Amina J. Mohammed | On life’s journey, make each step count (S11-E8)
Amina is known for making the impossible possible, and has relied on a strong moral compass and the strength of her convictions across a long and varied career of service. In this episode, the UN Deputy Secretary-General and mother-of-six and grandmother to five reflects on what the Sustainable Development Goals have meant in her own life and shares what chocolate and traditional clothes have to do with strong leadership.
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The 2025 HRC Social Forum which will be co-Chaired by the Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Slovenia and the Philippines, will take place on 30 and 31 October in the Assembly Hall, Palais des Nations. In accordance with HRC resolution 56/12, it will focus on the contribution of education to the respect, promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights for all.
The flyer 30-31 October, 2025 and Programme of Work social-forum-2025-programme-work.pdf can be found at: 2025 Social Forum | OHCHR
With over 1000 registrations so far, this year’s forum will also host 10 side events, thematic exhibitions and cultural events.
To register, please visit: Indico (please click on link)
For more information on the Social Forum, see: Social Forum
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University for Peace eCourses
29 October-25 November 2025
This four-week interactive e-learning module is aimed specifically at operationalizing the RTD in the implementation of the SDGs. It is intended to contribute to implementing the SDGs, through specific application of the RTD, especially its international dimensions vis-à-vis SDG 17 and global partnership. The module will be based on, and rigorous in its application of the text of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development and other international human rights instruments as well as on the text of the 2030 Agenda. Participants successfully completing the module will receive a certificate from the organizers.
Application Deadline: October 26
Apply Here
Mainstreaming the Right to Development in Voluntary National Review Reporting
26 November - 27 November 2025
The United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in 2015 resulted in the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a global plan to replace the Millennium Development Goals. This agenda aims to achieve sustainable development for all and includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets to be achieved by 2030.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the University for Peace are jointly offering an online workshop comprising two half-day sessions (3 hours each) to train stakeholders on Mainstreaming the Right to Development in Voluntary National Review (VNR) Reporting for realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Application Deadline: 20 November 2025
Apply Here
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Co-organized by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS) and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), this high-level dialogue will elevate human security as a central consideration in an era of hard power. The discussion will explore how governments and multilateral actors can pursue a balanced approach that upholds defense priorities while addressing the needs of people and the planet. Participants will examine how human security, as a strategic complement to traditional approaches, can help realize peace and stability in the face of systemic risks and complex crises.
This hybrid event is open to participation both in person and online. Register using this link: https://www.gcsp.ch/events/human-centered-security-complex-world-geneva-security-debate
📅 27 October 2025
⏰ 12:30 – 2:00 pm
📍 Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Featured speakers include:
- Amb. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Former President of the UN General Assembly
- Mr. Markus Deblom, Director, FBA Department for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding
- Ms. Heba Aly, Director, UN Charter Reform Coalition
- Mr. Piotr Wolynski, Human Security Officer, NATO (SHAPE)
- Opening remarks: Amb. Thomas Greminger, Executive Director, GCSP
- Closing remarks: Amb. Knut Vollebaek, Chair, Advisory Board on Human Security
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The Global Digital Compact, agreed by U.N. Member States in 2024, calls for assessing the impact of misinformation and disinformation on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (Action 35e).
As the lead coordinating entity for advancing Action 35(e), the United Nations Department of Global Communications is circulating a global online form—open until 31 December 2025—to gather input from U.N. entities, governments, private sector and civil society, including media, academia and youth organizations.
Your survey response would contribute to cataloguing global efforts and showcase best practices and achievements, help to identify gaps and inform future policy guidance in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. The findings will also inform the Global Digital Compact process, ensuring civil society efforts are represented.
We would greatly appreciate your institution's participation in the survey. Thank you.
Link: https://forms.office.com/e/x6qBNY6cXp
Deadline: 31 December 2025
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The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) took place from 9 to 13 June 2025 in Nice, France, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica under the overarching theme “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.”
To capture the outcomes of stakeholder participation at the Conference, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has prepared the 2025 UN Ocean Conference Stakeholder Engagement Impact Report.
The report provides an account of stakeholder engagement in the preparatory process and at the Conference itself, highlighting online consultations, the preparatory meeting, special accreditation, youth engagement, side events, and stakeholder interventions in official sessions. It also features participation figures, outreach activities, and key messages from stakeholders, demonstrating the breadth and depth of their contributions.
The report highlights how the 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) fostered inclusive spaces for dialogue and action, with nearly 6,000 registered stakeholder participants representing over 1,600 accredited organizations. Stakeholders delivered 40 interventions during official meetings and actively participated in more than 450 side events. It illustrates how stakeholders mobilized globally to provide substantive inputs to the “Nice Ocean Action Plan” (A/RES/79/314) and to strengthen partnerships for ocean sustainability.
Click here to read the full 2025 UN Ocean Conference Stakeholder Engagement Impact Report.
For more information about the 2025 Ocean Conference, please visit https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/ocean2025
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For more stories from UN News, please visit: https://news.un.org/en/
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As the UN Secretary-General on Monday welcomed the release of all living hostages from Gaza, aid agencies said that lifesaving relief supplies are now flowing at scale into the shattered enclave.
António Guterres expressed his "profound relief" that the hostages had been freed, two years since they were among some 250 taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, before highlighting their "immense suffering".
The UN Secretary-General's comments came as he headed to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh along with world leaders for the Gaza peace summit. The international gathering was convened after Israeli forces pulled back from parts of Gaza, in line with an agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered in Egypt by US mediators and representatives from Qatar and Turkïye.
Read More...
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The Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), headed by Karla Quintana, was created to address one of the conflict’s most painful legacies, the widespread and ongoing disappearances affecting nearly every family in the country.
At a press conference in UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday, Ms. Quintana warned that time is running out to find the hundreds of thousands who disappeared during decades of brutality, oppression and forced disappearances.
“The crisis of the missing in Syria affects not only hundreds of thousands of families, but entire communities on the whole Syrian society. Confronting this requires mobilizing every available skill, resource, and capacity.”
The UN official said the foundation she heads was born out of Syrian families' insistence on finding out the truth about what happened to their loved ones and their conviction that some will reemerge.
Read more...
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Nuriya Maharjan first became interested in space exploration during a traditional coming-of-age ritual in which young girls of Nepal’s Indigenous Newar tribe emerge from 12 days of darkness to symbolically marry the sun.
Now 18, she’s involved in aerospace projects with other young women through the Shakthi SAT initiative and she’s keen to explore the intersection between computer engineering and science, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous robotics and embedded systems that control satellites, drones and rockets.
“I’m learning things I once only dreamed of, and we’re going to launch our own satellite. How cool is that!” she told UN News.
But, prospects at home in Nepal, an impoverished nation with a nascent space industry, are very limited.
“Our parents usually don’t want us to pursue ‘risky’ careers,” she said.
Read more...
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Run, bike, or walk with us — as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the United Nations (October 24th is UN Day) — and recognize its tireless efforts to create a world in which everyone thrives in peace, dignity, and equality on a healthy planet. This year’s theme will be Clean Water and Sanitation.
The event is both virtual and in-person, which means you may complete your run virtually anytime before October 25th, anywhere in the world — or you can meet in person on October 25th at 11AM. Meetup Location: the Central Park meetup is located at the park entrance at the corner of E. 60th Street and 5th Avenue. You can either run, walk, or bike, and choose between two distances: 5K and 10K.
The event is sponsored by the United Nations Association of New York and the remaining proceeds will go to supporting their work and mission. Please visit the many pages of this website for more information about UNA-NYC and the many events we host yearly.
Date: 25/10/2025
Register Here
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Learn, share, connect. For over a century the Union of International Associations (UIA) has been working to promote and facilitate the work of international associations. Since 2007, the annual UIA Associations Round Tables have given associations an opportunity to learn through networking and through practice. The UIA Associations Round Tables focus on structured training, educational and networking opportunities. They are famous for opening up the mind and the senses to local cultural events; they invariably provide outstanding food and beverage experiences.
The Round Tables give the opportunity to representatives of international associations to network with colleagues from other associations and countries and to share - through workshops and discussion groups - their experiences in meeting challenges in communication issues, strategy and governance, finding partners for their goals and more.
Date: 21/11/2025
Time: 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM EST
Register Here
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Future dates to keep in mind:
- Second World Summit for Social Development - Doha, Qatar; 4-6 November, 2025
- Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation - Nairobi, Kenya; 10-21 November 2025
- High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons - UNHQ, New York; 24-25 November 2025
- 2026 United Nations Water Conference - United Arab Emirates, 2-4 December 2026
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If your civil society organization (CSO) is formally associated with the UN Department of Global Communications, and you would like to share the announcement of your CSO's activities in this newsletter, please use this link for submission for further consideration.
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