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.

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UN chief to security meeting: ‘2021 must be the year to get back on track’

19 Feb 2021

By exposing deep fissures and fragilities, “COVID-19 has x-rayed the world”, the UN chief told the Munich Security Conference on Friday, while acknowledging that today’s vulnerabilities go “well beyond” pandemics and public health. 

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DR Congo: Lives and futures of 3 million children at risk, UNICEF warns

19 Feb 2021

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Friday, highlighted the dire situation of some 3 million displaced children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), facing brutal militia violence and extreme hunger. 

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Five million Yemenis ‘one step away from famine’– UN relief coordinator tells Security Council

18 Feb 2021

Malnutrition rates in Yemen are at “record highs” as the country is “speeding towards the worst famine the world has seen in decades”, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Thursday, citing newly released data. 

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UN chief calls for ‘new social contract’ as part of post-pandemic recovery

18 Feb 2021

With the COVID-19 pandemic exposing social and economic inequalities rooted in racism, discrimination and xenophobia, recovery must lead to more inclusive societies, the UN Secretary-General told Member States on Thursday. 

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First Person: ‘The world is in your hands and begins at your door’.

18 Feb 2021

British celebrity gardener Monty Don, a UN advocate for plant health, is raising awareness of the links between human health, plant health and the well-being of the planet.

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Food insecurity in Syria reaches record levels: WFP

17 Feb 2021

The number of Syrians who lack access to sufficient food has reached a record 12.4 million, or nearly 60 per cent of the population, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Wednesday, citing “alarming” new national data. 

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‘Triple threat’ adds to long-standing crises menacing food security in Somalia – FAO

17 Feb 2021

Poor rainfall, flooding and desert locusts are contributing to extreme food insecurity in Somalia, threating 2.6 million people, the UN agriculture agency said in a new analysis released on Wednesday.  

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New guidelines put youth at the forefront of humanitarian response

16 Feb 2021

New guidelines published on Tuesday by the UN and partners aim to put young people at the forefront of humanitarian action. 

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Burundi: UN refugee agency appeals for over $220 million in ‘crucial’ support

16 Feb 2021

An urgent appeal for $222.6 million was made on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency and partners to assist more than 315K Burundian refugees this year. 

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We had to run for our lives’, the pregnant women fleeing Tigray

16 Feb 2021

Pregnant women are amongst the tens of thousands of people in need of assistance in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where fighting between the Government and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been ongoing since November 2020. Hiwot* is one of them.

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Yemen: ‘Toxic mix’ imperils lives of under-fives with acute malnutrition 

12 Feb 2021

Since the escalation of conflict in 2015, severe acute malnutrition is among its highest levels in Yemen, threating the lives of half of the country’s children under the age of five, four UN agencies warned on Friday.

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Ethiopia: ‘Incomplete but troubling picture’ reveals impact of Tigray crisis on children

12 Feb 2021

Humanitarians are learning more about the dire situation of children in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where fighting continues between Government troops and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). 

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UN talks ‘honestly’ about the environment and avoids ‘scaremongering’

10 Feb 2021

The challenge of tackling climate change is one that the UN needs to talk about “honestly, without scaremongering” and by focusing on scientific fact, according to Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). 

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East Asian countries led economic recovery in last quarter of 2020, says UN report

10 Feb 2021

Without the resilience of the economies of East Asia and the Pacific, there would have been no global trade recovery at the end of last year, UN analysts said on Wednesday.

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UN highlights importance of pulses for diets and food security, marking World Day

10 Feb 2021

The United Nations is marking World Pulses Day on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of the legumes not only as a vital source of nutrition but also for improving soil fertility and warding off crop pests. 

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FROM THE FIELD: Teaching Chad’s scientists of the future

09 Feb 2021

The study of science could have a “transformational” impact on young people living in different conflict areas across the world according to the UN’s Education Cannot Wait programme.

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Without ‘constructive international diplomacy’ Syria’s peace process will not move forward

09 Feb 2021

 The UN Special Envoy for Syria said there had to be “constructive international diplomacy” if the peace process is to move forward in any way, appearing before the Security Council behind closed doors on Tuesday.  

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Cooling La Niña is on the wane, but temperatures set to rise: UN weather agency

09 Feb 2021

Temperatures in almost all parts of the world will likely rise between now and April despite the cooling influence of the latest La Niña weather phenomenon, which has passed its peak, UN climate experts said on Tuesday. “Impacts on temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns continue”, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement.

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Ethiopia: Government approves ‘first step’ towards Tigray emergency assistance 

08 Feb 2021

UN agencies have received approval from the Ethiopian Government for 25 international staff to provide humanitarian assistance inside the country’s conflict-torn Tigray region, the UN Spokesperson said on Monday. 

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2021 a ‘crucial year’ for climate change, UN chief tells Member States

08 Feb 2021

The world is far from achieving agreed goals to reduce global warming in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday in his ongoing bid to secure greater commitment to averting climate catastrophe. 

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UN stands ready to support relief, in aftermath of deadly India flash floods

08 Feb 2021

The United Nations stands ready, if necessary, to contribute to ongoing rescue and assistance efforts, following a glacier burst and subsequent flash flooding in northern India, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday.

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Rapid scale up crucial to meet humanitarian needs in Ethiopia’s Tigray: Joint UN-Government mission

07 Feb 2021

A joint United Nations-Government of Ethiopia mission to Mekelle in the country’s Tigray region, on Saturday, underscored the need for strong partnership to rapidly scale up a Government-led collective response to meet immediate humanitarian needs in the region. 

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FROM THE FIELD: Sharing migration stories across generations in Central America

06 Feb 2021

Two migrants, one young and one old, have been sharing their experiences of migrating to a small town in Costa Rica in Central America.

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Aid agencies renew appeals for aid access to all areas in Ethiopia’s Tigray

05 Feb 2021

The UN renewed appeals on Friday for humanitarian access to all areas of Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region to help people displaced fighting, forcing the most desperate to eat leaves to survive.

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Afghanistan: Detainee torture allegations remain ‘alarming’, UN report reveals

03 Feb 2021

Torture claims among people detained for security or terrorism-related offences in Afghanistan remain high, according to a new UN human rights report published on Wednesday. 

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‘Make peace with nature’, UN chief urges at Ocean Decade launch

03 Feb 2021

January marked the beginning of what many within the UN and beyond view as “the most critical decade of our lives”, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Wednesday, launching a major initiative to protect the world’s oceans through the next ten years.  

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Urgent steps needed to alleviate suffering in Ethiopia’s Tigray region: Guterres

03 Feb 2021

The United Nations Secretary-General, on Tuesday, voiced grave concerns over the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and underscored the need for urgent efforts to protect populations at risk. 

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Pandemic triggers ‘widespread upheaval’ in global fisheries and aquaculture

02 Feb 2021

COVID-19 has caused “widespread upheaval” for the whole fishing and aquaculture industry around the world, the UN deputy agriculture chief said on Tuesday, launching a new report that assesses the toll the pandemic has taken on the sector. 

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Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care has been ‘profound’, warns UN health agency 

02 Feb 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “profound” impact on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer around the world, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, before highlighting that breast cancer has become the most common type of the disease. 

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FROM THE FIELD: Celebrating the power of centuries-old farming techniques

31 Jan 2021

Sustainability is not new: communities have been living in harmony with their surroundings for hundreds, if not thousands of years. As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins, the UN is celebrating some of the most remarkable agricultural systems found around the world.