UN News Today 21 January 2026 |

Haiti emergency: More than 8,000 confirmed killings in 2025 

We begin in Haiti, where the country’s people continue to endure a humanitarian emergency linked to intensifying gang violence, vulnerability to extreme weather events and weak State institutions.

In an update, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the Caribbean island nation saw more than 8,100 confirmed killings from January to November last year. There was also an increase in the trafficking of children, who continue to be used by gangs.

“Violence has intensified and expanded geographically, exacerbating food insecurity and instability,” while long overdue elections must take place, Mr. Guterres said, in his latest report on the UN’s political mission in Haiti.

It notes that more than one in 10 people have fled their homes because of the ongoing violence, which indicates that the country risks prolonged instability.

International efforts to help the country’s people include a Security Council-backed Gang Suppression Force that has made limited gains, including reopening key routes for traders.

Occupied West Bank’s historic settlements being ‘systematically emptied’

Occupied east Jerusalem’s historic neighbourhoods are being “systematically emptied of Palestinians”, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has warned.

It said that the pace of forced displacement of Palestinians was “accelerating” amid Israeli demolitions and evictions in Silwan neighbourhood, south of the Old City. 

Settlements have also expanded unlawfully, the UN rights office insisted, in the heart of three of the most significant Palestinian urban centres: East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

With more details, here’s OHCHR’s Ajith Sunghay:

“Evictions typically result in the transfer of Palestinian homes to Israeli settlers, further eroding Palestinian presence immediately adjacent to the Old City. Some homes are taken over by Israeli authorities to make way for settlement projects which currently include a tourist park with a cable car line that would connect West Jerusalem to the Old City.”

A ruling by the International Court of Justice – ICJ – in July 2024 found that Israel’s forced evictions and extensive house demolitions ran contrary to the prohibition of forcible transfer under the Fourth Geneva Convention. 

The ICJ, which is the UN’s top court called on Israel to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Global investment saw 14 per cent spike in 2025: UNCTAD

Finally, news that a key global economic indicator, foreign direct investment – or FDI – saw a 14 per cent spike in 2025.

That’s according to UN trade and development agency UNCTAD, which put the sector’s overall worth at $1.6 trillion.

Economists follow foreign direct investment because it is recognized as a stimulator of growth, employment and welfare – benefits that particularly developing nations are unable to fund on their own. 

In its latest report on the topic, UNCTAD noted that overseas investment in 2025 rebounded after two weak years.

But it cautioned that much of the 14 per cent increase came from the movement of capital through global financial hubs such as New York and Tokyo, meaning that real FDI growth last year was “fragile” and represented just five per cent of the total.

The agency also warned of “widening divides” between investment in developed and developing economies, with “persistent weakness in projects most critical for sustainable development”.

Developed economies saw a 43 per cent increase in overseas investments , to $728 billion in 2025, whereas developing countries saw a two per cent drop, to $877 billion.

Lower-income countries were hit hardest, UNCTAD noted, with three in four least developed countries seeing “stagnant” or “declining” investment.

Daniel Johnson, UN News