approach business strategy, a Forum report highlighted the need for companies to build geopolitical foresight, or “muscles”, directly into their operating models.
Experts assessed the direction of US–China relations in the wake of the November trade deal, weighing its implications for global economic stability and geopolitical competition between the world’s two largest economies. Another session identified urgent measures to bolster financial-sector resilience in the West Bank and Gaza amid economic pressures. Religious leaders examined how interfaith engagement could contribute to stabilisation efforts in Gaza and inform peacebuilding approaches in other conflict-affected contexts, in line with the Gaza Peace Plan.
“But opportunities that are bigger and grander than ever before in human history are right before us,” said Donald J. Trump, President of the United States
“[We need] dialogue with our friends and partners and also, if necessary, with our adversaries,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “The world has changed permanently and we need to change with it too,” she said.
“The right approach should be, and can only be, to find solutions together through dialogue and steer economic globalization in the correct direction,” said He Lifeng, Vice-Premier of the People’s Republic of China.
“Society, science, economics and politics must work together hand in hand, in a spirit of partnership,” said Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation 2026.
“Geoeconomics is the new geopolitics. In this new era, we need much more dialogue, imagination and entrepreneurship to regain forward momentum,” said Mirek Dušek, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
“At a time of increased fragmentation, dialogue has become a strategic capability. It is what allows trust, cooperation and progress to survive in a more contested world,” said Maroun Kairouz, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
“The only way to achieve peace, stability and development in a sustainable fashion requires international dialogue and cooperation,” said Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt.
“We can shape the future,” said Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of Germany. “To succeed, we must face harsh realities and chart our course with clear-eyed realism,” he said.
How can we unlock new sources of growth? – The Forum’s latest Chief Economists’ Outlook offered a real-time snapshot of the global economic sentiment for the year ahead, noting the economy’s relative resilience amid turbulence and guiding leaders through uncertainty around asset valuations, sovereign debt crises, and the economy-wide roll-out of artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, the Leaders for European Growth and Competitiveness community gathered to align on concrete actions to overcome fragmentation, deepen market integration and scale investment. Informal dialogue with the European Commission president explored strategies for maintaining economic security and growth amid geopolitical pressures.
AI and the infrastructure that delivers it were core to public and private sector growth plans. Technology leaders outlined rapid advances, while discussions focused on widening access so people and businesses in both advanced and developing economies share in growth.
Five Nobel laureates in economics presented their latest research and insights on the global economy. Leaders also cautioned against deepening fractures in the global trade system, particularly between some of the world’s largest economies, emphasizing the mutual benefits of international trade.
Complementing the Annual Meeting, a series of regional events each year further foster dialogue, trust and multistakeholder collaboration, advancing global priorities through region-specific action. Over the next 18 months, the Forum will host new events with the governments of Türkiye, Egypt and Panama, among others. The Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 22-23 April 2026. In collaboration with the Government of South Africa, the Forum also announced a high-level event in spring 2027, providing a platform for dialogue in Africa and reinforcing the central role of emerging and developing economies in global solution-building.
“Understanding how the world works, having appreciation for other cultures, understanding connections and being able to appreciate the ways we connect, whether it’s through technology, trade, investment, culture can enrich our lives and help solve problems,” said Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada.
“The development of AI, the gain of productivity that we hope for, is difficult to reconcile with fragmentation in terms of standards, licensing and access,” said Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank. “I would contend that this can only be remedied by a degree of cooperation,” she said.
“As growth and innovation happen, some firms, jobs and tasks decline as new ones emerge, a process known as creative destruction,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “This is a leadership moment to ensure that societies are prepared for navigating these transformations,” she said.
“I think what government should be focused more on is policy conducive to growth,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorganChase.
“Despite all the uncertainties that we talk about, trade has been largely resilient,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization.
How can we better invest in people? – Against a challenging economic and social backdrop and through rapid technological advancement, improving the resilience of workforces is vital. This suggests a focus on improving and increasing reskilling, upskilling, job creation and workforce preparedness. Widening access to credit should be prioritized, leaders said, to encourage entrepreneurship.
The Forum announced major global commitments to its Reskilling Revolution initiative, which is now on track to reach more than 850 million people worldwide, nearing its target of equipping one billion people with better access to skills, education and economic opportunities. In parallel, India launched a new national Skills Accelerator, aiming to rapidly scale industry-aligned training and improve employability for millions of workers. Leading technology companies pledged to collectively support 20 million workers by 2030 through the World Economic Forum’s Communications and Technology Industry Community Pledge.
