Their appeals, sharpened by rising seas, failed harvests and disappearing ecosystems, echoed Secretary-General António Guterres’s warning at a climate summit that the world is already in the “dawn of a new energy era” – one where clean energy must replace fossil fuels, and where finance and justice remain at the heart of the global response. […]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a renewed global push to end wars and divisions, stressing that “peace cannot wait” as the world observes the International Day of Peace. “Lives are being ripped apart, childhoods extinguished, and basic human dignity discarded, amidst the cruelty and degradations of war,” Mr. Guterres said in his message […]
Pandemic Treaty Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the world’s first pandemic trety “a generational accomplishment”, while speaking at the start of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, taking place in Geneva through Friday. It comes four months after countries adopted the pact. Tedros said the next step “is to bring this […]
In practical terms, South-South cooperation is a process whereby developing countries – regardless of their actual geographical location – seek to achieve their individual or shared development goals through the exchange of knowledge, skills, and resources, in partnerships involving governments, regional organisations, civil society, academia, and the private sector. The experiences and goals of most […]
Women and children face heightened risks, while operational challenges – including restrictions on female UN staff – threaten life-saving relief efforts. The twin quakes, measuring 6.0 and 6.2, struck on 31 August and 4 September, flattening entire villages in Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces. Mountainous terrain and landslides blocked key roads, leaving air transport […]
Secretary-General António Guterres said it marked a “further escalation” of the conflict. Authorities reported more than 80 civilian casualties, including a national non-governmental organization (NGO) worker and her two-month-old son in Kyiv. Other affected cities included Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson. Energy infrastructure was also hit, causing temporary power and water […]
Since the initial earthquake on Sunday in eastern Nangarhar province, landslides and several strong aftershocks have disrupted the work of rescue teams. In an update, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that access routes remain blocked in various locations including the districts of Chawkay and Nurgal, both in Kunar province, although the authorities have deployed earth-moving […]
In a statement released by his Spokesperson, the UN chief noted that the disaster driven by severe monsoon conditions had been exacerbated by climate change, impacting around 1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people need humanitarian aid while more than 3,000 homes, over 400 schools and some 40 health facilities have suffered some level […]
At least 841 people have been put to death by the Government of Iran since the beginning of the year, with ethnic minorities and migrants “disproportionately targeted”, said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani. Some executions have been carried out publicly, she added, with seven reported this year based on available information: “The real situation might be […]
“I can tell you that the Secretary-General is aware that today, the Security Council received this joint letter from the three countries,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists. The three European nations were signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits […]
Since Friday, 11 civilians have been killed and more than 90 wounded, according to the authorities. Schools and energy infrastructure also were damaged. The Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine was the most affected, with the town of Kostiantynivka particularly hard hit. Six other regions – Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia – were also […]
OHCHR Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said condemnation of the two strikes by Israeli forces on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis now needs to be channelled into a demand for accountability and justice for all those killed. At least 20 died, including four health workers and five journalists, later named as Ahed Abu Aziz, Hussam al-Masri, […]
Attacks against health facilities doubled between 2023 and 2024, and more than 900 health workers were killed last year, the agency reported. Humanitarian aid workers were also killed in record numbers in 2024. Yet, 2025 is outpacing even these dark statistics at a time when funding for humanitarian work is shrinking and support services established […]
Multiple strikes overnight into Friday were reported in the Jabalya Al Balad and An Nazla neighbourhoods, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update. As a result, around 900 people reportedly fled towards the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood and western Gaza City. Safe passage, more aid The UN and […]
A grenade attack inside Zalingei Hospital in Darfur State, led Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to suspend all of its activities there yesterday. MSF had previously led a cholera emergency response at the medical facility, providing life-saving treatment for 160 patients in the past two weeks alone. “The rules of war are clear that […]
The first eight months of 2025 show no sign of a reversal of this disturbing trend, with 265 humanitarian workers killed as of 14 August, according to figures released on World Humanitarian Day. Attacks on humanitarian workers, assets and operations violate international law and undermine the lifelines that sustain millions of people trapped in war […]
Speaking to UN News from the wartorn enclave to mark World Humanitarian Day, Olga Cherevko from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that exhausted aid workers continue to show up for work “day in and day out”. Approaching two years since the start of the war in Gaza, Ms. Cherevko emphasized the commitment of […]
In an alert from the World Food Programme (WFP), the agency said that half a million people “are on the brink of famine”, a claim backed up by multiple humanitarian agencies. The latest worrying data is showing widespread acute malnutrition. A ceasefire is the only way to scale up aid deliveries, the UN agency insisted. It explained […]
So far this year, cholera has killed more than 4,300 people across 31 countries. These figures are underestimates and there is particular concern for those impacted by war in Sudan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Yemen. In Sudan, the disease has already claimed over 1,000 lives since 1 January. It […]
UNHCR is supporting at least 60 survivors who have been brought ashore, but the Italian coast guard warned more bodies could still be recovered. According to local news reports, the passengers were travelling from Libya in the hopes of reaching Italy. Migrants and refugees heading to Italy from the African coast often use leaky […]