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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In Bahrain, Global Forum for Entrepreneurs and Investment examines empowerment of women, youth through innovation

12 Nov 2019

Spotlighting the role of targeted investment and innovation towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with special focus on ‘Harnessing the Potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Digital Economy,’ the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum kicked off on Tuesday in the Bahraini capital, Manama.

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Australia wildfires: communities must stay vigilant, urges UN weather agency

12 Nov 2019

As Australia’s “catastrophic” and deadly wildfire emergency continues, UN weather experts on Tuesday echoed Government warnings for people to remain vigilant in the face of the fast-moving threat and tinderbox conditions.

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Multilateralism must weather ‘challenges of today and tomorrow’ Guterres tells Paris Peace Forum

11 Nov 2019

In a speech to the Paris Peace Forum in Paris on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that to thrive, multilateralism had to adapt, mindful that “conflicts persist, creating suffering and displacement: our world is unsettled”.  He was speaking as commemorations took place in countries across the world, marking the official end of the First World War, in 1918.

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New UN forestry project bids to help countries meet climate change commitments

11 Nov 2019

More than two dozen countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America are set to benefit from a UN project to help tackle climate change through better forestry management.

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Hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk in Syria amid ongoing violence in northeast and northwest

08 Nov 2019

Almost daily violence targeting built-up areas and health facilities in Syria continues to threaten the lives of civilians there, UN rights experts and humanitarians said on Friday.

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Progress toward sustainable development is seriously off-track

07 Nov 2019

The UN Secretary-General is calling on business leaders to use their “enormous influence” to push for inclusive growth and opportunities that benefit all people and the planet.

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Cuba: UN Members overwhelmingly support end of US embargo, as Brazil backs Washington

07 Nov 2019

For the 28th consecutive year, the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.

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‘Everyone needs to do more’ to help suffering Venezuelans, says UN Emergency Relief Coordinator

06 Nov 2019

“Ordinary women, men and children face overwhelming challenges” just to survive in Venezuela today, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said on Wednesday in the capital, Caracas.

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Step up action to protect the planet during wartime: UN environment chief

06 Nov 2019

Greater action is needed to protect the environment during wartime if the world is to realize the goal of a more sustainable future for all people and the planet, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned on Wednesday.

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Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Cameroon crisis deepens, Tsunami Awareness Day, online gender gap, Somalia floods leave children vulnerable

05 Nov 2019

A recap of Tuesday’s top stories: Humanitarian needs in Cameroon up 15-fold from 2017; UN risk reduction chief calls for more resilient cities; Somalia’s floods put 200,000 children at risk; Internet use study reveals growing gender gap; UN partners spotlight youth mental health. 

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US-China trade war is a ‘lose-lose’ situation for them and the world, warn UN economists

05 Nov 2019

The trade tariff spat between China and the United States has been a “lose-lose” situation for both countries and the wider world and it is likely to deteriorate unless a deal is reached, UN economists said on Tuesday.

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Natural hazards don’t always spell disaster: UN risk reduction chief

05 Nov 2019

Tsunamis are rare, but when they strike, they are the deadliest and most costly of natural hazards. With half of the world’s population expected to live in coastal areas more prone to tsunamis by 2030, investing in early warning systems and resilient infrastructure, will be vital to saving lives and economies, said the top UN official on disaster risks on Tuesday.

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Nearly two million Cameroonians face humanitarian emergency: UNICEF

05 Nov 2019

Ongoing violence in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest has created a fast-growing humanitarian emergency now affecting some 1.9 million people, a “15-fold increase since 2017”, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

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Ebola emergency chief decries new attacks on frontline staff, after DR Congo worker death

04 Nov 2019

Security measures for staff helping to fight health emergencies need to be stepped up urgently, a UN health agency top official said on Monday, after a frontline Ebola epidemic community worker was reportedly stabbed to death at his home in northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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Microplastics, microbeads and single-use plastics poisoning sea life and affecting humans

04 Nov 2019

Each year, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean – equivalent to a full garbage truck dumped into the sea every minute - the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has said.

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Far more needed to ‘confront the world’s climate emergency’, Guterres tells ASEAN-UN Summit 

03 Nov 2019

Four of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday, urging the ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok to “confront the world’s climate emergency”.

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Coal addiction ‘must be overcome’ to ease climate change, UN chief says in Bangkok

02 Nov 2019

In Thailand for the ASEAN Summit, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited a climate mitigation project in Bangkok's new Centenary Park on Saturday where he told journalists that “coal addiction must be overcome”.

