Africa

In Gaza's Middle Area, State of Palestine, 4-year-old Abd Al Kareem eats from a sachet of Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (LNS) during a UNICEF malnutrition screening. Credit: UNICEF/Rawan Eleyan

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 2025 (IPS)

Despite notable improvements in the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip following the October 10 ceasefire, progress remains critically fragile. With the enclave having averted famine across multiple regions, the United Nations (UN) and its partners warn that sustained humanitarian access, a steady flow of resources, and the restoration of critical civilian infrastructure are essential in preventing further deterioration, which could have long-lasting consequences for an already deeply traumatized population.

According to the latest figures from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), food security in Gaza saw significant improvement during the October-November period, with famine eradicated across all areas. This marks a major shift from August, when famine was recorded and confirmed. This is largely attributed to the expansion of humanitarian access since then.

“Famine has been pushed back. Far more people are able to access the food they need to survive,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Gains are fragile, perilously so. And in more than half of Gaza, where Israeli troops remain deployed, farmland and entire neighborhoods are out of reach. Strikes and hostilities continue, pushing the civilian toll of this war even higher and exposing our teams to grave danger. We need more crossings, the lifting of restrictions on critical items, the removal of red tape, safe routes inside Gaza, sustained funding, and unimpeded access, including for nonprofit organizations (NGOs).”

Figures from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) show that following the ceasefire, obstructions to aid deliveries have declined to roughly 20 percent—down from 30 to 35 percent prior to the ceasefire. Between October 10 and December 16, more than 119,000 metric tons of UN-coordinated aid were offloaded, with over 111,000 metric tons successfully collected.

Despite this, severe levels of hunger and malnutrition persist, particularly among displaced communities. The vast majority of the enclave’s population faces emergency levels (IPC Phase 4) of hunger, with hundreds of thousands facing acute malnutrition. Between October and November, approximately 1.6 million people, or over 75 percent of the population studied, were found to face crisis levels of hunger (Phase 3) or worse, including 500,000 people in emergency levels (Phase 4) and over 100,000 in catastrophic levels (Phase 5).

Women and children —especially those from displaced communities— are expected to bear the heaviest burdens. An estimated 101,000 children aged six to 59 months are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition through October of next year, with 31,000 of those cases expected to be life-threatening. In addition, roughly 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to require urgent treatment.

In a joint statement, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Food Programme (WFP), warn that without sustained humanitarian support, increased financial assistance, and a definitive end to the hostilities, hundreds of thousands of Gazans could quickly fall back into famine conditions.

OCHA noted that approximately 1.6 million Gazans are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity through mid-April of 2026, with the agency recording aid deliveries being hampered as a result of continued airstrikes, procedural constraints, and the lingering effects of Storm Byron, which caused considerable levels of flooding. In December, the agency recorded reduced food rations from WFP in an attempt to maximize coverage. Other sectors of the humanitarian response have been deprioritized to address the most urgent food security needs.

IPC’s latest report identifies the collapse of agri-food systems as a major driver of food insecurity in Gaza, noting that over 96 percent of the enclave’s cropland has been decimated or rendered inaccessible. With livelihoods shattered and local production severely strained, families are increasingly unable to afford nutritious and diverse foods.

Approximately 70 percent of households cannot afford to buy food or secure clean water. Protein has become particularly scarce, and no children are meeting adequate dietary diversity standards, with two-thirds consuming only one to two food groups.

“Gaza’s farmers, herders and fishers are ready to restart food production, but they cannot do so without immediate access to basic supplies and funding,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience. “The ceasefire has opened a narrow window to allow life-sustaining agricultural supplies to reach the hands of vulnerable farmers. Only funding and expanded and sustained access will allow local food production to resume and reduce dependence on external aid.”

The latest figures from OCHA indicate that at least 2,407 children received treatment for acute malnutrition in the first two weeks of December. Additionally, as of December 16, more than 172,000 metric tons of aid positioned by 56 humanitarian partners are ready for transfer into Gaza, with food supplies accounting for 72 percent of the total.

Even in the face of these consistent needs, some humanitarian deliveries carried out by the UN and its partners continue to be routinely denied by Israeli authorities. Between December 10 and 16, humanitarian agencies coordinated 47 missions with Israeli authorities, 30 of which were conducted, 10 were impeded, four were denied, and three were cancelled.

