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Across Ukraine, the scale of needs caused by Russia's invasion is still massive and human rights concerns persist, UN humanitarians said in an update on Thursday, as they repeated calls for access to the country's Black Sea ports to export vitally needed cereals.

Syria’s humanitarian needs are at their highest ever and any move to block aid from reaching the war-torn country should be resisted strongly, a top UN Human Rights Council probe said on Wednesday. 

A new United Nations report says that rapid urbanization was only temporarily delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the global urban population back on track to grow by another 2.2 billion people by 2050.

Record levels of fisheries and aquaculture production are making a critical contribution to global food security, the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon, Portugal, heard on Wednesday.

With the livelihoods of about 40 per cent of the world’s population living at or near a coast, the second day of the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon focused on strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, managing coastal ecosystems.

With the livelihoods of about 40 per cent of the world’s population living at or near a coast, the second day of the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon focused on strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, managing coastal ecosystems.

At least ten people have reportedly been killed by what Ukrainian authorities have said was a Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping centre, and attack which the UN condemned on Monday as “utterly deplorable”.

On Monday, thousands of people gathered at Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, for the first day of the long-awaited UN Ocean Conference. Riding on the global momentum generated by the event, experts are pushing for a new international commitment to combat pollution, including at sea.

Although climate change threatens everyone, women and girls often suffer its harshest and most violent consequences, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday. 

At the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to commit and unite around the protection and preservation of our seas.

The marine treasures of Colombia are often overlooked, as the country is known more for its mountains and the colourful towns that dot its coffee region. But just below the waves, a vibrant undersea world with over a thousand square kilometres of coral reef awaits those who take the plunge.

Making cities more inclusive must be part of global efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message to the World Urban Forum, which opened in Katowice, Poland, on Sunday.

The top UN official in Afghanistan appealed on Sunday for greater international support for the country, following a one-day visit to communities hit hard by the devastating earthquake on Wednesday.

The world must do more to stop the dramatic decline in ocean health, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday, urging young people gathered in Carcavelos, Portugal, for a UN Youth and Innovation Forum to step up because his generation’s leaders had moved far too slow.

Sargassum seaweed has blighted many of the beaches on Barbados for several years. Joshua Forte, a local entrepreneur, is convinced that it can be turned into a valuable commodity, and turned into highly effective, organic compost.

The United Nations has underlined its support for the men and women working at sea, whose immeasurable contributions help to keep global trade moving.

Since the 1980s, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) convention to deal with pollution issues affecting the wider Caribbean region. Since then, the climate crisis has been added to the risks facing the region. Christopher Corbin, the acting coordinator for the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat, told UN News that the focus of the Convention is shifting from policy to local action.

Emergency lifesaving aid relief continued to flow into quake-hit eastern Afghanistan on Friday, as UN humanitarians and partners rushed to help the most vulnerable communities.

Investing in the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, is also “investing in stability” for the entire Middle East region, the UN chief told a pledging conference on Thursday.

Because of the global hunger crisis, every single minute, one child is pushed into life-threatening, severe malnutrition.

The island nation of Cabo Verde is facing record levels of food insecurity due to drought, the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, affecting some 181,000 people, or 32 per cent of the country, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Thursday. 

Hunger is tightening its grip on more than 20 million Ethiopians who are facing conflict in the north, drought in the south and dwindling food and nutrition support beginning next month, the UN food relief agency warned on Thursday.

The UN and partners have rushed to support Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that hit two provinces in the east of the country early on Wednesday morning. 

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov who auctioned off his gold medal to raise money for child refugees on Monday, has told UN News that the record-breaking sale of $103.5 million proved that “sometimes humanity can come together, and show solidarity”.

Critical relief supplies for nearly 64,000 people have been delivered to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two cities in the Government-controlled areas of the eastern Donetska oblast, or region, in Ukraine, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported on Tuesday. 

Global cooperation is critical to confront the surge in suffering due to conflict, climate disruption, hunger, the rising cost of living, and the COVID-19 pandemic. senior UN officials said on Tuesday at a meeting organized by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to strengthen delivery of humanitarian assistance. 

Scientific evidence shows that overexposure to UV radiation is the major cause of skin cancer. To help people protect themselves adequately, a consortium of UN agencies on Tuesday, launched an innovative new App that can help anyone, anywhere, determine the safe amount of time to stay outdoors, soaking up the rays. 

UN humanitarians issued an alert on Tuesday over the deteriorating situation for millions of mainly women and children in northeast Nigeria who continue to be affected by protracted armed conflict, just as the country enters the lean season.

The ocean holds the keys to an equitable and sustainable development path for all. This is the premise behind the UN Ocean Decade and it will be in the spotlight during several major international summits this year to promote ocean health, including the UN Ocean Conference, which is set to open soon in Lisbon, Portugal.

With humanitarian needs in Syria at their highest levels since the start of the civil war more than 11 years ago, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed on Monday for the Security Council to renew a resolution on delivering lifesaving aid to millions in northwest Syria, through cross-border operations from neighbouring Türkiye.