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Amid escalating hostilities in Myanmar sparked by a 2021 military coup that have plunged millions into a deepening humanitarian crisis, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the country’s neighbours “to leverage their influence” to bring about peace. 

When Ahmadi, a local storyteller on the Indonesian island of Simeulue, sings a lullaby to his one-year-old grandson, the song is not one about fairies and angels but rather about the precautions to take in a potential tsunami.

High in the mountains of Houaphanh province in the north of Laos in an area historically known for opium cultivation, farmers are creating a more secure and sustainable future with the cultivation of coffee.

As the world marked the International Day of the Girl Child on Friday, a town hall held at UN Headquarters provided an opportunity for young women activists to engage directly with policymakers and offer recommendations on what they need to fully realise their rights. 

Aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months, and both the north and south of the enclave are at "breaking point", UN humanitarians said on Friday.

As Florida reeled from the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Milton – just the latest extreme weather event to generate international headlines – UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed highlighted the global climate crisis during a speech in Azerbaijan on Thursday.

In Lebanon, health workers and medical facilities have continued to be hit and killed by ongoing Israeli bombardment, a week since Israel sent troops and armoured vehicles into the south of the country and issued evacuation orders, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.

The prospect of all-out war in Lebanon appeared undiminished on Wednesday as the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that there was “no end to hell” in northern Gaza, where lifesaving relief has shut down.

UN humanitarians in Lebanon on Tuesday described the massive challenge of trying to reach some 1.2 million people who have fled heavy Israeli bombardment and evacuation orders, driven by the fear that what happened in Gaza may befall them, too.

A Palestinian man living in a refugee camp in northern Gaza has talked of the ‘indescribable’ pain he has experienced over the past year as the conflict in the beleaguered enclave continues.

As online tools using various forms of artificial intelligence become increasingly common, calls are growing for more action to ensure that they do not create or perpetuate stereotypes and gender bias.

The year 2023 marked the driest year in over three decades for rivers around the world, according to a new report coordinated by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Senior officials from across the UN system underscored the need for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and across the wider region, in statements marking one year since the brutal 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. 

As the world remembers the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel exactly one year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) is highlighting how the tragedy triggered a mental health crisis among frontline workers. 

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, voiced deep concern on Monday over the siege of El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur, where continued clashes are putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the region at risk.

Every September when UN Headquarters in New York is swamped – massive motorcades, intense security, snipers on rooftops and world leaders descending along with throngs of diplomats, media and celebrities – it’s not easy to grasp what exactly is going on or what was achieved. 

As Lebanon suffered another night of heavy Israeli bombing, UN humanitarians and partners described how people desperate to flee the violence found the country’s main border crossing into Syria cut by a new dawn strike, forcing them to skirt “a huge crater” and rubble on foot, to reach the other side.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced on Thursday they are partnering to raise awareness about climate change’s harmful effects on winter sports and tourism.

People in Lebanon uprooted by Israeli airstrikes including in central Beirut have described being forced to flee “total destruction”, amid fresh reports of Hezbollah projectile attacks into Israel and close-quarter clashes along the UN-patrolled line of separation between the two countries.

Security Council members are meeting in emergency session on Tuesday morning in New York with the Middle East on the brink of all-out war. App users can follow our live coverage here.

Hours after Iran fired a reported 200 missiles at Israel in response to Israeli military incursions in southern Lebanon raising fears of a wider Middle East escalation, UN human rights chief Volker Türk insisted on Wednesday that “peace must prevail” in the Middle East, while UN Member States meeting in Geneva reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and beyond. 

A breakdown in law and order and a wider humanitarian emergency across Haiti have displaced more than 700,000 people – one in two of them children – the UN migration office, IOM, said on Wednesday.

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants, as Israel launched what it described as a “limited” ground incursion into Southern Lebanon.

More than 215 people, including 35 children, have been killed and dozens are missing after heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides across Nepal, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

UN humanitarians launched a $426 million appeal for Lebanon on Tuesday to support one million people uprooted by widespread Israeli shelling amid what Israel has described as a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation into Lebanon, across the UN-patrolled line of separation.

 UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told thousands gathered in New York’s Central Park on Saturday that although it is easy to be miserable in today’s world, they represent the hope needed to defeat poverty, defend the planet and demand equity.

UN humanitarians on Monday warned of the potentially dire consequences that could arise from disruption to the flow of food imports into Yemen following Israeli strikes on the crucial Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

More than one million people across Lebanon have been uprooted by ongoing and deadly Israeli airstrikes across the country, including one reported early Monday morning in a residential area of central Beirut, adding to fears of a full-scale invasion. 

The sudden and massive escalation between Israel and the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon has created widespread fear that even worse is to come, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

At the UN General Assembly on Friday, leaders from Asia and the Pacific underscored a dire reality: climate change is a clear and present danger for everyone on the Planet, but their countries and peoples will likely suffer the most.