MULTILATERAL: ASEAN’S Peace Efforts & more – 5th Aug 2025

Saluton from BA! This is the Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 5th of August twenty twenty-five. A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

Our first story this week is about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: on Sunday the 3rd of August, a team from the association kicked off a two-week visit to parts of the Cambodia-Thailand border that saw recent fighting. The group, led by Malaysia and joined by military representatives from several other Southeast Asian countries, was there to see how well the recent ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand is holding up. The idea is to support a long-term end to tensions and help both countries get back to normal life after the skirmishes that flared up in late July.

The day before, on Saturday the 2nd of August, the EU announced it will set aside over one million Euros to help tackle serious water problems in Basra, Iraq. About half a million people there, especially those living in makeshift settlements, are struggling with dirty or scarce water. The aid will go toward improving access to clean water and fixing or upgrading treatment facilities over the next six months. A lot of the trouble comes from shrinking river flows and saltier water. The Norwegian Red Cross and Iraqi Red Crescent will handle the response, including trucking in clean water to the hardest-hit areas.

On Wednesday the 30th of July, Canada announced plans to officially recognize Palestine as a state during the UN General Assembly. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the decision at a press conference, saying it’s a necessary step to keep the two-state solution alive. He tied the move to expectations for reform within the Palestinian Authority and promised more support for democratic structures there.

Carney also slammed Israel for how things have played out in Gaza, calling the humanitarian conditions unbearable and blaming the Israeli government for letting the situation worsen.

Speaking of Israel, on Thursday the 31st of July, Belgium passed along complaints to the International Criminal Court about alleged war crimes tied to two Israeli soldiers. They were spotted at a festival in Belgium and questioned by the police. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor said it was now up to the Court to look into it, since the soldiers aren’t Belgian citizens.

This move marks a serious step in handling accusations tied to events in Gaza through official international channels.

In some financial news and as an update to a story from our previous show, on Thursday the 31st of July, the International Monetary Fund announced that Argentina is getting another $2 billion US dollars after the board signed off on the first review of the new agreement made in April. This is the second chunk of funding under that plan. The approval came after meetings in Washington between Argentine officials and the Fund. According to the Economy Ministry, the program is moving forward as expected.

Argentina is set to receive $20 billion dollars total, and has already received $12 billion.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the 31st of July, the World Trade Organization revealed that global trade in services slowed down in the first quarter of twenty twenty-five, growing at just 5% compared to the same period last year. Europe and North America saw modest gains of 3%, a lot weaker than their growth rates of 8% and 11% a year earlier. Asia stood out, with growth hitting about 9%.

Breakdown by service type showed cooling in areas like business services, finance, intellectual property-related work, and construction exports. Meanwhile, computer services stayed resilient, driven by strong AI, digital transformation, and cybersecurity demand, and rose especially in India and Ireland.

Also on Thursday the 31st of July, the Inter‑American Development Bank or IDB announced that it has kicked off AI Here!, a regional project looking for real-world AI tools already in classrooms across Latin America and the Caribbean. The call targets existing, in-use projects in any of its twenty-six member countries. Inspired by the IDB’s own report pushing for evidence-based digital education, the goal is to spotlight AI solutions that are already making an impact.

On that note about new projects, the African Union, alongside UNICEF, officially launched the End Learning Poverty for All in Africa initiative on Thursday the 31st of July, on the final day of a continental education conference. The campaign sets a continent-wide goal: to ensure every child under ten learns basic reading, writing, and math in school by twenty thirty-five. These goals are all meant to help children receive adequate schooling. The initiative calls for national action plans, more funding, proven teaching methods, and stronger policy commitment.

In more positive initiatives from Africa: on Thursday the 31st of July, the Economic Community of West African States and the International Organization for Migration launched a joint effort to assist more than 1,000 trafficking survivors in West Africa. The initiative offers direct support, such as shelter, legal aid, medical care, and psychological services, and aims to restore survivors’ rights. It also works with social services and communities to improve reintegration, follow-up, and prevention.

Going back to UNICEF, on Wednesday the 30th of July, the agency reported that about 80,000 kids are facing a high chance of getting cholera in Central and West Africa. Flooding, displacement, and terrible sanitation are all fueling the threat. UNICEF says urgent action and extra funding are needed now to support health, water, hygiene, and community outreach, or many more lives could be in serious danger.

The good news is that modern medical care and technology make this disease fairly treatable, as long as the care reaches infected people in time.

On another note, the UN Development Program and the French Senate began a new partnership aimed at improving democratic systems globally. They signed an agreement during a forum in Geneva that focused on democratic resilience. The idea is to help parliaments work better, involve citizens more, and deal with big issues.

More specifically, the collaboration will combine the UN program’s global reach with the French Senate’s expertise to assist parliaments aiming to become stronger democratic institutions. Support will focus on core functions like lawmaking, executive oversight, and citizen engagement, based on each parliament's specific needs. It will also include training, peer exchanges, and targeted help for challenges such as political transitions, climate action, and digital development.

Next up, on Tuesday the 29th of July, the World Health Organization reported that famine warning levels have been met across most of Gaza, with acute malnutrition reaching critical levels, especially in Gaza City. People are often going entire days without food, with malnutrition‑related deaths increasing. Health services are collapsing due to shortages in medical supplies and fuel.

Aid groups are responding to Gaza’s hunger crisis by giving emergency food and medical supplies. Even though some organizations have provided millions of meals using land, air, and sea routes since early twenty twenty-five, many NGOs are criticizing alternative coordination mechanisms like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, citing unsafe aid distribution and calling for the restoration of UN-led efforts. Aid operations continue to face serious challenges, including blockades, security threats, and the collapse of traditional humanitarian infrastructure, all of which lower the delivery of life-saving assistance.

Closing this edition with energy updates, on Sunday the 3rd of August, a group of eight oil-producing countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced they’ll start pumping more oil in September by about 500,000 barrels per day. The purpose of this surge is not exactly known, but it could be to meet the growing demand or to increase revenue for producing countries and companies.

These nations had been cutting back since late twenty twenty-three, but now they’re wrapping up those cuts early. The Organization has a major influence on the global economy, as supplying more or less oil influences its overall price. This price determines how much oil countries buy, and how much consumers have to pay.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Did you know that we do lots of other updates? We’ve got non-country updates: Apart from the Multilateral show, we’ve got the Ocean and Arctic Updates, and country updates, with a selection of nations from across the world.

Check the full list with the link in the show notes.

See you next week!