Leaders also emphasized the importance of ensuring education stays relevant for the jobs of the future, including encouraging vocational professions, pointing to the growing opportunity they represent as technology advances. A new initiative, SmartStart USA, was launched to prepare 1 million young people for future-ready manufacturing and supply chain jobs by 2035.
The report Transforming Capital for the Next Era: Gender Parity and the Expansion of the Investable Frontier shows how converting rising female wealth ownership into allocator power can expand deal flow, broaden the range of businesses that scale and support more resilient market performance. The Forum also launched the Women’s Health Investment Outlook, which called for stronger evidence and transparency to unlock investment in women’s health, offering an opportunity to improve the quality of life for women worldwide.
The Youth Pulse 2026: Insights from the Next Generation for a Changing World underscores the priorities of young leaders in the Global Shapers Community, drawing on one of the most diverse datasets capturing next-generation trends on society, politics, the economy, technology and the environment.
“[AI] is a tsunami hitting the labour market and, even in the best prepared countries, I don’t think we are prepared enough,” said Kristalina Georgieva, Managing-Director, International Monetary Fund.
“We’re knocking on the door of these incredible capabilities,” said Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Anthropic. “I think in the next few years we’re going to be dealing with how we keep these systems under control, that are highly autonomous and smarter than any human,” he said.
“The way of really making people safe and comfortable and co-exist nicely with AI is to use more AI and also get them adapted to it quickly,” said Eric Xing, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
“Innovation has to be matched with delivery capacity,” said Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “The challenge is, if you do not have that delivery capability, if you do not have sustainable financing, you’re unable to use innovation for the impact that they’re intended to have,” she said.
“AI is entering into the health system, but not just into the health system. It’s all the way down to the level of the patient,” said Bill Gates, Chair and Board Member, Gates Foundation.
“The human edge is really what we have to focus on,” said Jonas Prising, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, ManpowerGroup. “That’s where policy-makers and distribution policies are so important,” he said.
How can we deploy innovation at scale and responsibly? – AI and emerging technologies are fundamentally transforming every industry sector and the global labour market, driving profound changes in skill requirements and entire professions across both advanced and emerging economies. CEOs across regions highlighted practical strategies for deploying AI on complex, mission-critical tasks and for driving long-term transformation, looking at actionable insights on how to redesign capabilities, decision-making and operating models to unlock AI’s full enterprise value.
When proven technology like AI links with emerging fields like quantum computing or synthetic biology, ideas move from lab to market faster, influencing how industries grow and unlocking new ways of improving the world around us. A new Forum report, Proof Over Promise: Insights on Real-World AI Adoption from 2025 MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions), examined how leading organizations are closing the gap between AI ambition and real-world execution. The Forum also announced a new MINDS cohort, highlighting 20 pioneering organizations demonstrating how AI is driving measurable gains in productivity, resilience and competitiveness across industries and society.
The responsible and fair use of such technologies as AI was a core theme, with participants from the public and private sectors emphasizing balancing the potential of these tools with their potential pitfalls. Leaders in the field encouraged their peers to draw on lessons from history for insights on how to manage the rollout of AI. The Global Framework for Innovative and Trusted Digital Embassies, developed in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders, will enable economies with limited domestic capacity to access sovereign AI infrastructure, secure data storage and compute. A Forum report on Latin America in the Intelligent Age: a New Path for Growth highlighted how the region can boost growth and address long-standing societal challenges with AI and other frontier technologies.
The Forum welcomed five new centres in the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates and India to be part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, strengthening global collaboration on AI, energy systems, agriculture innovation and cybersecurity.
To meet the energy needs of tomorrow, technology must be scaled up, grids upgraded and access to innovation developed. A new report on clean fuel suggests global clean fuel investment could rise from ~$25 billion today to over $100 billion annually by 2030, driven by new demand and government ambitions.
The Forum welcomed 23 new industrial sites to its Global Lighthouse Network, demonstrating how advanced technologies can improve productivity, resilience, sustainability, talent and customer-centricity at scale. A related report on the Global Lighthouse Network: Rewiring Operations for Resilience and Impact at Scale provides a strategic analysis of the industry transformations achieved by the latest Lighthouse sites, offering a blueprint for scaling frontier technologies to improve operational performance. The Forum also launched Lumina, an AI-powered intelligence platform that consolidates insights from over 1,000 successful industrial transformations across 32 countries and 35 industries. The Forum, together with the governments of Ho Chi Minh City, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, agreed to national deployments of the Lighthouse Operating System, a strategic, scalable and replicable blueprint for manufacturing and supply chain transformation.
