UN News Today 25 November 2025 |

Occupied Palestinian Territory faces worst economic crisis on record, UNCTAD warns

The Occupied Palestinian Territory is now in its deepest economic crisis ever recorded — with Gaza hit hardest — according to the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD.

The agency says decades of restrictions, combined with the latest military operations, have wiped out years of economic progress.

Speaking in Geneva, Pedro Manuel Moreno — UNCTAD’s Deputy Secretary-General told reporters that it’s the lowest GDP per capita in the world currently: 

“GDP per capita fell for just 161 dollars, or less than 50 cents per day, among the lowest in the world. The destruction of infrastructure, the loss of productive capacity, and the displacement of the population have cost long term harm to people and to their ability to earn a living.”

UNCTAD says Gaza’s economy collapsed by 83 per cent in 2024 — the fastest and most damaging economic decline ever recorded.

Across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, GDP per person has fallen back to 2003 levels, erasing 22 years of human development.

The report also warns that all schools and universities in Gaza have been destroyed, leaving children out of education for more than two years — a loss of human capital that will affect society for generations.

Rebuilding Gaza will require more than 70 billion dollars, and UNCTAD says recovery will take decades even under stable peace and sustained international support.

Gaza’s women facing hunger, loss and rising disability: UN Women

UN Women says the war in Gaza has left women and girls facing “unbearable loss” — with more than 12,000 now living with new, war-related disabilities.

The agency’s Head of Humanitarian Action, Sofia Calltorp, has just returned from Gaza. She says women told her life is still marked by hunger, fear and repeated displacement — even under the ceasefire.

Prices for basic food are now four times higher than before the war.

Speaking in Geneva, she described what women told her:

“Women in Gaza told me again and again: there may be a ceasefire, but the war is not over. The attacks are fewer — but the killing continues.”

UN Women says women are “holding the line between life and loss with exhausted hands,” and warns that no woman or girl should have to fight this hard just to survive.

The agency is urging more aid to enter Gaza safely — and for the ceasefire to hold.

UN warns 50,000 women and girls killed by partners or family in 2024

A new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women says 50,000 women and girls were killed last year by intimate partners or family members — one every 10 minutes.

UNODC says the home remains “a dangerous and sometimes lethal place” for many women and girls.

UN Women says femicide often sits on a “continuum of violence”, including coercive control and digital harassment, which can escalate if systems fail to intervene.

The highest regional rates were recorded in Africa, followed by the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe.

IOM warns trafficking risks rising as new global campaign launches

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a new global campaign calling for stronger action to prevent human trafficking and expand support for survivors.

The campaign — “Anyone a Victim” — highlights that an estimated 50 million people are living in situations of trafficking, forced labour or forced marriage.

IOM Director General Amy Pope said trafficking “strips people of their rights, choices and futures.”

The campaign features IOM Goodwill Ambassadors, including Sir Mo Farah — himself a survivor of trafficking — who urged communities to listen to survivors and invest in recovery.

IOM says the goal is to mobilise global support for prevention and survivor-assistance programmes.

Katy Dartford, UN News