4 November 2026
UNESCO and UNICEF jointly published the Afghanistan Education Situation Report 2026. It finds that about 53 per cent of primary school-age children remain outside formal general education. The school-age population grew from about 10.4 million in 2019 to 11.5 million in 2024, so enrolment gains are not keeping pace. About 6.6 million children enrolled in public primary schools last year, roughly 560,000 more than in 2022. More than 2.6 million girls have been denied secondary education since 2021, and women remain barred from university. Higher education enrolment stands at about 208,000 this year, far below roughly 430,000 in 2020. About 5,300 community-driven classes serve around 162,000 learners, 64 per cent of them girls. A national assessment found fewer than half of Grade 4 pupils reached the minimum language proficiency expected at Grade 3. The agencies ask for the right to education to be fully restored for girls and women.
Out of formal education:
About 53% of primary school-age children
School-age population:
10.4 million in 2019 to 11.5 million in 2024
Girls denied secondary education since 2021:
More than 2.6 million
Why it matters for exams: The report is a joint UNESCO-UNICEF assessment and puts the share of Afghan primary school-age children outside formal education at about 53 per cent.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund — The UN agency for children, based at New York.
3 November 2026
UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union and Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency, Anatel, along with the Government of Brazil, have partnered to set up the Artificial Intelligence Climate Institute. The institute was announced at the COP30 climate conference and the partnership is now moving to full implementation. Anatel will host the institute's secretariat within its Green Digital Action Hub at Brasilia. The institute is meant to help developing countries design, deploy and govern their own ethical and resource-efficient artificial intelligence tools for climate work. UNESCO will base the curriculum on its 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and its Open Science framework. ITU brings telecommunications and digital infrastructure expertise through the ITU Academy and the AI Skills Coalition. The institute will run executive tracks on data governance and climate policy for public officials and hands-on engineering labs for local developers, and will keep an open repository of environmental datasets and climate model architectures suited to low-connectivity settings. It is to be formally launched at the COP31 climate conference at Antalya. A joint UNESCO-UCL study found that task-specific models and optimised prompts can cut artificial intelligence energy use by up to 90 per cent.
Secretariat:
Anatel's Green Digital Action Hub, Brasilia
Partners:
UNESCO, ITU and Anatel
Energy saving found:
Up to 90 per cent with task-specific models
Why it matters for exams: The Artificial Intelligence Climate Institute is a UNESCO-ITU-Anatel partnership with its secretariat at Brasilia, grounded in UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ITU International Telecommunication Union — The UN agency for information and communication technologies, based at Geneva.
4 November 2026
The UN Environment Programme released its 2026 Adaptation Gap Report ahead of the COP31 climate conference. It estimates that developing countries will need roughly 305 billion dollars a year by 2035 to build resilience and cut climate risk. International public adaptation finance reached 28.2 to 31.7 billion dollars in 2024, only about a billion dollars more than the year before, and its growth is flattening. Even if that finance triples to 85 to 120 billion dollars a year, it would cover only 20 to 29 per cent of the estimated need after inflation. The 305 billion dollar figure leaves out the private sector's own needs, so the real gap could be twice as large. Flows between developing countries rose from 3.8 billion dollars in 2019 to 9.6 billion dollars in 2024. UNEP's Executive Director Inger Andersen said the world is not ready to adapt even to present conditions. The tripling goal was agreed at the previous climate conference in Brazil.
Annual need:
About $305 billion by 2035
Finance in 2024:
$28.2 to $31.7 billion
South-South flows:
$3.8 billion in 2019 to $9.6 billion in 2024
Why it matters for exams: The Adaptation Gap Report is published by the UN Environment Programme, whose Executive Director is Inger Andersen, and the 2026 edition puts developing countries' annual adaptation need at about 305 billion dollars.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme — The UN body for the environment, based at Nairobi.
4 November 2026
UNCTAD, the UN trade and development agency, reports that this year's fuel price shock has fallen hardest on developing economies. Brent crude rose from around 70 dollars a barrel in January to over 120 dollars in March after the Strait of Hormuz closed; the strait normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil. Diesel prices in Nigeria rose about 83 per cent between late February and the end of August, against 9 per cent in Ireland. Gasoline rose about 51 per cent in Myanmar and 3 per cent in Sweden. It shows how exposed small importers are: in 2023 net fuel imports came to nearly a fifth of the GDP of Lebanon, and a quarter in the case of Cabo Verde. Earlier research cited in the report found a 25 cent rise in fuel prices per litre could cut household purchasing power by more than five per cent on average. UNCTAD also found renewables cheaper than the lowest-cost new fossil fuel option in over 90 per cent of cases.
