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As violence escalates and millions of people continue to be displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), grave violations against children are reaching an all-time high, said UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Wednesday.

The number of people going hungry in Haiti has reached record levels amid ongoing gang violence, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) there said on Wednesday in the capital, Port-au-Prince. 

  UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened Heads of State and Government in New York on Wednesday to advance efforts to get countries back on course to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline. 

At least one of the years between now and 2028 will very likely set a new temperature record breaking through the crucial 1.5°C temperature limit, the UN weather agency, WMO, said on Wednesday. 

“It’s climate crunch time” when it comes to tackling rising carbon emissions the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday, stressing that while the need for global action is unprecedented, so too are the opportunities for prosperity and sustainable development.

No less than 18 crisis locations already suffering from dire food insecurity could see a “firestorm of hunger” unless aid reaches them urgently, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.

Welcome to our live coverage of one of the most important speeches on climate change that António Guterres has made since becoming Secretary-General. We'll be reporting live from the event in Manhattan and providing all the background information and briefing you need on the speech itself, and reaction to it inside the hall and around the world. 

Michael Bloomberg is a business leader, the former three-time mayor of New York City and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for climate ambition and solutions. He is also an undisputed leader in combatting climate change.

The UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday he was leaving office at the end of the month with “some important pieces of wisdom” but also a feeling of frustration because many crises no longer make the headlines, while humanitarian operations face a dire lack of funding. 

The UN Secretary-General has called for safeguarding Earth’s vital ecosystems from rampant pollution, worsening climate impacts and “biodiversity decimation”.

The UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) on Tuesday warned that lifesaving aid for hundreds of thousands in need across Gaza remains limited due to access constraints.

UN humanitarians said on Monday that they have finally been able to deliver truckloads of food to highly vulnerable people in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, after gang violence prevented access for more than two months.

The narrowing space left for civilians in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly limited and crowded, while dire living conditions are eroding the social fabric there, a senior official with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Monday. 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has rushed to support tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan who are being affected by ongoing flash floods, mainly in Baghlan, Badakhshan and Ghor.

A staggering one million people have now fled Rafah in southern Gaza, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday, amid fresh reports of overnight attacks in southern, central and northern locations by Israeli forces.

Aid corridors in southern Gaza must be fully opened to allow the entry of food, fuel and other desperately needed relief items, a senior official with the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

The thorny issue of how to protect the unwary from deepfakes was just one of the key issues in the spotlight at a UN conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) held in Geneva this week, where a staggering 25,000 enthusiasts – and robots - from 145 countries added their voices to longstanding calls for checks and balances on the all-conquering tech.

On Thursday, a humanitarian flight operated by the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flew from Panama to Haiti – specifically the Port-au-Prince airport – for the first time in three months, according to Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.   

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine has strongly condemned the latest deadly Russian missile strikes in Kharkiv. 

Far too little aid is reaching people in Gaza to the extent that children are now starving, UN humanitarians said on Friday, in a renewed appeal to Israel to respect international law regarding the safe passage of lifesaving relief in the war-shattered enclave.

Famine in Sudan is “imminent” if aid agencies continue to be prevented from providing relief, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

As people in Haiti continue to deal with growing hunger, UN agencies are striving to deliver goods and services to populations in need.

The roadmap towards achieving resilient prosperity for small island States adopted on Thursday in Antigua and Barbuda “marks the beginning of a new journey” and a decade of delivery for their citizens and the world, said the UN Deputy Secretary-General on Thursday.

With robots greeting delegates at the entrance to the venue, the AI for Good Global Summit opened on Thursday in Geneva, bringing together thousands of participants from all sectors around the world to discuss the hopes and fears about artificial intelligence (AI) development.

Syria remains plagued by a severe and complex security and humanitarian situation, against a backdrop of broader political impasse, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Thursday, underscoring the need for a comprehensive approach that involves all key stakeholders.

The small island developing State of Cabo Verde is fighting back against climate change with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

 The top UN aid official in Sudan warned on Thursday that “the noose of war is tightening its stranglehold” on civilians in El Fasher, expressing her profound distress at the dire humanitarian situation there. 

With no let-up in reported street battles and Israeli bombardment across Gaza on Thursday, UN humanitarians warned that the flow of vital lifesaving aid into the enclave has fallen by more than two-thirds since the Israeli military stepped up its campaign in Rafah and seized the key aid conduit.

Climate action taken so far to help fund efforts in cash-strapped small island developing States (SIDS) “does not measure up to what has been said” in the wake of COP28 in Dubai last year.

Vital medical supplies are fast running out in Gaza’s remaining hospitals, the UN health agency warned on Wednesday, amid reports of continuing Israeli bombing and hostilities in the enclave.