While technology is a driver of progress, it can also come with risks, as highlighted in the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, which shows how AI, geopolitical fragmentation and a surge in cyber-enabled fraud are redefining the global cyber risk landscape at unprecedented speed.
“As cyber fraud becomes systemic, the response must be systemic too,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “This will require coordinated collaboration on a global scale, bringing governments, industry leaders and civil society together.”
“I would advocate for the developing countries: build your infrastructure, get engaged in AI and recognize that AI is likely to close the technology divide,” said Jensen Huang, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nvidia.
“Right now, the Zeitgeist is a little bit about the admiration for AI in its abstract form or as a technology,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “But, I think we as a global community have to get to a point where we’re using this to do something useful that changes the outcomes of people and communities and countries and industries.”
“It’s better for your quality of life to be an optimist who’s wrong than a pessimist who’s right,” said Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla; Chief Engineer, SpaceX; CTO, xAI.
“The capability overhang [of AI] is massive,” said Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer, Open AI OpCo. “Even if models [did not improve at all] from today, there is still so much productivity to be had just with what’s in people’s hands.”
“We need alignment on key issues,” said Daniel Noboa Azín, President of Ecuador. “We need to fight the right fight, together,” he said.
“If you look at technologies, it’s all about inflection points,” said Arthur Mensch, Co-Founder and CEO, Mistral AI. “The question is whether Europe is ready to use these opportunities to catch up.”
How can we build prosperity within planetary boundaries? – Participants shared optimism on the accelerating growth in renewable energy worldwide, stressing the need and opportunity of cooperating to maximize the positive impact and scale of these innovations. They also spoke of the urgency of the climate crisis, warning of the risk of surpassing climate tipping points that could be difficult, or even impossible, to recover from.
A coalition of major manufacturers launched a unified pledge to harmonize sustainability data requests and simplify environmental reporting for their small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers, enabling them to achieve competitiveness and economic growth through decarbonization.
Water affects every sector, economy and person. Starting with the Annual Meeting, 2026 will be an important year for freshwater and ocean ecosystems with new Forum initiatives launched and insights released to support countries and regions in the lead-up to the UN Water Conference and Ocean Impact Summit. A Forum report on Sports for People and Planet examined insights on the key growth opportunities of the sports economy. The meeting saw the launch of the Forest Future Alliance, a new Forum initiative dedicated to taking responsible action for forest landscapes. Brazil joined the Forum’s First Movers Coalition as its 15th government partner.
“Let’s focus on common interests and common challenges. We know what we have to fix: growth, peace, climate,” said Emmanuel Macron, President of France.
“This is not about everyone doing the little thing; this is about all of us joining forces and making change at scale,” said Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and CEO, Pepsi Co. “We need leadership, we need resources, we need accountability and we need discipline to make change at scale.”
“There is an increased understanding in the role that biodiversity, and nature more generally, plays in business decisions and supply chains,” said Kirsten Schuijt, Director-General, WWF International.
“We are seeing global progress on nature and climate wherever ambition is woven into national priorities, and delivered through open, adaptive collaboration,” said Sebastian Buckup, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum provides a global, impartial, not-for-profit platform and insights to support meaningful connections between political, business, academic, civil society and other leaders. (www.weforum.org).
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New York, 8 January 2026 – The United Nations will continue to implement mandates given by its member states regardless of a decision by the White House to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including 31 UN agencies and entities, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared.
US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on January 7 that directed US executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to withdraw from scores of international organizations, conventions and treaties that his administration considered contrary to US interests.
The Trump administration has already withdrawn the US from important UN agencies and conventions, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, World Health Organization, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Human Rights Organization.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement that Guterres “regrets” the announcement made by the White House.
“The Secretary-General regrets the announcement by the White House regarding the United States’ decision to withdraw from a number of United Nations entities,” the statement said. “As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States.”
“All United Nations entities will go on with the implementation of their mandates as given by Member States. The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver for those who depend on us. We will continue to carry out our mandates with determination.”
UN News said the 31 agencies and entities Trump ordered to withdraw from include the UN Population Fund, which supports maternal and child health, and combatting sexual and gender-based violence; the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which fosters global cooperation against climate change; the UN Democracy Fund, which funds and mentors civil society projects for democracy; and other offices of the UN Secretariat based in New York and elsewhere, such as those dealing with children in armed conflict and ending sexual violence as a weapon of war.
UN News said the list also includes four of the five UN regional commissions (Asia-Pacific, Western Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean), which are key platforms for multilateral cooperation. For UN entities, “withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” the memorandum states.