According to Kate Newton, Deputy Country Director for WFP in Palestine, missions requiring prior coordination with Israeli authorities—including winterization efforts, assessment and clearance missions, and cargo uplifts—are particularly uncertain. “We still have all the issues that we’ve been talking about for months and months – the logistical challenges, the fact we’re very limited in terms of the number of roads we can use, that we still have a very high level of insecurity, that bureaucratic processes are still impeding humanitarian delivery,” said Newton.

On December 17, a coalition of UN agencies and more than 200 international and local NGOs called for urgent measures pressuring Israeli authorities to lift all impediments to humanitarian aid, warning that current restrictions severely undermine relief efforts and threaten the collapse of an effective humanitarian response. The joint statement underscores that humanitarian action is now more critical than ever and stresses that Gaza cannot afford to slip back into pre-ceasefire conditions.

“UN agencies and NGOs reiterate that humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political. It is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law, particularly in Gaza where Israel has failed to ensure that the population is adequately supplied,” the statement reads. “Israeli authorities must allow and facilitate rapid, unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief. They must immediately reverse policies that obstruct humanitarian operations and ensure that humanitarian organizations are able to operate without compromising humanitarian principles. Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay.”

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By CIVICUS
Dec 23 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses migrants’ rights in Libya with Sarra Zidi, political scientist and researcher for HuMENA, an international civil society organisation (CSO) that advances democracy, human rights and social justice across the Middle East and North Africa.

Sarra Zidi

Libya has fragmented into rival power centres, with large areas controlled by armed groups. As state institutions have collapsed, there’s no functioning system to protect the rights and safety of migrants and refugees. Instead, state-linked bodies such as the Directorate for Combating Illegal Immigration (DCIM) and the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) often work with militias, smugglers and traffickers, with near-total impunity. In this lawless environment, Sub-Saharan migrants face systematic abuses that the International Criminal Court (ICC) and United Nations bodies warn may amount to crimes against humanity. Despite this, the European Union (EU) continues to classify Libya as a ‘safe country of return’ and work with it to externalise its migration control.

What risks do migrants face in Libya?

Libya has no asylum system, which leaves migrants and refugees without legal protection and highly vulnerable to abuse. From the moment people enter the country, they face the risk of arbitrary arrest, torture and, in some cases, ending up in mass graves or being killed extrajudicially.

Detention is the default approach to migration management. While the DCIM formally oversees detention centres, many are effectively run by militias that hold people indefinitely without registration, legal processes or access to lawyers. Centres are severely overcrowded, with hardly any food, healthcare, sanitation or water, and disease outbreaks are common. Sexual and gender-based violence are systematic. Militias and guards subject detained women to forced prostitution, rape and sexual slavery.

Extortion is widespread. Officials torture detainees to force ransom payments from relatives, and their release often depends on intermediaries paying bribes. Those who manage to get out typically have no documents or resources, leaving them exposed to being arrested again.

Smuggling networks shape much of the movement across Libya. Traffickers routinely subject migrants to economic exploitation, physical violence and racial discrimination. Some CSOs have documented slave auctions where Black migrants are sold as farm workers. Officials and traffickers treat migrants as commodities in an economy built on forced labour across agriculture, construction and domestic work.

Accountability is almost non-existent. Libya lacks laws criminalising key offences under the ICC’s Rome Statute, including sexual and gender-based violence and torture. In this context, many migrants try to flee through the Central Mediterranean Route – the world’s deadliest migration route – as the only escape they can see.

What’s the EU’s role?

Although Libyan authorities are the ones who commit these human rights violations, they operate within a wider EU policy designed to externalise migration control. By relying on Libya to contain migration along the Central Mediterranean Route, the EU prioritise containment over protection.

Since the 2017 Malta Declaration between Italy and Libya, the EU has funded and trained the LCG. This support enables Libya to maintain a vast search and rescue zone and intercept people attempting to cross the sea. This approach draws inspiration from other offshore detention models, such as Australia’s, and focuses on preventing people from reaching European territory. This has strengthened Libya’s capacity to intercept migrants while doing little to address the systematic violations occurring in detention centres and at the hands of militias.

