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.

News
Image
New UNICEF report reveals severe child food poverty amid world crises

New UNICEF report reveals severe child food poverty amid world crises

05 Jun 2024

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a new report on Thursday that highlights alarming levels of child food poverty due to inequity, conflict, and climate crises. 

Image
Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

05 Jun 2024

As violence escalates and millions of people continue to be displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), grave violations against children are reaching an all-time high, said UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Wednesday.

Image
Keep global spotlight on Haiti as millions go hungry, WFP official says

Keep global spotlight on Haiti as millions go hungry, WFP official says

05 Jun 2024

The number of people going hungry in Haiti has reached record levels amid ongoing gang violence, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) there said on Wednesday in the capital, Port-au-Prince. 

Image
World leaders demand ‘surge in action’ for sustainable development

World leaders demand ‘surge in action’ for sustainable development

05 Jun 2024

  UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened Heads of State and Government in New York on Wednesday to advance efforts to get countries back on course to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline. 

Image
World heading towards new temperature records, UN weather watchdog warns

World heading towards new temperature records, UN weather watchdog warns

05 Jun 2024

At least one of the years between now and 2028 will very likely set a new temperature record breaking through the crucial 1.5°C temperature limit, the UN weather agency, WMO, said on Wednesday. 

Image
There is an exit off ‘the highway to climate hell’, Guterres insists

There is an exit off ‘the highway to climate hell’, Guterres insists

05 Jun 2024

“It’s climate crunch time” when it comes to tackling rising carbon emissions the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday, stressing that while the need for global action is unprecedented, so too are the opportunities for prosperity and sustainable development.

Image
Acute food insecurity to rise in 18 ‘hunger hotspots’, warn aid agencies

Acute food insecurity to rise in 18 ‘hunger hotspots’, warn aid agencies

05 Jun 2024

No less than 18 crisis locations already suffering from dire food insecurity could see a “firestorm of hunger” unless aid reaches them urgently, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.

Image
UPDATING LIVE: Guterres to lay out hard hitting truths on need for climate action

UPDATING LIVE: Guterres to lay out hard hitting truths on need for climate action

05 Jun 2024

Welcome to our live coverage of one of the most important speeches on climate change that António Guterres has made since becoming Secretary-General. We'll be reporting live from the event in Manhattan and providing all the background information and briefing you need on the speech itself, and reaction to it inside the hall and around the world. 

Image
Top UN humanitarian laments lack of dialogue to resolve conflict

Top UN humanitarian laments lack of dialogue to resolve conflict

04 Jun 2024

The UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday he was leaving office at the end of the month with “some important pieces of wisdom” but also a feeling of frustration because many crises no longer make the headlines, while humanitarian operations face a dire lack of funding. 

Image
Break free from pollution, climate chaos and ‘biodiversity decimation’, UN chief urges

Break free from pollution, climate chaos and ‘biodiversity decimation’, UN chief urges

04 Jun 2024

The UN Secretary-General has called for safeguarding Earth’s vital ecosystems from rampant pollution, worsening climate impacts and “biodiversity decimation”.

Image
Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

04 Jun 2024

The UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) on Tuesday warned that lifesaving aid for hundreds of thousands in need across Gaza remains limited due to access constraints.

Image
World News in Brief: Aid breakthrough for Haiti, police violence in Chicago, celebrating ‘pedal power’

World News in Brief: Aid breakthrough for Haiti, police violence in Chicago, celebrating ‘pedal power’

03 Jun 2024

UN humanitarians said on Monday that they have finally been able to deliver truckloads of food to highly vulnerable people in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, after gang violence prevented access for more than two months.

Image
Ongoing war destroying social fabric in Gaza, UN aid official says

Ongoing war destroying social fabric in Gaza, UN aid official says

03 Jun 2024

The narrowing space left for civilians in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly limited and crowded, while dire living conditions are eroding the social fabric there, a senior official with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Monday. 

Image
UNICEF extends aid to children in Afghanistan affected by flash floods

UNICEF extends aid to children in Afghanistan affected by flash floods

03 Jun 2024

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has rushed to support tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan who are being affected by ongoing flash floods, mainly in Baghlan, Badakhshan and Ghor.

Image
Gaza: conditions ‘unspeakable’ as one million people flee Rafah: UNRWA

Gaza: conditions ‘unspeakable’ as one million people flee Rafah: UNRWA

03 Jun 2024

A staggering one million people have now fled Rafah in southern Gaza, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday, amid fresh reports of overnight attacks in southern, central and northern locations by Israeli forces.

