News
Many Mozambicans still struggling to get back on their feet, one year after cyclone
Many of the people who lost everything when Cyclone Idai swept through central Mozambique a year ago, continue to face devastating hardship, the UN food relief agency said on Friday.
As Syrian conflict enters 10th year, ‘brutal truth’ is, there is little protection for families
Although a fragile ceasefire agreed in northwest Syria is still holding, UN humanitarians on Friday warned of dire conditions for hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by conflict, now in its tenth year.
De-escalate now, to steer Yemen off ‘precarious path’, UN Security Council hears
Yemen is at a “critical juncture”, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday.
Syria: Humanitarians reaffirm support as conflict enters its 10th year
UN agencies have underscored their commitment to continue supporting civilians affected by the war in Syria, which this month enters its tenth year.
Brazilian mountain farmers reap recognition, through UN heritage listing
Farmers who gather flowers from the Espinhaço Mountain Range in Brazil received well-deserved recognition on Wednesday for their crucial role in enhancing biodiversity and preserving traditional knowledge.
Climate change: educating students to fight the crisis
With the latest UN climate report containing worrying evidence that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, how can teachers help children and adults to sort through the growing mass of information, avoid being o
Flagship UN study shows accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere
A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on Tuesday, shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.
Rising number of young people excluded from jobs, education and training
The number of young people around the world who are neither employed, studying or in some kind of training, is on the rise, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Coronavirus update: COVID-19 likely to cost economy $1 trillion during 2020, says UN trade agency
Apart from the tragic human consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, the economic uncertainty it has sparked will likely cost the global economy $1 trillion in 2020, the UN’s trade and development agency, UNCTAD, said on Monday.
COVID-19: countries, businesses must safeguard human rights as virus spreads: Bachelet
As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN’s top human rights official appealed on Friday to put rights “front and centre” when implementing preventative measures.
International Women’s Day: Gender equality benefits everyone
The benefits of gender equality are not just for women and girls, but “for everyone whose lives will be changed by a fairer world”, the chief of UN Women said in her message for International Women’s Day (IWD) at UN Headquarters on Friday, being c
International Women's Day: progress on gender equality remains slow
Women's Rights in Review, 25 years after Beijing takes stock of how the landmark gender equality plan, the Beijing Platform for Action, is being implemented and calls for greater parity and justice.
Guterres calls for ‘immediate and lasting’ end to Syria fighting as Turkey and Russia agree ceasefire
The UN Secretary-General said on Thursday that he hoped the latest ceasefire agreement between Russia and Turkey to end fighting across Syria’s stricken Idlib region, would finally lead to “an immediate and lasting cessation”, that would protect c
New UN report reveals nearly 90 per cent have ‘a deeply ingrained bias’ against women
Despite decades of progress in closing the gender equality gap, close to nine out of 10 men and women around the world, hold some sort of bias against women, according to new findings published on Thursday from the UN Development Programmme (UNDP)
Syria: UN food relief agency ‘doing everything we can’ to reach Idlib civilians
Difficult winter weather conditions, road congestion and military manoeuvres are restricting humanitarian aid delivery to desperate civilians in the Syrian province of Idlib, where a Government operation to weed out extremists has uprooted nearly
Coronavirus COVID-19 wipes $50 billion off global exports in February alone
The extent of the damage to the global economy caused by novel coronavirus COVID-19 moved further into focus on Wednesday as UN economists announced a likely $50 billion drop in worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone.
World Bank Group Announces Up to $12 Billion Immediate Support for COVID-19 Country Response
As COVID-19 reaches more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak.
Yemen: UN Population Fund stresses women’s needs, amidst world’s worst humanitarian crisis
Intense clashes in Yemen’s Al Hazam City, this month have caused massive displacement with an estimated 1,800 families forced to flee their homes, according to a flash update from UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA.
UN ‘determined to stand by the people of Syria’ says Lowcock, as grave humanitarian crisis intensifies around Idlib
The United Nations is “determined to stand by” civilians across Syria’s war-torn northwest, as “a grave humanitarian crisis” continues, the UN emergency relief chief said on Tuesday.
World Wildlife Day: UN chief urges ‘more caring’ relationship with nature
People everywhere need to remember that we depend on Mother Earth to survive, the UN chief said in his message for World Wildlife Day marked on Tuesday, advocating for “a more caring, thoughtful and sustainable relationship with nature”.
Warmer months ahead for many parts of the planet: UN weather agency
Many parts of the world can expect above average temperatures in the coming months even without the presence of an El Niño event to drive warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.
As children freeze to death in Syria, aid officials call for major cross-border delivery boost
Humanitarian assistance needs to be scaled up significantly to more than a million people displaced by fighting in northwest Syria, a senior UN aid official said on Monday, amid reports that children are freezing to death on the Turkish border.
New UN initiative to support financial systems that ‘work better for everyone, everywhere’
From developed to developing countries, no nation is immune from financial “gaps and vulnerabilities”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Monday.
Syria: UN urges Russia and Turkey to secure ‘fresh ceasefire’ as risk of military escalation grows
With the Security Council meeting in emergency session on Syria following the death on the battlefield of dozens of Turkish troops, the UN strongly urged Russia and Turkey on Friday “to build on previous agreements to secure a fresh ceasefire” acr
‘Mayhem’ in Syria’s Idlib amid ongoing violence pushing displaced towards Turkish border
Rapidly escalating conflict in northwest Syria has created health care “mayhem”, amid reports of displaced people moving closer to the Turkish border in search of shelter, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
Cross-border aid delivery in northwest Syria ‘absolutely essential’, Security Council hears
Cross-border humanitarian deliveries from Turkey last month reached more people in northwest Syria than at any time since operations began more than five years ago, the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Thursday
‘Africa has both the energy and the determination’ to make sustainable development happen, says UN deputy chief
The United Nations and the African Union (AU) should do more to ensure all Africans see their futures in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)and the goals of Africa’s Agenda 2063, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Tuesday in Z
UN study projects $32 billion loss for UK post no-deal Brexit
The United Kingdom (UK) risks losing up to 14 per cent of its exports to the European Union (EU) in a so-called “no-deal” Brexit, according to a new study by the UN Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (UNCTAD).
A UN-backed boost for women-run businesses in the developing world
Many women running small businesses in emerging markets have to juggle their business objectives with family obligations and personal savings goals.
‘It’s your future to define’, says UN deputy chief, urging young African leaders to push for Global Goals
Meeting in Zimbabwe with young leaders from across the African continent,UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Monday encouraged the lively gathering to “use your youth power, for it’s your future to define”, telling them to use technology