Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Blurb: Jihad Azour, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, shares three key messages from the latest economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa region.
Read the full report: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/REO/MECA/Issues/2025/10/21/regional-economic-outlook-middle-east-central-asia-october-2025?cid=sm-com-yt-AM2025-REOMCDEA2025002
Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
The Science Innovation and Technology Committee hears from the Information Commissioner, John Edwards, about the UK data protection regulator’s response to the Afghan data breach announced in July.
MPs may also explore the proposed introduction of a new digital ID, the rollout of facial recognition technology by police forces and the protection of children and their data online.
Source: World Trade Organization – WTO (video statements)
Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, paid a visit to the WTO on 20 October and met with Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Oduwole shared her country’s priorities for the 14th Ministerial Conference, which takes place in Cameroon in March 2026.
Download this video from the WTO website:
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/webcas_e/webcas_e.htm
Source: World Trade Organization – WTO (video statements)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed Wasantha Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development, to the WTO on 20 October, after his country’s Trade Policy Review.
Download this video from the WTO website:
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/webcas_e/webcas_e.htm
Source: European Central Bank (video statements)
The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are organising their 2025 conference WE_ARE_IN Macroeconomics and Finance. The aim of the conference is to bring together women in economics who will present and discuss new research on macroeconomics and finance which is of particular interest to central banks.
WE_ARE_IN stands for Women in Economics: Advancing Research in Economics Internationally. It complements the WE_ARE initiative, a CEPR seminar series in which junior women present their work and receive constructive feedback from their peers and from senior economists.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press conference by Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, UN Women Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results; and Sarah Hendriks, Director, Programme, Policy and Intergovernmental Division, UN Women, on the UN Secretary-General’s report on women, peace and security, and on the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325.
Presenting the Secretary-General’s report on women, peace, and security, UN Women’s Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, today (20 Oct) said, “gender equality and multilateralism are under growing attack,” and “twenty-five years after Resolution 1325, women are still shut out of decisions on war and peace.”
Last year, Gumbonzvanda said, “87 percent of peace talks took place without a single woman at the table.”
She said, “those working for peace on the ground are left without the support they need to continue,” adding that the marking of the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325, as well as the 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action, “must be a turning point.”
UN Women’s Director of the Programme, Policy and Intergovernmental Division, Sarah Hendriks, provided details about the report and said, “in just two years, civilian casualties among women and children in conflict have quadrupled. A statistic that is deeply sobering. Sexual violence in conflict rose by 87 percent in also just two years, a reflection – I think – of wars increasing and the ways that they are waged on the bodies of women and girls, in shocking disregard indeed for international law.”
Hendriks said, “funding cuts are weakening our collective capacity to deliver on gender equality, to deliver on peace.”
She said, as peacekeeping missions withdraw, what we see is that security vacuums grow, that violations actually go unmonitored, and women lose access. They lose access to justice, and they also lose access to protection.”
The 2025 UN Secretary-General’s report on Women, Peace and Security warns that 676 million women now live within 50 kilometres of deadly conflict, the highest level since the 1990s. Civilian casualties among women and children quadrupled compared to the previous two-year period, and conflict-related sexual violence increased by 87 percent in two years.
Issued on the 25th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325, which committed the international community to women’s full participation and protection in peace and security, the report warns that two decades of progress are unravelling.
Despite overwhelming evidence that women’s participation makes peace more durable, women remain largely excluded from decision-making. While an increasing number of countries have developed national action plans to implement resolution 1325, this has not always resulted in tangible change for women. In 2024, 9 out of 10 peace processes had no women negotiators, with women making up just 7 percent of negotiators and 14 percent of mediators globally.
The report also exposes a dangerous imbalance: while global military spending surpassed USD 2.7 trillion in 2024, women’s organizations in conflict zones received only 0.4 per cent of aid. Many frontline women’s groups are facing imminent closure due to financial constraints.
The report also underscores the urgent need for a gender data revolution. Without disaggregated data, women’s realities in war zones remain invisible and unaccounted for. Closing these gaps is vital for accountability and for placing women’s experiences at the centre of decision-making.
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Software development and software engineering could be the first economically viable capability that closes the gap between humans and AI, says Eiso Kant, the CTO of frontier AI company poolside. He shares what these changes mean for his company and sector, and for knowledge work generally. He also explains what he sees ahead and why he stays cautious about tech forecasts and predictions. Lastly, he breaks down how worry and fear can be a motivator to drive true learning and understanding in a fast-moving space, and the question we should ask to understand how we can uniquely contribute to societies and economies in the years ahead.