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Friday's Daily Brief: When journalists are targets, landslides in Cameroon, UN Female Police Officer of the Year award

01 Nov 2019

A recap of stories in brief this Friday: Societies 'pay a price' when journalists are killed; Guterres saddened by Cameroon landslide deaths; Senegalese woman officer receives top UN award; IOM urges release of volunteers held captive in South Sudan; 'All actors' must support Haiti amidst crisis; UN expert warning over health of Julian Assange.

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UN migration agency appeals to South Sudan group to free volunteer worker and child

01 Nov 2019

The UN migration agency appealed on Friday for the immediate liberation of a volunteer and child who’ve been missing since a gun battle in South Sudan at the weekend that claimed the lives of three agency workers.

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Climate experts pledge to scale up high-altitude fight against mountain melt

31 Oct 2019

The UN’s weather watchdog and partners committed on Thursday to a new initiative to ramp up observation and prediction technology that will help address the challenges of climate change, melting snow and ice, and water-related hazards.

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From ‘strength to strength’ UN-African Union security partnership growing, Security Council hears

30 Oct 2019

The Security Council highlighted the growing partnership on matters of peace and security between the United Nations and African Union (AU) on Wednesday amidst calls to bolster overall effectiveness.

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Wednesday’s Daily Brief: Iraq protests, ‘historic’ Syria talks, Chile pulls out of COP25, Guinea-Bissau, South Sudan, new nuclear watchdog chief

30 Oct 2019

A recap of Wednesday’s stories: new Syria talks begin in Geneva; Chile pulls out as host of major climate conference; UN calls for national talks to break cycle of violence in Iraq; UN chief voices ‘serious concern’ over Guinea-Bissau political crisis; IOM suspends South Sudan Ebola screening; UN atomic watchdog appoints new leader.  

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UN calls for shipping ‘propulsion revolution’ to avoid ‘environmental disaster’

30 Oct 2019

If emissions from the maritime industry are not cut, we are headed for “an environmental disaster”, Isabelle Durant, the deputy head of the UN trade body, UNCTAD, told the Global Maritime Forum summit on Wednesday.

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Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Slow progress on women and peace, rights in Kashmir, Venezuela refugees, Guterres on key Syria talks

29 Oct 2019

A recap of Tuesday’s top stories: ‘Real change’ too slow for women’s peace and security role; UN rights chief urges India to ‘unlock’ Kashmir restrictions; UN chief welcomes milestone Syria constitution meeting.

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UN summit tackles climate change-induced threat to mountain water supplies

29 Oct 2019

The world’s mountain and glacier regions are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change, imposing a crippling effect on the people and economies that rely on them, the UN’s weather agency explained on Tuesday, ahead of a summit to address the world’s rapidly-changing water systems.  

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Monday’s Daily Brief: Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gender gap in Latin America, Syria talks in Geneva, human rights in Egypt, the future of digital telecommunications

28 Oct 2019

A recap of Monday’s top stories: ‘Multi-generational tragedy’ in Israel and Palestine demands viable two-State solution; gender gap persists in Latin America’s workforce; Syria envoy urges prisoner release ahead of talks in Geneva; Egypt urged to end repression of protesters and rights defenders; future of digital communications discussed at  world conference. 

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FROM THE FIELD: ‘Blue’ finance flows in the Seychelles

28 Oct 2019

Protecting marine areas from over-exploitation and providing the people who have traditionally lived off the sea with a sustainable alternative livelihood does not come cheap, but in the Seychelles, a focus on financial instruments is making that task easier. 

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Nepal benefits from end to open toilet use

25 Oct 2019

Sunaina lives in Majhi, a village of 104 people in Nepal’s impoverished Terai region. Huts fashioned of mud, thatch and straw stand in a row along the shoulder of a dirt road that carves through rice fields, where Sunaina, and the majority of her neighbours earn their living.

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Security Council: UN welcomes efforts to de-escalate crisis in northeast Syria

24 Oct 2019

The United Nations welcomes efforts to de-escalate the crisis in northeastern Syria in the wake of Turkey’s incursion, a senior official with responsibility for the region told the Security Council on Thursday.

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‘Unique opportunity’ to resolve border dispute between Sudan, South Sudan

24 Oct 2019

Sudan and neighbouring South Sudan “have never been closer” to reaching a sustainable peace with each other, and their own internal armed opposition groups, the head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Thursday.