Image
Situation in southern Gaza ‘horrific and apocalpytic’: WFP

Situation in southern Gaza ‘horrific and apocalpytic’: WFP

31 May 2024

Aid corridors in southern Gaza must be fully opened to allow the entry of food, fuel and other desperately needed relief items, a senior official with the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

Image
Global AI summit tackles misinformation and deepfakes with a little ‘bot’ of help

Global AI summit tackles misinformation and deepfakes with a little ‘bot’ of help

31 May 2024

The thorny issue of how to protect the unwary from deepfakes was just one of the key issues in the spotlight at a UN conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) held in Geneva this week, where a staggering 25,000 enthusiasts – and robots - from 145 countries added their voices to longstanding calls for checks and balances on the all-conquering tech.

Image
UN humanitarian flight takes vital medical supplies to Haiti

UN humanitarian flight takes vital medical supplies to Haiti

31 May 2024

On Thursday, a humanitarian flight operated by the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flew from Panama to Haiti – specifically the Port-au-Prince airport – for the first time in three months, according to Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.   

Image
Ukraine: Top UN relief official deplores latest deadly strikes in Kharkiv

Ukraine: Top UN relief official deplores latest deadly strikes in Kharkiv

31 May 2024

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine has strongly condemned the latest deadly Russian missile strikes in Kharkiv. 

Image
Gaza: Children are starving amid persistent aid access obstacles, warn UN agencies

Gaza: Children are starving amid persistent aid access obstacles, warn UN agencies

31 May 2024

Far too little aid is reaching people in Gaza to the extent that children are now starving, UN humanitarians said on Friday, in a renewed appeal to Israel to respect international law regarding the safe passage of lifesaving relief in the war-shattered enclave.

Image
Sudan: as millions face famine, humanitarians plead for aid access

Sudan: as millions face famine, humanitarians plead for aid access

31 May 2024

Famine in Sudan is “imminent” if aid agencies continue to be prevented from providing relief, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

Image
World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

30 May 2024

As people in Haiti continue to deal with growing hunger, UN agencies are striving to deliver goods and services to populations in need.

Image
SIDS go forward with ‘new sense of hope, solidarity and determination’

SIDS go forward with ‘new sense of hope, solidarity and determination’

30 May 2024

The roadmap towards achieving resilient prosperity for small island States adopted on Thursday in Antigua and Barbuda “marks the beginning of a new journey” and a decade of delivery for their citizens and the world, said the UN Deputy Secretary-General on Thursday.

Image
AI for Good Summit: Digital and technological divide is no longer acceptable

AI for Good Summit: Digital and technological divide is no longer acceptable

30 May 2024

With robots greeting delegates at the entrance to the venue, the AI for Good Global Summit opened on Thursday in Geneva, bringing together thousands of participants from all sectors around the world to discuss the hopes and fears about artificial intelligence (AI) development.

Image
Top UN officials urge comprehensive approach to Syria’s protracted crisis

Top UN officials urge comprehensive approach to Syria’s protracted crisis

30 May 2024

Syria remains plagued by a severe and complex security and humanitarian situation, against a backdrop of broader political impasse, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Thursday, underscoring the need for a comprehensive approach that involves all key stakeholders.

Image
Cabo Verde beats back climate change through South-South cooperation

Cabo Verde beats back climate change through South-South cooperation

30 May 2024

The small island developing State of Cabo Verde is fighting back against climate change with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Image
Sudan: ‘Noose of war’ tightens on civilians in El Fasher, UN official warns

Sudan: ‘Noose of war’ tightens on civilians in El Fasher, UN official warns

30 May 2024

 The top UN aid official in Sudan warned on Thursday that “the noose of war is tightening its stranglehold” on civilians in El Fasher, expressing her profound distress at the dire humanitarian situation there. 

Image
Amid ongoing Israeli incursions into Gaza, aid facilities shut 'one after another'

Amid ongoing Israeli incursions into Gaza, aid facilities shut 'one after another'

30 May 2024

With no let-up in reported street battles and Israeli bombardment across Gaza on Thursday, UN humanitarians warned that the flow of vital lifesaving aid into the enclave has fallen by more than two-thirds since the Israeli military stepped up its campaign in Rafah and seized the key aid conduit.

Image
More climate funding needed to ‘transition from rhetoric to decisive action’

More climate funding needed to ‘transition from rhetoric to decisive action’

29 May 2024

Climate action taken so far to help fund efforts in cash-strapped small island developing States (SIDS) “does not measure up to what has been said” in the wake of COP28 in Dubai last year.

Image
Gaza medics struggling in face of ‘overwhelming disaster’ as vital supplies run low: WHO

Gaza medics struggling in face of ‘overwhelming disaster’ as vital supplies run low: WHO

29 May 2024

Vital medical supplies are fast running out in Gaza’s remaining hospitals, the UN health agency warned on Wednesday, amid reports of continuing Israeli bombing and hostilities in the enclave.