Simon Stiell, the Executive Director of the UNFCCC, said the US withdrawal from the climate change agency constitutes a a step back from global climate cooperation, UN News reported.
“While all other nations are stepping forward together, this latest step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse. It is a colossal own goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous.”
Stiell said UNFCCC would keep working tirelessly, adding, “the doors remain open for the US to reenter in the future, as it has in the past with the Paris Agreement.”
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Note: Geopolitical risks, policy uncertainty and fiscal challenges continue to cloud the global economic outlook. In 2025, a sharp rise in United States tariffs unsettled the trade environment, though the global economy proved more resilient than expected. In 2026, global growth is projected to moderate, as weaker international trade is only partially offset by continued monetary easing. While inflation has eased in most economies, rising living costs continue to strain household budgets and exacerbate inequality. Risks of renewed supply disruptions remain elevated due to conflicts, climate-related disasters, trade fragmentation and geopolitical tensions. Following is a press release from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
New York, 8 January 2026 – Global economic output is forecast to grow by 2.7 per cent in 2026, slightly below the 2.8 per cent estimated for 2025 and well below the pre-pandemic average of 3.2 per cent, according to the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026, released by the United Nations today.
During 2025, unexpected resilience to sharp increases in U.S. tariffs, supported by solid consumer spending and easing inflation, helped sustain growth. However, underlying weaknesses persist. Subdued investment and limited fiscal space are weighing on economic activity, raising the prospect that the world economy could settle into a persistently slower growth path than in the pre-pandemic era.
The report notes that a partial easing of trade tensions helped limit disruptions to international commerce. However, the impact of higher tariffs, coupled with elevated macroeconomic uncertainties, is expected to become more evident in 2026. Financial conditions have eased amid monetary loosening and improved sentiment, but risks remain high given stretched valuations – especially in sectors linked to rapid advances in artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, high debt levels and borrowing costs are constraining policy space, especially for many developing economies.
“A combination of economic, geopolitical and technological tensions is reshaping the global landscape, generating new economic uncertainty and social vulnerabilities,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Many developing economies continue to struggle and, as a result, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals remains distant for much of the world.”
Regional economic outlook: expansion broadly steady, but uneven – Economic growth in the United States is projected at 2.0 per cent in 2026, compared to 1.9 per cent
in 2025, supported by monetary and fiscal easing. However, a softening labour market will likely weigh on momentum.
In the European Union, economic growth is forecast at 1.3 per cent in 2026, down from 1.5 per cent in 2025, as higher U.S. tariffs and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty dampen
exports. Output in Japan is expected to expand by 0.9 per cent in 2026, compared with 1.2 per cent in 2025, with a modest domestic recovery partly offsetting weaker external conditions. In the Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia, growth is projected at 2.1 per cent in 2026, mostly unchanged from 2025, even as the war in Ukraine continues to weigh on macroeconomic conditions.
In East Asia, growth is projected at 4.4 per cent in 2026, down from 4.9 per cent in 2025 as the boost from front-loaded exports fades. China’s economy is expected to grow by 4.6 per cent, slightly lower than in 2025, supported by targeted policy measures. In South Asia, growth is forecast at 5.6 per cent in 2026, easing from 5.9 per cent, led by India’s 6.6 per cent expansion, driven by resilient consumption and substantial public investment. In Africa, output is projected to grow by 4.0 per cent in 2026, marginally up from 3.9 per cent in 2025. However, high debt and climate-related shocks pose significant risks. In WesternAsia, GDP is expected to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2026, up from 3.4 per cent in 2025, yet the region remains exposed to geopolitical tensions and security risks.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, output is expected to expand by 2.3 per cent in 2026, slightly down from 2.4 per cent in 2025, amid moderate growth in consumer demand and a mild recovery in investment.
International trade facing headwinds; investment remains subdued – Global trade proved resilient in 2025, expanding by a faster-than-expected 3.8 per cent despite
elevated policy uncertainty and rising tariffs. The expansion was driven by the front-loading of shipments early in the year and robust growth in services trade. However, momentum is expected to ease, with trade growth projected to slow to 2.2 per cent in 2026.
At the same time, investment growth has remained subdued in most regions, weighed down by geopolitical tensions and tight fiscal conditions. Monetary easing and targeted fiscal measures have supported investment in some economies, while rapid advances in artificial intelligence fuelled pockets of strong capital spending in a few large markets. The report cautions, however, that the potential gains from AI, when realised, are likely to be unevenly distributed, risking a widening of existing structural inequalities.
