News

Forced labour is happening all over the world and it’s earning criminal gangs an astonishing $236 billion a year – $64 billion more than a decade ago, UN researchers said on Tuesday.

Humanitarians continue to deliver aid in Haiti, where the situation in the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains tense and volatile in the face of escalating gang violence and political instability. 

Records were once again broken for greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, ice cover and glacier retreat, a new global report issued by the UN weather agency (WMO) on Tuesday shows.

UN humanitarians reiterated their resolve on Tuesday to help the people of Gaza where increasing numbers of children are on “the brink of death” from acute hunger, caused by five months of intense Israeli bombardment and constant aid access denials.

Aid workers continue to deliver assistance to people in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, amid ongoing tension and volatility, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Monday. 

The UN’s emergency relief chief on Monday outlined the need for a fundamental shift in how humanitarian assistance is delivered, advocating for greater understanding of the needs of crisis-affected populations and a more proactive approach.

Amid reports that the Israeli military stormed Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday in search of Hamas fighters, UN humanitarians warned that new food insecurity data indicates that famine could happen “anytime”.

The war in Gaza has left a staggering almost 23 millions tonnes of rubble and unexploded weapons scattered across the enclave, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Out-of-control gang violence has created a humanitarian crisis in Haiti that the UN aims to help alleviate with the creation of an airbridge with the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Desperately needed aid operations in Gaza must be protected from attack, the UN’s top aid official has warned, amid reports on Thursday that Palestinians were killed and injured while waiting for supplies in Gaza City.

To address the ongoing Rohingya humanitarian crisis affecting 1.3 million people in Bangladesh, UN humanitarian agencies on Wednesday launched a $852.4 million appeal supporting refugees and the communities hosting them.

The number of internally displaced people around the world is at a record high – well over 70 million – it’s a global crisis that needs collaborative solutions from the humanitarian community, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Wednesday.

Women’s rights are under attack, and governments must act to reverse that dangerous trend, the UN chief told a his annual town hall event with civil society activists on Wednesday, as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) session continued its first week, with a host of side events highlighting deteriorating conditions around the world.

Despite record high global human development scores in 2023, disparities between the haves and the have-nots are widening, a new UN report revealed on Wednesday.

In an exclusive interview, Natalie Boucly, the Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), describes the desperate scenes she witnessed in Gaza, during a recent mission to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Amid reports of fresh Israeli airstrikes in Gaza overnight into Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that more children have been killed there in recent months than in four years of conflict worldwide. 

A Russian missile strike on a multi-storey apartment block in central Ukraine that left three dead and around 40 injured on Tuesday has been strongly condemned by the UN’s top aid official in Kyiv, Denise Brown.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday that Haiti is on the brink of a devastating hunger crisis, with aid operations at risk of “grinding to a halt” amid rampant violence as Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned on Monday and armed gangs tightened their grip on the capital, Port-au-Prince.

UN aid officials welcomed the news on Tuesday that an aid ship had left Cyprus for Gaza carrying 200 tonnes of relief supplies but stressed that it was “not a substitute” for overland assistance to Gazans on the verge of famine.

Waves of violence have displaced more than 15,000 Haitians in just a week amid ongoing looting at the country’s main port, according to the latest report from the UN agency for migration, as the Security Council on Monday strongly condemned “destabilizing” criminal activity by armed gangs ravaging the Caribbean nation.

A Ramadan ceasefire for Gaza must be implemented immediately, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holy month.

The UN Secretary-General on Saturday highlighted the urgent need for a negotiated political solution in Syria, emphasizing the protection of civilians and the dire humanitarian situation.

An international maritime aid corridor to Gaza could be in operation as early as Sunday according to the head of the European Commission, working closely with the UN’s Senior Humanitarian Coordinator and other international partners.

The Afghan economy and especially regions affected by the devastating earthquakes in October last year, “are still hurting”, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Thursday, as restrictions on women and girls continue to thwart basic rights and economic progress.

The benefits of cutting-edge technology remain out of reach for around 2.6 billion people globally who are still waiting for an Internet connection, the head of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said on Thursday, outlining the agency’s plans to narrow the gap. 

Days from the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and with no ceasefire agreement in sight for Gaza, UN humanitarians reiterated deep concerns on Thursday that a growing number of children are dying of starvation. 

Life is rapidly being choked out of northern Gaza. After enduring nearly five months of bombing, starvation, illness, pain and suffering, many of the last survivors have finally had enough, according to some of the displaced who have been speaking to UN News.

“Hunger has reached catastrophic levels,” Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Wednesday, describing a two-day visit to war-ravaged Gaza.

The UN migration agency (IOM) announced on Wednesday that last year was the deadliest on record for migrants worldwide.

The use of building materials such as cement and steel create a massive carbon footprint, and the industry overall is responsible for almost 40 per cent of global CO2 emissions, mainly in terms of production and transport. Now, two women architects in India think they might have a new, perhaps counter-intuitive solution to sustainable construction: building with mud.