New UN websites & publications
TOPIC OF THE MONTH: Information Integrity
Brief 1, September 2025)
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un-information-integrity-issue-brief-01.pdf
“Executive Summary: Strengthening information integrity has become a critical policy priority worldwide as governments, organizations and communities grapple with the impacts of evolving information risks—including disinformation, hate speech and the erosion of independent, pluralistic media—and the complex influence of major technology platforms, which brings both opportunities and uncertainties. No single stakeholder can address these challenges alone as they transcend sectors and borders in the global information ecosystem. While the urgency is clear, significant gaps persist in understanding the full scope of these challenges and translating concepts and discussions into actionable solutions. Drawing from a growing body of policy and practice across diverse contexts in support of information integrity, this issue brief, as part of a new series, contributes to efforts to move from principles to practice.”
English: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4052524?ln=en&v=pdf
French: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4052524?ln=fr&v=pdf
Spanish: https://tinyurl.com/58uekb7a
The United Nations launched new Global Principles for Information Integrity on 24 June 2024, emphasizing the need for immediate action to address the harms caused by misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. UN Secretary-General António Guterres outlined key recommendations aimed at making information spaces safer while at the same time upholding human rights such as freedom of speech. “At a time when billions of people are exposed to false narratives, distortions and lies, these principles lay out a clear path forward, firmly rooted in human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and opinion,” he said. The Secretary-General urged governments, tech companies, advertisers and the public relations (PR) industry to take responsibility for the spread and monetization of content that results in harm.
English, French & Spanish: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4012857?ln=en&v=pdf
German: https://www.un.org/german/de/media/907
“Summary: … The present policy brief is focused on how threats to information integrity are having an impact on progress on global, national and local issues. In Our Common Agenda, I called for empirically backed consensus around facts, science and knowledge. To that end, the present brief outlines potential principles for a code of conduct that will help to guide Member States, the digital platforms and other stakeholders in their efforts to make the digital space more inclusive and safe for all, while vigorously defending the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to access information. The code of conduct for information integrity on digital platforms is being developed in the context of preparations for the Summit of the Future. My hope is that it will provide a gold standard for guiding action to strengthen information integrity. …”
Further information:
https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-combat-misinformation/
UN in General
English: https://www.un.org/en/annualreport
French: https://www.un.org/fr/annualreport
Spanish: https://www.un.org/es/annualreport
German: https://www.un.org/german/de/media/15704
The present report looks back on a year of headwinds and hope for humanity. In 2024, deadly conflicts continued to inflict massive suffering and displacement. Our planet shattered new heat records. Poverty, hunger and inequalities rose, while transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence expanded without effective guardrails, and international law and human rights were trampled. In the face of such challenges, the United Nations worked to translate our shared values into meaningful action on the ground for people around the world. The present report demonstrates that despite enormously trying times – indeed, precisely because of them – we can and must keep pushing for the better world that we know is within reach. We will renew our efforts to achieve peace, foster sustainable development and defend and uphold human rights, for all of humanity.
https://www.un.org/un80-initiative/sites/default/files/2025-09/UN80_WS3-1_250918_1901.pdf
The Secretary-General shared this progress report on 18 September 2025 on structural reforms and programme realignments under the UN80 Initiative, setting out proposals to make the United Nations more coherent, effective and better equipped to respond to global challenges. The report outlines possible adjustments in how the UN is structured, how its entities collaborate, and how it operates. It is the third major output of the Initiative, following earlier reports on efficiency measures and on mandate implementation review. Issued just before the General Assembly’s High-Level Week, the document is intended to inform Member States’ deliberations.
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/our-work-with-the-un/un-handbook
The UN Handbook is a valuable reference guide that helps everyone working with or within the United Nations navigate the UN system effectively. New Zealand has demonstrated its long-standing commitment and practical support for the United Nations by producing the UN Handbook since 1961.
Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
https://www.unhcr.org/media/2024-climate-action-results-report
This report highlights the collective achievements of UNHCR’s climate action by presenting results from the country, regional and global levels, demonstrating our impact in this critical area. It underscores UNHCR’s protection-centred approach and showcases progress across regions and areas, ranging from enhanced preparedness, emergency response, adaptation and resilience-building, delivering sustainable services, law and policy, strategic partnerships, and efforts to reduce our own environmental footprint.
https://radar.ircai.org/en/
To enhance access to and use of AI tools and applications, UNESCO has supported the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) in developing the AI Tools Radar. This multilingual online repository is now available to help organizations and professionals in the public sector, media, and judiciary identify, assess, and adopt AI tools that are aligned with their specific operational needs.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000395088
Teaching about violent pasts and their legacies is a long-term investment with the power to shape more peaceful futures. Although crucial, that task can be a challenging one. This new UNESCO publication is a resource aimed at supporting policy-makers in this significant endeavour. The guide highlights the role education plays in building a nuanced understanding of complex histories, raising awareness of the roots and legacies of violence, and sensitizing learners to their own agency as actors of change for reconciliation and conflict prevention.
see also: What you need to know about UNESCO’s policy guide on addressing violent pasts through education (2 October 2025): https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/what-you-need-know-about-unescos-policy-guide-addressing-violent-pasts-through-education
Report in English, Brief in English, French, Spanish & Portuguese: https://www.unicef.org/reports/feeding-profit
Obesity surpassed underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition this year, affecting 1 in 10 – or 188 million – school-aged children and adolescents, and placing them at risk of life-threatening disease, UNICEF warned in this new report on 10 September 2025. It draws on data from over 190 countries and finds the prevalence of underweight among children aged 5-19 has declined since 2000, from nearly 13 per cent to 9.2 per cent, while obesity rates have increased from 3 per cent to 9.4 per cent. Obesity now exceeds underweight in all regions of the world, except sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. According to the findings, several Pacific Island countries have the highest prevalence of obesity globally, including 38 per cent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Niue, 37 per cent in Cook Islands, and 33 per cent in Nauru. These levels – which have all doubled since 2000 – are largely driven by a shift from traditional diets to cheap, energy-dense, imported foods. Meanwhile, many high-income countries continue to have high levels of obesity, for example 27 per cent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Chile are living with obesity, 21 per cent in the United States, and 21 per cent in the United Arab Emirates.
https://unu.edu/sites/default/files/2025-09/CTC%20-%20SEPT_09%20%28web%29_0.pdf
This new report from the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) confronts one of the most urgent questions of our time: how can Africa navigate the global green transition while safeguarding development, ensuring justice, and protecting sovereignty? The report shows Africa’s unique paradox: it is the world’s lowest emitter of greenhouse gases yet among the most vulnerable to climate impacts. At the same time, the continent holds vast renewable and mineral wealth critical for the global green economy. With 75% of global cobalt, abundant solar and wind resources, and rapidly emerging hydrogen potential, Africa stands at a critical inflection point.
https://www.undp.org/publications/development-dimensions-drug-policy-assessing-new-challenges-uncovering-opportunities-and-addressing-emerging-issues
This discussion paper examines how drug policy affects sustainable development, human rights, governance, health, and the environment. It underscores that punitive enforcement has largely failed, fueling violence, corruption, incarceration, and health crises, while doing little to reduce harm. In response, many countries are shifting toward evidence- and rights-based reforms such as decriminalization and harm reduction. Yet, organized crime continues to dominate markets, and debates over legal regulation are expanding. The paper highlights both the opportunities and risks of regulation. It shows how reforms could redirect resources into health and social programmes, strengthen governance, and support sustainable livelihoods, particularly for marginalized communities. At the same time, it warns of inequities in emerging legal markets, “corporate capture”, and insufficient attention to gender, Indigenous rights, and environmental impacts. Aimed at decision- and policy-makers, multilateral organizations, scholars, and civil society, the paper calls for a development-oriented, rights-based approach that ensures no one is left behind and aligns drug policy with the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the third paper of the series on drug policy and development produced by UNDP.
https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099090825130041927
Low investments in human development (HD) are both a cause and a consequence of economic performance and income growth. Thriving populations in knowledge societies are skilled, mobile, healthy, and connected. However, in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, human capital development and utilization has been lagging behind countries at similar income levels elsewhere. The region’s current HD outcomes are at risk of decline as MENA countries are facing some critical transitions in the span of just a few decades. This report explores how three megatrends – aging populations, the climate crisis, and technological change – will impact the people of MENA and discusses which HD policies can shape and harness these trends as well as equip people to manage the associated risks.
https://unece.org/trade/publications/gender-action-plan-model-blueprint-ecetrade492
This new tool, launched by UNECE in September 2025, is designed to catalyze transformative actions by offering clear, hands-on guidance for operationalizing gender equality in public service delivery. The Blueprint provides a structured and pragmatic framework to help quality infrastructure institutions – such as standards bodies, accreditation and regulatory agencies – embed gender equality into their internal processes and external outputs. Its modular design enables organizations to adapt the guidance to their own priorities, strengthening inclusivity while enhancing institutional performance. Though tailored to the needs of quality infrastructure bodies, the Blueprint is also adaptable to a wide range of regulatory and public sector institutions.
