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From extreme floods to heat and drought, weather and climate-related disasters have affected millions and cost billions this year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday, describing the “tell-tale signs and impacts” of intensified climate change.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths released from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Thursday, $14 million for direct assistance to 262,521 South Sudanese affected by increased violence and severe flooding.

The number of children suffering from dire drought conditions across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has more than doubled in five months, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.

Millions of Afghan children have been vaccinated during the first nationwide integrated measles and polio campaign in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021, the UN health agency said on Thursday.

Renowned chefs such as UN World Food Programme (WFP) Goodwill Ambassador Chef Manal Al Alem, and Chef José Andres, as well as indigenous home cooks and farmers from around the world, have contributed to a new cookbook that includes recipes that are delicious and climate friendly. 

US sanctions on Iran are resulting in harm to the country’s environment and preventing everyone there - including migrants and Afghan refugees - from fully enjoying their rights to health and life, and contributing to other factors such as rising air pollution, UN-appointed independent experts said on Tuesday.

Famine is fast approaching in Somalia and more than 700,000 people could face starvation next year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Tuesday, citing the latest Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) analysis. 

The UN chief said on Monday he was determined to make 2023 “a year for peace” and a “year for action”, highlighting the need for practical solutions to a raft of pressing problems facing all regions of the world.

The UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, concluded early on Monday in Montreal, Canada, with a landmark agreement to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s lands, coastal areas and inland waters by the end of the decade. 

More than 150 Palestinians and over 20 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel so far in 2022 - the highest number of deaths in years, UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland told the Security Council on Monday. 

Humanity faces unprecedented engineering challenges if it is to survive. Solutions to these challenges are waiting to be discovered in plants, animals, and microbes, but these could be lost forever, if we do not preserve the rich diversity of life on Earth.

The natural world has gifted humanity with untold health benefits, and it is believed that it harbours many more undiscovered health breakthroughs. However, we risk losing these benefits, if we continue to degrade the environment.

In Ukraine, the UN’s top emergency relief official on Thursday pledged solidarity with the embattled country and its people, as they try to rebuild their lives amid the ongoing war.

The UN chief is “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and heavy damage triggered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the worst floods to hit the country since 2019, his spokesperson said on Wednesday. 

Nine months after Russia invaded Ukraine, rural households are increasingly forced to scale down or abandon agricultural activities, according to a new survey released on Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Countries must ramp up investments to provide safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to all people by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners said on Wednesday in a bid to save more lives. 

The war in Ukraine is a “relentless humanitarian nightmare” said the UN chief on Tuesday, warning that the death and destruction afflicting civilians there will take years to overcome, and rebuild.

Ten initiatives from around the globe, which together aim to restore more than 68 million hectares of land and coastlines, have been recognized by the UN for their role in preventing and reversing the degradation of natural habitats across the planet. 

In Somalia, a full-blown famine has been narrowly averted for now, but the hunger emergency has not gone away, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Global trade is set to reach almost $32 trillion this year, but inflation has reversed some of the gains made in recent months.

Amid rising humanitarian needs worldwide, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, on Tuesday launched a $1.2 billion appeal to support 66 million women, girls and young people in 65 countries affected by crisis. 

To mark Universal Health Coverage Day on Monday, the UN is sharing the spotlight with the biggest sporting event in the world this week - the FIFA World Cup semi-finals. A showcase celebration of Health for All on the eve of the first showdown between Argentina and Croatia, is taking place on the main stage at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha, Qatar.

More than 11,000 boys and girls have been killed or injured in the war in Yemen - an average of four a day since fighting escalated in 2015, though the number is likely to be far higher, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.

With armed gangs in charge of key transport routes in Haiti, the country could see famine conditions, unless a robust humanitarian aid plan is put in place, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Haiti, Jean-Martin Bauer, has warned.

As humanitarian needs soar to unprecedented levels, top UN officials on Friday highlighted the importance of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in supporting emergencies and responding rapidly to crises.  

Some 20 million jobs could be created by investing in policies that support nature and address climate change, disaster risk, food insecurity, and other major challenges, according to a UN report published on Friday. 

Despite the continued impact of COVID-19, malaria cases and deaths remained stable throughout last year, according to new data released on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO).  

The number of hungry people in West and Central Africa could reach a record high of 48 million next year, which should serve as a final “wake-up call” for regional governments to act now, three UN agencies said on Thursday. 

As cholera continues to spread in Haiti, a $145 million appeal to support the response is only 16 per cent funded, the top UN aid official there reported on Thursday. 

A UN-led push for greater cross-border cooperation over increasingly finite water resources, made significant progress on Thursday, after it was announced that more than 30 governments and organizations have decided to work together on the issue.