Health and Human Rights News
News to 4 September 2026
‘Fight for humanity’: Avoiding a climate catastrophe means acting now
Record heat waves, deadly flooding, and extreme weather reflect an ever-warming planet poised to soon breach safe temperature limits, according to a UN report released on Tuesday, but doubling down on climate action now could avoid a climate catastrophe. Governments must over-deliver on national climate plans, net zero commitments and beyond, and developed countries must triple adaptation finance and ensure it reaches those most at risk, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Nepal floods: Mounting death toll and concern for women and girls
Nearly a week after the catastrophic flooding in Nepal, triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas, the death toll stands at over 1,000 and 4,247 people remain missing. As rescue efforts continue UN Women estimates 43,000 women and girls in Nepal now require immediate humanitarian assistance. Eight health facilities have suffered damage, destruction or are inaccessible said the World Health Organization. Stagnant water and heavily damaged infrastructure have severely heightened the immediate risk of infectious and waterborne outbreaks, including dengue and scrub typhus.
Aid and medical evacuations in Gaza
Humanitarian teams collected hundreds of pallets of aid for people in Gaza including infant food, as the World Health Organization revealed that more than 13,000 patients have now been evacuated from the enclave for urgent medical care. WHO stresses, however, that thousands more still urgently need specialized treatment unavailable in the enclave, and called for the reopening of the West Bank referral pathway, including to hospitals in East Jerusalem.
UN supports calls for slavery reparations
Slavery is not just a thing of the past and the passage of time cannot serve as a pretext for States to refuse to recognise historical injustices or to adopt appropriate measures of restorative justice and accountability, said the UN Committee against Racial Discrimination (CERD) on the International Day of People of African Descent this week. It added, the effects of slavery continue to be felt in systemic inequality and racism.
UNICEF finds 1 in 5 children sexually exploited on tech platforms
An estimated 20 million children aged 12 to 17 – almost 1 in 5 – were subjected to at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse in a single year across 21 countries, according to a report released by UNICEF this week. The report estimates that over 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content, 9 million were asked to engage in sexual conversations or share sexual images against their will, and 4 million children had sexual images of themselves shared without their consent.
Almost half of world’s farmers poisoned by pesticides every year
Almost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, 11,000 of them fatally, a study has found. The data from 2006-2023 commissioned by Pesticide Action Network, found an estimated 402-433 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning of farm workers every year which equates to about 46% of all farmers globally. Most poisonings are in southern Asia, followed by south-east Asia and east Africa.
Ebola spreading exponentially while UN reports $1.1 billion funding gap
The world must move faster to contain Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as it is growing exponentially, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator warned this week. Local authorities had reported 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths, with more than 5,000 cases recorded in Ituri Province alone. The UN reports a $1.1 billion funding gap as the DRC grapples with the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.
Applications now open for child protection training course
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, is inviting applications for the one week G. Barrie Landry Child Protection Professional Training program. The intensive course is for mid-career professionals who work to protect children from abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. The course will take place in June 2027 and applications must be made by 1 December 2026.
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