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Act now to provide COVID-19 vaccines for all: ECOSOC President
Ensuring COVID-19 vaccines for all will be critical if the world is to defeat the pandemic, the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Munir Akram, said on Friday in his address to the closing its high-level segment.
UN deputy chief warns of ‘hurricane of humanitarian crises’
There is a “bloody surge” impacting humanitarian crises around the world, with civilians in conflict zones paying the highest price, the UN deputy chief told the Security Council on Friday.
Deadly flooding, heatwaves in Europe, highlight urgency of climate action
Heavy rainfall that has triggered deadly and catastrophic flooding in several western European countries, is just the latest indicator that all nations need to do more to hold back climate change-induced disasters, the World Meteorological Organiz
‘Deeply negative impact’ of COVID pandemic, reverses SDG progress
Closing a key international development forum on Thursday, the deputy UN chief observed that a year of “immense challenges” has reversed progress on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
EU urged to consider impact of new climate plan on developing countries
Although a new European Union (EU) climate plan unveiled on Wednesday could change global trade patterns to favour countries where production is relatively carbon efficient, its value in mitigating climate change will likely be limited, the UN tra
UN chief says race to reach SDGs ‘can and must’ be turned around
The COVID pandemic has taken four million lives, devastated the global economy, pushed a further 124 million people into extreme poverty and continues to inflict profound suffering – dramatically impacting progress towards the Sustainable Developm
UN body unveils new plan to overturn ecological destruction, ‘preserve and protect nature’
Equitably “redirecting, repurposing or eliminating incentives” that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year is just one of the 21 ambitious targets of a new draft agreement released by a UN body in the lead up to the landmark November
UN appeals for faster passage for aid convoys to Ethiopia’s Tigray
UN humanitarians appealed on Tuesday for far quicker access to Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, after the first aid trucks in days to reach the local capital, Mekelle, encountered multiple checks delaying their arrival.
‘Tremendously off track’ to meet 2030 SDGs: UN chief
Between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020 – some 161 million more than for 2019 – the UN Secretary-General said on Monday; “new, tragic data”, which indicates the world is “tremendously off track” to achieve the Sustain
Conflict, climate change, COVID, forces more people into hunger
Global hunger levels have skyrocketed because of conflict, climate change and the economic impact of COVID-19; and one in five children around the world is stunted, UN agencies warned on Monday.
FROM THE FIELD: South Sudan’s displaced youth, help power change
Young people who were displaced by conflict in South Sudan have returned home to power change in their community.
Secretary-General welcomes Ethiopia’s pledge to allow humanitarian access to Tigray
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed Ethiopia’s commitment to ensuring aid workers can access the war-ravaged Tigray region, his Spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
Syria: UN chief welcomes Security Council extension of vital cross-border aid operation
The UN chief has welcomed a decision on Friday by the Security Council to extend the UN cross-border aid operation in northwest Syria for another 12 months, providing a lifeline for more than 3.4 million people in need, including some one million
A third of Haiti’s children in urgent need of emergency aid: UNICEF
Nearly a third of all children in Haiti – numbering around 1.5 million - are in urgent need of emergency relief due to rising violence, insufficient access to clean water, health and nutrition, said the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Friday.
Time running out for countries on climate crisis front line
The world’s running out of time to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, a matter of life or death for climate vulnerable countries on the front line of the crisis, the UN Secretary General reiterated on Thursday.
Child mental health crisis ‘magnified’ by COVID, warns UN chief
Half of the world’s children experience violence on and offline in some form every year, with “devastating and life-long consequences” for their mental health, the UN chief warned a symposium on the issue on Thursday.
Amid COVID job losses, ‘high food prices are hunger’s new best friend’, WFP warns
Job losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic combined with high food prices are making it hard for millions of families to get enough to eat, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday.
UN appeals for resupply of aid and fuel in Tigray region
Humanitarian operations have been gradually resuming in the war-ravaged Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, but resupply of aid and fuel for civilians caught up in the fighting is urgently needed, the United Nations said on Tuesday, citing informa
Sustainable development report shows devastating impact of COVID, ahead of ‘critical’ new phase
The world was not on track to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before COVID-19 struck, and now the challenge has been magnified many times over, according to a new flagship UN report that indicates countries must take ‘critical’ st
South Sudan: UNICEF warns of ‘desperation and hopelessness’ for children 10 years after independence
Ten years after South Sudan achieved independence, more children there are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance than ever before, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Tuesday.
Japan: UN chief praises work of emergency responders in wake of deadly landslide
The UN chief on Monday extended his condolences to the families of those who died in a landslide, which struck the Japanese coastal city of Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture, over the weekend.
First Person: ‘Syrians still have ambition and hope’
As a witness to the impacts of Syria’s internal conflict over the last decade, Bassel Al-Madani, a young engineer and former volunteer with the UN, was inspired to set up Entrepioneers 2030, a group that rallies youth to get involved in shaping th
FROM THE FIELD: 4.4 million Nigerians facing ‘catastrophic food conditions’
Some 4.4 million people in Nigeria are facing what the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, is describing as “catastrophic food conditions”.
400,000 in Tigray cross 'threshold into famine', with nearly 2 million on the brink, Security Council told
Senior UN officials appealed on Friday for immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Tigray – and a stop to deadly attacks on aid workers - as the Security Council held its first open meeting on the conflict in the restive northern Ethiopi
‘Free, unfettered access’ needed to assist millions in war-torn Tigray
The World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed operations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, after fighting halted the emergency response last week, although the agency warned on Friday that “serious challenges” continue to threaten the entire humanitarian
Turning crisis into opportunity: World leaders meet at UN to help drive pandemic recovery
Leading figures from government, business and civil society are preparing to take part in this year’s High Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF), where they will discuss ways to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a
COVID-19 impact on tourism could deal $4 trillion blow to global economy: UN report
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism could result in a more than $4 trillion loss to the global economy, UN trade and development body UNCTAD said on Wednesday in a report issued jointly with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Generation Equality: Alongside COVID lies an ‘equally horrific pandemic’ threatening women
As the world grapples unevenly with the effects of COVID-19, “a parallel and equally horrific pandemic” has threatened half the world’s population, the UN chief said on Tuesday, in the lead up to the Generation Equality Forum in France.
Record-breaking ‘pressure-cooker’ heatwave hits Canada, US northwest
A "pressure-cooker" heatwave that's broken temperature records twice in 48 hours in the US northwest and western Canada is being mirrored across large parts of the northern hemisphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.
Hospitals barely functioning, famine still looming in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
UN humanitarians expressed concern on Tuesday at the uncertain situation in Ethiopia's conflict-ravaged Tigray region despite a ceasefire call from the Government, highlighting the ongoing famine-like conditions there and the potential for disease