Yemen: Security Council votes on final extension of Hudaydah Mission

Resolution 2813 (2026), submitted by the United Kingdom, received 13 votes in favour and none against. Two countries – China and Russia – abstained.  It calls for the effective, efficient and safe drawdown of the UN Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA), as well as planning and preparation for transitioning any residual functions to the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy […]

From lunch tray to lifelong health: WHO sets global standards for school meals

The UN agency’s new global guidance on evidence-based policies and interventions shows that healthy food in schools can help children develop healthy dietary habits for life.  “The food children eat at school, and the environments that shape what they eat, can have a profound impact on their learning, and lifelong consequences for their health and well-being,” […]

‘We must stand up for our shared humanity – each and every day’: UN human rights chief

Tuesday’s solemn commemoration marks the day 81 years ago that the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp – where over a million people were murdered – was liberated by Allied forces towards the end of World War Two.  Commenting on the disturbing rise of antisemitism in recent years – including the “heinous attacks” targeting Jewish communities […]

Remembering the Holocaust: ‘You are here because you choose hope over hate’

In his 10th Holocaust Remembrance Day address, Secretary-General António Guterres told survivors and their families gathered in the General Assembly Hall that honouring the dead “and the fight against the ancient poison of antisemitism – is not abstract, but personal”.  Every year on the day the concentration camps were liberated in 1945, the world unites […]

Independent experts alarmed by child rights violations in US immigration procedures

Thousands of children remain in custody without access to legal counsel; a situation the experts warn is forcing minors to navigate complex immigration proceedings alone and undermining their fundamental rights.   The three Special Rapporteurs, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said they are in contact with the US Government on the issue.  Duty to care  They explained that under the 2008 Trafficking Victims […]

Gaza ceasefire improves aid access, but children still face deadly conditions

That’s the assessment of two senior officials from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), speaking on Monday to journalists in New York following a week-long visit to the enclave and the occupied West Bank. The two agencies have brought more than 10,000 trucks of aid into Gaza since the 10 October truce between Israel and Hamas, representing some 80 per cent […]

A new blow for UNRWA as headquarters in East Jerusalem ‘set on fire’

It comes after Israeli authorities “stormed and demolished” buildings in the compound last week, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said. “Allowing this unprecedented destruction is the latest attack on the UN in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine Refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and erase their history,” Mr. Lazzarini said. In a […]

UN chief warns ‘law of the jungle’ is replacing rule of law

António Guterres was addressing a high-level open debate of the UN Security Council convened by Somalia, which holds the Council presidency for January. The discussion comes as conflicts multiply, global tensions rise, and confidence in international institutions and rules is fading – even as the UN marks 80 years since the adoption of its founding […]

South Sudan: UN and rights experts warn against risk of mass violence in Jonglei

UNMISS expressed grave concern following reports that a senior military leader is urging troops to inflict discriminate violence against civilians, with more than 180,000 people fleeing their homes.   “Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now,” Graham Maitland, Officer in Charge, said on Sunday.  Ongoing hostilities  South Sudan – the […]

From deepfakes to grooming: UN warns of escalating AI threats to children

Cosmas Zavazava, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) – one of the key agencies that drafted the statement, which includes guidelines and recommendations – catalogues a dizzying array of ways that children are targeted.  This extends from grooming to deepfakes, the embedding of harmful features, cyberbullying and inappropriate content: […]

Gaza reconstruction talks must not distract from massive needs, say UN aid agencies

Briefing journalists, Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at UNOPS, the United Nations Office for Project Services highlighted that although the 3 October ceasefire agreement had brought some respite to families, “people continue to be killed, day in, day out”. “It’s absolutely critical to unlock the congestion…at crossing points and to reopen critical lifelines like the […]

US withdrawal from WHO ‘risks global safety’, agency says in detailed rebuttal

The statement, released on Saturday, also includes a rebuttal of the US administration’s reasoning for the measures. In response to government statements that the WHO has “trashed and tarnished” and insulted it, and compromised its independence, the agency notes that “the reverse true,” and that the WHO has always sought to “engage with the United […]

From family farm to climate tech: How one Kenyan woman is helping farmers outsmart drought

In Kenya, agriculture employs up to 75 per cent of the population, but farmers’ livelihoods are being threatened by a changing climate and the loss of productive land, which is impacting the whole of Africa. As droughts and extreme weather events in the East African nation increase in frequency and intensity, Maryanne Gichanga believes innovation […]

‘Cycle of attacks must end’: Lead UN official in Ukraine

The attacks on some of Ukraine’s most important population centres, which reportedly involved almost 400 drones, also left thousands without electricity, heating and water. Temperatures in the country have dropped to -20° Celsius, and the attacks on energy infrastructure have left families in freezing conditions. Many older persons and people with disabilities are often stuck in their […]

Young people must be ‘truly involved’ in transforming education

Yet stark inequalities remain — in the poorest countries, 36 per cent of children and youth are out of school compared to just 3 per cent in the richest — underscoring the urgent need for inclusive, youth-driven approaches to education policy and transformation. Marco Pasqualini (2nd left) works for UNESCO in Paris. Ahead of the […]

Limited access restored to Syria’s Al Hol camp amid security concerns

Briefing reporters in New York, Farhan Haq said the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, was able to access the camp on Friday together with Syrian Government officials and establish contact with some residents. Essential supplies have also resumed. Al Hol is one of the region’s largest displacement sites, housing tens of thousands of people, mostly women […]

World News in Brief: Iran in the Human Rights Council, Myanmar election ‘fraud’, migration chief in Cyprus, Mozambique flood update

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk said that although the “killing on the streets of Iran may have subsided…the brutality continues”. He said that violent repression did not solve any of Iran’s problems but instead created conditions for further violations, instability and bloodshed. “We have indications that the security forces made mass […]

UN envoy highlights ‘window to advance peace’ in Colombia

“At a time of tensions both globally and regionally, it is in everyone’s interest to secure lasting peace and security in Colombia,” said Miroslav Jenča, delivering his quarterly briefing.  He said the coming year “undoubtedly provides a window to advance peace as a strategic national objective, and for Colombia and its partners to engage constructively through […]

UN rights chief decries US treatment of migrants, as deaths in ICE custody rise

In a news release on Friday, High Commissioner Volker Türk said individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are being surveilled, arrested and detained – sometimes violently – in locations ranging from hospitals and places of worship to courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. The UN rights chief said he was “astounded by the now-routine abuse […]

1 3 4 5 6 7 122