News

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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World News in Brief: UN supporting East Africa flood victims, dozens more migrant deaths at sea, disinformation in Myanmar

01 May 2024

The UN and humanitarian partners have provided emergency support for over 124,000 people in Kenya, where heavy rains continue to cause chaos, the UN said on Wednesday, as the UN chief extended his condolences to countries across the region where hundreds of lives have been lost in recent days due to flooding. 

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Gazans on tenterhooks awaiting news of ceasefire call

01 May 2024

Amid growing international calls for restraint from Israel in Gaza and reports on Wednesday of further deadly strikes overnight, UN humanitarians underscored the ongoing devastating impact of the war and the need to ensure reliable aid supply lines to people in desperate need in the enclave.

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Guterres calls on Israel and Hamas to end Gaza war

30 Apr 2024

With the situation in Gaza “worsening by the day”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday appealed for Israeli and Hamas leaders currently taking part in intense negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement.

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World News in Brief: DR Congo conflict could spell catastrophe, plastics treaty progress, enforced disappearances rise ahead of Venezuela poll

30 Apr 2024

The world’s leading humanitarian action forum on Tuesday said that crushing levels of violence and displacement are fuelling unprecedented civilian suffering in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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Gaza war spillover compounds misery for most vulnerable in Lebanon

30 Apr 2024

Children as young as four are being forced to go to work in Lebanon amid a “massive collapse” in humanitarian funding and escalating hostilities on the country’s southern border with Israel that threaten to spiral into a “full-scale war”, UN child experts said on Tuesday.

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‘Extraordinary, deep anxiety’ in Gaza over feared Rafah attack   

30 Apr 2024

Ordinary Gazans remain in a “constant state of trauma” over an impending full-scale Israeli attack on the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah, amid a growing number of strikes there, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.

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Could the answer to 100% renewable energy in Dominica be under the ground?

30 Apr 2024

A small but growing number of countries are well on their way to producing all of their electricity from renewable sources. Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean, is planning to join these pioneers and become the first small island developing State (SIDS) to stop using fossil fuels for energy generation.

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UN reviews progress and challenges 30 years after landmark population conference

29 Apr 2024

Global progress towards sustainable development will continue to stall unless countries do more to bridge the gender gap and reduce poverty and inequality, the President of the General Assembly said on Monday.

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UN official urges South Sudan to lift taxes halting aid

29 Apr 2024

The UN’s top humanitarian official in South Sudan has urged the government to lift newly imposed taxes and charges that are causing aid deliveries to be suspended, affecting tens of thousands of people.

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Children’s shoes left behind illustrate chaos of fleeing Khan Younis: UN humanitarians

29 Apr 2024

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, reached one of its now-abandoned schools in Khan Younis at the weekend, where thousands of people appeared to have left at a moment’s notice, fearing further intense Israeli bombardment.

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UN expresses solidarity with Kenya following deadly floods

29 Apr 2024

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated the UN’s continued commitment to Kenya in the wake of deadly floods caused by weeks of heavy rains that continue to affect the region.

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World News in Brief: Violence blocking Darfur aid, new Iraq law, Chad elections appeal

29 Apr 2024

Rising violence is again restricting humanitarian aid delivery in the Darfur region of Sudan, the head of the World Food Programme said on Monday. 

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UN officials urge swift action to tackle El Niño-induced extreme weather

29 Apr 2024

Top UN officials called on Monday for swift action to combat the El Niño extreme weather events that are currently devastating southern Africa and other regions with flooding and drought.

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Gaza’s unexploded ordnance could take 14 years to clear

26 Apr 2024

Making Gaza safe again from unexploded bombs could take 14 years, UN demining experts said on Friday. 

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Ukraine war: UNICEF highlights 40 per cent rise in children killed this year

26 Apr 2024

As deadly attacks in Ukraine continue, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that the number of children killed so far this year has increased by nearly 40 per cent compared to 2023. 

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Sudan: Civilians trapped in El Fasher as UN warns of imminent attack

26 Apr 2024

Escalating violence in Sudan’s North Darfur state has left dozens dead and people trapped in El Fasher city, which is home to around 800,000 people, many displaced due to fighting. 

