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Our news page provides you with a round up of UN news related to economic development, humanitarian aid, climate change, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will find the summary of news articles together with a link to the news source.

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IOM report: 1 in 3 migrant deaths occurs on the move

26 Mar 2024

One in three migrant deaths happens while people flee conflict, the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Tuesday. More than two in three migrants whose deaths have been documented remain unidentified. 

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Gaza: ‘Double-digit’ number of children reported killed overnight

26 Mar 2024

Intense hostilities in Gaza continued on Tuesday between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces with a “double-digit number of children killed overnight” and ongoing aid delivery obstacles that are responsible for near-famine conditions, UN humanitarians said.

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Israel’s new aid ban on UNRWA in Gaza ‘a wrong move’: UN coordinator

25 Mar 2024

Israel’s ongoing restrictions and its new ban on aid deliveries by the largest United Nations agency on the ground in war-torn Gaza are already having a grave impact, the interim UN coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned.

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World News in Brief: 17 million Yemenis need health support, cholera in Somalia, OCHA chief stepping down, Haiti crisis update

25 Mar 2024

Conflict in Yemen entered its 10th year on Monday, as UN humanitarians issued a warning that over half the country’s populations are in desperate need of aid. 

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UPDATING LIVE: Security Council due to vote emergency vote to demand Gaza ceasefire

25 Mar 2024

The UN Security Council is poised to convene an emergency meeting at 10am (New York time) on Monday to take up a fresh draft resolution in a bid to stop the war and humanitarian suffering in Gaza on the heels of a United States-proposed text that China and Russia vetoed on Friday.

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We must push for lasting peace in Gaza, UN chief insists, as starvation threat nears

25 Mar 2024

With “starvation bearing down” on Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday repeated his call for a sustainable end to the conflict and the release of all remaining hostages – amid “unprecedented and ongoing devastation” in the occupied enclave.

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Israel tells UN it will reject UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza

24 Mar 2024

Israeli authorities informed the United Nations on Sunday that it will no longer approve the passage of any UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, food convoys into northern Gaza.

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Earth Hour: Lights off, climate action on

23 Mar 2024

The largest global environment movement is happening on Saturday, when the UN invites people around the world to shut the lights to remember the planetary crisis during Earth Hour as young partners find new ways to drive climate action.

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UPDATING LIVE: Russia and China veto US resolution stating imperative of ‘immediate and sustained ceasefire’ in Gaza

22 Mar 2024

A draft resolution from the United States was vetoed by the UN Security Council on Friday by Russia and China. The draft stated the "imperative" for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides”, facilitating “essential” aid delivery and supporting ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas militants to create a sustainable end to the hostilities, tied to the release of all hostages. Follow the full story here live.

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Gaza: UN aid team reaches stricken north, confirms ‘shocking’ disease and hunger

22 Mar 2024

Amid reports of ongoing bombardment across Gaza on Friday, UN humanitarians highlighted “shocking levels of disease and hunger” after visiting an overwhelmed hospital in the north of the enclave.

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Syria: Political deadlock and violence fuels humanitarian crisi

21 Mar 2024

After thirteen years of conflict in Syria, a continuing political stalemate threatens to prolong the suffering of millions and hinder efforts to bring about peace, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Thursday.

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General Assembly adopts landmark resolution on Artificial Intelligence

21 Mar 2024

The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted a landmark resolution on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will also benefit sustainable development for all.

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World News in Brief: Global trade rebound forecast, e-waste mountain grows, 7,000 preventable TB deaths in Europe during COVID-19

21 Mar 2024

After several quarters of decline, international trade is poised for a rebound during the rest of 2024, according to the latest Global Trade Update from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

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‘Extremely alarming’ conditions worsen in Haiti’s capital: UN coordinator

21 Mar 2024

The situation in the gang-ravaged capital of Haiti has gone from worrying to “extremely alarming” as conditions in Port-au-Prince continue to worsen amid growing hunger and serious shortages in hospitals to treat gunshot victims, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator there on Thursday.

