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IMF: ‘Less severe’ but ‘still deep’ recession predicted
In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing impact, the global economy could see a “somewhat less severe, though still deep” recession through 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected in its latest global economic ou
Shift needed from ‘what the weather will be’ to ‘what the weather will do’
Extreme weather and climate events have increased in frequency, intensity and severity as result of climate change and hit vulnerable communities disproportionately hard, a new UN report has said, calling for greater investment in effective early
Bad situations ‘only get worse’ without disaster risk governance, UN chief says on International Day
With nations facing multiple crises simultaneously and extreme weather events witnessing a dramatic rise over the past few decades, the UN Secretary-General has called for strengthening disaster risk governance to build a safer and more resilient
UN chief announces major push to transform harmful food systems
The UN chief António Guterres set out a new plan to transform the world’s food systems on Monday - coinciding with the start of World Food Week - which will culminate in a major summit, scheduled to take place in September next year.
UN chief urges ministers to provide ‘decisive leadership’ on climate action
With nations striving to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impacts, efforts must focus on decarbonizing the global economy and building a more inclusive and resilient future, the UN Secretary-General said on Monday.
‘Staggering’ rise in climate emergencies in last 20 years, new disaster research shows
The first 20 years of this century have seen a “staggering” rise in climate disasters, UN researchers said on Monday, while also maintaining that “almost all nations” have failed to prevent a “wave of death and illness” caused by the COVID-19 pand
The World Food Programme: a three-year experiment that became indispensable
The need for the World Food Programme, the recipient of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, to exist is starker than ever.
Universal Health Coverage ‘more urgent than ever’ – UN chief
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that “our health systems are inadequate”, the UN chief told a ministerial meeting on Thursday, citing weak structures and unequal access to healthcare as “major reasons” why the coronavirus has killed one million pe
Pandemic has forever changed online shopping, UN-backed survey reveals
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way consumers shop online, the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD, said on Thursday, announcing results of a survey of some 3,700 consumers across nine countries.
Belarus: ‘There is no sustainable development without human rights’ - a UN Resident Coordinator blog
Belarus has been rocked by mass demonstrations, and violent state crackdowns, since the disputed August presidential election that saw Alexander Lukashenko returned to power.
Global trade amid COVID-19: Signs of rebound, but recovery uncertain
Global trade is showing signs of bouncing back from a deep, COVID-19-induced slump, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said, with the caveat that any recovery could be badly disrupted by the future course of the pandemic and how societies reac
Report outlines long road to post-COVID recovery for Latin America and Caribbean
Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean will be slower than the return to productivity following the subprime mortgage crisis more than a decade ago, the head of the UN’s office for the region, ECLAC, said o
DR Congo: Children suffering ‘unrelenting violence’, UNICEF deeply concerned
Thousands of children continue to suffer grievously as unrelenting violence persists across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, expressing deep concern.
UN Special Adviser helps align UN and Africa on sustainable development path
"Helping to reshape the UN's approach to better serve the continent and merge the UN-led Sustainable Development Goals with Africa's own 2063 Agenda, are top priorities for the newly minted UN Special Adviser on Africa.
Violent protests sparked by murder, bring Haiti to brink of instability, Security Council warned
Violent protests sparked by the murder of a high-profile legal scholar are threatening to push Haiti into a spiral of instability, Special Representative Helen La Lime told the Security Council on Monday, as she outlined UN efforts to help overcom
Harness ‘transformative potential’ of urbanization for people and planet, UN urges, marking World Habitat Day
Commemorating World Habitat Day, on Monday, top UN officials called for urgent action to provide low-income families and vulnerable populations with affordable housing with security of tenure and easy access to water, sanitation, transport and oth
Greening of India's railway network on track
An ambitious plan to make one of the world’s largest and most complex railway networks a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 is moving full steam ahead, although without the steam, thanks, in part, to support from the United Nations Environment Progra
First Person: ‘I’m happy to be able to give back’
Luis Jose Faife, a UN refugee agency (UNHCR) worker from Mozambique, survived the devastation of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which killed more than 600 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and displaced some 2.2.
Sudan alert: Flooding and surging inflation threaten humanitarian assistance
Catastrophic flooding and rising food and health costs in Sudan, have driven up the number of people in need, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.
Top humanitarian award winner ‘nothing short of heroic’: UN refugee chief
An educator and rights defender who has spent more than 20 years rescuing exploited and trafficked children in Colombia, represents “the best of us”, the UN refugee chief said on Thursday, as she was named the winner of this year’s Nansen Refugee
LIVE: UN chief, Prince Charles, join calls for end to biodiversity destruction
Regularly updated coverage of the UN Summit on Biodiversity, where activists and senior UN officials are calling for urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development.
Protect the world from sliding into global recession, urges UN chief
The economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic “are as bad as we feared”, the UN Secretary-General said, as he warned that the international community must act now if it is stave off a global recession, which could wipe out decades
Flooding leaves South Sudan facing threat of ‘catastrophic’ hunger levels
Torrential rains and flooding across South Sudan have created the threat of “catastrophic” levels of hunger and left hundreds of thousands homeless, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
Food loss and waste ‘an ethical outrage’, UN chief says on International Day
New approaches and solutions are needed to address worsening food loss and waste, the UN Secretary-General has said, in a message marking the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction.
Nobel laureate Nadia Murad denounces lack of will to end sexual violence as a war tactic
With one in three women around the world affected by gender-based violence – a crime that skyrockets more than 200 per cent in conflict settings – Nobel laureate Nadia Murad brought governments and UN leaders to task on Monday, for failing to prov
Illicit capital robbing Africa and its people of their future: UN trade and development chief
Every year, an estimated $88.6 billion, which is equivalent to 3.7% of Africa’s GDP, leaves the continent in the form of illicit capital, according to UN trade and development agency UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, launched on
Ahead of biodiversity summit, UN officials discuss roadmap to preserve the natural world
Top UN officials working to preserve the natural world are urging “action now” ahead of a crucial biodiversity summit this week, where world leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the cause.
Reform of UN is ‘the need of the hour’: India premier
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, declared that United Nations reform is “the need of the hour”, as he addressed world leaders in a video address to the General Debate of the General Assembly, on Saturday.
FROM THE FIELD: COVID-19’s ‘deadly layer of complexity’ depicted in photos
The fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic is adding a “deadly layer of complexity” to the global challenge of preventing more people from falling into poverty, a view articulated in a photographic exhibition sponsored by the UN Development Programme
INTERVIEW: ‘Famine is preventable, if there is political will’
The UN is warning of an impending hunger pandemic across the world, partly a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.