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.

News

140 aid workers killed in 2021 as UN humanitarian funding gap looms larger than ever – OCHA

12 Aug 2022

The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) warned on Friday that at nearly $34 billion, the funding shortfall for aid operations is the biggest it’s ever been.

After the storm: what an environmental tragedy can teach us about climate resilience and ecosystem restoration

12 Aug 2022

A tiny Caribbean Island known as 'the flower of the ocean' was decimated by Hurricane Iota in 2020. Although the loss of human life was minimal, the impact on precious ecosystems deeply changed the perspective of its inhabitants. Two years later, they’re still working to restore their environmental treasures and preparing for whatever curveballs climate change might throw at them next.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian assistance has saved lives, but immense needs remain

11 Aug 2022

Despite an unprecedented scale-up in assistance in Afghanistan over the past year, immense needs still exist and the future looks bleak, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Thursday.  

Barbados: New UN disaster preparedness hub built on ‘frontlines of climate change’

11 Aug 2022

A new UN-backed humanitarian logistics hub and training centre in Barbados aims to strengthen emergency preparedness and response across the Caribbean, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in announcing the news on Thursday. 

‘Catastrophic’ drought displaces one million in Somalia, world asked to ‘step up’ support

11 Aug 2022

A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, leaving one million people within the country currently registered as displaced, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Thursday.

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Young workers have been hit hardest by COVID fallout, says UN labour agency

11 Aug 2022

The number of young people globally who can’t find a job this year is set to reach 73 million – that’s a full six million more than before COVID-19 – the UN labour agency said on Thursday.

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Children affected by conflict cannot wait for their education

10 Aug 2022

From Ethiopia to Chad and Palestine, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, is helping millions of boys and girls affected by conflict around the world to pursue their dreams.

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Ukraine grain export deal off to ‘a very good start’ – UN interim Coordinator

10 Aug 2022

Under the Black Sea Initiative so far, 12 vessels have been “authorized to depart the Ukrainian ports,” the acting UN coordinator for the grain deal told UN journalists in New York on Wednesday. 

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Belarus: Rights experts denounce withdrawal from key environmental agreement

10 Aug 2022

UN experts on Wednesday denounced the decision by Belarus to withdraw from an international agreement that upholds people’s right to access information, as well as justice, in environmental matters. 

UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries

10 Aug 2022

The UN trade and development body, UNCTAD, has called for action to curb cryptocurrencies in developing nations, in three policy briefs published on Wednesday. 

Ethiopia: Without immediate funding, 750,000 refugees will have ‘nothing to eat’

09 Aug 2022

UN agencies appealed on Tuesday for $73 million over the next six months to provide food rations to more than 750,000 people seeking refuge in Ethiopia.

Nuclear-free Mongolia a ‘symbol of peace in a troubled world’: Guterres

09 Aug 2022

In a visit to Mongolia on Tuesday, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the UN’s full solidarity for the country, which he described as “a symbol of peace in a troubled world”. 

Heat, drought and wildfires during one of the warmest Julys on record– WMO

09 Aug 2022

Amidst extreme heat, drought and wildfires, many parts of the world had just experienced one of three warmest Julys on record, the UN weather agency said on Tuesday.

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Indigenous women’s work to preserve traditional knowledge celebrated on International Day

08 Aug 2022

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for amplifying the voices of Indigenous women, which is critical to achieving a just future for all people.  

Ethiopia: Loan from UN fund allows FAO to scale up fertilizers for farmers in Tigray

08 Aug 2022

A $10 million loan from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will allow the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to scale up the procurement of fertilizers to support farmers in the restive Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, the agency announced on Monday. 

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From the Field: Outreach across the Horn of Africa

08 Aug 2022

In July, a UN human rights officer embarked on an outreach visit to the Horn of Africa’s Sool and Sanaag regions, a seven-day round-trip of more than 1,600 kilometres by road.

Giraffes, parrots, and oak trees, among many species facing extinction

07 Aug 2022

Around one million species are facing extinction, according to a report from IPBES, an independent intergovernmental science and policy body supported by the UN.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator ‘gravely concerned’ by escalation of violence in Gaza

06 Aug 2022

The ongoing and serious escalation of violence in and around Gaza between Palestinian militants and Israel has claimed the lives of 13 Palestinians by Israeli airstrikes, including a 5-year-old child and one woman, informed Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the territory.

First Person: The honey business owner creating a buzz in northern Uganda

05 Aug 2022

Sam Aderubo started his company, Honey Pride, in Arua, northern Uganda, in order to make a positive impact on his community. With support from the UN, the business is taking off, providing work for hundreds of local beekeepers, many of whom are marginalized women and youth.

WMO reports decrease in likelihood of severe Atlantic hurricane season ahead 

05 Aug 2022

As the North Atlantic hurricane season enters its traditional peak period, the US National  Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) has adjusted its forecast to monitor the conditions which impact cyclonic activity, according to the UN weather agency, WMO, on Friday.  

Nuclear technology helps Mexico eradicate invasive insect pest

05 Aug 2022

One of the most devastating insect pests infesting fruits and vegetables in Mexico has been eradicated in the state of Colima, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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Somalia: ‘We cannot wait for famine to be declared; we must act now’

05 Aug 2022

Rising acute food insecurity in Somalia has caused more than 900,000 people to flee their homes in search of humanitarian assistance since January last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.

Major fall in global food prices for July, but future supply worries remain

05 Aug 2022

Food prices dropped significantly in July, marking the fifth consecutive monthly decline since hitting record highs earlier in the year in the wake of the war in Ukraine, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported on Friday. 

More lifesaving grain shipments authorized to leave Ukraine

04 Aug 2022

Three more ships have been given the green light to leave Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Friday, carrying just over 58,000 tons of corn, in a move that will raise hopes further for the success of a UN initiative aimed at lowering prices of essential foods and easing the global crisis.

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UNFPA global innovation awards: 10 projects that will change lives of women and girls

04 Aug 2022

The UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, has announced the ten winners of its first ever Joint Innovation Challenge; a cutting edge competition to provide funding for social enterprises with innovative solutions that advance the empowerment of women and girls worldwide.

Unprecedented global challenges are ‘not insurmountable’ – UN chief

04 Aug 2022

Nearly a year ago, the UN chief released his report, Our Common Agenda (OCA), a blueprint for global cooperation moving forward, and reinvigorated multilateralism. On Thursday, he updated the General Assembly on progress made so far, saying the need for the report’s proposals “has only increased.”

UN chief slams ‘immoral’ profiteering amid global energy crisis

03 Aug 2022

As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, skyrocketing energy prices are compounding an existential cost-of-living crisis for hundreds of millions of people, the UN chief said on Wednesday, introducing the third is a series of briefings from the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance.

Ukraine: Black Sea grain shipment success raises hopes more will follow

03 Aug 2022

The first, eagerly-awaited commercial shipment of grain to leave the Ukrainian port of Odesa since Russia’s invasion more than five months ago, was cleared to proceed to Lebanon on Wednesday, after a scheduled inspection stopover in Istanbul.

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Horn of Africa faces most ‘catastrophic’ food insecurity in decades, warns WHO

02 Aug 2022

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the Greater Horn of Africa is experiencing one of the worst hunger crises of the last 70 years.  

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American west faces water and power shortages due to climate crisis: UN environment agency

02 Aug 2022

Two of the largest reservoirs in the United States are at dangerously low levels due to the climate crisis and overconsumption of water, which could affect water and electricity supply for millions in six western states and Mexico, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned on Tuesday.