News

As the war drags on in Gaza, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday condemned Israel’s “relentless” attacks across the war-shattered enclave, while repeating longstanding calls for the release of all remaining hostages.

The World Food Programme (WFP) will increase its food and nutrition assistance programme this month in West and Central Africa in hopes of reaching 7.3 million people as the June-August lean season is under way at a time when hunger levels are high and food resources are low.

A conference focused on small arms and light weapons is taking place at a “difficult and dangerous moment for humanity,” according to the UN Chief António Guterres. 

The State of Global Air (SoGA) report published in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns on Wednesday that air pollution is increasingly impacting human health - and is now the second leading global risk factor for premature death.

Sustainable sources of energy, including solar and wind power, can help communities across the world to reverse desertification and land loss, according to Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. 

As nearly 40 per cent of land across the planet is degraded with more acres lost every second, governments, businesses and communities must galvanize action to reverse the damage and protect Earth, the UN chief said in a strong message for the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, marked annually on 17 June.

A cautious welcome was given by civilians in Gaza to this week’s Security Council resolution endorsing a ceasefire for hostages deal - mixed with frustration that the fighting continues with both Hamas and the Israeli Government signalling that the three phase plan falls short.

Escalating fighting in the south and centre of Gaza makes it near-impossible for humanitarians to deliver desperately needed food aid, the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Carl Skau, said on Friday at the end of a two-day mission to the enclave. 

A surge of attacks by Russian forces on the Kharkiv area of Ukraine is causing significant civilian casualties, as well as the destruction of homes and crucial infrastructure, the top UN official in Ukraine said today, in a plea not to “normalize” the dire conditions for Ukrainian civilians.  

Despite its huge potential, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, continues to grapple with a host of challenges which are impacting people’s lives and triggering conflict over key resources, a senior UN official in the country said on Friday.

Heavy shelling reported in the so-called safe zone of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza on Thursday came despite the ongoing international push for a ceasefire and as the UN health agency reported 32 deaths from malnutrition “including 28 among children under five years old”.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown on Thursday said she was ‘appalled’ by the scale of Russia’s overnight attack on Kryviy Rih City in the Dnipro Region. 

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Thursday that calls for the paramilitary Rapid Security Forces (RSF) in Sudan to halt their siege on El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state. 

Millions of people are teetering on the brink of starvation as conflict rages across many corners of the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in Sudan and Gaza, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Wednesday. 

The UN is becoming increasingly concerned over falling levels of humanitarian funding for civilians across war-torn Ukraine, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) told delegates to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his solidarity with the people of Gaza and the global body’s deep commitment to the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday, while also issuing a stark message to the world’s richest nations ahead of the G7 Summit in Italy to do more to help emerging economies crippled by debt repayments.

The right to development is inextricably linked with trade which the world’s poorest countries - now “mired in debt” through no fault of their own - have every right to pursue on much fairer terms, UN chief António Guterres insisted on Wednesday.

A comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza linked to the release of all remaining hostages cannot come too soon, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, as he welcomed the Security Council resolution adopted a day earlier seeking an end to the war there.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Tuesday for the immediate release of all United Nations staff held in Yemen by the de facto Houthi authorities, following the arrest of 13 of the Organization’s personnel. 

Further deadly violence in Sudan’s besieged Al Fasher city has forced a major hospital to shut over the weekend after soldiers stormed the facility, prompting alarm on Monday from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) about the serious impact on sick and injured patients.

The crisis in Haiti has left children among the most vulnerable to extreme violence, malnutrition, poverty, and collapsing social systems there, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution aimed at reaching a comprehensive ceasefire deal in three phases to end the war in Gaza, with US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield telling members "today, we voted for peace."

Rapidly evolving global political, social, environmental and security challenges risk undermining peace and economic development across West Africa, the UN deputy chief said on Friday, reiterating the importance of a multilateral and inclusive response.

A recent escalation in fighting in Ukraine, particularly in the Kharkiv region, has left nearly 200 people dead, displaced thousands more and further crippled critical infrastructure, with implications for global food security, a senior UN humanitarian said on Friday. 

UN World Oceans Day, celebrated on Friday at UN Headquarters in New York, focused on “opening minds, igniting senses, and inspiring possibilities” to protect marine life worldwide. 

Escalating hunger and violence in Sudan are reaching unprecedented levels as it teeters on the verge of becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis and faces increasingly violent attacks by paramilitary groups, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Thursday.

Amid early reports that an Israeli strike on a UN-run school in Gaza overnight into Thursday left dozens dead, humanitarians warned that cholera and other potentially deadly diseases stalk people uprooted by the war, forced to live among “mountains of rubbish”.

“It’s climate crunch time” when it comes to tackling rising carbon emissions the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday, stressing that while the need for global action is unprecedented, so too are the opportunities for prosperity and sustainable development.

At least one of the years between now and 2028 will very likely set a new temperature record breaking through the crucial 1.5°C temperature limit, the UN weather agency, WMO, said on Wednesday. 

Welcome to our live coverage of one of the most important speeches on climate change that António Guterres has made since becoming Secretary-General. We'll be reporting live from the event in Manhattan and providing all the background information and briefing you need on the speech itself, and reaction to it inside the hall and around the world.