Global action needed as progress stalls on disability-inclusive development goals

Global action needed as progress stalls on disability-inclusive development goals

“The message is stark: persons with disabilities face higher poverty, greater unemployment, deeper food and health insecurity and more limited access to education, jobs, and digital technologies,” said Amina Mohammed. But action is underway. The 18th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP18) will […]

UN committed to supporting ‘free, fair and transparent election with the participation of all Iraqis’

UN committed to supporting ‘free, fair and transparent election with the participation of all Iraqis’

“Iraq is a nation of profound history, strength, potential, and pride. By working together, Iraqis can continue to make meaningful strides towards stability, prosperity and human rights for all,” said Special Representative Mohamed Al Hassan, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). He provided updates on political, human rights and other developments […]

Israeli attacks on Gaza schools could be crimes against humanity: UN probe

Israeli attacks on Gaza schools could be crimes against humanity: UN probe

The UN Human Rights Council-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) report found that Israeli forces have used airstrikes, shelling, burning, and controlled demolitions to damage or destroy more than 90 per cent of schools and university buildings across Gaza. This destruction in the wake of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel […]

The battle to quiet the sea: Can the shipping industry turn down the volume?

The battle to quiet the sea: Can the shipping industry turn down the volume?

As global trade surges, so does the underwater noise generated by commercial shipping. From the Arctic to the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have documented how this constant mechanical hum can disorient whales, disrupt migration routes, and drown out the acoustic cues that many marine species rely on to survive. As the issue intensifies, the United […]

Greed is driving oceans toward collapse

Greed is driving oceans toward collapse

Mr. Guterres’ stark assessment came during a press conference on the second day of the weeklong UN Ocean summit, known as UNOC3, where hundreds of government leaders, scientists and civil society representatives are gathered on France’s Côte D’Azur. Their mission: to confront the escalating emergency facing the world’s oceans. Greed is a ‘clear enemy’ “We are […]

Sudan emergency: We need more help to prevent famine, says WFP

Sudan emergency: We need more help to prevent famine, says WFP

“Over the past six months, WFP scaled up assistance and we are now reaching nearly one million Sudanese in Khartoum with food and nutrition support,” said Laurent Bukera, WFP Country Director in Sudan. “This momentum must continue; several areas in the south are at risk of famine.” In an update from Port Sudan, Mr. Bukera reported […]

Lack of cooperation from Iran hampers nuclear checks, says atomic energy watchdog

Lack of cooperation from Iran hampers nuclear checks, says atomic energy watchdog

Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Monday that Iran’s growing stockpile of highly enriched uranium and unresolved questions about its programme remain serious issues. “Unless and until Iran assists the agency in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues, the Agency will not be in a position to provide assurance that […]

Gaza: Search for food puts lives on the line

Gaza: Search for food puts lives on the line

Since the end of May, aid distribution in Gaza has been carried out by a mechanism backed by Israel and the United States bypassing UN agencies and their established partners, which has been plagued by deadly incidents and chaos. On Monday, UN partner the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that 29 casualties […]

No green without blue: Young ocean explorers set sail for a sustainable future

No green without blue: Young ocean explorers set sail for a sustainable future

In the old town of Nice, the 98-meter-long, three-masted barque arrived last week at Port Lympia, where UNOC3 is now under way. Built in 1914 and owned by Norway since 1921, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl – named for former Norwegian minister Kristofer Lehmkuhl – was refitted last year with state-of-the-art ocean science instruments, transforming it into […]

Central Africa at a crossroads amid rising tensions and instability

Central Africa at a crossroads amid rising tensions and instability

With violence worsening in both the Lake Chad Basin and the Great Lakes, the Security Council met on Monday to examine the threats confronting the wider region. “Central Africa remains rich in potential, but the challenges are still significant,” said Abdou Abarry, Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA). Some progress While […]

Guterres calls for an end to ocean ‘plunder’ as UN summit opens in France

Guterres calls for an end to ocean ‘plunder’ as UN summit opens in France

“The ocean is the ultimate shared resource,” he told delegates gathered at the port of Nice. “But we are failing it.” Oceans, he warned, are absorbing 90 per cent of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions and buckling under the strain: overfishing, rising temperatures, plastic pollution, acidification. Coral reefs are dying. Fish stocks are […]

Drifting architects: Plankton, climate, and the race to understand our changing ocean

Drifting architects: Plankton, climate, and the race to understand our changing ocean

On a sun-drenched morning off the coast of Villefranche-sur-Mer, the Sagitta III cuts through the cobalt waters of the Mediterranean, past the quiet marinas and pine-fringed terraces of France’s Côte d’Azur. The 40-foot scientific vessel – named after a fearsome zooplankton with hook-lined jaws – rumbles toward a lonely yellow buoy bobbing offshore. In the […]

Gaza: Women and girls struggle to manage their periods amid crisis

Gaza: Women and girls struggle to manage their periods amid crisis

Globally, 1.8 billion people menstruate, yet for many, especially in crises zones, it’s far more than an inconvenience. In war-torn Gaza, around 700,000 women and girls of menstruating age, including thousands experiencing their first period, face this challenge under relentless bombardment and in cramped, unsanitary conditions with little privacy. A human rights issue The United Nations’ sexual […]

Stigmatised for being deaf: Zénabou’s Story

Stigmatised for being deaf: Zénabou’s Story

“I always had the painful experience of seeing the other children go to school with their rucksacks,” says 14-year-old Zénabou. “It was tormenting because even though I was burning with a desire to find out what happened in the schools where these children went every morning, I realised very early on that it was a […]

In the eye of the Caribbean storm: one year on from Irma and Maria

In the eye of the Caribbean storm: one year on from Irma and Maria

Primrose Thomas.  UNDP/Michael Atwood  In September 2017, Primrose Thomas was at her home on Barbuda, when disaster struck: two Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, swept over the islands of the eastern Caribbean, wreaking chaos and destruction.  “The first time I came back, I didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t recognize anywhere. I had to […]

‘Jerusalem is not for sale’ Palestinian President Abbas tells world leaders at UN Assembly

‘Jerusalem is not for sale’ Palestinian President Abbas tells world leaders at UN Assembly

President Abbas underscored his commitment to peace and the two-state solution, as well as the path of negotiation to achieve them, reiterating that peace in the Middle East cannot be realized without an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. “We have always fully and positively engaged with the various initiatives of the […]

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