World News in Brief: Schools closed in West Bank, AI in healthcare, Indigenous rights

For more than a year, six schools established by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have been inaccessible, and another six have been closed, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists in New York. 

Ten schools in Area C of the West Bank were recently abandoned due to settler attacks and access restrictions, he added. 

On Wednesday, Suzanna Tkalec, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, led a joint humanitarian mission to a former UN school in Gaza currently hosting 18 displaced families. 

Mr. Dujarric said that according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, those families’ living conditions have been undermined by a lack of access to humanitarian aid. 

“Our humanitarian partners are committed to mobilizing assistance to address the community’s most urgent needs,” he said. 

Aid reaches thousands in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Even as the Israeli military continues to strike Gaza and launch raids into the West Bank, humanitarian workers continue to provide lifesaving assistance. 

The UN’s partner organizations have distributed more than 378,000 items, including tarpaulins, cleaning kits and jerrycans to civilians in Gaza in the past month. 

In the West Bank, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) provided food vouchers and cash assistance to about 286,000 people in June. 

The UN is concerned, however, that the required supplies may not be available by the winter season without increased support. 

“Without additional funding, depleted stockpiles cannot be replenished, putting vulnerable families at even greater risk, particularly as humanitarians prepare for winter,” Mr. Dujarric said. 

WHO urges countries to develop health-specific AI regulations 

Artificial intelligence (AI) governance strategies must ensure the technology remedies health inequities in access and treatment, rather than amplifying them, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday in a press release. 

The warning comes as the UN continues its push to bring Member States together around global AI governance. The WHO and the Government of Portugal kicked off a high-level conference in Lisbon on Wednesday, hosting government representatives from 37 countries across all six WHO regions to share strategies for responsible AI use in healthcare. 

In an April report, the WHO found that 74 per cent of European Union (EU) Member States already used AI to assist with diagnostics, but only 11 per cent had a health-specific AI strategy and just eight per cent had liability standards for AI in case something goes wrong. 

“Every country in the world is wrestling with the same questions right now: how do we govern AI responsibly, how do we build the health workforce to use it safely, and how do we make sure it serves patients rather than just those who can afford the technology,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe. 

Regulation push prioritizes patients 

In the press release, Dr. Kluge said part of the reason AI regulation is so urgent is that patients are already using chatbots to ask about their symptoms. 

“Regulating AI in health is hard,” he said. “But not regulating it is harder – measured in patients harmed, trust lost and inequalities widened. 

The WHO released guidance on the ethical use of AI in healthcare in 2021, focusing on how it can be used safely and ethically to advance the interests of patients and communities 

A key focus of the conference is to develop strategies to ensure that patients with less access to the healthcare system and to technology are not left behind as countries and providers adopt AI tools 

“No country should have to navigate the AI transformation alone,” the WHO wrote. 

Indigenous rights activists face disproportionate dangers 

The world’s transition to clean energy must not come at the cost of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Wednesday at the 19th session of the UN-appointed Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Indigenous rights defenders often face intimidation, harassment, violence, criminalisation and prosecution, especially as they defend their land from development projects such as mining and large-scale agriculture. 

Between 2023 and 2025, at least 15 per cent of the human rights defenders killed or forcibly disappeared around the world were Indigenous Persons, according to the human rights chief. 

Mr. Türk highlighted the case of Brooklyn Rivera, an Indigenous leader in Nicaragua who died in state custody in May, and called for all Member States to respect Indigenous rights. 

He also highlighted recent successes such as an Indigenous group in Australia that in May secured record compensation for mining conducted without their consent. 

“Indigenous Peoples’ rights are not theoretical aspirations for the future; they are obligations for the present, now,” Mr. Türk said. “And wherever those rights are respected, all of society becomes more just, more peaceful and more resilient.” 

Highlighting Indigenous contributions 

Indigenous Peoples around the world lead efforts on biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, resource management, peacebuilding and human rights. 

“Durable peace requires inclusion, justice, meaningful participation at every stage and recognition of rights,” he said. “And this must involve recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination and to control over their lands.” 

Majority populations have historically dispossessed Indigenous communities of land and resources, denied them self-determination, degraded their environments, and threatened their governance systems and cultures, human rights chief noted. 

Mr. Türk urged Member States to support the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples and the Global Alliance for Human Rights, both of which strengthen Indigenous participation in international fora. 

“Together we can work to place all human rights at the centre of decision-making everywhere,” he said.