This interview was recorded in January 2025 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
About this episode:
https://poolside.ai/
Related report:
Future of Jobs 2025: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/
Related episodes:
Radio Davos: Do you need an AI mentor? This tech entrepreneur thinks so
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I0CNHlS7f4
Read here: https://tinyurl.com/28z7cmtt
Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/y7yshdad
Meet The Leader: This company launched with $600 a decade ago. How it’s using data and AI to boost yields for millions of small-scale farmers
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkOu9As6J60
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Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/bcmj6572
Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
Discover how objects from the 1941 bombing and the post-war rebuild continue to shape its legacy today.
Watch the full video on our channel.
#RebuildingTheCommons
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Travel to Geneva, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur
– Yemen
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Haiti
– World Statistics Day
– General Assembly Event
– Guests Today and Tomorrow
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
On Gaza, we are encouraged that the parties have reaffirmed their commitments to implementing the ceasefire in Gaza and commend the steadfast efforts of the mediators. We remain concerned by all acts of violence in Gaza and the reported attacks and strikes that took place yesterday.
We urge the parties to honor all their commitments, ensure the protection of civilians and avoid any actions that could lead to a renewal of hostilities and undermine humanitarian operations. We reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for the release of the remains of the deceased hostages.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, wrapped up his visit to the Gaza Strip over the weekend. On Saturday, he went to a UNICEF nutrition centre in Gaza City, where humanitarians are working to get hunger levels down.
Mr. Fletcher also visited a hospital in Gaza City, he also witnessed a road clearance project run by the UN Development Programme, and a community kitchen run by our partner, World Central Kitchen.
Later on Saturday, the Under-Secretary-General exited Gaza through the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing. On Sunday, he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where they discussed the massive humanitarian needs in Gaza, the 60-day aid scale up, the importance of sustaining the ceasefire, the situation in the West Bank, and the path to long-term peace.
Today in Jerusalem, Mr. Fletcher met with the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which brings together about 15 UN entities and representatives of some 200 NGOs, both international and local.
Also today, Mr. Fletcher and the Minderoo Foundation announced a contribution of $10 million Australian dollars from the Minderoo Foundation for humanitarian efforts in Gaza, delivered in close coordination with the 60-day plan.
With the ceasefire in place and as more areas become accessible, UNRWA, the Relief and Works Agency, said yesterday that they are expanding the number of temporary learning spaces set up in community shelters for displaced people.
SUDAN
Turning to the situation in Sudan, our humanitarian colleagues on the ground warn that the ongoing violence across the country is putting civilians at grave risk and forcing even more people to flee their homes.
In recent days, fighting has escalated in North and West Darfur states, with drone strikes and clashes reported across several areas. On Sunday, a drone attack on Sarf Omra’s main market in North Darfur reportedly killed at least seven civilians. Strikes in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, also caused casualties.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 3,000 people were newly displaced in North Darfur last week alone, including 1,500 from El Fasher, the besieged state capital, and another 1,500 from Abu Gamra village, following renewed fighting.
Tensions were also rising sharply in the Kordofan region. Nearly 1,000 people were displaced from Lagawa town in West Kordofan State on Saturday, due to heightened insecurity.
Meanwhile, in South Kordofan State, the town of Dilling and the state capital Kadugli remain under siege, with supply routes cut off and shortages of basic goods worsening by the day.
In Blue Nile state, clashes between armed groups displaced 600 people from Bout town in At Tadamon locality last week.
HAITI
From Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns of a resurgence of cholera in the Ouest department over the past month. Since September 8th, health authorities have reported new cases in the commune of Pétion-Ville, following 11 weeks with no cases confirmed across the country.
In just a single week between 5 and 11 October, 139 suspected cases were recorded, including more than 20 laboratory-confirmed cases. Five deaths were also reported.
Pétion-Ville, as well as parts of the capital Port-au-Prince, including the commune of Cité-Soleil, remain on red alert, amid concerns over cholera spreading at sites hosting internally displaced people.
Haiti’s Ministry of Health, with support from the Pan American Health Organization and humanitarian partners, has stepped up disinfection campaigns, community awareness activities, and the distribution of chlorine, safe water and hygiene kits in the most affected neighborhoods.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-10-20
Source: European Commission (video statements)
European energy ministers agreed on the Repower proposal to phase out Russian gas imports by 2027.
This is a crucial step to make Europe energy-independent, and will be followed by a proposal to phase out nuclear energy imports at a later stage.
