A new United Nations Disaster Risk Financing Platform was launched at COP31 in Antalya, Turkiye.
Six agencies are behind it: the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, the UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme.
The platform aims to secure access to more than 3 billion dollars in risk financing by 2030 and to protect 75 million people from climate shocks and natural hazards.
The idea is to arrange money before a disaster strikes rather than appeal for funds after it.
Pre-arranged financing today accounts for under two per cent of all global humanitarian financing.
The World Food Programme helped secure nearly 211 million dollars in pre-arranged finance this year, with a target of protecting up to 9.6 million people in more than 50 countries.
OCHA and UNICEF have already put insurance policies in place as a financial safety net for their anticipatory action work.
Risk financing target:more than $3 billion in risk financing by 2030People to be protected:75 million peopleShare of pre-arranged financing:under two per cent
Why it matters for exams: COP31 is the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, and the six UN agencies named here are standard institutions questions.
For the first time at a United Nations climate conference, the Leaders' Summit held a high-level dialogue on cities.
It covered urban resilience, adaptation and climate action at the Antalya meeting.
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach spoke on behalf of the Secretary-General and said housing, urban planning and access to basic services are all climate action.
Up to 3 billion people lack adequate housing and more than 1 billion live in informal settlements exposed to floods, landslides and extreme heat.
A UN-Habitat analysis found that 80% of national climate plans now include well-developed urban measures, up from 50% in the previous round.
Cities need about 4.5 trillion dollars of climate investment a year through 2030, but current financing covers roughly one-fifth of that.
Sixty-nine mayors representing over 250 million people committed to another year of work under the Yearly Offer of Action initiative.
People without adequate housing:Up to 3 billion peopleAnnual urban climate investment needed:about $4.5 trillionNational climate plans with urban measures:80%
Why it matters for exams: UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme for human settlements, and national climate plans are the NDCs under the Paris Agreement.
A travelling exhibition called Living Hands: Heritage and Design in Dialogue has opened at the Bethlehem Peace Center.
It presents two years of work by artisans and designers on six endangered Palestinian crafts.
Those crafts are glassblowing, pottery, olivewood carving, mother-of-pearl inlay, loom weaving and bamboo or reed weaving.
The exhibition shows works from 27 projects and grew out of a project funded by the European Union.
The wider project engaged 24 artisans, 43 designers, seven associations and one academic institution in 13 cities and villages across Palestine.
The crafts were also documented in the Palestinian National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Bethlehem stop, held with the Bethlehem Municipality, runs until 25 November 2026 after a first stop at Al-Bireh.
Endangered crafts covered:six endangered Palestinian craftsArtisans and designers:24 artisans, 43 designersExhibition closes:25 November 2026
Why it matters for exams: Intangible cultural heritage and national inventories are the core of the UNESCO 2003 Convention, a standard culture question.
UNESCO and Eni Mexico have piloted an educational proposal in primary schools at Sanchez Magallanes on the coast of Tabasco in Mexico.
The aim is to build the capacity of children and teachers in climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, conservation of coastal ecosystems and resilience.
The package includes a guide for elementary teachers on education in emergency situations, prepared with technical guidance from UNESCO.
Thirteen primary schools and over 700 students took part, in activities that ran from May 2025 to September 2026.
At one school, second-grade pupils studied coastal erosion, interviewed older residents and produced a risk map of the school and town.
At another, sixth-grade pupils identified risks to homes, biodiversity and local livelihoods and prepared leaflets, a mural and prevention proposals.
UNESCO also reviewed the official curricula and 36 free primary textbooks and found climate and disaster topics present but loosely tied to the local territory.
Schools in the pilot:13 primary schoolsStudents reached:Over 700 studentsPeriod of activities:May 2025 to September 2026
Why it matters for exams: UNESCO is the UN agency for education, science and culture, and disaster risk reduction education is part of the Sendai Framework agenda.
The World Health Organization has published its Global tuberculosis report 2026.
For the year it covers, the report puts new TB cases at 10.6 million and deaths at 1.13 million.
Both the case rate and the death rate fell, yet the report finds the world still well behind the milestones set in the WHO End TB Strategy.
Gaps remain in finding cases, treating them, preventing new infection and paying for all three.
WHO asks governments for steady money and stronger health services.
The estimates rest mainly on returns from 187 countries and areas, which together account for more than 99% of the world's people and of its TB cases.
WHO cautions that numbers from earlier editions cannot be read straight against this one.
People who developed TB:10.6 millionDeaths from TB:1.13 millionCountries and areas reporting:187 countries and areas
Why it matters for exams: Tuberculosis is the subject of the WHO End TB Strategy, and the Global tuberculosis report is the standard annual world count.
An Israeli airstrike hit the Nasser Hospital in Gaza on the night of 11 November 2026.
The World Health Organization says six people were killed and 27 injured, and the building was badly damaged.
The surgical department took the hit, and a medical worker, patients and people accompanying them were among the dead.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health facilities are lifelines and must be protected.
WHO has now recorded more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October 2023.
The UN's acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, called the strike deeply alarming and restated the duty of every party under international humanitarian law to spare medical staff and hospitals.
The UN aid coordination office puts about 65% of Gaza's population, roughly 1.4 million people, in tents or makeshift shelter.
Killed:six peopleInjured:27Attacks on healthcare documented:more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October 2023
Why it matters for exams: International humanitarian law protects medical personnel and facilities in armed conflict, a point asked in both law and international relations papers.
Luke Lindberg, the new Executive Director of the World Food Programme, has warned that funding cuts are deepening Sudan's hunger crisis.
He spoke after his first field mission to the country, which took in the Goz El Salam camp at Kosti.
People facing acute hunger, he said, are left with three unfortunate choices: to rebel, migrate or starve.
Civil war broke out in Sudan in 2023; millions have been displaced since and famine has spread.
In August the agency fed more than four million people, among them 880,000 in areas at risk of famine.
Cuts have pulled that down to a little over three million, and about 900,000 vulnerable people have lost their rations.
WFP now asks for 520 million dollars to keep food and nutrition going for 5.4 million people until April 2027.
Funding sought:$520 millionPeople to be covered:5.4 million people through April 2027People who lost assistance:900,000
Why it matters for exams: The World Food Programme is the UN food assistance agency and the name of its Executive Director is a current appointments fact.
Ireland hosted the ninth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Dublin on 12 November 2026. The summit took place at the Convention Centre Dublin and was organised by the Department of the Taoiseach. The EPC is an informal forum: European Heads of State or Government sit down with the heads of key European and international institutions for open political and strategic talks. The stated aim is greater security, stability and prosperity across the continent. The forum issues no joint communiqué or binding plan. Ireland currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the summit was one of the main events of the Irish Presidency. The EPC meeting is followed in Dublin on 13 November by an informal meeting of EU Heads of State or Government.
Date:12 November 2026Venue:Convention Centre DublinOrganiser:Department of the TaoiseachEdition:ninth meeting
Why it matters for exams: The European Political Community, its origin and its members are asked in world-affairs papers, as is the Taoiseach, the title of Ireland's head of government.
EPCEuropean Political Community — An informal forum of almost 50 European countries, launched after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
TaoiseachTaoiseach — The title of Ireland's head of government, the Prime Minister.
Presidency of the Council of the EURotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union — Each EU member state chairs the Council's meetings for six months in turn.