Global Profiles for Internal Displacements (GPID): Harmonised demographic, socio-economic, and land use contexts for 349 million internal displacements worldwide
https://dtm.iom.int/global-profiles-for-internal-displacement/gpid/index.html
The world’s most vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of internal displacement, with their situation worsening over time, according to this new report from the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Global Data Institute (GDI) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), released on 10 September 2025. The report provides the first global analysis of the characteristics of communities in areas affected by internal displacement. It reveals that 88 per cent of these communities have a higher proportion of children than the global average, 93 per cent have lower income, 66 per cent have lower levels of education, and 61 per cent have lower life expectancy, highlighting their disproportionate vulnerability.
Guide to Digital Participation Platforms 2025 (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/guide-digital-participation-platforms-2025
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2025_un_synergy_solutions_covers.pdf
This third global report prepared by the independent Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy, was launched on 24 September 2025 ahead of the Climate Summit during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, at a time when progress towards achieving climate targets under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is far off track. The finance gap for SDG action exceeds USD 4 trillion annually and over USD 6 trillion annually for climate action.
Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2025
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2025
Settling in the Zone: Urbanization and Flood Exposure Trends since 1985, Europe and Central Asia (World Bank)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/43624
https://library.wmo.int/records/item/69629-state-of-global-water-resources-report-2024
The 2024 edition of the State of Global Water Resources report documents an extraordinary year shaped by record heat, climate extremes, and widespread water-related impacts. With global surface temperatures reaching 1.55 °C above pre-industrial levels, 2024 was the hottest year in the 175-year observational record. Strong El Niño conditions at the start of the year amplified drought in South America and southern Africa, while other regions faced devastating floods. Across the water cycle, extremes were evident: rivers, reservoirs, lakes, groundwater, and glaciers all showed significant departures from normal. While parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia were inundated by flooding, South America and southern Africa endured severe drought. Glaciers continued record ice loss, adding to sea level rise. These events brought widespread human and economic costs, underscoring the urgent need for better monitoring, early warning, and adaptive water management in the face of a warming climate.
Report in English, Executive Summary in English, French & Spanish: https://www.ilo.org/research-and-publications/state-social-justice-2025
Despite major gains in education, poverty reduction and productivity over the past three decades, entrenched inequalities, fragile trust in institutions and slow progress in key areas continue to hold back social justice worldwide, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report. The study, published on 23 September 2025 ahead of the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha in November and marking 30 years since the landmark 1995 Copenhagen Summit on Social Development, finds that while the world is wealthier, healthier and better educated than in 1995, the benefits have not been evenly shared and progress in reducing inequality has stalled. Key achievements since 1995 include halving the rate of child labour among 5- to 14-year-olds (from 20 to 10 per cent), reducing extreme poverty from 39 to 10 per cent, raising primary school completion rates by 10 percentage points, and achieving, for the first time, social protection coverage for over half of the world’s population.
https://unece.org/info/publications/pub/407722
The global transition towards more sustainable livelihoods in line with the Paris Agreement and other international commitments must include efforts to make transport greener and healthier, including in the urban logistics sector – as supported by the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) at UNECE. The transition in this sector comes with impacts on jobs and employment, but more evidence is needed to shed light on the number of green and healthy jobs that can be created. Hence the objective of this report: to examine the potential for job creation from policies promoting sustainable urban logistics across the ECE region. The analysis is based on input-output modelling across four alternative policy scenarios. The analysis shows that all four scenarios result in net job creation, both by cluster and for the ECE region. Economic sectors with the highest growth in employment would be vehicle production, logistics operations, and infrastructure development.
https://doi.org/10.4060/cd5832en
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 25 September 2025 released this new report assessing progress on 22 indicators under the Organization’s custodianship spanning six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (life on Land). The indicators include the new measure on Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women, approved as a new SDG indicator under FAO custodianship by the UN Statistical Commission earlier this year. According to the report, the world is close to achieving one-quarter of the relevant targets, while another quarter remains far or very far from completion. For the remaining half, countries in general are moderately positioned to meet them.
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/09/unfinished-business-private-sector-and-gender-equality
Gender equality remains the unfinished business of our time – and the private sector is indispensable for closing the gap, according to this new report from UN Women launched on 24 September 2025. The private sector drives employment, markets, capital, innovation, and supply chains, shaping the lives of billions of people around the world. Businesses can entrench inequalities when they fail to act or become decisive agents of change when they embed gender equality across workplaces, marketplaces and communities.
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/43797
Women are often portrayed in climate discourse as disproportionately vulnerable to environmental change—a reductive framing that, while grounded in evidence, can obscure their agency and leadership in shaping climate resilience. This paper addresses that gap by exploring how gendered experience equips women to lead effective climate action. It examines two interrelated drivers of women’s climate leadership: (1) the heightened impact of climate shocks, such as displacement, food insecurity, and health risks, on women, which fuels women and catalyzes adaptation efforts; and (2) the distinctive competencies women develop through their social roles, such as long-term orientation, risk aversion, and prosocial behavior, which align with the demands of climate leadership. The paper presents a narrative review of interdisciplinary literature and develops a new conceptual model, the Climate Leadership Readiness Framework (CLRF), which distills the skillset required for effective climate leadership.
International Peace and Security
Concept note for the Security Council high-level open debate on the theme “Artificial intelligence and international peace and security: addressing the complexities, multifaceted impacts and responsible use” in connection with the item “Maintenance of international peace and security”
English, French & Spanish: https://docs.un.org/S/2025/593
In its capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of September 2025, the Republic of Korea organized a Security Council high-level open debate on “Artificial intelligence and international peace and security”, held on 24 September 2025. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, the Republic of Korea has prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Security Council open debate on the theme “The United Nations Organization: looking into the future
English, French & Spanish: https://docs.un.org/S/2025/592
The Russian Federation, in its capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of October 2025, will hold an open debate on the theme “The United Nations Organization: looking into the future”. The event will take place on 24 October 2025. The Russian Federation has prepared this concept note.
Desktop version: https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2025/09/csg-desktop2025.pdf
Mobile version: https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2025/09/csg-mobile2025.pdf
DPPA has launched a new interactive digital version of its Guidance on Ceasefire Mediation, first published in 2022. It features examples from conflicts worldwide and provides practical building blocks for mediators, policymakers and stakeholders, while underscoring that there is no one-size-fits-all template for ceasefires. The platform, optimized for phones, tablets and laptops, offers offline access, easy navigation tools, and draws on decades of UN experience supporting ceasefires.
https://www.undp.org/publications/embedding-peace-key-considerations-strengthening-infrastructure-building-and-sustaining-positive-peace-i4p
Building on a previous collaboration between the Berghof Foundation and UNDP, which resulted in the study Embedded Peace: Infrastructures for Peace: Approaches and Lessons Learned (Berghof Foundation and UNDP 2016), this paper provides an overview of new trends, current thinking and emerging practices on i4p to provide food for thought for both local (state and non-state) actors and international actors in strengthening their engagement with i4p.
https://www.unep.org/resources/report/environmental-impact-escalation-conflict-gaza-strip
Two years of escalating conflict have caused unprecedented levels of environmental damage in the Gaza Strip, damaging its soils, freshwater supplies and coastline, finds a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report, released on 23 September 2025, says the recovery from some of that damage could take decades. The assessment comes a month after a panel of independent experts determined that parts of the Gaza are in a state of famine. The report was done at the request of the State of Palestine. It marks the second time since October 2023 that UNEP has conducted an environmental assessment of conflict-related damage in Gaza. By almost all measures, the territory’s environment has deteriorated dramatically since the last assessment in June 2024. For example, the amount of debris has increased 57 per cent and is now 20 times greater than the total debris generated by all conflicts in Gaza since 2008.
https://www.undp.org/publications/global-progress-report-sustainable-development-goal-16-indicators-peaceful-just-and-inclusive-societies
This report – the third dedicated to Goal 16 progress – brings together contributions from all UN custodian agencies in a single, comprehensive document. It presents the best regional and global data available across all SDG16 targets that the UN system can offer. The data, statistics and accompanying analysis spotlight trends that have and will continue to shape our world, policy pathways and underscore the urgent need for action to reverse negative trends and to foster a more just and sustainable future.