What are CSOs doing to help, and what challenges do they face?

CSOs play a crucial role in documenting violations, gathering survivor testimonies and building evidence archives that can support future accountability efforts. They are also a vital source of information and protection for migrants. Many work closely with international partners such as Doctors Without Borders and the World Organisation Against Torture, and often intervene directly in individual cases to save lives.

But because security risks remain extremely high, activists, human rights defenders and journalists must carry out much of their work discreetly. They face constant surveillance, threats and pressure from authorities and militias, and some have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and forcibly disappeared.

Their work is becoming increasingly difficult as authorities further restrict Libya’s civic space. The government uses draconian laws to silence organisations that expose abuses, call for reforms or maintain ties with international partners. The 2022 Cybercrime Law is routinely applied to target activists and bloggers under vague charges such as ‘threatening public security’. In March 2023, a new measure invalidated all CSOs registered after 2011 unless they were founded under a specific law from the era of Muammar Gaddafi.

On 2 April, the Internal Security Agency ordered the closure of 10 international CSOs, accusing them of ‘hostile activities’ and of trying to alter Libya’s demographics by assisting African migrants. This move has cut off essential services for asylum seekers, migrants and refugees, leaving them even more vulnerable.

What actions should the international community take?

The international community must urgently refocus its attention on Libya. When donors de-prioritise the crisis or divert funds elsewhere, Sub-Saharan migrants are left even more exposed to exploitation and violence.

International bodies also need to strengthen their support for Libyan civil society and ensure activists can participate safely in global forums in Brussels, Geneva and New York. Policymakers need their testimonies to shape informed, rights-based decisions.

Protection systems need major improvements too. The International Organisation for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency struggle with long bureaucratic processes that result in many people never receiving the help they need. Migrants need places where they can report abuse safely and receive proper legal advice and psychosocial support.

Only with adequate resources, renewed political will and a rights-based approach that brings local voices to the table can we address the ongoing crisis in Libya and protect migrants trapped in a system of abuse.

This interview was conducted during International Civil Society Week 2025, a five-day gathering in Bangkok that brought together activists, movements and organisations defending civic freedoms and democracy around the world. International Civil Society Week was co-hosted by CIVICUS and the Asia Democracy Network.

 
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SEE ALSO
Libya: Women, HRDs, migrant support NGOs, journalists and online critics face systematic violations CIVICUS Monitor 26.Oct.2025
Outsourcing cruelty: the offshoring of migration management CIVICUS Lens 15.Sep.2025
Migrants’ rights: humanity versus hostility CIVICUS | 2025 State of Civil Society Report

 

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 2025 (IPS)

The UN Staff Union is on edge — hoping for the best and expecting the worse — as the General Assembly will vote on a proposed programme budget for 2026 by December 31.

The President of the UN Staff Union (UNSU), Narda Cupidore, has listed some of the proposals which will have an impact on staff members, including:

• Proposed decrease of the 2026 regular budget by 15.1%
• A total of 2,681 posts (about 18.8%) proposed for abolishment across the Secretariat, more than half of which are already vacant.
• Administrative functions will be centralized through new Common Administrative Platforms (CAPs) beginning in New York and Bangkok next year.
• Proposed relocation of approximately 173 posts to lower cost duty stations, including Nairobi, Bonn, Valencia, Tunis, and Vienna.

IF the proposed changes are approved by the General Assembly, the following measures are expected to take effect:

• Mitigating measures: reductions in staffing will be managed through vacancy elimination, the early separation programme, lateral reassignments within entities, followed by global placement.
• Downsizing policy: if further staff reductions are required, the downsizing policy will be enacted in accordance with the established rules under ST/AI/2023/1, considering appointment type, performance, and years of service.

WHAT HAPPENS Next…

• December 2025: Await General Assembly resolution
• January – March 2026: mitigating measures
• April 2026 onward: Downsizing policy applied if needed

Early Separation Program (a mitigating measure): Office of Human Resources has advised:

• Rounds 1 and 2 are still open and will not be finalized until January 2026.
• Round 3 is currently active, focused on a specific criterion as outlined in this round.
• Colleagues who expressed interest in the program will receive individual responses confirming approval or non-approval once all rounds of the exercise are closed.

