News

  The UN political affairs chief on Thursday appealed for the Security Council to ensure reliable funding for African Union (AU) efforts towards greater peace and security on the continent.

The UN and humanitarian partners are mobilizing to reach as many people as possible while the stuttering ceasefire between warring military factions is being respected, said the UN Spokesperson on Thursday.

UN Special Representative, Pramila Patten, expressed her ‘deep concern’ on Thursday over increasing allegations of sexual violence against women and girls being carried out in camps for the internally displaced (IDPs) around Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

One of the world’s most wanted genocide fugitives has been arrested after being on the run for more than two decades, the UN tribunal prosecuting war crimes committed in Rwanda announced on Thursday.

The UN’s 87,000-plus peacekeepers worldwide are “a beacon of hope and protection” for vulnerable civilians, in an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world, the UN chief said on Thursday, recognizing that last year, another 102 ‘blue helmets’ fell in the line of duty.

The robust growth that many African countries experienced before COVID-19 was lost to the pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday, highlighting the need to scale up efforts towards a single trade market on the continent. 

With “crisis atop of crisis” threatening millions in the Horn of Africa, the international community cannot afford to stand idly by, Secretary-General António Guterres said at a pledging event to raise $7 billion for the region, held at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. 

A hundred and ninety-three countries have unanimously approved the creation of a global greenhouse gas monitoring mechanism, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Wednesday.

The UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has endorsed the addition of 18 new sites from around the world to its network of outstanding Geoparks, showcasing some of the most beautiful sites of natural beauty around the globe.

The “senseless” fighting in Sudan must stop now, and the warring generals have to insist on zero tolerance for sexual violence among their troops, the UN rights chief said on Wednesday.

New ideas must open fresh pathways towards finally ending the era of colonialism and to help advance sustainable development in the world’s 17 remaining colonies, the UN chief said in a video message to the Organization’s decolonization seminar in Bali, Indonesia

Swift action is needed to prevent flare ups of Israeli-Palestinian violence and avert a looming food crisis, the top UN official in the Middle East told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The UN’s top advocate on ending violence against children, joined UN agencies on Wednesday in highlighting the urgent need to protect the rights of young people on the move, amid spiralling crises worldwide.

Despite going into reverse on more than 30 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it’s not too late to “turn the tide” said the Secretary-General on Tuesday, who told Member States that the UN was “determined to do just that.” 

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of conflict-related violence and destruction, and during the Protection of Civilians (PoC) Week 2023, observed from 22 to 25 May, the UN and partners are working towards finding the best ways to protect them.

The world is failing to live up to its commitment to protect civilians during wartime, Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN Security Council on Tuesday, urging greater respect for international humanitarian law. 

Following widespread diversion of lifesaving food aid in Ethiopia last month, the World Food Programme (WFP) has strengthened safeguards and controls in a bid to prevent further misuse, the UN agency said on Tuesday.

More than one in four patients screened in violence-afflicted Gaza at UN-run health centres, require mental health and psychosocial support, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday, publishing its annual overview.

As a clearer picture emerges of the trail of destruction left by Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar and Bangladesh, humanitarians are continuing to provide life-saving assistance, and the need for an urgent increase in funding.

The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity, observed on Monday, centres on moving from talk to action: build back biodiversity.

Over two million deaths and $4.3 trillion in economic losses; that’s the impact of a half-century of extreme weather events turbo-charged by man-made global warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday. 

Children in the Horn of Africa are living through an unprecedented large-scale crisis of hunger, displacement, water scarcity, and insecurity, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday.

A Ghanaian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) will receive the 2022 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, it was announced on Monday.

Although COVID-19 may no longer be a global public health emergency, countries must still strengthen response to the disease and prepare for future pandemics and other threats, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday in Geneva. 

A crucial ceasefire poised to enter into force in restive Sudan on Monday evening should “pave the way” for peace talks to end the month-old conflict, the top UN official in the country has said.

The decision by El Salvador to extend a state of emergency aimed at cracking down on gangs undermines the right to fair trial, three experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Monday. 

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine lost all external power for several hours on Monday morning, highlighting the urgent need to protect the facility and prevent an accident, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement. 

The world is counting on the G7 bloc of industrialized democracies to demonstrate global leadership and solidarity, said the UN chief on Sunday, speaking to journalists in Hiroshima, Japan, which he described as a “global symbol of the tragic consequences when nations fail to work together”, and abandon multilateralism.

The water challenges confronting the western United States as a result of climate change and declining water supply, are similar to those of other countries, and if the international community takes urgent action on the outcomes of the recent UN Water Conference, there could be a big payoff. 

Global life expectancy has grown by 50 per cent since the birth of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) 75 years ago, the UN chief said on Sunday, but in the wake of COVID, climate change, and other challenges, “progress is in peril”.