Human Rights
A/HRC/60/58: Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – advance edited version
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc6058-situation-human-rights-democratic-peoples-republic-korea-report
The overall human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has not improved over the past decade and, in many instances, has degraded, bringing even more suffering to the population, this report published by the UN Human Rights Office on 12 September 2025 has found. Covering the period following the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry, the latest findings point to the introduction of more laws, policies and practices that are subjecting citizens to increased surveillance and control in all parts of life.
Human Rights Due Diligence for Digital Technology Use – Guidance of the Secretary-General: Practical Guide (OHCHR)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/human-rights-due-diligence-digital-technology-use-guidance
This practical guide is aimed at supporting UN entities to implement the Human Rights Due Diligence for Digital Technology Use: Guidance of the Secretary-General and conduct human rights due diligence relating to the use of digital technologies across its lifecycle. The guide addresses key digital technologies and contexts including through a series of policy briefs and case studies focusing on AI, data, procurement, and cybersecurity and case studies.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/policy-and-methodological-publications/development-finance-institutions-and-digital
Multilateral and bilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) provide financing and play numerous vital roles in supporting digital transformations in developing countries. The economic and other benefits of digitalization have been widely noted; however, the use of digital products and services can also create potentially serious risks for people and the environment, including human rights risks. Between 2023 and 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) carried out a mapping of digital risks in 3,450 projects supported by nine major multilateral development banks (MDBs). The mapping exercise, part of a larger mixed-methods research programme, suggests that MDBs have significant, and growing, digital risk exposure in their portfolios that is not systematically being identified and factored into project design and supervision, on the basis of the application of clear, transparent and enforceable standards. Drawing from this research, this OHCHR publication analyses DFI operational policies and practices in connection with digitalization and digital transformations, highlights progress and apparent gaps in digital risk management, and provides recommendations for improvement.
Following the success of the previous edition, which was widely distributed and translated into various official United Nations languages and local languages, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has published this revised version of the “Human Rights and Law Enforcement Guidance and Training Package” which consists of:
- Manual on Human Rights for Law Enforcement Officials: https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/training-and-education-publications/manual-human-rights-law-enforcement-officials
- Training Guide on Human Rights for Law Enforcement Officials: https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/training-and-education-publications/training-guide-human-rights-law-enforcement
- Pocketbook on Human Rights for Law Enforcement Officials: https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/training-and-education-publications/pocketbook-human-rights-law-enforcement-officials
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/treatment-civilians-deprived-their-liberty-context-armed-attack-russian
This UN Human Rights report released on 23 September 2025 details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022. Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees in occupied territory to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, in a widespread and systematic manner, the report finds.
Humanitarian Affairs
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/09/a-gender-responsive-approach-for-supporting-the-empowerment-of-women-on-the-move
Women migrant workers face distinct challenges and risks throughout the labour migration cycle, often rooted in gender inequality and discriminatory norms. When equipped with accurate, accessible, and gender-sensitive information, they are better able to make informed decisions, claim their rights, and contribute fully to their communities and economies. This guide provides practical recommendations for making International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programmes (CIOPs) more gender-responsive across all stages of the migration process—from pre-employment to pre-departure, post-arrival, and pre-return. Developed by IOM and UN Women, it outlines how to assess and address the different information needs of women migrant workers, how to deliver trainings in inclusive and empowering ways, and how to engage stakeholders in supporting gender equality. It also features checklists and tools to help programme managers, trainers, and policymakers integrate gender considerations into every step of the CIOP process.