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Amid ongoing strife in Gaza and Ukraine, UN chief reiterates peace call

21 Mar 2024

UN Secretary-General António Guterres doubled down on his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and peace in Ukraine on Thursday, taking aim at the “chaotic” global outlook and any country or armed group that thinks “it can do whatever it wants because there is no accountability”.

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Indonesia leads the way in taming forest fires

20 Mar 2024

Some 70 million hectares of forest are affected by fires each year, causing huge environmental and economic damage. On the International Day of Forests, marked on 21 March, we look at how an innovative UN-led initiative in Indonesia is dramatically reducing forest fires, saving livelihoods and cutting harmful emissions.

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World News in Brief: Dignity and justice key to end evil of racial discrimination, methane emissions update, Mpox latest, peacebuilding boost

20 Mar 2024

Racism is “an evil infecting countries and societies around the world” the UN chief has said in his message marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination but it impacts communities differently.

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First Person: Water key to cultivating financial independence in southern Madagascar

20 Mar 2024

Women in one of the poorest parts of rural Madagascar are growing their financial independence from men by cultivating village land and selling their produce.

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Conflict driving hunger crisis in Sudan, UN officials tell Security Council

20 Mar 2024

Eleven months of brutal fighting is driving a hunger crisis in Sudan, with some areas likely to experience catastrophic levels of food insecurity by the lean season in May, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. 

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Gaza: Less than 1 in 2 UN aid missions allowed into northern zones this month

20 Mar 2024

Less than half of the UN aid convoys planned for Gaza’s hunger-ravaged north have made it so far this month, despite repeated appeals from the international community to ramp up relief to more than one million people on the brink of starvation, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.

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World News in Brief: $236 billion a year profit from forced labour, Senegal election update, peacekeepers in Lebanon

19 Mar 2024

Forced labour is happening all over the world and it’s earning criminal gangs an astonishing $236 billion a year – $64 billion more than a decade ago, UN researchers said on Tuesday.

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Haiti: Aid efforts continue amid violence and volatility

19 Mar 2024

Humanitarians continue to deliver aid in Haiti, where the situation in the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains tense and volatile in the face of escalating gang violence and political instability. 

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Records smashed – new WMO climate report confirms 2023 hottest so far

19 Mar 2024

Records were once again broken for greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, ice cover and glacier retreat, a new global report issued by the UN weather agency (WMO) on Tuesday shows.

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Gaza: Increasing numbers of newborns on brink of death, agencies warn

19 Mar 2024

UN humanitarians reiterated their resolve on Tuesday to help the people of Gaza where increasing numbers of children are on “the brink of death” from acute hunger, caused by five months of intense Israeli bombardment and constant aid access denials.

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World News in Brief: Haiti aid delivery continues, South Sudan violence, pandemic treaty talks near end, Guterres on Myanmar crisis

18 Mar 2024

Aid workers continue to deliver assistance to people in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, amid ongoing tension and volatility, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Monday. 

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UN relief chief calls for overhaul in humanitarian assistance delivery

18 Mar 2024

The UN’s emergency relief chief on Monday outlined the need for a fundamental shift in how humanitarian assistance is delivered, advocating for greater understanding of the needs of crisis-affected populations and a more proactive approach.

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Famine could happen ‘anytime’ in Gaza’s northern governorates, warn UN humanitarians

18 Mar 2024

Amid reports that the Israeli military stormed Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday in search of Hamas fighters, UN humanitarians warned that new food insecurity data indicates that famine could happen “anytime”.

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Gaza: Nearly 23 million tonnes of debris ‘will take years to clear’

15 Mar 2024

The war in Gaza has left a staggering almost 23 millions tonnes of rubble and unexploded weapons scattered across the enclave, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

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Haiti crisis: UN mission announces airbridge to facilitate aid relief

14 Mar 2024

Out-of-control gang violence has created a humanitarian crisis in Haiti that the UN aims to help alleviate with the creation of an airbridge with the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

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Gaza: Aid missions risk being halted without security guarantees

14 Mar 2024

Desperately needed aid operations in Gaza must be protected from attack, the UN’s top aid official has warned, amid reports on Thursday that Palestinians were killed and injured while waiting for supplies in Gaza City.