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A fashion designer and stylist in New Orleans, one of the early epicentres of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, has said that she was left “stifled and confused” by the disruption caused by the pandemic, but recognizes there are opportunities to grow creatively and serve the community by making face masks, with some fashion flair.

The COVID-19 outbreak could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in Haiti, endangering many years of hard-won progress in the Caribbean nation, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said on Friday.

Humanitarians are seeking nearly $7 billion to protect millions of lives and halt the spread of COVID-19 in more than 60 of the world’s most fragile countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis, but it is also proving to be an economic disaster for huge numbers of people worldwide. A senior UN official with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is calling for countries to provide citizens with a universal basic income, to help the millions who have lost their jobs, because of measures to curb the virus, combined with increasing levels of inequality.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the way in which we work, keep in touch, go to school and shop for essentials – across the world – it has never been more important to bridge the digital divide for the 3.6 billion people who remain off-line.

Well over 40 million people across West Africa face desperate food shortages in coming months, with COVID-19 restrictions a new factor adding to people’s vulnerability, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

The “most massive public health effort in history” is needed to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief said on Monday, addressing a European Union pledging conference in Brussels.

The COVID-19 pandemic which has swept across the developed and developing world is “exposing the frailties and inequalities of our societies,” according to the UN Deputy Secretary-General.

In normal times, the world’s airlines would be carrying nearly 2 billion international passengers this year. That’s 5.7 million a day. But with the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the planet, these are not normal times. In its latest analysis of the economic impact of novel coronavirus on global commercial aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) warns of a potential overall reduction of 872 million to just over 1.3 billion international passengers – if signs of recovery emerge in late May.

Help is needed urgently to distribute vaccines worldwide amid dramatic shortages because of COVID-19 restrictions, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. It has warned that youngsters’ lives “are at stake” owing to the dramatic decline in commercial flights and limited availability of charters.

Amidst the destruction of the of COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations chief expressed concern over a lack of “sufficient solidarity” with the world’s developing countries, that need support in responding to the worst economic and social crisis in generations. 

A third of all nations lack laws to protect their citizen’s online data and privacy, despite an 11 per cent uptick in the global adoption of data protection and privacy legislation since 2015, the United Nations’ trade, investment and development body (UNCTAD) said on Wednesday.

Women around the world can act as “agents of change” and find solutions to the challenges provoked by the global climate crisis, according to the UN’s specialized gender agency, UN Women.  

Some 1.6 billion people employed in the informal economy – or nearly half the global workforce - could see their livelihoods destroyed due to the continued decline in working hours brought on by lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday.

Sudan’s efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, are delaying the deployment of fresh United Nations police units in Abyei and the border regions between Sudan and South Sudan, the UN’s peacekeeping chief told the Security Council on Tuesday

To combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the “looming existential threat of climate disruption”, the only credible response is “brave, visionary and collaborative leadership” anchored in mutilateralism, the UN Secretary General António Guterres, said on Tuesday, during an international discussion focused on climate change.

Marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has urged States to take action to prevent and control COVID-19 in the workplace.  

Against the backdrop of the unprecedented global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the deputy UN chief briefed journalists on Monday about a new women-led initiative that mobilizes support to save lives and protect livelihoods.  

An upsurge in military action against armed groups in West Africa’s vast Sahel and Lake Chad regions has prompted the United Nations refugee agency to call on all warring parties to protect people caught up in the violence.

An expected drop in greenhouse gas emissions linked to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is only “short-term good news”, the head of the UN weather agency said on Wednesday. 

In his message for International Mother Earth Day this Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged that all eyes are on the COVID-19 pandemic, which he flagged as “an unprecedented wake-up call”

The COVID-19 pandemic will herald the worst economic contraction in the history of Latin American and the Caribbean, with a projected -5.3 per cent drop in activity this year, according to a report by the UN office for the region, ECLAC, published on Tuesday.

The world is not only facing “a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe”, the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link.

Aid is being rushed to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where deadly flooding has swept away people and homes and affected tens of thousands more, including many displaced by violence, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday

A new study on food insecurity by an alliance of UN, governmental, and non-governmental agencies analyzes what is fueling global food crises and examines how, among other emergencies, the COVID-19 pandemic is perpetuating downward cycle for millions.

Two UN agency chiefs are pledging to accelerate work to expand refugee children’s access to protection, education, clean water and sanitation, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe.  

The heads of major UN humanitarian agencies and offices have launched an urgent appeal for $350 million to support global aid hubs to help those most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) told a virtual meeting of the G20 leading global economies on Sunday that although it was encouraging for some countries to be planning to ease lockdowns against COVID-19, “it is critical that these measures are a phased process”.

A devastating surge in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks in New York City, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted United Nations staff to stand in solidarity with their host city, by stepping up support for healthcare workers and others on the front line.