Health and Human Rights News
News to 20 June 2026
Human Rights chief calls for report on school attack to be made public
In welcoming the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed on a peace deal, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk said he “deplored the use of force against Iran by Israel and the United States, which reportedly killed thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, and destroyed hospitals, schools, homes, and other infrastructure. I again call for the findings of the US investigation into the horrific attack on Minab school to be made public.” He said the conflict has had a devastating impact on human rights across the region and around the world.
See also: Schools Under Fire: Armed Conflict and the Vulnerability of Childhood, CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO HEALTH, VIEWPOINT, Júnia Aparecida Laia da Mata and Sayed Abdul Basir Samimi, Vol 28/1, 2026
Human rights are the glue that binds us together
In his Global Update to the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called attention to the critical role human rights play around the world every day. Clearly, we face very serious human rights challenges. An unprecedented, shameless onslaught against international law is causing appalling human suffering. We must call it out, every time and everywhere, and work to contain and end it.” He added, “Human rights need to be front and centre of today’s pressing issues – from the climate crisis to guidelines around artificial intelligence, from the Ebola outbreak to the men’s World Cup.”
A ‘perilous moment’ warns UNAIDS
UNAIDS reported this week that divestment from foreign aid and human rights is having a dangerous impact on the global response to HIV/AIDS. Global development assistance from multiple countries fell by 23% in 2025—the sharpest drop on record—and HIV programmes have been hit hard. “There’s no question that this is the most serious disruption in the HIV response since the world came together to fight this disease,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The funding cuts, combined with the reduction in civic space and the further criminalization of marginalized populations have come together to create the biggest storm the HIV response has ever seen.”
WHO issues guidelines as Ebola spreads…
Human Rights Watch is urging the Congolese government and international partners to work closely with local communities and limit the role of security forces in addressing the outbreak. “The Congolese government and its partners need to overcome years of conflict, abuse, and neglect that have strained healthcare systems and eroded trust and that risk complicating the Ebola response.”
…Trust in health systems essential for effective Ebola response
Human Rights Watch is urging the Congolese government and international partners to work closely with local communities and limit the role of security forces in addressing the outbreak. “The Congolese government and its partners need to overcome years of conflict, abuse, and neglect that have strained healthcare systems and eroded trust and that risk complicating the Ebola response.”
Global push to finalise the pandemic agreement
The World Health Organization and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued an urgent open letter to leaders of the G7, G20, and BRICS nations urging completion of Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex to the Pandemic Agreement. The leaders write that delays leave the world completely unprepared for emerging biological threats, making a finalized treaty a necessary global safeguard.
See also: Building Rights-Based Implementation After the Pandemic Agreement, Neiloy R. Sircar, Safura Abdool Karim, Roojin Habibi, and Benjamin Mason Meier, June 2025
UK social media ban for children fails to address the problem
Social media access will be banned for under-16-year-olds in the United Kingdom from 2027 in an effort to keep children safe. But Amnesty International has expressed concern that this misses the mark for safeguarding children: “You cannot solve a design problem with an access ban…The responsibility for children’s safety should rest first and foremost with the companies that build and profit from these platforms.”
Priorities for child-focused dengue treatments
The World Health Organization has published the first Paediatric Drug Optimization Process (PADO) for dengue, aiming to address the gap in availability of child-appropriate dengue therapeutics. Reported numbers of dengue-related deaths in children doubled between 2023 and 2024, and children also have more complications from the disease. “Children must be considered from the beginning of dengue therapeutics development, not after products have already been designed for adults,” said WHO, adding, the report signals what is needed to have dengue treatments that are appropriate, acceptable and usable for children.
Türk: Commit to ending production of land mines
A UN Human Rights report highlights the ongoing use of deadly anti-personnel mines worldwide and the dangers they pose to civilians. “Anti-personnel mines kill and maim individuals, with those injured suffering amputations, eye injuries, and other life-altering injuries,” the report notes. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk urges all states to ratify the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, adopted almost 30 years ago, and commit to end the production, use, and trade of these weapons.
34 million people need aid in Sudan
The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Awa Dabo, urged the international community to take action and break the cycle of impunity and violence in Sudan. She stressed that Sudan must not be forgotten, highlighting that “patterns of repeated aerial strikes, including by drones, on markets, health facilities, and water and energy infrastructure, raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law and undermine the rights to health, food and water.” The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan also warned this week that “warring parties are increasingly employing arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance to control the country’s embattled population.”
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