UN News Today 02 June 2025 |

UN chief ‘appalled’ by new killings of civilians seeking aid in Gaza

Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that he’s “appalled” by reports that Palestinians have been killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” the UN chief said, following reports that more than 20 were killed and many others injured on Sunday near a US and Israeli-backed aid hub in Rafah.

The Israeli military has denied that its troops fired at people while they were picking up boxes of supplies.

In a statement, the UN Secretary-General called for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for (the) perpetrators to be held accountable.

“Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to agree to and facilitate humanitarian aid,” Mr. Guterres said. 

Ukraine’s frontline families struggle to cultivate mined fields amid conflict

As Ukrainian and Russian delegations met for peace talks in Turkïye on Monday, rural communities living in combat zones faced their own challenge: finding something to eat.

According to the UN, many frontline Ukrainian families are at risk of missing critical planting and harvesting windows.

Without immediate assistance, thousands of farming households may be unable to sustain agricultural production, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.

It explained that since the full-scale Russian invasion over three years ago, many rural households have depended on farming to survive – often tending to a single cow or a small flock of chickens.

“These families want to be able to provide for themselves,” said Rein Paulsen, FAO’s Director of Emergencies and Resilience. He insisted that Ukrainians “want to stay on their land” and that the agency’s emergency agricultural support helps them to do that.

Since 2022, FAO has given 250,000 rural families essential resources such as vegetable seeds, animal feed, young chickens and cash vouchers.

More than 15,000 farmers have received seed for planting, temporary storage solutions and financial aid.

Funding shortfalls are preventing FAO from doing more, the UN agency said.

UN labour agency seeks global solution to potential pitfalls of working online

The potential pitfalls of online platforms are up for debate at the UN, as countries mull reforms to protect workers and promote development.

Digital platforms have grown rapidly in recent decades in line with the gig economy, boosting online education, tourism and transport, for example.

But although businesses that use digital platforms offer flexibility for workers, there’s concern that they don’t offer enough social protection or decent conditions.

From the International Labour Organization (ILO), here’s senior official Angelika Muller.

“Many are self-employed and many are in the informal economy, meaning that they do not have stable jobs…And just to show what the evolution is… Employers are being replaced by algorithms that decide whether the worker has performed well or not, what their schedules are and performance evaluations, and even distributing tasks – in a way, hiring the workers.”

Discussion on the pros and cons of the platform economy are on the agenda at this year’s International Labour Conference.

Held in Geneva annually, it features governments, employers and workers representing the 187 Member States of the UN International Labour Organization.

The conference is also expected to address the issue of health dangers from exposure to biological hazards at work – an issue that came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting is also expected to decide new ways to help countries transition from the informal to the formal economy, increasing development opportunities for all.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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