News

A new report by the UN team combatting desertification reveals alarming trends over the past two years which have resulted in an unprecedented emergency due to human-induced droughts.

Agrifood systems and the communities that support and depend on them are on the front lines of loss and damage linked to climate change, a new report released on Friday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has revealed.

As Secretary-General António Guterres spoke of his deep regret about the resumption of military operations in Gaza on Friday, UN humanitarians vowed to stay and help all those in need, while reiterating “nowhere is safe from attacks” in the war-shattered enclave.

Earth’s vital signs are failing and to prevent planetary crash and burn, “we need…cooperation and political will”, UN Secretary General António Guterres said on Friday, challenging world leaders gathered in Dubai for COP28 to show real global climate leadership.

Deadly torrential rains and floods have affected more than two million people in several areas of Somalia, with over 100 killed and 750,000 displaced from their homes, the authorities and humanitarian partners said on Thursday in the capital, Mogadishu.  

A last-minute extension of the pause in fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas on Thursday offered hope that UN humanitarians and aid partners will be able to pursue their efforts to reach the enclave’s most vulnerable people.

Climate change and its impacts, particularly extreme weather and heatwaves, pose a “substantial risk” to progress being made to fight malaria, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

The latest round of UN-facilitated climate talks opened on Thursday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a warning that the world is taking “baby steps” in the face of a terrifying planetary crisis that requires bold action now.

The world is heating up at an unprecedented pace, new climate data shows, and leaders gathered for the COP28 conference which opened in Dubai on Thursday must get us out of “deep trouble”, UN chief António Guterres said.

Humanitarians have launched a $1.8 billion plan to support six million people in South Sudan next year, the United Nations has reported. 

The impact of “failed promises” to address the rapid rise in global temperatures is strikingly evident in Antarctica in the South Pole, according to the UN Resident Coordinator in Chile.

Amid hopes of a deal to extend the pause in fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported that humanitarian assistance had reached its shelters in northern Gaza for first time since war erupted last month.

The situation in Syria remains dire, with continued fighting, and tens of thousands displaced - all exacerbating the suffering of civilians and compounded by the effects of the war in Gaza, senior UN officials said on Tuesday.

Global temperatures continue to reach record levels and, as the year draws to a close, the diplomatic heat is rising as all eyes turn to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where world leaders are meeting from 30 November to 12 December, to chart an ambitious way forward in the global fight against climate change.

As the pause in fighting in Gaza appeared to enter a fifth day on Tuesday, UN humanitarians warned that aid deliveries needed to multiply immediately to save the lives of the injured and stem the risk of a deadly disease outbreak that has left doctors “terrified”.

The look on people’s faces in Gaza reveals “the trauma, the stress, as if sorrow and sadness have taken root here in Gaza”, according to James Elder, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson who has joined the aid effort in the besieged enclave.

World leaders at this week’s climate conference, COP28, must break the deadly cycle of global warming before a “deadly tipping point” is reached, said the UN chief on Monday.

Climate action is health action and the legacy of the COP 28 climate conference opening later this week in Dubai should be a commitment to a healthier planet.

Desperate Gazans in the north of the enclave had their first sip of clean water in weeks on Monday as a continuing pause in fighting enabled broadening aid access to the Strip, UN humanitarians said.

There is an urgent need for a transformative shift towards more sustainable transport the UN chief said on Sunday, emphasizing the importance of cleaner energy to combat climate change.

Sixty-one trucks hauled aid to northern Gaza on Saturday – the largest number since 7 October, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

On a sunny day, Ivan, a burly retired welder in his fifties, stood in front of his ruined house in Posad-Pokrovske, in the Kherson region of Ukraine.

The United Nations was able to scale up delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza during the humanitarian pause that went into effect on Friday following an agreement reached this week between Israel and Hamas.

Humanitarians are urgently scaling up aid in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where an escalating crisis is again unfolding, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.

Antarctica has been called the sleeping giant, but it is now being awoken by climate chaos, the UN Secretary-General has warned.

Trucks with relief supplies continued to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday after the entry into force of a four-day pause in fighting, UN humanitarians said.

Humanitarian agencies preparing to go into Gaza continued to build up stocks of desperately needed aid for the war-torn enclave on Thursday, amid delays in the implementation of a temporary halt in fighting and the release of hostages held by Hamas militants. 

The heads of three UN agencies on Wednesday highlighted the disproportionate suffering faced by women and girls amidst the ongoing crisis in Gaza, urging a collective response to protect the most vulnerable and a commitment to lasting peace for the women and girls caught in the crossfire.

At a time when people are hurting and the planet is burning, the world’s advanced economies can take the lead in ensuring financial, structural and climate justice, the UN Secretary-General said in remarks to the virtual G20 Summit convened by India on Wednesday. 

A deal on Wednesday to release hostages taken during the Hamas terror attack on Israel has been welcomed by UN chief António Guterres, who added that the UN stood ready to “maximize” the positive humanitarian impact of the agreement.