This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Recurrent and often deadly clashes between pastoralists and farmers in several countries in Central Africa continue to cause “serious concern”, threatening “regional security and integration”, a senior UN official warned the Security Council on Tuesday. “Recent inter-communal tensions in eastern Chad opposing nomadic herders and […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. In a message to mark World Environment Day, celebrated on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has emphasized the link between worsening levels of air pollution and the climate crisis. As well as claiming seven million lives every year, and damaging children’s development, the UN […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. This Tuesday, we cover: Bicycles in China; a new President elected for the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, to start in September; vital food crops destroyed in Syria; migrants and refugees in Libya’s detention centres; Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The global reach of the United Nations makes it “the world’s best hope for peace and security, sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights and social progress”, said the top Nigerian diplomat who will be the next President of the General […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Against a backdrop of challenges in implementing the peace process in Colombia, six independent UN human rights experts condemned on Tuesday the killing of a former member of the FARC-EP guerilla movement, which they said constitutes a “violation” of the guarantees made by the […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed in Syria’s Idlib and north Hama provinces amid ongoing deadly violence, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in a call to the warring parties to stop using food security to hold people “hostage”. In […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Cars have replaced bicycles as the primary means of transport in many Chinese cities but, with air pollution a major problem for the country, the bike is making a comeback, thanks to digital technology, and some 21st Century thinking. China was once considered to be the “Kingdom of the […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The simple, affordable, and environmentally friendly bicycle is not just a means of transportation, but also “a tool for development”, the United Nations said in a message on Monday commemorating World Bicycle Day. Taking to two wheels fosters “sustainable consumption and production”, and has […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Farmers on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe, off the western coast Africa, are being supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to become more resilient in the face of climate fluctuations which have left the land parched and farmers without an income. A decrease in rainfall has meant that crops can no longer be grown in the dry season, so […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. This Monday, top stories includes: the “catastrophic” cost of maternal healthcare; UN condemnation following violence against protesters in Sudan and the killing of a journalist in Chad; and the urgent need for sustainability highlighted through an exhibit in Geneva and a special event in […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Security forces in Sudan fired on pro-democracy protesters in the capital Khartoum on Monday, leaving a number of dead and many more injured, prompting the United Nations chief’s condemnation and an appeal for “peaceful dialogue” to resume. Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly condemns the violence” and […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Pregnant women are putting their lives and their babies at risk because of “catastrophic” and prohibitive healthcare costs before, during and after childbirth, UNICEF said on Monday. In a new report highlighting how few of the world’s poorest pregnant women have a doctor, nurse […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. An independent UN expert said on Monday that the failure of governments across the world to ensure clear air, constitutes a “violation of the rights to life, health and well-being, as well as the right to live in a healthy environment.” Ahead of the 2019 World Environment Day on Wednesday, which has air pollution as […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Donors have pledged an initial $1.2 billion to help restore livelihoods and rebuild infrastructure destroyed by cyclones Kenneth and Idai in Mozambique, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced on Sunday. According to UNDP, a two-day international pledging conference in the central Mozambique city of Beira […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Kicking off on Saturday the first-ever global Parenting Month, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is calling on world leaders to invest in family-friendly policies that support parents to give their children “the best start in life”. According to UNICEF, the month of June is a time to […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Since the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, there have been concerns for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers living in the country: in the immediate aftermath, there were reports of refugees being targeted and forced from their homes by angry […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. As some 1.85 million people in Mozambique try to recover from back-to-back cyclones Idai and Kenneth, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday kicked off a two-day pledging forum to drum up funds to help get the vulnerable country get back on its […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. After visiting Julian Assange in a London prison, an independent UN human rights expert expressed urgent concern on Friday, for the Wikileaks co-founder’s well-being, accusing “a group of democratic States” of “ganging up” on the prisoner to “isolate, demonize and abuse” him and warned […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has gained access to the rebel-held northern district of Nihm, for the first time since the war between Houthis and the Saudi-backed Government coalition escalated in 2015. During […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Until recently, Namacurra district, in the Zambezia province of Mozambique, some 1,500 km from the capital Maputo, did not have any basic services – such as schools, health centres, or even energy – connecting the region to the electricity grid would be extremely time-consuming, […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Visiting storm-ravaged Mozambique, UN Children’s Fund Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, listened to devastating stories of children who lost everything in Cyclone Idai, while observing on Thursday that UNICEF-built safe spaces have given them “a sense of normality”. During the week, the actor travelled to […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. A marked escalation in fighting has put tens of thousands of children in northwest Syria at “imminent risk of injury, death and displacement”, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) chief warned on Thursday. Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement that over the […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. “To reflect critical advances in science and medicine”, the World Health Organization, WHO, has removed so-called “gender identity disorder” from its official manual of diagnoses, which is being hailed as a major win for transgender rights. The update to the International Classification of Diseases […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. In the first quarter of 2019, according to latest figures released on Thursday, the United Nations recorded a total of 37 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) against UN personnel, including civilian and uniformed personnel from peacekeeping operations, agencies, funds and programmes. So […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday. The Secretary-General was in the ancient continental capital of Aachen, […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. If the battle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be won or lost in cities, then they need to “achieve a lasting impact on communities and to ensure that no one is left behind,” the head of the UN agency dealing […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. This Wednesday, we cover: the dangers of smoking for World No Tobacco Day; China’s creative economy; sustainability through family farming, floating cities and #ClimateAction. Don’t let smoking steal life’s breathtaking moments, urges UN health agency Tobacco use continues to claim around eight million lives […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Further inaction on climate change is “simply not an option”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in an opinion piece where he called for “rapid and deep change in how we do business, generate power, build cities and feed the world.” If […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The havoc caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth across Mozambique is “a wake-up call” for vulnerable countries “to build resistance” against further high-impact tropical storms, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked to climate change, according to the United Nations weather agency chief. A World […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Tobacco use continues to claim around eight million lives a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, in a call for faster action from governments to tackle smoking and the “enormous” health, social, environmental and economic costs it entails. Ahead of World […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The top United Nations body in the Asia-Pacific region opened its annual session this week, calling for greater empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups if the region is to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and fulfill its promise to leave no […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is at the forefront of fighting hunger, mitigating the climate crisis and facilitating “the transition to smart sustainable cities”, said the chief of the UN agency which specializes in information and communication technologies, Houlin Zhao, kicking off the third AI […]