Sudan crisis: UN agency launches $1.6 billion appeal to support refugees in seven countries

The Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) 2026 aims to provide life-saving aid to 5.9 million people in seven neighboring countries this year: the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda. The plan will continue to prioritize assistance to approximately 470,000 new refugees expected to enter these countries, as well as […]

Epstein states: ‘No one is too rich or too powerful to be above the law’; rights experts demand accountability

In one statement on Monday the independent experts – who serve in their individual capacities under UN mandates Council for Human Rights and are not UN personnel – warned that the alleged acts documented in the files could amount to some of the most serious crimes under international law. According to the experts, the reported […]

The veto could be the weapon of elimination in the election of the next UN chief

The Security Council has a veto right. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías by Thalif Deen (united nations) Tuesday February 17, 2026 Inter-Press Office UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 (IPS) – With the campaign for the next secretary general gaining momentum at a relatively slow pace, there is widespread speculation that any candidate running for UN chief will […]

IRAN: ‘Sustainable change will depend on domestic organizational capacity, not on external force’

from CIVICUS Monday February 16, 2026 Inter-Press Office CIVICUS discusses the recent protests in Iran with Sohrab Razaghi, executive director of Volunteer Activists, a Netherlands-based diaspora organization that empowers Iranian civil society. Sohrab Razaghi On December 28, protests sparked by economic grievances broke out across Iran, quickly developing into broader protests against the regime. The […]

Regional trade in transition: digitalization, service provision and risk reduction

A female merchant in Bangkok who uses her phone as part of her business. Digital technology is a key accelerator of trade growth. Credit: Pexels/Faheem Ahamad Opinion by Witada Anukoonwattaka, Yann Duval, Nikita Shahu and Niccolo Sainati (Bangkok, Thailand) Monday February 16, 2026 Inter-Press Office BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 16 (IPS) – Trade in the Asia-Pacific […]

The World Entrepreneurs and Investment Forum places women at the heart of economic transformation

That was the central message of the Manama Declaration, issued at the end of 2012The World Entrepreneurs and Investment Forum (WEIF) held this week in Bahrain. The declaration places women at the heart of economic transformation and underlines this Empowering them within business and innovation ecosystems is essential for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth. It […]

The transition to Syria is gaining ground thanks to the Kurdish agreement, but violence and humanitarian pressure remain

Claudio Cordone, briefing ambassadors for the first time as deputy special envoy, pointed to the January 30 ceasefire and integration deal between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as a potentially transformative development. The agreement provides for a phased military and administrative integration of northeastern Syria and includes provisions on the return […]