UN News Today 02 July 2025 |

Investing in communities beats border spending, says IOM chief

At the Sevilla development financing conference, UN migration agency chief Amy Pope has made the case for investing in the communities’ migrants come from, instead of increasing border security.

Ms. Pope, who’s Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that more people are on the move today in search of work, or because they’re fleeing war, persecution and climate shocks.

She emphasized that creating development opportunities in migrants’ home communities is key.

One way to do this is to ensure that it’s cheaper for migrants to send money home as remittances, she told UN News:

“We know that remittances are driving economic development in low and middle income countries. In fact, more than $700 billions of remittances went into low and middle income countries and so finding ways for remittances to go back with lower transaction fees, so more of the money is getting into those communities and then partnering with communities, partnering with local governments so that remittances can actually fuel more systematic development is absolutely key.”

The IOM chief also encouraged governments to reconsider the development benefits of enabling safe and legal migration to their countries, to change the current toxic narrative about migrants on boats.

Ms. Pope was speaking on the sidelines of the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.  

The meeting is a crucial opportunity to push for financial reforms and boost investment in the Sustainable Development Goals.

And you can follow our in-depth coverage of the conference on our website news.un.org

Gaza: People now fainting in the streets from hunger, warns UNRWA

While reports emerge of an imminent US-led ceasefire announcement in Gaza, people are fainting in the streets of the war-torn enclave, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday.

In an online alert, the UN agency called for an end to the near-total siege on Gaza – and for safe, UN-led aid deliveries to be reinstated urgently.

Currently, non-UN private aid hubs supported by Israel and the United States provide very limited amounts of humanitarian relief to Gazans who are able enough to fetch supplies from just a handful of heavily militarized distribution points. When UN aid was permitted, there were around 400 distribution sites all over the enclave.

And since the private hubs opened on 27 May, more than 600 people have been killed trying to reach them, according to the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk.

In comments on Tuesday to the broadcaster Democracy Now! Mr. Türk said that “ethnic displacement and ethnic cleansing” have been happening to the people of Gaza.

They have been displaced many times since the war started and they now live in just one-fifth of the territory, the UN rights chief explained.

Syria: aid teams continue providing vital assistance while massive needs remain

To Syria, where UN aid teams and partners have ramped up the amount of relief supplies being delivered across the war-torn country.

The UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, said that aid deliveries from Türkiye this year have also significantly increased, enough to help more than 1.6 million people receive food, health, shelter and other support.

Still, needs remain massive across Syria, including in the northwestern governorates of Aleppo and Idleb, where displaced communities and people returning to their homes require basic support.

Healthcare challenges are especially acute.

OCHA highlighted the case of a UN-renovated health centre in Ma’arrat An Nu’man, Idleb, which serves 100,000 people.

Despite its critical role in the community, the facility has only one midwife who attends to more than 100 births a day.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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