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UNHCR delivers much-needed aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad
Nearly 94 tonnes of emergency aid has been airlifted into Chad to support thousands of people who have fled ongoing violence in Sudan’s West Darfur state, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Friday.
Humanitarian workers push for continued life-saving access during COVID-19 pandemic or ‘virus could cycle back’
As the global humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues at breakneck speed, UN assistance remains critical for some 100 hundred million people living in emergency situations, and life-saving food aid is essential for 87 million peop
UN body underscores priority of health, safety during ‘unprecedented’ COVID-19 challenges
Confronted with widespread human, social, and economic ramifications surrounding COVID-19, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) stressed the priority of ensuring “the health and safety of people”.
‘Solidarity, hope’ and coordinated global response needed to tackle COVID-19 pandemic, says UN chief
As public fear and uncertainty grow around the COVID-19 pandemic, “more than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and the political will to see this crisis through together,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday in his first vir
World Bank Group Increases COVID-19 Response to $14 Billion To Help Sustain Economies, Protect Jobs
The World Bank and IFC’s Boards of Directors approved today an increased $14 billion package of fast-track financing to assist companies and countries in their efforts to prevent, detect and respond to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Women plough the way to peace in South Sudan resettlement project
Women who had been displaced by fighting in South Sudan are sowing seeds of peace, with support from the UN mission in the country, UNMISS.
Swift policy action, strong leadership can save millions of jobs, ‘avert the worst’ amid COVID-19 pandemic
As daily dire forecasts on the global economy add to the anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN’s labour agency on Thursday offered a range of uregnt measures, which, if governments act quickly, can be used to protect workers in the wor
Blueprint launched to manage Earth’s fragile peatland carbon sinks
A blueprint for how countries can keep carbon in fragile land-based carbon sinks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been unveiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
New report from UN Economic Commission for Europe measures progress on global goals
As all eyes, hearts and minds focus on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) garnered attention on Tuesday when a new UN report revealed that only ten countries in the European region have levels of air pollut
COVID-19: Mental health in the age of coronavirus
Since January when the World Health Organization (WHO) determined the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, to be a “public health emergency of international concern”, stress levels everywhere have continued to mount.
Syria: ‘The tragedy is deepening’ as UN figures reveal nearly 5 million children have known nothing but war
Syria marks a grim milestone this weekend as the tenth year of war begins, prompting the UN Special Envoy to take stock of the incomprehensible scale of suffering there, noting that with nearly a million newly displaced in Idlib, “the tragedy is d
Many Mozambicans still struggling to get back on their feet, one year after cyclone
Many of the people who lost everything when Cyclone Idai swept through central Mozambique a year ago, continue to face devastating hardship, the UN food relief agency said on Friday.
As Syrian conflict enters 10th year, ‘brutal truth’ is, there is little protection for families
Although a fragile ceasefire agreed in northwest Syria is still holding, UN humanitarians on Friday warned of dire conditions for hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by conflict, now in its tenth year.
De-escalate now, to steer Yemen off ‘precarious path’, UN Security Council hears
Yemen is at a “critical juncture”, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday.
Syria: Humanitarians reaffirm support as conflict enters its 10th year
UN agencies have underscored their commitment to continue supporting civilians affected by the war in Syria, which this month enters its tenth year.
Brazilian mountain farmers reap recognition, through UN heritage listing
Farmers who gather flowers from the Espinhaço Mountain Range in Brazil received well-deserved recognition on Wednesday for their crucial role in enhancing biodiversity and preserving traditional knowledge.
Climate change: educating students to fight the crisis
With the latest UN climate report containing worrying evidence that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, how can teachers help children and adults to sort through the growing mass of information, avoid being o
Flagship UN study shows accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere
A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on Tuesday, shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.
Rising number of young people excluded from jobs, education and training
The number of young people around the world who are neither employed, studying or in some kind of training, is on the rise, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Coronavirus update: COVID-19 likely to cost economy $1 trillion during 2020, says UN trade agency
Apart from the tragic human consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, the economic uncertainty it has sparked will likely cost the global economy $1 trillion in 2020, the UN’s trade and development agency, UNCTAD, said on Monday.
COVID-19: countries, businesses must safeguard human rights as virus spreads: Bachelet
As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN’s top human rights official appealed on Friday to put rights “front and centre” when implementing preventative measures.
International Women’s Day: Gender equality benefits everyone
The benefits of gender equality are not just for women and girls, but “for everyone whose lives will be changed by a fairer world”, the chief of UN Women said in her message for International Women’s Day (IWD) at UN Headquarters on Friday, being c
International Women's Day: progress on gender equality remains slow
Women's Rights in Review, 25 years after Beijing takes stock of how the landmark gender equality plan, the Beijing Platform for Action, is being implemented and calls for greater parity and justice.
Guterres calls for ‘immediate and lasting’ end to Syria fighting as Turkey and Russia agree ceasefire
The UN Secretary-General said on Thursday that he hoped the latest ceasefire agreement between Russia and Turkey to end fighting across Syria’s stricken Idlib region, would finally lead to “an immediate and lasting cessation”, that would protect c
New UN report reveals nearly 90 per cent have ‘a deeply ingrained bias’ against women
Despite decades of progress in closing the gender equality gap, close to nine out of 10 men and women around the world, hold some sort of bias against women, according to new findings published on Thursday from the UN Development Programmme (UNDP)
Syria: UN food relief agency ‘doing everything we can’ to reach Idlib civilians
Difficult winter weather conditions, road congestion and military manoeuvres are restricting humanitarian aid delivery to desperate civilians in the Syrian province of Idlib, where a Government operation to weed out extremists has uprooted nearly
Coronavirus COVID-19 wipes $50 billion off global exports in February alone
The extent of the damage to the global economy caused by novel coronavirus COVID-19 moved further into focus on Wednesday as UN economists announced a likely $50 billion drop in worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone.
World Bank Group Announces Up to $12 Billion Immediate Support for COVID-19 Country Response
As COVID-19 reaches more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak.
Yemen: UN Population Fund stresses women’s needs, amidst world’s worst humanitarian crisis
Intense clashes in Yemen’s Al Hazam City, this month have caused massive displacement with an estimated 1,800 families forced to flee their homes, according to a flash update from UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA.
UN ‘determined to stand by the people of Syria’ says Lowcock, as grave humanitarian crisis intensifies around Idlib
The United Nations is “determined to stand by” civilians across Syria’s war-torn northwest, as “a grave humanitarian crisis” continues, the UN emergency relief chief said on Tuesday.