Brent crude:
Around $70 a barrel in January to over $120 in March
Diesel in Nigeria:
Up about 83 per cent
Renewables cheaper:
In over 90 per cent of cases
Why it matters for exams: UNCTAD, the UN's trade and development body based at Geneva, publishes the Trade and Development Report; its new analysis traces this year's fuel price shock to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development — The UN body for trade, investment and development, based at Geneva.
4 November 2026
The World Health Organization published the Global report on neglected tropical diseases 2026, a mid-term evaluation of its road map for these diseases. The road map runs from 2021 to 2030 and sets global targets for 21 diseases and disease groups. The report reviews implementation and impact from 2021 to 2025, measured against a 2020 baseline. It uses 71 global indicators reported by member States and assesses the road map across its 11 dimensions. Each of the road map's three pillars is assessed over those five years, and progress is described in all six WHO regions. More than 350 experts, programme managers, policymakers, researchers and partners contributed. The report identifies the main risks to reaching the 2030 targets and sets strategic priorities for the years to 2030.
Diseases covered:
21 diseases and disease groups
Indicators used:
71 global indicators
Contributors:
More than 350 experts and partners
Why it matters for exams: WHO's road map on neglected tropical diseases covers 21 diseases and disease groups and runs to 2030; this mid-term evaluation uses 71 global indicators reported by member States.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NTD Neglected tropical diseases — A group of diseases that mainly affect poor communities in tropical regions.
4 November 2026
The World Health Organization released a technical report on the global benefits and costs of priority actions on climate change and health. It uses a welfare economics approach to weigh the health, environmental and economic effects of scaling up six prioritised actions. They are warning systems for extreme heat; drinking water able to withstand climate shocks; basic sanitation; hand hygiene; cleaner household energy; and tax policy that prices fossil fuels efficiently. If these were scaled up, the report estimates about 1.6 million deaths could be averted each year. It also estimates about 17 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions prevented annually and about 4 trillion US dollars in economic benefits. For the five interventions put through benefit-cost analysis, it estimates about 24 US dollars of benefit for every dollar invested. The report cautions that these estimates rest on long-term projections and ambitious scale-up assumptions.
Benefit per dollar:
About US$24
Deaths averted a year:
About 1.6 million
Emissions prevented a year:
About 17 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent
Why it matters for exams: The WHO technical report puts the return on priority climate and health actions at about 24 US dollars for every dollar invested, with about 1.6 million deaths averted a year.
Kerala PSCUPSC
4 November 2026
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria told a high-level panel in Geneva that many Syrian children are growing up with no legal identity. Under Syria's 1969 nationality law, nationality passes only through the father, so a child whose father is absent is left without legal status. The Commission says the law discriminates against women and does not square with what Syria has undertaken under CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Commissioner Monia Ammar noted that an estimated 12 of every 13 people killed in the war were men, which leaves many mothers unable to register their children. Syria's Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, Hind Kabawat, said a reform letting mothers pass on nationality is nearing approval and asked for a legal grace period for families who registered children under relatives' names. The Commission wants every child registered regardless of the circumstances of birth, alternative documents accepted, and nationality granted to the children of Syrian mothers.
Law in question:
Syria's 1969 nationality law
War deaths:
An estimated 12 of every 13 killed were men
Panel venue:
Geneva
Why it matters for exams: Syria's 1969 nationality law passes nationality only through the father, and the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria says this conflicts with the country's obligations under CEDAW.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women — A UN treaty of 1979 that binds states to end discrimination against women.
4 November 2026
NASA reported promising results from SPLICE, short for Safe and Precise Landing - Integrated Capabilities Evolution. It is a guidance, navigation and control payload meant to let a spacecraft find a safe landing site on the Moon or another planet on its own, land precisely and avoid hazards. The payload maps the terrain, builds high-resolution digital elevation maps from light-detection and sensor data, and diverts the vehicle if the target site is unsafe. SPLICE was developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center at Houston and was integrated, tested and flown with the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards in California. The tests used an Alta-X remotely piloted four-rotor drone and included simulated lunar descent and landing manoeuvres over Rogers Dry Lake. The project manager is Davis Adams, who said the flight raised the technology readiness level for future robotic and crewed lunar flights. NASA is talking to industry about using the guidance system once it enters the agency's software catalog, and several commercial lunar lander firms have already flown versions of SPLICE.
Developed at:
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Flight tests with:
Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
Test platform:
Alta-X four-rotor drone
Why it matters for exams: SPLICE stands for Safe and Precise Landing - Integrated Capabilities Evolution, a NASA hazard-avoidance and precision landing payload developed at the Johnson Space Center.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SPLICE Safe and Precise Landing - Integrated Capabilities Evolution — A NASA payload for autonomous, precise and hazard-free planetary landing.
4 November 2026
The World Meteorological Organization has published the programme of its activities for COP31, the 31st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which runs from 9 to 20 November 2026 at Antalya in Turkiye. On the opening day the organisation will launch its State of Climate Update 2026, covering temperature, greenhouse gases, ocean heat, sea level, glaciers and ice, and the impacts of climate and extreme weather. The same day carries Earth Information Day, on earth observations and how closing data gaps strengthens forecasts. A session on the state of the Global Climate Observing System follows, along with a side event on El Nino, extreme events and the climate signal. At the Leaders Summit the organisation will present an intervention by its Secretary-General, Celeste Saulo. An Early Warnings for All session will present the Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems report, produced with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Later sessions cover extreme heat and coastal communities in a changing ocean.
Conference:
COP31, 9 to 20 November 2026, Antalya, Turkiye
Flagship launch:
State of Climate Update 2026
Report with UNDRR:
Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems
Why it matters for exams: WMO's Secretary-General is Celeste Saulo, and its Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems report is produced with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
WMO World Meteorological Organization — The UN agency for weather, climate and water, based at Geneva.
3 November 2026
UNESCO and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini have launched a two-year project to digitise and open up the archives of UNESCO's work to safeguard Venice. The work will be done at the Foundation's Digital Centre, and the material will reach scholars, researchers and the public in stages. The archives of the UNESCO Office in Venice cover 1966 to 2015 and hold about 110,000 documents on the safeguarding campaign, about 6,000 photographs from 1970 to 2017 and audiovisual material in several formats. They document the International Campaign for Venice, which ran from 1966 to 1992, and the joint UNESCO and International Private Committees Programme for the Safeguarding of Venice from 1992 to 2015. The trigger was the Aqua Granda, the flood that struck Venice on 4 November 1966 and drew world attention to the city. UNESCO then promoted an international fundraising campaign, opened a presence in the city in 1973 that became its Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, and helped bring about the Special Law for Venice.
Archive span:
1966 to 2015
Documents:
About 110,000
Photographs:
About 6,000, from 1970 to 2017
Project length:
Two years, at the Foundation's Digital Centre
Why it matters for exams: The Aqua Granda flood of 4 November 1966 led UNESCO to run the International Campaign for Venice and to open the office that became its Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe in Venice.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Aqua Granda The great water — The name given to the severe flood that struck Venice on 4 November 1966.
4 November 2026
NASA has cleared Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Anil Menon of NASA for the spacewalk that completes the International Space Station's power upgrade. The two will install the eighth and final roll-out solar array at the far end of the starboard truss structure. Menon will carry the array while attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and the pair will hand it off to finish the installation. The spacewalk is planned to last about seven hours. The upgrade began in June 2021 and raises the station's generating capacity from about 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts. The same tasks were carried out on an earlier spacewalk in late October. Before the walk the two astronauts readied tools, staged their spacesuits in the Quest airlock and joined a readiness conference with mission controllers, while other crew members carried on microbiology and biotechnology research.
Spacewalkers:
Joshua Kutryk (CSA) and Anil Menon (NASA)
Hardware:
Eighth and final roll-out solar array
Power capacity:
From about 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts
Planned duration:
About seven hours
Why it matters for exams: The space station's power upgrade, begun in June 2021, ends with the eighth roll-out solar array and takes generating capacity from about 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Canadarm2 The space station's robotic arm — A robotic arm on the International Space Station, contributed by Canada.
Background
The International Maritime Organization, or IMO, is the specialized agency of the United Nations for shipping: its remit runs to safety at sea, to security, and to keeping ships from polluting. Its Assembly is the highest governing body and meets in regular session once every two years, while an elected Council runs the body between those sessions, except that recommendations to Governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention stay with the Assembly. Council seats come in three classes: ten States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services, ten with the largest interest in international seaborne trade, and twenty more with special interests in maritime transport or navigation, elected so that all major geographic areas of the world are represented. IMO has adopted amendments that would widen the Council to 52. Five main Committees carry the technical work, and the Maritime Safety Committee is described as the highest technical body of the Organization. Pollution from ships falls to the Marine Environment Protection Committee, and three others sit beside it. One is the Legal Committee; another handles technical cooperation; the last is the Facilitation Committee. The Legal Committee was set up to handle the questions thrown up by the Torrey Canyon disaster. A Secretariat of some 300 international personnel works from London, headed by the Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez. What each member pays is unlike the formula used elsewhere in the United Nations system: the amount turns mainly on the tonnage of its merchant fleet.
Secretariat:
London, about 300 staff
Council size agreed:
52
Assembly sessions:
Every two years
Why it matters for exams: The Council's three classes of seat, the five committees and the fleet-tonnage formula for dues are standard questions on United Nations specialized agencies.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC