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People globally want more action to tackle climate crisis: UNDP survey
Almost two-thirds of over 1.2 million people surveyed worldwide say that climate change is a global emergency, urging greater action to address the crisis, results from a new UN climate survey revealed on Wednesday.
Climate litigation spikes, giving courts an ‘essential role’ in addressing climate crisis
A rise in climate litigation cases has made courtrooms increasingly important as a venue for addressing climate change around the world, according to a report released on Tuesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Guterres calls for ‘renewed approach to multilateralism’, through new peacebuilding appeal
Against the backdrop of a COVID-19 crisis that has exacerbated pre-pandemic challenges and a global ceasefire appeal to combat it, the UN chief launched called for new peacebuilding funds on Tuesday, promising a “renewed approach to multilateralis
Mozambique: UN responds as thousands caught in wake of devastating cyclone
UN agencies are ramping up efforts to help communities in Mozambique hit hard by Tropical Cyclone Eloise, which barrelled through the country three weeks after the devastating Tropical Storm Chalane.
In Davos speech, UN chief highlights private sector role in pandemic recovery
The private sector has a key role to play in lifting countries out of both the COVID-19 and climate crises, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told international business leaders on Monday.
New COVID-19 strains ‘poised to unleash’ more severe infections – Security Council hears
Since September, the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened, infecting close to 100 million people, costing more than $3 trillion in lost wages and intensifying obstacles for peace and security around the world, the UN political
COVID’s led to ‘massive’ income and productivity losses, UN labour estimates show
Job losses or reduced working hours due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cost the world the equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Monday, noting that the “massive impact” was nearly fo
Scale up funding for climate adaptation programmes, Guterres urges
The UN Secretary-General on Monday called for urgent scaling up of funds for climate change adaptation and resilience building programmes, so they can offer real and lasting protection against the impact of major events such as droughts, floods an
Syria: 18 children killed since the start of the year, UNICEF reports
The brutal fighting in Syria continues to exact a terrible toll on children, with at least 18, including a one-year-old killed in incidents involving explosive weapons and unexploded ordnance, since 1 January, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on S
FROM THE FIELD: The microscopic creatures helping build Africa’s Great Green Wall
A young woman scientist in Burkina Faso is researching the role of micro-organisms in fighting desertification in the Sahel Region, as part of a UN programme to restore degraded land in Africa.
Economic and Social Council turns 75; President reaffirms mandate to tackle pandemic, development challenges
Marking its 75th anniversary amid the most serious economic and health crisis the UN& has ever faced, the Organization’s Economic and Social Council “has the mandate and the responsibility to respond to these challenges,” the body’s President,
Secretary-General welcomes US return to Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Following the inauguration of United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday, the UN Secretary-General said he looks forward to an era of new leadership towards accelerating climate action, with the US back inside the landmark Paris Agreement.
Decade of conflict triggering ‘slow tsunami’ across Syria, Security Council hears
After a decade of conflict, economic collapse compounded by COVID-19, corruption and mismanagement, the UN Syrian envoy told the Security Council on Wednesday that “a slow tsunami” is now “crashing across Syria”.
‘Complex’ emergency unfolding in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, warn UN agencies
UN agencies voiced deep concern on Wednesday over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where attacks by armed groups have forced more than 565,000 to flee their homes.
East African countries better prepared, but desert locust threat ‘not over’
Action to control unprecedented desert locust infestations in the Horn of Africa last year has protected crops and livelihoods, but funding is needed to sustain operations against new incursions, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on
‘Swift action’ needed in Tigray to save thousands at risk, UNHCR warns
Two months after conflict forced humanitarian workers to withdraw from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), on Tuesday, stressed the need for “swift action” to restore safe access to “save thousands of lives at risk”.
Air travel down 60 per cent, as airline industry losses top $370 billion: ICAO
A new report from the UN’s air transportation agency confirms there was a “dramatic” fall in international air travel due to COVID-19, of around 60 per cent over the course of last year, to levels last seen in 2003.
Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia: Dozens killed, hundreds injured
At least 35 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the West Sulawesi Province of Indonesia on Friday morning, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).
Ethiopia: Safe access and swift action needed for refugees in Tigray
The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday expressed his deep concern over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including its impact on Eritrean refugees hosted there.
2020, one of three warmest years on record: World Meteorological Organization
The COVID-19 pandemic was not the only long-term crisis the world will remember from 2020.
Countries have plans, but lack money to implement climate change adaptation: UN report
Though countries have made progress in planning for climate change adaptation, significant gaps remain in financing such initiatives and bringing them the stage where they bring real protection against climate change impacts such as droughts, floo
Insecurity and bureaucracy hampering aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray region
Nearly three months after the start of conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, hundreds of thousands of people have yet to receive assistance, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, citing information from its humanitarian coordination agency, OC
UN reports major progress towards eradicating sheep and goat plague
The world is moving closer to stamping out a highly contagious disease that affects sheep and goats, but also the livelihoods of millions of families who depend on these animals for food and income, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) s
Fewer protections, lower wages, and higher health risks: Homeworking in the COVID era
The UN’s labour agency (ILO) called on Wednesday for greater recognition and protection for the hundreds of millions of people who work from home, accounting for almost eight per cent of the global workforce even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Humanitarian crisis looms in Madagascar amid drought and pandemic
In southern Madagascar, “famine-like conditions” have doubled the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance compared with last year, to more than 1.3 million.
Humanitarians seek $1.3 billion to help millions in war-weary Afghanistan
United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners in Afghanistan are seeking $1.3 billion to assist almost 16 million people in need of life-saving assistance as a result of decades of conflict, recurrent natural disasters, and the added health an
Serious repercussions likely to follow US plan to designate Yemen combatants terrorists, UN warns
The United States government’s decision to designate Ansar Allah, more commonly known as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, as terrorists, is likely to have “serious humanitarian and political repercussions”, the UN spokesperson said on Monday.
UN chief calls for ‘urgent transition’ from fossil fuels to renewable energy
Building a global coalition for carbon neutrality by mid-century will be the UN’s “central objective”, the world body’s top official told a conference on climate action on Monday.
COVID-19 recovery offers ‘chance to change course’, Guterres tells One Planet Summit
The process of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offers the chance to change course, and put humanity on a path on which it is not in conflict with nature, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Monday, urging greater efforts by everyon
State of the ocean will ‘ultimately determine the survival of our species’: UN Special Envoy
The health of the ocean will ultimately determine the survival of humankind on Earth, according to the UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson.