A ground pass for UN headquarters in Geneva. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)

🔒A UN body is keeping NGOs locked out – states are pushing for reform. A technical body in charge of granting NGOs access to the UN is accused of increasingly abusing its power to block certain organisations for political purposes. Some states are taking steps to reform the system, but the efforts are met with significant resistance.

🌤️International Geneva: a western, and not global, hub for multilateralism? A study by the Geneva Graduate Institute revealing international Geneva’s largely western donor base suggests the city is not as global as it claims.

🙅🏻‍♂️Rights and wrongs ahead of Baku’s Cop29 hosting. After recent climate conferences in Egypt and Dubai, Azerbaijan will be the next authoritarian petrostate to host this year’s climate change conference. Activists are hoping that the event will help bring global attention to worrisome human rights trends within the country.

👩🏻‍🤝‍👩🏽Tug of war over gender issues at the Human Rights Council. Gender issues, including women’s rights and sexual orientation, have infused the summer session at the UN Human Rights Council. But rising polarisation has made political consensus ever more difficult to achieve.

🗳Should the UN be worried about the rise of the far right? As the far right gains ground across the west, the future of multilateralism and the UN’s role in global governance faces uncertainty. An expert suggests that could involve a practice by politicians to engage in “multilateralism à la carte”.

Martin Griffiths, under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, speaks to journalists during a press conference at the UN in Geneva on 26 June, 2024. (Keystone/Martial Trezzini)

Martin Griffiths: ‘The world is failing, not the UN.’ The UN top aid chief stepped down in June at a time of huge pressure on the humanitarian sector to meet record global needs. In his last briefing with journalists, Griffiths said it would be up to his successor to lead a radical rethink of how aid is funded.

Leopoldo López, the Venezuelan opposition figure hoping for the end of Chavismo. Ahead of Venezuela’s presidential elections, the exiled opposition leader had high hopes for the tally as its official candidate led in the polls.

Students and other supporters of pro-Palestine students gather outside Columbia University campus to protest in New York, 1 May 2024. (Keystone/EPA/Sarah Yenessel)

Elections and global crises put freedom of expression to the test. Across the world, the right to peaceful assembly and association is being trampled on. Gina Romero, the new UN special rapporteur, shares her concerns.

Sudanese civilian figure on UN-brokered talks in Geneva: ‘There is no military solution to this conflict’. As the UN attempted to broker a deal for humanitarian aid in Sudan, Mohamed Salih Yassin, a Sudanese figure from the civilian coalition involved in peace efforts, followed the talks from the sidelines in Geneva.

Noonkopir Primary School in Kajiado District, Kenya, on 24 February 2023. Kenya is one of the countries partnering with Giga. (Giga)

🎒How the UN is connecting the world's classrooms. A UN initiative to connect around six million schools to the internet by 2030 is well underway. The challenges in remote areas with no infrastructure are significant.

❝Ten years on, talks for a business and human rights treaty get new impetus. After ten years of division over negotiations for a legally binding agreement on business and human rights, states have to choose between one more decade of lip service or delivering on the demands of civil society, communities and businesses wishing to level the playing field, writes negotiations expert Jérôme Bellion-Jourdan.