Inflation continues to slow, yet strains to the cost of living persist – The report also underscores that high prices remain a key global challenge even as disinflation
continued. Headline inflation declined from 4.0 per cent in 2024 to an estimated 3.4 per cent in 2025 and is projected to slow further to 3.1 per cent in 2026. While overall inflation has moderated, elevated prices continue to weigh on real incomes. Unlike the globally synchronized surge of previous years, inflation trends have become more uneven, shaped by recurring supply bottlenecks amid rising geopolitical and climate-related risks.
Policymakers face an increasingly complex inflation landscape, where supply risks call for a more coordinated and forward-looking approach. Monetary policy remains central but needs to work with credible fiscal frameworks and targeted social measures to protect vulnerable groups. Sectoral polices also play a role by expanding productive capacity and strengthening supply chains, especially in food, energy and logistics. Coordinated action across monetary, fiscal and industrial policies will be critical to managing persistent price pressures without compromising social stability or long-term growth.
“Even as inflation recedes, high and still rising prices continue to erode the purchasing power of the most vulnerable,” said Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “Ensuring that lower inflation translates into real improvements for households requires safeguarding essential spending, strengthening market competition, and tackling the structural drivers of recurring price shocks.”
Call for renewed multilateral action – The report underscores that navigating an era of trade realignments, persistent price pressures, andclimate-related shocks will demand deeper global coordination and decisive collective action at atime when geopolitical tensions are rising, policies are becoming more inward-looking, and impetus
towards multilateral solutions is weakening. Sustained progress will depend on rebuilding trust, strengthening predictability, and renewing the commitment to an open, rules-based multilateral trading system.
The Sevilla Commitment, the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, offers a forward-looking blueprint to strengthen multilateral cooperation, reform the international financial architecture, and scale up development finance.
Delivering on its key priorities—including clearer debt workout modalities and expanded
concessional and climate finance—is essential to reducing systemic risks and fostering a more stable and equitable global economy.
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Media Contacts:
3Martin Samaan, UN Department of Global Communications, samaanm@un.org
Helen Rosengren, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, rosengrenh@un.org
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New York, 29 December 2025 — Opening the year with an urgent appeal, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on world leaders today to get “priorities straight” and invest in development, not destruction.
“As we enter the new year, the world stands at a crossroads. Chaos and uncertainty surround us,” says Guterres in his message for 2026. “People everywhere are asking: Are leaders even listening? Are they ready to act?”
Today, the scale of human suffering is staggering – over one-quarter of humanity lives in areas affected by conflict. More than 200 million people globally need humanitarian assistance, and nearly 120 million people have been forcibly displaced, fleeing war, crises, disasters or persecution.
“As we turn the page on a turbulent year, one fact speaks louder than words: global military spending has soared to $2.7 trillion, growing by almost 10 per cent.”
Yet, as humanitarian crises around the world intensify, global military spending is projected to more than double – from $2.7 trillion in 2024 to an astonishing $6.6 trillion by 2035 – if current trends persist. Data shows that $2.7 trillion is thirteen times the amount of all global development aid combined and is equivalent to the entire Gross Domestic Product of the continent of Africa.
“On this New Year, let’s resolve to get our priorities straight. A safer world begins by investing more in fighting poverty and less in fighting wars. Peace must prevail,” urges Guterres.
· Less than 4% ($93 billion) of $2.7 trillion is needed annually to end world hunger by 2030.
· A little over 10% ($285 billion) of $2.7 trillion could fully vaccinate every child.
· $5 trillion could fund 12 years of quality education of every child in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
· Spending $1 billion on the military creates 11,200 jobs, but the same amount creates 26,700 jobs in education, 17,200 in healthcare or 16,800 in clean energy.
· Reinvesting 15% ($387 billion) of the $2.7 trillion is more than enough to cover the annual costs of climate change adaptation in developing countries.
· Each dollar spent on the military generates over twice the greenhouse gas emissions of a dollar invested in civilian sectors.
“It’s clear the world has the resources to lift lives, heal the planet, and secure a future of peace and justice,” says Guterres. “In 2026, I call on leaders everywhere: Get serious. Choose people and planet over pain.”
“This New Year, let’s rise together: For justice. For humanity. For peace.”
Note: The World Food Programme has issued its latest report on the food security situation in Afghanistan, where the rate of hunger is soaring to dangerous levels and malnutrition has reached record highs. As winter sets in, millions will struggle, caught between a deepening crisis and fading hope. Following is a WFP News Release.
Kabul, Afghanistan, 16 December 2025 – Over 17 million Afghans are facing acute food insecurity this winter, as the scale and severity of hunger and malnutrition deepens, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). New food security figures from the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for Afghanistan indicate that three million more women, men, and children face acute hunger or worse (IPC3+) compared to the 14.8 million last year.
