UN News Today 09 September 2026 |

Record number of attacks on education, global fund warns 

While September traditionally marks the start of the school year across the northern hemisphere, a staggering 93 million children are not in class at all.

That’s the message from Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for learning in emergencies, which cited an unprecedented number of attacks on learning, on the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

According to the fund, a total of 258 million children across 87 countries face severe learning disruption, because of “increasing conflict, decreasing restraint and eroding global norms”.

In support of learning for all, UN chief António Guterres insisted that education is a fundamental human right – but it is becoming increasingly dangerous:

“All States have an obligation to ensure the right to education for every child — and the safety of schools and places of learning… We must work together to prepare and protect education systems — both in person and online — particularly for girls and children in vulnerable situations. And we need to safely reintegrate children and youth associated with armed forces and groups back into schools and communities.”

According to Education Cannot Wait’s report, attacks on education and the use of schools by fighters reached a record high in 2024 and 2025. 

The number of students and staff killed, injured, abducted, or otherwise harmed has never been higher, either, in 30 years of data-gathering.

Afghanistan: Plight of ordinary people going from bad to worse

To Afghanistan, where worsening and widespread poverty is just one of the many problems facing ordinary people, the UN’s human rights chief said on Wednesday.

As each month passes, the de facto authorities are tightening and enforcing their oppressive measures, Volker Türk insisted. 

He also stressed that basic human rights continue to be ignored, a reference to the hundreds of thousands of people being returned “against their will” to Afghanistan from neighbouring countries.

Here’s UN human rights office spokesperson, Jeremy Laurence:

“As each month passes, the de facto authorities are tightening and enforcing oppressive measures. Yet, it seems the world has forgotten and abandoned the people of Afghanistan to a plight deepening by the day. The silence is deafening.  Foreign aid flows have trickled dry, compounding the misery. We implore all States to reconsider their actions, and to put the lives of the suffering population first.”

In the more than five years since the Taliban seized power, women’s and girls’ rights have continued to be ignored and diminished by numerous restrictive decrees.

The UN human rights chief condemned fresh edicts this year which he said “implicitly authorise child marriage and violence against women and children”. 

Mr. Türk insisted that such “gender apartheid” measures “have no place in any society”.

Ebola response gets $225 million boost from US

To the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, where the United States has donated $225 million to fight the expanding deadly outbreak of Ebola virus.

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, welcomed the cash injection saying it would provide lifesaving assistance to nearly one million people.

The funding is divided into three parts: first, to support humanitarian partners and maintain essential services in high-risk areas; second, to maintain critical supply lines and pre-positioning aid relief and cash transfers where possible; and third, address critical needs that lack sufficient funding.

The news followed an update from the UN health agency WHO on Tuesday saying that the Ebola response needs an additional 5,000 health workers.

The outbreak was officially announced in mid-May. It has now spread to six provinces in the east and northeast of DRC.

The virus has killed more than 3,100 people, out of 6,600 confirmed cases. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News.