News
Refugees in Africa ‘even more vulnerable than ever’ amid COVID crisis
Millions of refugees across Africa face even greater food insecurity because of aid disruption and rising food prices linked to the COVID-19 crisis, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.
Rising global temperature shows ‘enormous challenge’ of meeting climate goal
Annual global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels in each of the coming five years, putting globally agreed climate change targets in jeopardy, new data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveal
Reggae classic ‘One Love’ re-issued to help children upended by COVID crisis
The iconic Bob Marley song One Love is to be re-released with the blessing of the musician’s family to support children whose lives have been upended by COVID-19, the UN said on Thursday.
UN chief highlights need for decent jobs to fuel COVID-19 recovery
More than 50 Heads of State and government, alongside global employers’ and trade union leaders, have been taking part in an online discussion on Wednesday looking at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work.
Identify and address ‘real needs’ to recover from COVID-19, UN rights expert urges
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in “a serious setback” for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an independent UN human rights expert said on Wednesday, urging a high-level meeting to “take a hard look” at implementat
‘New dynamic’ needed to overcome negative impacts of COVID-19 worldwide
The dramatic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, have laid bare “weaknesses in our systems and societies”, a top official told the UN’s key international forum on sustainable development which began on Tuesday, warning that “a new dynamic” is needed
A sustainable future for all depends on ‘resolve to act together in solidarity’
The United Nations vision for a sustainable future for all “will depend on our policy choices today, and our resolve to act together in solidarity”, a senior UN official told delegates on Monday at a meeting to discuss post-pandemic recovery.
‘Stay the course together to emerge stronger’ from COVID-19 crisis: UN chief’s message to major sustainability forum
As a major United Nations forum prepares to assess progress towards a fairer future for people and the planet, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that each of the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is being impacte
Business sector still far from reaching sustainability goals, UN report shows, 20 years on from landmark summit
A new UN report on tbe private sector, release by UN Global Compact, shows that progress on bringing about about a sustainable future for people and the planet is patchy, and the majority of companies involved in the Compact, are not doing enough
Helping young enterprise take off will bring sustainable returns, say UN economists
Young entrepreneurs who want their work to have a positive impact on their communities, urgently need more help from governments if they’re to succeed and resist the COVID-19-fuelled economic downturn, UN economists said on Thursday.
Helping young enterprise take off will bring sustainable returns, say UN economists
Young entrepreneurs who want their work to have a positive impact on their communities, urgently need more help from governments if they’re to succeed and resist the COVID-19-fuelled economic downturn, UN economists said on Thursday.
Youth activist speaks up for environmental protection at Human Rights Council
At the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, a teenager from Côte d’Ivoire has explained why protecting the environment matters so much.
Bold and creative’ solutions needed for a sustainable, post-pandemic economy
Unless the world acts now, the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying global recession, will trigger “years of depressed and disrupted economic growth”, the UN chief warned on Wednesday.
Impacts of COVID-19 disproportionately affect poor and vulnerable: UN chief
Addressing poverty eradication on Tuesday in front of the General Assembly, UN chief António Guterres warned that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are falling “disproportionately on the most vulnerable: people living in poverty, the working po
Syria: Top UN officials appeal to donors to help end ‘shocking’ scale of suffering
The UN chief called on the world to step up “financial, humanitarian and political commitments”, to help end nearly a decade of brutal conflict and suffering across Syria, in a video message delivered to the fourth Brussels Donor Conference on Tue
Hard times forecast for global job recovery in 2020, warns UN labour agency chief
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on jobs has been much worse than expected initially, the head of the UN labour agency said on Tuesday, in an appeal to Governments, workers and employers, to agree on a sustainable economic recovery plan to reduce
Water cooperation between States ‘key’ to Blue Nile dam project
The Blue Nile is “critical for the livelihoods and development” of Egyptians, Ethiopians and Sudanese, the top UN official for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council on Monday, urging those States to reach a construction agr
Extend cross border 'lifeline' into Syria, Lowcock urges Security Council
With COVID-19 cases in Syria multiplying, its economy in freefall, and some households cooking weeds to eat in order to survive, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator is pressing the Security Council to extend its authorization for cross-border ai
Food is best vaccine against chaos, insists UN World Food Programme head
Tens of millions more people are likely to go hungry this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday, as it announced plans for a massive boost to its global aid operation so it can reach them.
First Person: looking to the skies to understand the climate crisis
Could studying the cosmos help us to fight the climate crisis? Two astronomers at the University of Hawaii think that knowledge of the solar system may help to slow down the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Negative impacts of electric car battery production must be urgently addressed: UN trade agency
Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses,
Negative impacts of electric car battery production must be urgently addressed: UN trade agency
Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses,
What will power the post-pandemic global economic recovery?
As governments try to kick-start their economies, the UN is calling for recovery plans to be built around low-carbon technologies, to avoid a return to fossil-fuel based business as usual.
Syrians ‘face unprecedented hunger amid impending COVID crisis’
Syrian communities devastated by years of civil war now face an “unprecedented” hunger crisis, just as urgent action is needed to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
DR Congo: COVID-19 slows pace of reform, exacerbates fragile security situation
The head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is asking the Security Council for its continued support as the mission adds the fight against COVID-19 to its to-do list, while also dealing with a fragile security situatio
Yemen: millions of children facing deadly hunger, amidst aid shortages and COVID-19
Millions of children in the heart of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster could be pushed to the brink of starvation, due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Frid
Extraordinary ‘megaflash’ lightening strikes cover several hundred kilometres, smashing records
New records for extreme lightning bursts, or ‘megaflashes’, during 2019, have been made official, more than doubling the size and duration of the previous record flashes, the UN’s weather agency, WMO, announced on Thursday.
$1.8 billion pledged to assist Sudan’s people on the road to peace and democracy
A High-Level Sudan Partnership Conference took place on Thursday gathering some 50 countries and international organizations together in Berlin, generating pledges to bolster the African nation’s economic and political transformation to the tune o
First Person: Innovation brewing at Hawaii coffee farm
Innovation and experimentation are helping a coffee farm in the US state of Hawaii to prosper in a competitive market, an approach which has helped the company to get through the global COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19: Recovery will be slower following ‘crisis like no other’, IMF predicts
Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is projected to be more gradual than previously forecast, according to a report published on Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).