News

The communities of thousands of tiny Pacific islands are the frontline gamechangers tackling the climate crisis, and a hub based in Micronesia now hosts more than a dozen UN agencies that together are helping address some of their most pressing needs as they battle existential threats like rising sea levels.

Dozens of people are believed to have died in an Israeli overnight attack on a camp for displaced Gazans in Rafah in the south of the enclave, the latest gruesome development in more than seven months of war between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters, UN humanitarians said on Monday.

Good morning from the blue waters and lush green hills of the Caribbean. We’re reporting live from the high level opening of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) on the beautiful twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. 

It may be built out of recyclable cardboard boxes, but when world leaders officially open the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) on Monday, one of the manifestations of young people’s hopes for a better future that will greet them is a solid “wall of commitment” imploring them to take more action against the ravages of climate change.

Friday’s landslide in the north of Papua New Guinea is likely to have been far more deadly than first thought, Serhan Aktoprak, the country head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.

An attack by Russian armed forces on a busy shopping centre in Kharkiv on Saturday reportedly killed at least four people and injured around 40. Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, strongly condemned the strike and called for civilians to be protected.

Global uproar calling for an end to the Israeli incursion in Rafah “has grown too loud to ignore”, UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Friday, in a fresh appeal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.

The humanitarian situation for some 800,000 civilians in El Fasher, Sudan, and surrounding areas in North Darfur continues to deteriorate amid ongoing clashes between rival military forces, the UN reported on Friday. 

Civilians in the northeast of Ukraine are experiencing escalated hostilities as Russian armed forces have taken control of several villages, according to testimonies received by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).

The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a warning for an “above average” hurricane season in the North Atlantic in 2024. Based on data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this would mark the ninth consecutive year of anomalies.

Data crunched by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that the COVID-19 emergency reversed more than a decade of gains in life expectancy, reinforcing the need for countries to agree on a global pandemic treaty to protect future generations.

The international community cannot abandon Afghanistan, a senior UN aid official said on Thursday, urging continued engagement and support for the population.

Living conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, with reports of an increase in diarrhoea and suspected cases of Hepatitis A, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.

A report published on Thursday from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) European region has revealed alarming health disparities in young people, especially those from less affluent families, representing a “vicious cycle of disadvantage”.

The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine on Thursday said she was “deeply disturbed” at the relentless attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv which have been continuing virtually non-stop for nearly two weeks.

Leaders from small island developing States worldwide will converge on the shores of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean this weekend to deliver a bold new plan of action to build resilience on the road to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Droughts and floods in southern Africa stemming from El Niño have left millions of people food insecure, warns World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain during a recent visit to Zambia – the epicentre of the crisis.

The diversity of animals, plants and microorganisms on the planet is at risk due to factors such as changing land use, urbanization, overexploitation, pollution and climate change, the UN said on Wednesday, calling for action now to protect a million species from extinction. 

Hostilities across Gaza reportedly continued on Wednesday, fuelling already alarming aid access problems and dire food insecurity as the main entrance routes for relief convoys remained closed or too dangerous to access, UN aid workers warned.

The devastating floods that struck Afghanistan recently are likely to intensify in the coming months, exacerbating the already critical food insecurity in the affected districts, the UN emergency food relief agency warned on Tuesday.

While nearly one million species are currently at risk of extinction, the United Nations University (UNU) is drawing attention to “co-extinctions”: the chain reaction occurring when the complete disappearance of one species affects another. 

The UN expressed new concerns on Tuesday over a rise in displacement and humanitarian needs in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region amid “relentless” Russian air and ground attacks.

As bombardments by the Israeli military reportedly continued overnight across Gaza, along with ground incursions and heavy fighting, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on Tuesday for staff and patients at besieged Al-Awda Hospital in the north of the enclave.

Inflation fears are subsiding, the “net-zero transition” to a clean economy could spell good news with the right policies in place, and we are still dealing with a “COVID hangover”, according to the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Gaza stands at “yet another precipice of further catastrophe” as the latest round of hostage negotiations in Cairo failed to reach an agreement, a senior UN official warned the Security Council on Monday.

The UN is continuing to closely follow the deteriorating situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state where intercommunal tensions are being stoked by the military.

Arrest warrants are being sought for the leaders of Hamas and Israel for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war in Gaza, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday.

At least 810,000 people have fled Rafah in just two weeks, UN humanitarians said on Monday, amid reports of ongoing Israeli military operations in the southern city and in the north of Gaza.

Roughly 800,000 people have been forced to flee Rafah since Israel launched a military operation in the area on 6 May, the head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA said on Saturday in a renewed appeal for greater protection of civilians in Gaza, safe humanitarian access and, ultimately, a ceasefire.

Trucks carrying desperately needed aid into Gaza have started moving ashore on the temporary floating dock built by the United States military, but this is not enough to meet the needs of civilians, UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday.