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A “large-scale” outbreak of the Moroccan Locust, one of the world’s most damaging plant pests, across eight provinces in Afghanistan’s wheat basket, could cause massive crop losses and “dramatically” worsen food insecurity.

The grim prospect of record hunger levels in Sudan is becoming more likely by the day, as heavy fighting continues, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday.

The ocean can provide vast opportunities for developing countries to build more innovative and resilient economies, but climate change, pollution and overfishing threaten the livelihoods of some three billion people who rely on it for food and income.

The sustainable management of the world’s forests takes centre stage at the UN Forum on Forests, which opened on Monday at UN Headquarters in New York. Stakeholders from across the world, from Member States to civil society partners, will gather to discuss this critical planetary resource. Here are 5 key things you need to know:

Syria needs almost $15 billion to recover following the devastating February earthquakes, according to a new UN assessment report launched on Monday in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned the looting of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) main offices in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, over the weekend, describing it as “violation” of humanitarian facilities.

Siphiwe Nxumalo, a World Food Programme (WFP) volunteer in Eswatini returned to her home country after completing her studies in neighbouring South Africa to help orphans and vulnerable children, struggling with poverty and neglect.

As catastrophe grips Sudan, the UN agency for reproductive health is stepping up support, with midwives playing a key role in helping provide safe deliveries amid growing violence.

Born in a Tanzanian village with no electricity, Gibson Kawago, decided to start a business producing off-grid clean electricity for communities like his own. His successes led to his appointment as one of the UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Recurring attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to drive forced displacement and extreme hardship for millions of Congolese, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

When fighting erupted in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, 25-year-old Arafa was at home alone with her two young children.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine issued a statement on Thursday saying he and colleagues were “appalled and saddened” at the series of airstrikes and attacks, which have killed and injured dozens of civilians there.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia has said it’s “deeply concerned” over reports that significant amounts of food aid has been diverted away from those in desperate need in the post-conflict region of Tigray.

The number of people who need urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance rose for the fourth consecutive year in 2022, due to conflict, climatic change, and COVID-19 impacts, the UN and partners said in a report published on Wednesday. 

The development of an El Niño climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean this year is more and more likely, with dangerously high temperatures and extreme weather events expected, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.

Fighting in Sudan must stop now before the conflict and the spreading humanitarian catastrophe further ravage the country, and the region, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday.

Corruption and its staggering costs have hobbled sustainable development in all countries, but fresh efforts are making inroads, the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said on Tuesday at a special meeting to tackle the scourge and give the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a much-needed boost.

More than 100,000 people have now fled Sudan to neighbouring countries in search of safety, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

Health systems in most countries have started showing the first major signs of recovery three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left millions dead and hundreds of millions infected, according to a new UN report launched on Tuesday.

The UN chief has pledged that the Organization “will never be silent” when women and girls’ rights are under attack, as they are today in Afghanistan, and declared that the Taliban ban on Afghan women doing lifesaving humanitarian work is putting millions of lives in jeopardy there.

Over 2,000 delegates from around the world gathered at the UN in Geneva on Monday to discuss how best to curb chemical pollution, which has had increasingly dire consequences for health and the environment.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has lifted a temporary suspension of operations in Sudan as fighting between rival military groups pushes millions into hunger, Executive Director Cindy McCain announced on Monday. 

In light of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Secretary-General António Guterres is sending UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Martin Griffiths to the region immediately, the global body announced on Sunday.  

Chinese writer Cixin Liu is one of the world’s most highly respected science-fiction authors, known for epics such as “The Three Body Problem,” soon to be adapted as a major TV series. He shared his thoughts on the future of the planet, at an event held at UN Headquarters to mark Chinese Language Day.

The acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthew Hollingworth, has condemned a wave of deadly strikes that hit several cities early on Friday, reportedly the most intense aerial bombardment in weeks. 

Civilians in Sudan, including scores of internally displaced people and refugees, are scrambling for safety and suffering the disastrous consequences of the violence there, as many aid operations have been forced to pause, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

In a visit to Chile, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed met with Chilean Government officials and other key actors and stressed in her other activities that we need transformative change – now, and from all countries – to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda.   

Renewed diplomatic attention on Syria in the aftermath of the recent devastating earthquakes that hit the country and neighbouring Türkiye could help to unlock stalled peace efforts, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Thursday. 

The UN has been forced to essentially halt all aid operations across Sudan due to the continuing fighting between rival militaries, but humanitarians who have re-located to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast are determined to return to Khartoum “as quickly as possible”, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator said on Thursday.

Activists striving to achieve a more just and equitable future for all people and the planet, are being encouraged to apply for a UN award that celebrates initiatives and individuals working to make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality.