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Very little humanitarian aid has entered besieged Gaza this month, with a 50 per cent reduction compared to January, the head of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday. 

Communities in some of the most climate-change-affected areas in southern Madagascar are finding ways to thrive in increasingly challenging environments by becoming more resilient and adapting to unpredictable weather patterns.

Every two years, all 193 UN Member States have an opportunity to collectively address critical environmental issues facing the planet. This moment is the United Nations Environment Assembly, or UNEA, the sixth edition of which will be held from 26 February to 1 March, in Nairobi, Kenya.

The top UN aid official in Ukraine deplored new attacks on the cities of Odesa and Dnipro on Friday, as the full-scale Russian invasion of the country enters a third year. 

When the Russian occupation of Bucha in the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ended in March 2022, widespread destruction was revealed, and a UN commission concluded that war crimes had been committed against the civilian population. Two years on, life is returning to the town on Kyiv’s outskirts, and nearby Irpin, which have been restored with UN support.

Researchers have been deployed to the Middle East and requests issued to meet with Israel officials, said the head of an independent team reviewing the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, briefing reporters at UN Headquarters on Thursday.

The UN agency serving Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has reached breaking point due to Israeli calls for its abolition and the associated funding freeze, just when it is needed most, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

Attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea coupled with wider geopolitical and climate-related crises, are upending international trade, inflating costs and causing major delays, the UN’s trade and development body said on Thursday.

Today’s multilateral arrangements – global and regional organizations and major development banks – are “not up to the job” of helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the deputy UN chief said on Tuesday.

Myanmar’s military government is becoming an even greater threat to civilians following the imposition of a mandatory draft this month, the UN independent expert on human rights in the country said on Wednesday. 

The UN Security Council met again in emergency session in New York on Gaza Tuesday, where the United States vetoed a resolution put forward on behalf of Arab States by Algeria demanding “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties”. 

The UN’s top relief official on Tuesday released $100 million from the Organization’s core humanitarian emergency fund to support underfunded aid operations in seven countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.

People living in Madagascar are learning to adapt to rapidly altering climatic conditions in what is said to be the fourth most climate change affected country worldwide; that’s according to the UN Resident Coordinator, the most senior UN official in the Indian Ocean island nation.

At least 25 million people are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition as the crisis arising from the war in Sudan sends shockwaves around the region, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday. 

Zero energy light bulbs and sturdy bricks for schools and homes. Some innovative communities in South Sudan are reusing waste in new ways as the world rallies to ban plastic pollution by the year’s end, with help from a small team of experts led by climate and environmental scientist Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar at theUN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

A new UN report has revealed a concerning trajectory for the Asia Pacific region, projecting a delay until 2062 to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), overshooting the schedule by a staggering 32 years.

UPDATED: Amid ongoing airstrikes targeting Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah and reports that Israeli forces have conducted a military operation inside the Nasser Hospital Complex, concerns over a potential ground invasion of the densely populated border city are escalating. 

Despite unprecedented challenges, the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) continues to provide lifesaving supplies and services to more than 1.5 million displaced people in southern Gaza.

In the battle to slow global warming, January was the hottest month on record according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday.

UN medics said on Wednesday that they feared a humanitarian disaster “beyond imagination” if a full-scale incursion by the Israeli military happens in Rafah in southern Gaza.

As international efforts continue to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, the head of UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinians, warned on Tuesday that those in the enclave remain deeply traumatised by the war with Israel and afraid of a full-scale assault on Rafah in the south.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt as the war between rival militaries in Sudan spreads into new areas, driving displacement and hunger while exposing communities to deadly diseases, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffith has reiterated his warning against a full-scale military assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is now sheltered.   

Countries must act now to break the deadly links between conflict, climate and food insecurity, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, addressing a Security Council meeting focused on these challenges. 

Amid reports on Monday that two hostages have been rescued during a raid by Israeli special forces in Rafah City, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza is still not being met with anywhere near sufficient aid relief. 

Two critical lifelines for millions of people in northwest Syria have been extended for an additional three months, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.   

Migratory species globally are facing critical challenges, with nearly half in decline and over 20 per cent threatened with extinction, a landmark UN report has pointed out.

Small-scale chicken farmers in the south of Madagascar are hatching a plan to boost their incomes and improve the stock of local poultry breeds, thanks to support from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The unrelenting war in Gaza hasn’t spared hospitals, their staff or the people sheltering there, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday as it unveiled data indicating more than 350 attacks on healthcare in the enclave since hostilities erupted.

The unprecedented population density in Rafah in southern Gaza makes it nearly impossible to protect civilians in the event of ground attacks, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, warned on Friday.