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The number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean living in extreme poverty could surpass 83 million this year due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a significant rise in hunger, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.

Trade in many developing countries is expected to take a “nosedive” in the second quarter of 2020, owing to the unprecedented effects of the coronavirus pandemic, UN economists said on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a dramatic spike in the number of Syrian refugees in need of emergency assistance in the last three months, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, in an appeal for funding to confront new challenges posed by the health emergency.

Marking International Day of Family Remittances, The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has released a message appealing for “people everywhere” to support migrants, at a time when remittances – the money migrants send home to support their families – have fallen by more than $100 billion, causing hunger, lost schooling and deteriorating health, for tens of millions of families.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate, the World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about its impact on women, children and young people.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has issued an urgent appeal for $186 million to provide lifesaving protection and assistance in the Sahel amidst fears that the conflict in the vast African region – exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic – will spread.

Children in the heart of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster need help more than ever, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday, in an appeal for more support to provide basic services in Yemen.

UN chief António Guterres, has warned of an “unparalleled economic shock”, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. So, going forward, can the private sector “build back better” to reorder the post-pandemic world, or, might the UN’s vision of a sustainable future be relegated to a low-priority aspiration? We put these questions to the CEO of one of the world’s largest conglomerates, who is working with the Organization, towards a better future.

Managing the digital divide better, has become “a matter of life and death” for people unable to access essential healthcare information during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief has told a virtual high-level meeting on rapid technological change.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) heard strong appeals on Tuesday for more funds to be steered into the UN’s COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, as it opened its annual Humanitarian Affairs Segment – the first to be held via video-teleconference.

Even as countries buckle under the devastating social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, they must consider the links between gender inequality and crisis, particularly in communities affected by climate change and conflict.

Help and funding are needed urgently for millions of people in Nigeria who have been hit severely by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including conflict-hit communities “on life-support” in the north-east, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

How can agriculture become better able to resist major international shocks such as climate change, and health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic?

Back in September, the world committed to a landmark political declaration on universal health coverage. Now, in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly has reiterated the importance of investing in health as “an investment in human capital, social and economic development and the empowerment of all people”.

The COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the global economy by 5.2 per cent this year, representing the deepest recession since World War Two, and triggering a dramatic rise in extreme poverty, the World Bank said Monday in its latest Global Economic Prospects report.

People living on an isolated island community in the Pacific Ocean are finding ways to reduce their dependence on expensive imported food while promoting climate resilient farming techniques, thanks to a programme supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Coral reefs are being killed by the climate crisis, which is leading to rising sea temperatures. “Cryopreservation”, a pioneering scientific technique”, could be one way to save them.

With the climate crisis threatening coral reefs around the world, a researcher in Hawaii is part of a team pioneering new techniques to preserve living coral sperm and larvae, and ultimately save the biodiversity and genetic diversity of coral reefs not just in Hawaii but across the world.

On this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the UN is drawing links between the health of the planet, and human health, and highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.

In the race to end the coronavirus pandemic, the UN chief reminded a virtual medical conference on Thursday that “a vaccine, by itself, is not enough”.  

UN chief António Guterres is calling for greater unity and solidarity to defeat COVID-19 and build a better world in the wake of the global pandemic.

World Bicycle Day highlights the potential for transforming the way the world moves around, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, helping create a healthier, more sustainable future, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

As COVID-19 has halted economic activity and threatens social wellbeing across the globe, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held a wide-ranging policy discussion on Tuesday, exploring financing options to address the pandemic and mobilize the resources needed for a proactive recovery.

The nations of the world must put human rights at the heart of their ongoing response to COVID-19 and ensure that everyone can enjoy “justice and peace” wherever they may be, the President of the General Assembly said on Tuesday.

More than five years of conflict have left Yemenis “hanging on by a thread, their economy in tatters” and their institutions “facing near-collapse”, the UN chief told a virtual pledging conference on Tuesday, calling for a demonstration of solidarity with some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. 

With a euro here and a dollar there, remittances – the money that migrant workers send home to their families – have been adding up in a big way to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and lift tens of millions out of extreme poverty.

‘Dogged pragmatism’ is needed to save the Ocean as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, according to the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean.

A “tragedy” fueled by the spread of COVID-19 which is unfolding in Yemen could affect millions of people there, an international UN-backed pledging conference is expected to hear on Tuesday.

As businesses struggle to cope with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, they need to remain aware of their responsibilities as partners in efforts to build a sustainable future, says the outgoing head of the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.