News

More than 930 million tonnes of food sold in 2019 landed in waste bins, according to new UN research, released on Thursday, in support of global efforts to halve food waste by 2030. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has called for temporary basic income for millions of the world’s poorest women, to help them cope with effects of coronavirus pandemic and alleviate the economic pressures they face every day. 

Trapping and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil power generation and industry is needed urgently to achieve carbon neutrality, the UN’s Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said in a report published on Wednesday.

Regional disparities in engineering, especially in Africa, must be addressed if the world is to realize a common future where no one is left behind, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partners. 

The United Nations Secretary-General on Wednesday called on people and governments everywhere to step up efforts to protect forests and support forest communities, under increasing threat from unsustainable use of forest resources and wildlife trafficking. 

The Republic of Vanuatu is one of the few countries in the world without a single woman representative in parliament, but two determined activists are committed to ending that situation, and ensuring that women’s voices are heard by the island nation’s most senior decision-makers.

The world still has a “fighting chance” to limit global warming by ending dependence on coal, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told representatives from governments, local authorities and the private sector, meeting online on Tuesday. 

Around the world, the opportunities for women to lead successful, financially secure lives are being limited by government legislation, company policies and deep-rooted misogyny. The UN is leading efforts to give women more access to digital financial tools, seen as essential to playing a full part in the global economy.

The further industrialization of so-called “Cancer Alley” in the southern United States, known for its pollution-emitting chemical plants, should be halted according to a large group of independent UN human rights experts, who on Tuesday branded it a form of “environmental racism”. 

Nations must start weighing up the cost of economic profit against damage to the environment if they are to have a chance at a sustainable future, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday. 

The international response to Monday’s High-Level Pledging Event on Yemen has been described as “disappointing” by the UN chief, announcing that pledges totalled less than last year’s humanitarian response, and a billion dollars less than the figure raised in 2019.    

The United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA), on Sunday, strongly condemned an attack in Yemen that killed five civilians, including a woman and child. 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday urged all countries to repatriate and safely reintegrate their young nationals being held at Syria’s largest camp for refugees and internally-displaced, following a deadly weekend fire at Al-Hol camp which saw at least three children die, and another 15 injured.

In the West African country of Ghana, many people from farming backgrounds are forced to find new ways to survive, as droughts, floods and erratic weather patterns upend age-old agricultural practices.

In Yemen, whose people are living through a long-running, brutal war, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, COVID-19 is far from being a top priority, says the top UN refugee agency (UNHCR) official in the Arabian Peninsula country.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated much of the world’s attention over the last 12 months, but many other crises will continue to require the urgent attention of the UN and the international community in 2021.

Nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming, a UN climate action report said on Friday, urging countries to adopt stronger and more ambitious plans to reach the Paris Agreement goals, and limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century. 

Midwife Lena Al-Shurmani, remembers meeting Abia at Al Mawa Camp in Yemen’s Ibb Governorate. Abia was 15 years old and eight months pregnant. “I was very worried,” Ms. Al-Shurmani recalled. “She had a prolapsed uterus, and she was severely malnourished.” 

The political unrest in Myanmar has impacted the ability of humanitarians to respond to the needs of vulnerable communities, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country’s conflict-affected areas, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday. 

Financial integrity is “paramount to the success of the 2030 Agenda”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Thursday, launching a new report that offers a blueprint to address a range of obstacles, particularly surrounding illicit finance flows. 

Syria’s fragile economy has “suffered multiple shocks” over the past 18 months, with its currency plummeting and joblessness swelling as people struggle to cover their basic needs, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Thursday. 

Developing countries must embrace ground-breaking technologies that have been a critical tool in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, or else face even greater inequalities than before, UN economic development  experts at UNCTAD said on Thursday.

Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the situation for the millions of affected people is deteriorating, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided further information on the deadly convoy attack in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday in which Italy’s Ambassador to the country, his bodyguard, and a WFP driver were killed. 

Reporting that hunger has increased almost fourfold in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in the past two years, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday warned that 1.7 million people are in the ‘emergency’ category of food insecurity, calling for $47.3 million now, to provide urgent food assistance.

More collective action is needed to address the risks climate change poses to global peace and security, the UN Secretary-General told a high-level Security Council debate on Tuesday, as renowned natural historian David Attenborough warned ambassadors that the planet faces total ‘collapse’. 

The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) on Tuesday highlighted the need for enhanced international policy cooperation to provide decent work opportunities and foster sustainable business growth in the digital economy.

People living in low-income countries are at least four times more likely to be displaced by extreme weather compared to people in rich countries, despite being the least responsible for climate change, that’s according to the UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA.

During this time of “crisis and fragility”, the UN chief told the United Nations Environment Assembly on Monday that human well-being and prosperity can be vastly improved by prioritizing nature-based solutions. 

On the opening day of a new UN Human Rights Council session on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his “full support to the people of Myanmar”, three weeks after the military takeover that has brought thousands out onto the streets in protest.