UN News Today 03 July 2025 |

Somalia wildfires highlight need for development finance, says deputy PM  

At the development financing conference in Sevilla, Somalia has appealed for investment assistance to help it withstand global warming, as wildfires tear through farmland in the Daallo Mountains.

Reports indicate that fires have devastated agricultural lands and damaged more than 200 farms.  

Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, Salah Jama, said that emergency workers are struggling to overcome the flames that have uprooted whole communities:

“And much of it’s coming from global warming that Africans have very little to do with, and it’s coming from, you know, industrial countries and in the history of emissions of carbon and other elements. So we’re hoping that there would be a just discussion about the rational or financing development and for continuing a partnership so that we do not lose the games we have made so far.”

Mr. Jama was speaking at the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.  

The meeting – which ends on Thursday – is a crucial opportunity to push for financial reforms and boost investment in the Sustainable Development Goals. 
You can follow our in-depth coverage of the conference on our website news.un.org

In Ukraine, heavy weapons continue to cause widespread death and destruction

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has killed or injured more than 5,700 civilians in the last six months.

That’s according to a report from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which indicates increasing violence against Ukrainian cities and people.

Presented at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the report insists that heavy weapons are “causing rampant damage in populated areas”.

In another worrying development, children are now being recruited online to carry out arson attacks and bombings.  

According to the report, children are contacted via social media and offered money if they to commit acts of sabotage. Targets include the Ukrainian military and civilians.  

Widespread serious violations against prisoners of war also feature in the UN rights chief’s report; it cites credible allegations that at least 35 Ukrainian soldiers and one Russian soldier were executed between last December and May.

Gaza: Fear of starvation still looms despite aid teams’ best efforts, says WFP

UN aid teams in Gaza appealed once again on Thursday for sustained access to Gaza where people continue to live in fear of starvation.

The development comes amid reports of airstrikes and shootings that killed more than 90 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, according to the local authorities.

In an alert, the UN World Food Programme, WFP, said that unless humanitarian workers get widespread aid access and support, thousands more families will suffer.

A handful of heavily militarized non-UN aid hubs operate in the enclave today – but vulnerable Gazans cannot access them.  

Well over 600 people have reportedly been killed around these private platforms in recent weeks, according to the UN rights chief, Volker Türk.

The latest update from the UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, late Wednesday reported more mass casualties from new attacks on tents and schools hosting displaced people – and on people trying to access food.

The news came as the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that it had evacuated 19 sick children and their companions to Jordan, along with four patients and their partners to Turkïye.

More than 10,000 people need medical evacuation urgently, the UN health agency said.  

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

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