Child malnutrition too is projected to rise, affecting nearly four million children in the coming year. With child malnutrition already at its highest level in decades, and unprecedented reductions in funding for agencies providing essential services, access to treatment is increasingly scarce. Left untreated, malnutrition in children is life-threatening with child deaths likely to rise during the harsh winter months when food is scarcest. All key indicators point to a brutal winter season ahead for Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families.
“WFP has been warning for months about the clear signs of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and the latest data confirms our worst fears,” said John Aylieff, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan. “Our teams are seeing families skipping meals for days on end and taking extreme measures to survive. Child deaths are rising, and they risk becoming worse in the months ahead.”
Latest IPC report on acute food insecurity availablehere. Latest IPC report on acute malnutrition availablehere.
Afghanistan is bracing for a harsh and unforgiving winter as multiple crises converge. Drought has affected half the country and destroyed crops. Job losses and a weakened economy have eroded incomes and livelihoods. Recent earthquakes have left families homeless, pushing humanitarian needs to new extremes.
Forced returns from Pakistan and Iran are further compounding needs, with 2.5 million Afghans sent back to Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, many arriving malnourished and destitute. Nearly as many more are expected to return in 2026.
While the crisis deepens, humanitarian aid for Afghanistan is shrinking, leaving millions without the support that has historically curbed severe hunger and malnutrition.
“We need to bring Afghanistan’s crisis back into the headlines to give the most vulnerable Afghans the attention they deserve,” added Aylieff. “We must stand with the people of Afghanistan who depend on critical support to survive, and deploy proven solutions towards a recovery with hope, dignity and prosperity.”
For the first time in decades, WFP cannot launch a significant winter response, while also scaling up emergency and nutrition support nationwide. With immediate funding, WFP is ready to mount a large-scale winter response—ensuring families can push back hunger and escape falling deeper into crisis.
WFP urgently requires US$468 million to deliver life-saving food assistance to six million of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people—helping them survive the harsh winter.
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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.
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Geneva/New York, 14 December 2025 – With growing number of people worldwide now using traditional medicine when they cannot afford regular health services, the World Health Organization will hold a global summit this month to collect more evidence and data to inform policies for the safe use of the medicine.
The Geneva-based health organization has announced The Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine from 17 to 19 December in New Delhi with the participation of policy makers, practitioners, scientists and Indigenous leaders from around the world. The first summit, hosted by India, was held in August 2023.
Shyama Kuruvilla, director of WHO’s Global Traditional Medicine Centre, said, “With half the world’s population lacking access to essential health services, traditional medicine is often the closest or only care available for many people.”
“For many others, it’s a preferred choice because it is personalised and holistic. It’s bio-culturally aligned and it supports overall well-being rather than only treating specific disease symptoms.”
Kuruvilla said global demand for traditional medicine is rising due to chronic diseases, mental health needs, stress management and the search for meaningful care.
Despite widespread use and demand, however, less than one per cent of global health research funding currently supports it, she added.
140 countries use traditional medicine, rely on WHO for guidance Information available in WHO websites regarding traditional medicine said “88 per cent of all countries are estimated to use traditional medicine, such as herbal medicines, acupuncture, yoga, indigenous therapies and others.” It said some 140 Member States report the use of traditional medicine, and their priority request to WHO is for evidence and data to inform policies, standards and regulatory frameworks for safe, cost-effective and equitable use.”
WHO said traditional medicine has been an integral resource for health for centuries and it is still a mainstay for some with inequities in access to conventional medicine. Other observations are:
The sociocultural practice and biodiversity heritages of traditional medicine are invaluable resources to evolve inclusive, diverse sustainable development.
Traditional medicine is also part of the growing trillion-dollar global health, wellness, beauty, and pharmaceutical industries. Over 40 per cent of pharmaceutical formulations are based on natural products and landmark drugs, including aspirin and artemisinin, originated from traditional medicine.
The contribution of traditional medicine to national health systems is not yet fully realized, as millions of accredited traditional medicine workers, facilities, expenditures and products are not fully accounted for.
Augmenting WHO’s capacities to address these knowledge needs will be a main objective of WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC).
India is hosting the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre – WHO said India has committed to invest US$250 million to establish the center which includes 35 acres of land in Jamnagar, Gujarat, a new building and support for operational costs with a 10-year commitment. WHO said the centre will be an “accessible, eco-friendly and interactive facility showcasing global traditions and modern scientific advances in traditional medicine. While the new Centre is being built, an interim office has been established at the Institute Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), which is a WHO Collaborating Centre and Institute of National Importance.”
