News

Our news page provides you with a round up of UN news related to economic development, humanitarian aid, climate change, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will find the summary of news articles together with a link to the news source.

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‘Disaster emergency’ underway in Asia-Pacific, warns ESCAP

25 Jul 2023

Asia and the Pacific has a “narrow window” to protect its hard-won gains, as climate change supercharges disasters and impacts billions there, the UN’s development body spanning the vast region said on Tuesday.

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Africa’s food ‘transformation’ impossible without game changing solutions: FAO

25 Jul 2023

A full-scale Africa-led agrifood systems transformation will not be possible without game changing solutions, greater investments in smallholder farmers, embracing new technology and new partnerships at all levels. 

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Yemen: High stakes UN operation underway to avert catastrophic oil spill

25 Jul 2023

The UN has started a complex operation to transfer crude oil from a decaying supertanker stranded off the coast of Yemen since 2015.

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Global food systems ‘broken’, says UN chief, urging transformation in how we produce, consume food

24 Jul 2023

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday highlighted the need to address global hunger, promote cooperation between businesses and governments, and mitigate the damaging impact of continuing climate change on food production.

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Syria still mired in division, top UN envoy tells Security Council

24 Jul 2023

Months of “potentially significant diplomacy” to resolve the crisis in Syria have not yielded any outcomes or political momentum for the war-weary population, both within the country and those displaced outside, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Monday. 

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Transformative power of food production in Mauritius: A UN Resident Coordinator blog

23 Jul 2023

Transforming the way food is produced on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mauritius could help to fight climate change as well as accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the UN’s most senior representative in the country.

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INTERVIEW: Food systems contribute to solving ‘world's most important challenges’

23 Jul 2023

Population growth, urbanization, changing consumption patterns, and climate change are making it more challenging to feed the world according to a senior official at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

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Yemen: Killing of veteran WFP staff member ‘an unacceptable tragedy’

22 Jul 2023

The top UN humanitarian official in Yemen on Saturday called for justice in the wake of the recent attack against World Food Programme (WFP) staff that left one person dead and another injured. 

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HIV a ‘critical health concern’ amongst people who use drugs in Thailand

22 Jul 2023

A new narcotics law in Thailand has meant that people who use drugs are more able to access care for treatment of conditions like HIV, but the virus remains a ‘critical health concern’, according to the UN.

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Russian strikes on Ukraine ports ‘further blow to global food security’

21 Jul 2023

Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea could have far-reaching impacts on global food security, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo said on Friday in a briefing to the Security Council. 

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Spike in dengue cases due to global warming, warns WHO

21 Jul 2023

Global warming marked by higher average temperatures, precipitation and longer periods of drought, could prompt a record number of dengue infections worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday.

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WFP: ‘Urgent action is needed’ to end growing humanitarian crisis in Sahel

21 Jul 2023

The ongoing conflict in Sudan is impacting food security and migration across West and Central Africa, depleting scarce resources, exacerbating inter-communal tensions and putting major stress on the already underfunded humanitarian response, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

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From the Field: Hip hop artist K’naan's new track hails refugees

21 Jul 2023

Award-winning Somali-Canadian artist K’naan Warsame, creator of the chart-topping unofficial World Cup anthem Wavin’ Flag, released Refugee in late June, saying he wants to flip the word’s meaning “and make it something that people will wear proudly”.

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WFP staffer shot and killed in Yemen

21 Jul 2023

A long-serving staffer with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been shot and killed in Yemen.

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Empowering women through social protection: UN rights office

21 Jul 2023

Access to social protection is a fundamental human right, yet a recent UN human rights report shows that numerous women and girls worldwide are still unable to access provisions such as social security payments and pensions. 

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Sustainable Africa key to global security

21 Jul 2023

Two top officials underlined the UN’s commitment to Africa’s development during a dialogue with representatives from NGOs, civil society, academic institutions and the private sector, held at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday. 

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First Person: Ukrainian ‘city of heroes’ plans post-invasion future

20 Jul 2023

The mayor of a city in southern Ukraine has described its inhabitants as “heroes” and has pledged the city will emerge from the full-scale invasion of his country as a model for other urban areas devastated by the war, even as residents cope with an overnight attack on Thursday.

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Ukraine: Guterres ‘strongly condemns’ Russian attacks on Odesa and other ports

20 Jul 2023

Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday strongly condemned Russian attacks on Odesa and other Ukrainian ports in recent days, following Moscow’s decision to withdraw from the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative earlier this week. 

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International Moon Day gives boost to peaceful cooperation in space

20 Jul 2023

The UN celebrated the second ever annual International Moon Day on Thursday, promoting ongoing international cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space while also honouring historic achievements in space exploration.

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Winners of 2023 UN Human Rights Prize Announced

20 Jul 2023

The President of the General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi on Thursday announced the winners of the prestigious United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2023. 

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Guterres launches latest report on youth participation at the UN

19 Jul 2023

Youth participation in global decision-making processes must be the norm and not the exception, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday. 

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Behind at halftime, but all still to play for in race to 2030 as top political forum closes

19 Jul 2023

This year’s High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) concluded in New York on Wednesday, laying the groundwork for the crucial SDG Summit in September. 

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Don’t play ‘geopolitical games’ with vulnerable lives, urges UN Assembly President

19 Jul 2023

Life-saving relief programmes should not be held hostage by political interests, the President of the General Assembly said on Wednesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by a permanent member of the Security Council, that halted vital cross-border aid last week into northern Syria. 

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Health risks on the rise as heatwave intensifies across Europe: WMO

18 Jul 2023

The dangers associated with the heatwave that’s engulfing the northern hemisphere aren’t over yet, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Tuesday.

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Mandela’s legacy thrives as today's blueprint for prisoners’ rights

18 Jul 2023

Adamu* got two years for stealing in Nigeria, Denny is serving five years in Indonesia, and Lauro José dos Santos served a 12-year sentence in Brazil, but ongoing reform efforts rooted in the “Mandela Rules” and a range of UN-supported programmes are helping them and prisoners around the world get a second chance upon their release.

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Ukraine: Do not play with nuclear Armageddon, warns UN Assembly President

18 Jul 2023

Targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and threats of use of nuclear weapons, severely undermines trust “within and in our institution”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday. 

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Sudan: Conflict displaces nearly 200,000 alone in the past week

18 Jul 2023

Nearly 200,000 people were displaced by fighting inside Sudan over the past week, the UN reported on Tuesday, citing new figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

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UN chief regrets Russia’s decision to withdraw from grain deal

17 Jul 2023

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that he deeply regrets Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative, in effect ending a “lifeline” for hundreds of millions worldwide facing hunger and spiralling food costs. 

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WFP forced to slash food aid as half of all Haitians go hungry

17 Jul 2023

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been compelled to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti due to a lack of funding, affecting around 100,000 people, the agency reported on Monday. 

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Halfway to 2030, world ‘nowhere near’ reaching Global Goals, UN warns

17 Jul 2023

The world is “woefully off track” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline, top United Nations officials said on Monday, as ministers and policy makers gathered in New York to examine how countries can get back on track and make the transformative development agenda a reality.