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Current disease outbreaks highlight the urgent need for every country to ramp up its care systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief told journalists on Wednesday.

An independent UN human rights expert on Wednesday called on Bangladesh to draft laws to better protect those affected by leprosy.

Almost a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN appealed on Wednesday for $5.6 billion to help millions of people affected inside the war-torn country and beyond.

Critical maternal health services and other programmes for women and girls in north and northwest Syria “have had to scale up massively” following the deadly earthquake last week, a senior official with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has said. 

One in three prisoners in Europe suffer from mental health disorders, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report launched on Tuesday.

The Governments of Gabon, Jamaica and Sri Lanka have united in a $14 million project to eliminate the use of mercury in skin lightening products – a serious public health issue, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced on Tuesday. 

Women leaders called for swift, concerted action to advance gender rights at the first International Conference on Women’s Transformational Leadership, in Juba, South Sudan on Tuesday.

Rising seas pose “unthinkable” risks to billions around the world, with profound implications for security, international law, human rights and the very fabric of societies, senior officials told the Security Council on Tuesday, as members held their first-ever debate on the phenomenon’s global implications.

As UN aid convoys prepared to deliver more relief to quake-hit northwest Syria via two additional land routes from Türkiye on Tuesday, UN humanitarians warned that many thousands of children have likely been killed, while millions more vulnerable people urgently need support.

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday announced a $397 million humanitarian appeal to aid the people of earthquake-ravaged Syria, to help secure “desperately needed” relief for nearly five million people.

The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the decision on Monday by the Syrian president to open two further crossing points on the Turkish border to allow more aid into the stricken northwest of the country.

Sport can change the world, famous footballers and grassroots gamechangers alike said at a roundtable discussion on Monday, highlighting a new UN podcast series to mark the first International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism, as and when Conducive to Terrorism.

Support “turbocharged” efforts to get back on track to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN chief told the General Assembly on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a $43 million appeal to support earthquake response in Syria and Türkiye, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Sunday.

Humanitarians will launch appeals for Türkiye and Syria in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes this week, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Saturday.

A second UN aid convoy reached northwest Syria on Friday to help victims of the still-unfolding earthquake tragedy, but humanitarians have warned that far more lifesaving help is needed, and much more quickly.

As a UN aid convoy reached Syria on Thursday for the first time since devastating earthquakes cut off supply lines from Türkiye three days ago, UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for assurances that desperately needed assistance inside Syria would not be held up or “politicized”.

Now is the time to stand up for the people of Türkiye and Syria living in the region of the deadly earthquake disaster, said the UN chief on Thursday, and show them “the same kind of support and generosity” which they have displayed in recent years, aiding millions of refugees and displaced people fleeing conflict.

When Monday’s devastating earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria, killing thousands of people, Olga Borzenkova, a spokesperson for the UN migration agency (IOM), was in Gaziantep, Türkiye, one of the most affected areas. She describes her experience, and the emergency response effort that is underway.

Air passenger demand in 2023 will rapidly recover to pre-pandemic levels on most routes, the UN aviation agency said on Wednesday.

As millions worldwide continue to go hungry, leaders of five international humanitarian, banking and trade organizations on Wednesday appealed for further urgent action to prevent the global food and nutrition crisis from worsening. 

The Doha action plan adopted last year, offers a “blueprint” to lift the world’s least developed nations out of poverty amid the ongoing global financial downturn, the UN General Assembly President said on Wednesday.

Humanitarians are seeking $2.6 billion to assist some 7.6 million people in Somalia this year, the UN and partners announced on Wednesday, together with the Federal and State authorities. 

Fresh snowfall in Syria on Wednesday has compounded the already desperate situation faced by millions of people in the five governorates whose lives have been shattered by the earthquake disaster, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country said.

UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief on Wednesday called for long-term solutions to help those displaced by the recent conflict in Ethiopia.

Caribbean and UN leaders were on hand for the first regional launch of a plan to ensure that every person on the planet is protected by early warning systems by 2027, held in Bridgetown, Barbados on Tuesday. 

Up to 10 million people could die annually by 2050 due to anti-microbial resistance (AMR), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report launched in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Tuesday, highlighting the need to curtail pollution created by the pharmaceuticals, agricultural and healthcare sectors. 

The full scale of the multiple earthquake disaster in Türkiye and Syria is still unfolding, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they stressed the critical need to step up search and rescue efforts for victims and ensure that lifesaving aid reaches all those who need it.

A lack of job opportunities is the leading factor driving people to join fast-growing violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report released by the UN Development Programme on Tuesday.

Addressing the opening of the Commission for Social Development’s latest session, the president of the UN Economic and Social Council on Monday said it was imperative to put people first, if the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be realized by the 2030 deadline.