First summit held in August 2023 – The first summit convened by WHO to discuss traditional medicine took place in Gujarat, India, and focused on sharing evidence and best practices in the field of traditional medicine.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as reported by UN News at that time, said the medicine has made “enormous” contributions to human health and its understanding of the “intimate links” between health and the environment. Tedros said the summit helped to bring together “ancient wisdom and modern science for the health and well-being of people and planet”.
Oslo, 8 December 2025 – The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said in a press release that highlights fear that the lack of funding means that millions of people enduring crises in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Syria will not get aid. This is not a foregone conclusion and must be avoided at all costs. The press release followed the announcement by the United Nations that 239 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2026.
Statement by Maureen Magee, Global Director of Field Operations, at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), commenting on the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) for 2026:
“2026 is set to stretch humanitarian responses to their limit as they seek to support people with the most severe needs around the world.
“Next year, 239 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Humanitarians are aiming to reach just over half of them. We fear a lack of funding means that millions of people enduring crises in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Syria will not get aid. This is not a foregone conclusion and must be avoided at all costs.
“In 2025 the dramatic cuts to humanitarian funding from the United States and European donors meant the gap between required and actual funding was greater than ever. Ultimately, tens of millions of people went without the help they desperately needed. In 2026 the impact of the cuts made by donors will become even more evident on the frontlines. This cannot continue.
“The only way to cope with the current situation is to collectively treat the symptoms and the underlying cause of need simultaneously. The humanitarian system must prioritise its efforts assisting people with the most severe needs, providing urgent and emergency interventions in crises. At the same time, the broader development system must step up its efforts to provide longer-term solutions that alleviate the underlying causes of need. This way we can support people in urgent need today while at the same time reducing long-term aid dependency.
“At NRC we will continue to prioritise families with the most severe needs, including people who are living in remote areas or who are cut off from support by conflict. We are also working in partnership with other aid organisations to help people get back on their feet, become self-reliant, and end the cycle of aid dependency.
“We know that with adequate resourcing for both emergency interventions to meet immediate needs and support to disrupt the drivers of need over time, displaced families can build the future they hope for and dream of. We see this through our work around the world. For example in Mozambique, where NRC’s micro-grants have enabled people to start their own businesses, or in Nigeria, where we have helped displaced children catch up on missed learning and get back into formal education, or in Jordan, where we have helped refugees obtain legal documents to be able to access healthcare and other vital services. We see these possibilities in every one of the 40 countries we work in.
“We must not lose hope. But if we are to empower families living in the midst of terrible crises, it is vital that 2026 sees a revival of global solidarity. Nations, corporations, and citizens must step up to ensure that no one is left behind.”
Read NRC’s paper on what to do about the widening gap between humanitarian needs and available funding that will result in millions of people off the “humanitarian books”.
According to the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), 239 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2026. Of these, the UN and humanitarian partners will try to reach 135 million, of which 87 are deemed an immediate priority and face the most urgent needs. The UN and humanitarian partners have asked for 33 billion USD to meet the needs of the 135 million people targeted, while 23 billion is required to meet the most urgent needs (OCHA).
In 2025, US$ 44 billion was requested – the lowest amount since 2021. As of early December, just 28 per cent ($12 billion is funded (OCHA).
In June 2025 in acknowledgement of cuts, a ‘hyper-prioritised’ appeal was launched which seeks 29 billion US Dollars to meet the most critical life-saving needs of 114 million people (OCHA).
Many major donors are cutting foreign aid budgets, which include both humanitarian and development funding. In January, the United States suspended ongoing aid projects to conduct a foreign assistance review, forcing the majority of US-funded humanitarian work to be put on hold and for much of it, eventually, to cease (Devex). In February, the United Kingdom announced it would be cutting Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income by 2027 (UK Government). In February, the Dutch government also announced a EUR 2.4 billion cut in development aid from 2027 (Government of the Netherlands). The French government announced it would reduce public development assistance by more than EUR 2 billion – close to 40% of its annual funding (RFI). In Germany, the government has radically cut the humanitarian emergency aid budget, by 53%, to about €1 billion for 2025, and is estimated to stay at this level for 2026 (DW). Swiss, Swedish, and Belgian governments have also announced cuts in aid assistance budgets (Devex, Devex,SwissInfo, Development Today).