Support for Staff

The Staff Support Framework 2.0 – expected to be available soon – to help navigate upcoming changes, provide structured guidance on prioritizing reassignment over terminations, and minimize involuntary separations.

As the Fifth Committee continues its deliberations in the coming days toward adopting a resolution and approving the budget, the UN Staff Union (UNSU) remains actively engaged in monitoring the negotiations, says Cupidore in a memo to staff members.

“At the same time, we are evaluating the potential implications of these decisions, our entitlements and working conditions”.

Meanwhile, the US State Department is in the process of eliminating over 132 domestic offices, laying-off about 700 federal workers and reducing diplomatic missions overseas.

The proposed changes will also include terminating funding for the UN and some of its agencies, budgetary cuts to the 32-member military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and 20 other unidentified international organizations.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Alex Robbins Source IMF

By Gita Bhatt
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 23 2025 (IPS)

We live in a galaxy of data. From satellites and smartwatches to social media and swipes at a register, we have ways to measure the economy to an extent that would have seemed like science fiction just a generation ago. New data sources and techniques are challenging not only how we see the economy, but how we make sense of it.

The data deluge raises important questions: How can we distinguish meaningful signals of economic activity from noise in the age of artificial intelligence, and how should we use them to inform policy decisions? To what extent can new sources of data complement or even replace official statistics?

And, at a more fundamental level, are we even measuring the metrics that matter most in today’s increasingly digital economy? Or are we simply tracking what we looked at in the past? This issue of Finance & Development explores these questions.

Author Kenneth Cukier suggests that harnessing alternative data requires a new mindset. He likens today’s economists to radiologists who once resisted having clearer MRI scans because they were trained to read fuzzier ones. Are we clinging to outdated metrics even as new data offers faster, granular, and sharper insights into economic reality and a better reflection of “ground truth”?

More data doesn’t automatically mean better insights or decisions. New or alternative data is often a by-product of private business activity, with all the biases of that environment. It may lack the long continuity and robust methods that underpin official economic indicators.

That’s why official statistics remain essential.

Claudia Sahm shows how central banks are tapping new sources of data to fill gaps—including falling response rates to national surveys—but always in tandem with trusted official sources. To improve data quality, she calls for strong ties between statistical agencies, private providers, government officials, and academics.

Relying on data sources not available to the public erodes transparency, which is critical to central bank accountability, she cautions.

For the IMF’s Bert Kroese, reliance on private data must not diminish resources available for official number crunching. Without strong, independent national statistical agencies, the integrity of economic data, and the policies built on it, could falter.

That’s not to say government agencies always get it right. Rebecca Riley argues that core economic metrics like GDP and productivity are increasingly misaligned with a rewired, data-driven economy. She calls for a modernization of measurement systems to better reflect the growth of intangible assets such as digital services, and the evolving structure of global production.

Better data collection serves the public good only if the data is widely available. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger warns that the concentration of data collection among a handful of Big Tech companies threatens competition and innovation.

He makes the case for policies that mandate broader data sharing. Thijs Van de Graaf adds a geopolitical lens, revealing the material demands behind AI’s data hunger, from energy and chips to minerals and water, and how these pressures are reshaping global power dynamics.

Elsewhere, Laura Veldkamp discusses the value of data, raising questions about how we price, use, and share information, and proposes novel approaches to turn intangible data into something we can count. Jeff Kearns shows how innovative approaches like nowcasting are helping developing economies close information gaps.

And the head of India’s statistical agency, Saurabh Garg, explains in an interview how he is tackling challenges of scale as public demand for real-time data grows.

This issue serves as a reminder that better measurement is not just about more data—it’s about using it wisely. In an era where AI amplifies both possibilities and noise, that challenge becomes even more urgent. To serve the public good, data must help us see the world more clearly, respond intelligently to complexity, and make better decisions. Data, after all, is a means not an end.

I hope the insights in this issue help you better understand the profound forces at play in our data-driven world.

Gita Bhatt is the Head of Policy Communications and Editor-In-Chief of Finance & Development magazine. She has a multifaceted communications background, with more than 20 years of professional experience, including in media and public affairs.

During 2009-11, she worked at the Reserve Bank of India as Adviser to the Governor. She has an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelors in Economics and Philosophy from George Washington University.

Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Victor Osimhen is determined to lead a "talented" Super Eagles squad to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, aiming to overcome past disappointments.

Tercer Piso. Source Amnesty International

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 2025 (IPS)

Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, once made a highly-debatable distinction between “friendly” right-wing “authoritarian” regimes (which were mostly U.S. and Western allies) and “unfriendly” left-wing “totalitarian” dictatorships (which the U.S. abhorred).

Around the same time, successive U.S. administrations were cozying up to a rash of authoritarian regimes, mostly in the Middle East, widely accused of instituting emergency laws, detaining dissidents, cracking down on the press, torturing political prisoners and rigorously imposing death penalties.

Kirkpatrick’s distinction between user-friendly right-wing regimes and unfriendly left-wing dictators prompted a sarcastic response from her ideological foe at that time, former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who shot back: “It seems to me that if you’re on the rack (and being tortured), it doesn’t make any difference if your torturer is right-handed or left-handed.”

Last month, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, warned that rigorous oversight of security and policing trade fairs is necessary to prevent prohibited and inherently abusive law enforcement equipment hitting the market after such items were found on display at Milipol 2025, an arms and security trade fair held in Paris from 18 to 21 November.

“Direct-contact electric shock devices, multiple kinetic impact projectiles and multi-barrel launchers cause unnecessary suffering and ought to be banned,” Edwards said. “Their trade and promotion should be prohibited across all 27 EU Member States and globally.”

Under the EU Anti-Torture Regulation – first introduced in 2006 and strengthened in 2019 – companies are banned from promoting, displaying or trading certain equipment that can be used for torture or ill-treatment. In 2025, the EU further expanded the list of prohibited and controlled law enforcement items, according to a UN press release.

Dr. Simon Adams, President and CEO of the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), the largest international organization that treats survivors and advocates for an end to torture worldwide, told IPS as the largest torture rehabilitation organization in the world, the Center for Victims of Torture supports the Special Rapporteur and the campaign to stop companies marketing, promoting and selling goods that are designed solely to inflict human suffering.

Torture is a crime under international law and is illegal everywhere and at all times. Companies should not be able to market and trade goods that are routinely abused by security forces to commit human rights violations, or have no purpose other than to inflict torture, he said.

“At CVT we work with traumatized survivors of torture every day. Many are refugees who have come from countries where security forces use the sort of devices that were on sale at the fair. The European Union has been a key partner in the campaign to establish torture-free trade.”

“It is unconscionable that companies are allowed to promote these products inside the EU. It is grotesque that such products even exist. This trade in human cruelty should be completely banned,” declared Dr Adams.

A wide range of equipment previously identified by the UN Special Rapporteur as “inherently abusive” were on display at the fair. Offending equipment found on display or being promoted included direct-contact electric shock weapons (batons, gloves and stun guns), spiked anti-riot shields, ammunition with multiple kinetic impact projectiles, and multi-barrel launchers, according to the UN.

These products were marketed by Brazilian, Chinese, Czech, French, Indian, Israeli, Italian, Kazakh, North Macedonian, South Korean, Turkish and US companies.

Among the new banned items under EU law are aerial systems that deliver “injurious quantities of riot control agents,” yet companies were promoting drones fitted with multi-barrel launchers capable of dispersing large quantities of chemical irritants.

After Milipol organisers were notified of the items, swift action was taken, demanding companies remove catalogue pages and items. Edwards said one state-owned company refused to comply and its stall was shut down.

“The continued promotion of inherently abusive weapons underscores the urgent need for States to adopt my 2023 report recommendations,” the expert said.

While welcoming recent EU steps to strengthen controls, Edwards stressed that regional action alone is insufficient.

“The discoveries made at Milipol show why a global, legally binding Torture-Free Trade Treaty is essential,” the UN Special Rapporteur said. “Without coordinated international regulation, abusive equipment will simply find new markets, new routes and new victims.”

She urged all organisers of security, defence and policing exhibitions worldwide to establish robust monitoring, enforce bans consistently, and cooperate fully with independent investigators.

“Milipol’s response was swift and responsible,” the expert said. “But the fact that banned items were exhibited at all shows that constant vigilance is essential.”

Edwards had raised these issues on previous occasions and will continue to monitor relevant developments.

Alice Jill Edwards is the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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