Justice and International Law
https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-climate-litigation-report-2025-status-review
Climate litigation is now being pursued across more countries than ever before, according to this report published on 3 October 2025 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. The report reveals how legal action is addressing issues such as greenwashing, carbon offsets, and energy-intensive data centres. It is the fourth edition of a series first launched in 2017. Drawing on data from the Sabin Center’s Climate Change Litigation Databases, the report examines key trends, pending cases, and court decisions. As of 30 June 2025, a cumulative 3,099 climate-related cases have been filed in 55 national jurisdictions and 24 international or regional courts, tribunals, or quasi-judicial bodies. This continues a trend in climate-related cases filed by 2022 (2,180 cases), 2020 (1,550 cases) and 2017 (884 cases). While cases from the Global South still represent less than 10 per cent in 2025, their share is steadily growing.
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43699
This compendium was prepared to contribute to this urgent and important development debate with the understanding that the knowledge of the law is an important empowerment tool to end FGM/C. It provides a survey of the key international and regional instruments as well as domestic legislation as they relate to the prohibition of FGM/C. The Compendium consists of topical chapters (international legal frameworks; regional legal frameworks; consensus documents and national legal frameworks) with hyperlinks to source documents, such as United Nations conventions, regional treaties, and national legislations. The Compendium is a working document intended as a reference tool for anyone interested in the topic of FGM/C (development practitioners, lawyers, community leaders, academics, researchers, students, etc.). It does not constitute an exhaustive treatment of the legal framework on FGM/C and may be updated from time to time.
English: https://treaties.un.org/pages/TreatyEvents.aspx?path=Treaty/Focus/Page1_en.xml
French: https://treaties.un.org/pages/TreatyEvents.aspx?path=Treaty/Focus/Page1_fr.xml
The concept and practice of the annual Treaty Events take root in the Secretary-General’s Millennium report (A/54/2000) to the General Assembly where he stated the need to provide “special facilities for the Heads of States or Government to add their signatures to any treaty or convention of which the Secretary-General is the depositary”. Ever since, all necessary facilities have been provided for the purpose during the General Debate of each session of the General Assembly, and the Heads of State or Government or Foreign Ministers or other duly authorised state representatives have made use of this unique opportunity to express support for the multilateral treaty framework and the rule of law. As envisioned years ago, the successive treaty events inspired a renewed enthusiasm for participation in these treaties by a growing majority of States. By signing multilateral conventions or depositing their instruments of ratification, accession or through other instruments establishing the consent to be bound, the Member States contribute significantly to the advancement of the rule of law in international relations and the cause of peace.
Nuclear, Chemical and Conventional Weapons Disarmament
https://unidir.org/publication/cyberbiosecurity-a-matter-of-international-peace-and-security/
To better understand the nexus between ICT and the biological field, this paper begins with an outline of some of the benefits introduced by the integration of advanced ICT in biological research and development. It then introduces the above definition of the concept of ‘cyberbiosecurity’ and proceeds to outline some of the key risks at this nexus.
https://doi.org/10.37559/WMD/25/NDV/01
In the established practice of nuclear arms control and disarmament agreements, verification provisions are negotiated as part of a treaty to provide States with a mechanism to assess compliance and to deter violations of its terms. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to negotiate new legally binding agreements, whether bilateral or multilateral. In some areas, in the absence of a functioning treaty, States assume certain obligations that constrain their behaviour, such as moratoriums on fissile material production or explosive nuclear tests, or a commitment to constrain deployment of some weapon systems. However, without agreed verification mechanisms, it is often difficult to confirm compliance with such obligations. This report suggests an approach to verifying obligations assumed by States through a mechanism of demonstrative verification, in which a State that wants to demonstrate compliance with its obligations unilaterally implements measures to positively prove its compliance to an international audience. To be effective, these measures must include a detailed verification protocol, rely on open data rather than intelligence estimates, and potentially involve independent observers. This report discusses potential applications of this approach to nuclear arms control and space security.
Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism
https://unicri.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Clicks-Links-Tricks-How-Serious-Organized-Criminals-Exploit-Digital-Trust-Pathways-Oct-2025.pdf
Trust is at the heart of our growing online ecosystem. Every time we click a link, enter a password, or visit a website, we are placing faith in unseen systems to be legitimate, secure, and protective of our data. It is this invisible fabric of trust that allows the digital world to function. Yet the very same digital pathways of trust are increasingly being manipulated and exploited by organized criminal actors. This report examines how domains, URLs, and web traffic systems, which were designed to sustain the Internet in confidence, are being exploited to sustain serious and organized crime.
Newsletter Archive: https://unric.org/en/unric-info-point-library-newsletter-archive