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World News in Brief: Support for Haiti mission, challenge of ‘commodity dependence’, Iran's 'strict' hijab law

26 Apr 2024

Following the installation of a transitional council in Haiti, seven countries officially notified the UN Secretary-General on Friday of their intention to contribute personnel to the Security Council-backed support mission for the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation. 

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Climate action ‘cannot trample over the poor’, says Guterres, launching new initiative to protect key minerals for clean energy transition

26 Apr 2024

The UN Secretary-General on Friday launched an initiative focusing on ensuring fairness, sustainability and respect for human rights throughout the entire process of sourcing and using critical minerals needed for the clean energy transition.

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Senior UN aid official urges comprehensive response to Haiti crisis

25 Apr 2024

The ongoing crisis in Haiti is having a “massive” and “devastating” impact, with over half the population acutely food insecure and more than one million staring at emergency levels of hunger, a senior UN World Food Programme (WFP) official said on Thursday.

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World News in Brief: ‘Barbaric’ sexual violence in Sudan, Haiti’s transitional council in place, rights experts condemn Iran rapper's death sentence

25 Apr 2024

The international community must take immediate action to end the wave of sexual violence being carried out against women and girls in Sudan, two senior UN officials said on Thursday.

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Stories from the UN Archive: UN proclaims world’s first Earth Day

25 Apr 2024

The General Assembly designated 22 April as International Mother Earth Day through a resolution adopted in 2009, but the roots of the Day go back to the 1970s.

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Gaza: Heatwave brings new misery and disease risk to Rafah

25 Apr 2024

Unexpected blistering temperatures across Gaza have added to the daily misery faced by the enclave’s people and sparked new fears of disease outbreaks amid a lack of sufficient clean water and waste disposal, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.

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Polluting rivers, beaches and the ocean: How can Trinidad solve its plastics problem?

24 Apr 2024

Plastic pollution blocks rivers, chokes oceans and makes its way into the food chain as microplastics. It’s a global environmental crisis, and Small Island Developing States are especially vulnerable, having to cope with detritus washing up on their beaches, as well as the waste they generate themselves. 

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UN coordinator in Gaza announces new plan to deliver lifesaving aid

24 Apr 2024

A new mechanism for getting lifesaving aid into Gaza will start in the coming days, UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator Sigrid Kaag announced in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday.

UNRWA seeks $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs in Gaza and the West Bank

24 Apr 2024

The UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, launched a $1.2 billion appeal on Wednesday to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip and to respond to needs in the West Bank as violence there increases. 

From Dominica to Vogue: Big dreams on a small island

23 Apr 2024

Becoming a successful international fashion photographer is hard for anyone, but it’s particularly difficult if you grow up in Dominica, a small Caribbean country regularly hit by hurricanes. This hasn’t deterred Josiah Johnson, an aspiring photographer who is taking advantage of digital technology training to find new opportunities well beyond the borders of his home.

WMO report: Asia hit hardest by climate change and extreme weather

23 Apr 2024

Asia remained the world’s most disaster-affected region in 2023 due to weather, climate and water-related hazards. Storms and floods have hit the hardest, a new report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday reveals.

UN chief calls for all hands on deck at Climate Promise 2025 launch

23 Apr 2024

Top UN officials launched a fresh global campaign to tackle the climate emergency on Tuesday, with social media influencers, Indigenous leaders and corporate giants showing what they’ve done and what’s to come.

Mass graves in Gaza show victims’ hands were tied, says UN rights office

23 Apr 2024

Disturbing reports continue to emerge about mass graves in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were reportedly found stripped naked with their hands tied, prompting renewed concerns about possible war crimes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

World News in Brief: South Sudan tax impositions, Somalia flash floods, Ukraine attacks

23 Apr 2024

The UN acknowledges assurances from the South Sudanese government that the recent imposition of taxes on fuel and supply trucks does not apply to the Organization. Still, concerns remain regarding humanitarian aid efforts in the region since some of the UN’s fuel and supply trucks are being held at many depots and the border.