Addressing ministers at UN Headquarters in New York, he called for urgent action to rescue lagging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid war, inequality and fiscal strain. “Transformation is not only necessary – it is possible,” he declared, highlighting landmark commitments adopted in recent months: the Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, pledges […]
This is according to a new report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the International Drought Resilience Alliance on the global impacts of droughts from 2023 to 2025. “Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its […]
Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar, a professor of infectious diseases at University College London, issued this warning at a recent meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York. It is not a question of if but when, and Dr. Abubakar believes the answer is sooner than anyone wants in part because the global […]
In an alert, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, relayed desperate testimonies from its colleagues who are also struggling to survive in the war-torn enclave. “We’re in the death phase,” one UNRWA worker said. “Everything around people at the moment is death, whether it’s bombs or strikes, children wasting away in front of their […]
In a statement released on 19 July, MONUSCO said that the Declaration of Principles, signed in Doha under the mediation of Qatar, “reflects the parties’ resolve to prioritise peaceful means, establish a ceasefire, and set up a joint mechanism to define its practical implementation.” “This important declaration marks a shift towards easing tensions and protecting […]
The classrooms at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche in central Haiti are no longer studiously quiet. Once a place of learning, it now echoes with the sounds of babies crying, water containers clanking, and voices murmuring through the night. Over 700 people displaced by violence are crammed into the crumbling compound, sleeping on floors where […]
“Every day brings more preventable deaths, displacement and desperation,” the agency said in a humanitarian update. On Friday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order, this time for parts of North Gaza. OCHA said it continues to receive deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults being admitted to hospitals with insufficient resources available to treat them. […]
Displaced Haitians are dispersed among the 250 active displacement sites across the country, most of which are informal. Just over a fifth of these sites are managed by humanitarian organizations, meaning that many are living in precarious conditions. In June alone, more than 200 alerts were reported across displacement sites, over 80 per cent of […]
The text, introduced by Russia and adopted without a vote, “welcomes the efforts of the Secretary‑General to strengthen the United Nations in order to keep pace with a changing world” and calls on UN entities and specialised agencies to align their reform efforts “as appropriate”. In the resolution, the 193-member Assembly “recognises the central role […]
In his remarks, the Secretary-General celebrated the extraordinary life of the South African civil rights icon, affectionately known by his Khosa clan name, Madiba. “He endured the brutal weight of oppression, and emerged not with a vision of vengeance and division – but of reconciliation, peace and unity,” Mr. Guterres said. “Today, Madiba’s legacy is […]
Briefing the Security Council for the last time as head of the UN Verification Mission, Special Representative Carlos Ruiz Massieu said the peace agreement provided a roadmap for addressing the root causes of conflict. “The Final Peace Agreement of 2016 set out the path to be followed: a holistic and comprehensive roadmap for addressing deep-rooted […]
The workers we don’t pay or see are grandmothers, mothers, daughters — the women who take care of children, look after ill family members, and give dignity to the elderly. To do this vital care work, they give up formal employment with pay cheques. “Our system is designed as if women didn’t do care work. […]
Moving around Gaza has become ever more difficult amid the ongoing 21-month-long war. Mr. Saad, who was displaced from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was waiting for the vehicle pulling the cart he was sitting in to move. “Transportation is very difficult and unsafe,” he told UN News. “The roads […]
Globally, $1.4 billion of the agency’s programmes are being shuttered or put on hold, UNHCR said in a new report. “We can’t stop water, you can’t stop sanitation, but we’re having to take decisions when it comes, for example, to shelter,” said UNHCR Director of External Relations, Dominique Hyde. “We’re have people arriving on a […]
Briefing reporters in Geneva, UN human rights office, OHCHR, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani highlighted “credible” reports of “widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, kidnappings, destruction of private property and looting of homes” in the city of Sweida. “Among the reported perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the […]
Since February 2022, both legal and illegal economies in Ukraine have been severely disrupted by the war. The report examines the evolution of organised crime structures in the country and focuses on six distinct areas: drug trafficking and production, online scams and fraud, arms trafficking, economic crime, trafficking in persons, and the facilitation of illegal […]
The Druze-majority Sweida governorate, long relatively insulated from earlier phases of Syria’s 14‑year conflict, has now become a flashpoint. Briefing an emergency meeting of the Security Council, UN Assistant Secretary‑General Khaled Khiari painted a grim picture: hundreds of casualties among soldiers and civilians –including women, children and the elderly – alongside reports of mass displacement, […]
Mr. Guterres was speaking to reporters after hosting Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar at the UN Headquarters in New York. “Today’s discussions were constructive. Both leaders reviewed the progress on the six initiatives they agreed to in March to build trust,” he said. Out of these six initiatives, four […]
Three people were killed and at least 10 others were injured in the bombing of the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, according to media reports. Stephanie Tremblay, a spokesperson for the Secretary-General, noted that the church was both a place of worship and a sanctuary for civilians. “Attacks on places of worship are unacceptable. […]
As of Thursday, nearly 2,000 families have been displaced from violence-affected areas in Sweida governate and are currently sheltering in a dozen collective sites. Many are unable to return home due to damage, looting or destruction of their homes. The health systems in Sweida and neighbouring Dar’a governorate remain under critical strain, operating without power […]