Iraq

A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, released today, finds that one in five people globally do not expect to have the number of children they desire. Key drivers include the prohibitive cost of parenthood, job insecurity, housing, concerns over the state of the world and the lack of a suitable partner.

With parliamentary elections in Iraq scheduled for 11 November, and the drawdown of the United Nations Mission there slated for the following month, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today of the progress Iraq has made — while he and other speakers also called for urgent efforts to resolve issues involving Baghdad’s relationship with the Kurdistan region and Kuwait.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Baghdad on Thursday, 15 May to attend the League of Arab States Summit.

Israeli authorities have temporarily allowed the UN to resume limited aid delivery into Gaza following 11 weeks of complete blockade, and amid a spike in the military offensive, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said today.

In Colombia, the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs reports that so far in 2025, more than 66,000 people were newly displaced due to fighting. The UN and its partners continue implementing a $3.8 million allocation from the Central Emergency Fund to help more than 56,000 impacted people in Catatumbo.

Consensus has been reached on a draft pandemic agreement after more than three years of intensive negotiations. By that, Member States of the World Health Organization took a major step forward in efforts to make the world safer from pandemics.

Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today began reviewing the revised financial implications of the Secretary-General’s plan to draw down 510 personnel from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) over the course of 2025, with the bulk of reductions set for year-end.

In Gaza, United Nations aid operations — together with UN partners — continue to scale up across the Gaza Strip. The Organization is also carrying out assessments to determine the needs of impacted and displaced families. Across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme are now operational.

In Haiti’s capital, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have distributed more than 900,000 litres of water to more than 60,000 [displaced] people in 26 sites over the last week. The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided more than 95,000 hot meals to some 24,000 displaced people across four sites.

With its recent national census and long-overdue parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq is secure and stable despite the obstacles it faces, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today as speakers expressed concern over proposed changes to the country’s Personal Status Law and its impact on women and children.