Since the 2025 GHO, there has been a change in how numbers of people in need of humanitarian assistance are calculated. The UN has adopted a narrower definition of “humanitarian needs” than in previous years, to offer what it believes is a more realistic assessment of priorities in light of the widespread cuts to humanitarian funding and in line with the ‘humanitarian reset’. This comes on top of a similar exercise conducted for the 2025 GHO. It is important to be aware that the lower people in need figure compared to last year (239 million now vs 305 million last year) does not mean that humanitarian needs have decreased– on the contrary, in many places the situation has worsened significantly.
For information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
NRC’s global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62 329
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Note: The European Centre for Socio-Economic, Technological and Environmental Research has announced the conference “Rebuilding Multilateralism: Europe’s Role in UN Reform.” The conference on 3 December, 2025, in Brussels is a high-level dialogue on the urgent need for a renewed multilateral order and the pivotal role the European Union can play in shaping UN reform.
The event gathers MEPs, UN experts, diplomats, and civil society representatives to rethink the architecture of global governance and launch a call to action for a more just, inclusive and effective multilateral system.
The streaming link will be sent to the registered email one day prior to the event, to the email address provided in this form. Institutional greetings: Marco Tarquinio, MEP (S&D), Nicola Zingaretti, Head of the S&D Delegation Moderated by: Alfonso Scarano, Vice-President of CERSTE – European Centre for Socio-Economic, Technological and Environmental Research
With: Pasquale Ferrara, H.E. Ambassador, Director General for Political and Security Affairs; Luigi Ferrajoli, Jurist and legal philosopher; Wamuyu Wachira, Co-President of Pax Christi International; Martha Inés Romero, Secretary General of Pax Christi International; Franco Dinelli, Center for Socio-Economic Studies – Pax Christi; Alfonso Zardi, Council of Europe; Ghislain Le Ray, Co-representative of Pax Christi International to UNESCO.
Registration: https://forms.gle/w8yduZFKJbQ6LDHm7
MANIFESTO FOR A NEW CENTRALITY OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND FOR AUTHENTIC MULTILATERALISM
The United Nations (UN), born from the ashes of two world wars, was conceived as the universal forum for peace and cooperation. Today, however, its capacity to act as an impartial and universal body is being tested by disproportionate power dynamics, economic pressures, and limitations in the full representation of all peoples and States.
Current geopolitical tensions have exposed structural weaknesses: the use of the veto, the overwhelming influence of certain global actors, and the marginalisation of delegations and communities that do not yet enjoy full international recognition all constitute obstacles to the UN’s original mission. These economic and political pressures undermine the independence of the Organisation, transforming it from a neutral arbiter into a stage for asymmetric geopolitical interests. To restore its legitimacy and centrality, the UN must demonstrate that it is truly a multilateral institution, a place of dialogue and protection for the most vulnerable.
The European Union (EU), born from a commitment to peace and cooperation among historically divided peoples and founded on the principles of cooperation, law, and multilateralism, has the opportunity to assume a proactive and responsible role in renewing global multilateralism. The EU can leverage its economic weight and diplomatic network to push for reform of the Security Council and for greater respect for international law, acting as a bridge between different delegations and promoting the inclusion of weaker voices.
In this context, consideration of a possible transfer of the UN headquarters to Strasbourg could represent a step toward genuinely multipolar governance, rooted in a territory that symbolises reconciliation and European cooperation. Hosting the UN in Strasbourg could instill in the Organisation a renewed sense of neutrality and universality, in a city already devoted to institutional dialogue and peacebuilding. A truly multilateral vision requires coherence between principles and practice. To support the construction of a more just and peaceful international order, the European Union itself is called to a renewed commitment to institutional sobriety and responsibility in the use of common resources.
The presence of multiple institutional seats — Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg — has historically represented the Union’s pluralism and the value of European reconciliation. However, it also carries significant costs and operational complexities that today challenge Europe’s political and moral conscience. In the context of a potential reflection on hosting the United Nations in Strasbourg, it becomes even more essential for the European Union to provide a credible example of good governance by promoting: greater harmonisation of institutional seats, considering forms of simplification and reduction of periodic travel, so as to strengthen Strasbourg’s role as a symbol of peace and international dialogue; a more transparent and responsible use of public resources, decisively directing funds toward human and global priorities such as cooperation, development, peacebuilding, and the promotion of the inviolable rights of individuals and peoples.
Only by choosing the path of coherence, sobriety, and shared responsibility can Europe offer credible leadership and become an inspiring force for UN reform that ensures dignity, fairness, and inclusiveness for all nations.
Peace is not affirmed solely through treaties and institutions. Peace takes root in justice, grows through transparency, and flourishes where institutions become living signs of fraternity among peoples.
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