“Persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, calling for credible investigations and accountability for perpetrators. Sudan’s national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have been fighting each other for control of the country for almost three years. The new report details widespread atrocities committed […]
In an exclusive interview with UN News, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, reflected on the alarming rise in grave violations against children and the urgent need to safeguard their future. “The recruitment and use of children is still one of the most widespread and devastating violations we face. In 2024 alone, […]
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at the regular news briefing in New York that the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, had received additional reports of airstrikes, bombing, shelling – including from at sea – and shootings in residential areas. The violence, he said, “puts civilians in danger and adds to the immense hardship they […]
While there is no official estimate of how prevalent fraud is in the $195 billion global fisheries and aquaculture sector, empirical studies suggest that 20 per cent of the trade may be subject to some type of fraud, according to FAO. Menu of misinformation Some studies suggest that up to 30 per cent of seafood […]
Russian forces have been carrying out strikes on critical infrastructure amid freezing winter temperatures as their full-scale invasion approaches the four-year mark next month. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said the electrical grid was again the target of military activity this past weekend, leading to significant impacts to several regions and nuclear power plant operations. Power lines down The fighting caused […]
Qatar is facilitating discussions between the Congolese government and the M23 armed group, which controls large areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The latest developments follow months of intense fighting that has displaced civilians and destabilised the region. However, the UN warns that despite diplomatic momentum, the security situation on the ground remains […]
The United States has threatened to impose tariffs on any country providing oil to Cuba, increasing pressure on the island nation following a decades-long trade embargo and the US seizure of Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro last month. Venezuela had been the main supplier of oil to Havana but Washington has been ratcheting up pressure on […]
In a statement issued as the treaty expired at midnight GMT Thursday, he said the world was entering uncharted territory, with no remaining legally binding constraints on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russia – the two countries that together hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons. “For the first […]
“AI is moving at the speed of light,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, underscoring the urgency of regulating the breakthrough technology. “We need shared understandings to build effective guardrails, unlock innovation for the common good, and foster cooperation. The Panel will help the world separate fact from fakes, and science from slop.” The roots of […]
“The harm from deepfake abuse is real and urgent,” the UN agency said in a statement. “Children cannot wait for the law to catch up.” At least 1.2 million youngsters have disclosed having had their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year, according to a study across 11 countries conducted by the UN […]
This is occurring as the risk from pandemics, drug-resistant infections and fragile health services are on the rise, said the WHO Director-General. Addressing the WHO Executive Board in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the impact of workforce reductions last year due to “significant cuts to our funding,” which have had significant consequences. “Sudden and severe […]
Addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency remains focused on preventing a nuclear accident as fighting continues to endanger critical infrastructure. “The conflict in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year,” Mr. Grossi said. “It continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear […]
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 […]
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: […]
In a statement issued this week, UNESCO said governments are increasingly cutting internet access during protests, elections and times of crisis, despite the central role online connectivity plays in democratic participation and the exercise of basic rights. The agency noted that 2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns since 2016, citing data […]
“The simple narrative is, children are dying and it’s going to get worse,” said Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen. “My fear is that we won’t hear about it until the mortality and the morbidity significantly increases in this next year.” The alert follows an attempt by forces affiliated with the Southern […]
Briefing journalists by video link from Jeddah following an extensive visit to the region, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said there has been an uptick in dangerous incidents involving peacekeepers and the fragile environment in which missions are operating. He added that UN missions are continuing to deliver on their mandates despite increasingly challenging conditions on the ground. […]
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed on Wednesday that 2025 was one of the three warmest years on record, continuing the streak of extraordinary global temperatures. After analysing eight international datasets, the organization said that global average surface temperatures last year were 1.44°C above the 1850 to 1900 average. Two of these datasets ranked 2025 as […]
The special report on health and climate change, published by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Brazilian Government, warns that one in 12 hospitals could face climate-related shutdowns. It calls for urgent action to protect health systems in a rapidly warming world. This follows Thursday’s launch of the Belém Health Action Plan, a […]
They warned that foreign military action, political exclusion and dwindling resources threaten to undo fragile gains. UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen – who announced that he will be stepping down from his role during the meeting – told ambassadors that interim authorities in Damascus have inherited “not just the ruins of shattered buildings, but the […]