Guterres urges countries to ‘unleash the renewables revolution’

© UNEP/Reza Shahriar Rahman Women goat farmers in Bangladesh benefit from a renewable energy supply.This article is published in association with United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has again urged governments to step up the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy as war and climate risks create unprecedented challenges.  “The conflict in the Middle East has triggered the most severe energy crisis in a generation,” he said in a video […]

Nature’s last strongholds: Why UNESCO sites are a lifeline for a planet in peril

© UNESCO/Congsheng Lin Mount Huangshan Biosphere Reserve in south-east China.This article is published in association with United Nations. In a world where the drumbeat of environmental loss is growing louder, a new landmark report from UNESCO has revealed a rare glimmer of hope. While global wildlife has plummeted by a staggering 73 per cent since the 1970s, life within the UN science and culture agency’s […]

EU announces €235 million in humanitarian aid for West and Central Africa

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has announced €235 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa.This funding will support those affected by current conflicts and food crises, forcibly displaced people, host communities, and hard-to-reach populations. In the Central Sahel, […]

As Colombia elections near, Security Council hears calls for calm

This article is published in association with United Nations. While hope for peace is alive in Colombia as the country prepares for presidential elections, the Security Council on Tuesday heard that achieving it – and making it last – still requires the full implementation of a peace accord signed almost 10 years ago. Following decades of […]

World News in Brief: Tackling the AI digital divide, deadly migration journeys, Lucy Hale named new WFP Goodwill Ambassador

© IOM A boat carrying migrants to Yemen rests on a beach in Djibouti.This article is published in association with United Nations. UN-led efforts are continuing to ensure that all countries can benefit and regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it increasingly shapes our economies, societies and daily lives. The UN’s Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance is one of the key initiatives on AI.  It brings together all 193 United […]

Strait of Hormuz: With hunger looming, life-saving fertiliser shipments cannot wait, head of UN task force says

UN News Moreira da Silva (right), Executive Director of UNOPS on a visit to the Gaza Strip.This article is published in association with United Nations. As the Persian Gulf crisis continues, time is ticking for farmers who rely on fertilizer shipped via the Strait of Hormuz – and millions worldwide who depend on their crops, particularly in vulnerable countries such as war-torn Sudan.  In normal times, one third of global fertiliser trade […]

Economic collapse pushes highly educated Gazans into the ‘survival economy’

UN News A popular market in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.This article is published in association with United Nations. Young Palestinians in Gaza with university-level educations are setting aside dreams of putting their hard-won skills into practice and doing whatever they can to survive.  Abdullah al-Khawaja, an electrical engineering graduate displaced from Rafah to Khan Younis, now stands behind a small spice stall, having lost the […]

UN Forum puts spotlight on healthcare for Indigenous Peoples

UN Photo/Manuel Elías A wide view of the opening of the 25th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).This article is published in association with United Nations. Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ access to healthcare, including during conflict, is the theme for a major meeting that opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday.  More than 1,000 participants are expected to attend the latest session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) – the platform that has placed their concerns at the centre of […]

World News in Brief: AI diagnostics, humanitarian deal for DR Congo, rights abuse allegations in Belarus, Ukraine children bear heaviest burden

MONUSCO/Didier Vignon Dossou-Gbakon MONUSCO peacekeepers protect civilians in Ituri, eastern DRC.This article is published in association with United Nations. New data shows that nearly three in four countries in Europe now use Artificial Intelligence in their health services to make a diagnosis. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO) joint report with the European Union, 74% of countries in the bloc use AI tools in medical […]

Sudan: Three quarters of women feel unsafe as war rages on

© UNFPA A displaced family visit a health clinic in Tawila, North Darfur.This article is published in association with United Nations. Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday. Fabrizia […]

Gender, geography and powerbroking in play in race for next UN chief

UN Photo/Loey Felipe The UN Secretary-General regularly addresses the Security Council. (pictured)This article is published in association with United Nations. The choice of the tenth UN Secretary-General, who will take office in January 2027, could shape global diplomacy, the response to crises across the world and the direction of the multilateral system for the next decade. Why it matters The major questions going into the process which is […]

Why lower fertility does not have to mean economic decline

© UNICEF/Bashir Ahmed Sujan A baby is held by its mother and entertained by its grandfather at a community clinic in northern Bangladesh.Why lower fertility does not have to mean economic decline

World News in Brief: Myanmar amnesty, rising needs in Afghanistan, another power loss at Ukraine nuclear plant

Ukraine’s women at breaking point after four years of war as attacks on energy, healthcare continue – UN humanitariansThis article is published in association with United Nations. Authorities in Myanmar released the country’s ousted president from prison on Friday, along with some 4,000 other people, as part of an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year festival. President Win Myint had been in jail since February 2021 when the military overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected […]

New food alert platform helps humanitarians combat hunger

New food alert platform helps humanitarians combat hungerThis article is published in association with United Nations. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) released its next-generation platform on Thursday known as HungerMap Live, a digital monitoring and intelligence site that integrates food security data with predictive modelling to help fight hunger in more than 50 countries. Bringing together data from more than 300 analysts and […]

Deadly Russian strikes on Ukrainians ‘simply trying to live their lives’ must stop, says senior UN official

© UNOCHA A humanitarian aid worker talks to a woman in front of a damaged apartment building in Kryvyi Rih, in south-central Ukraine.This article is published in association with United Nations. The latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa, which killed and injured scores of civilians, was roundly condemned by Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country. Standing in front of a bombed-out residential building in the city of Dnipro […]

The Epstein files: Rights experts demand accountability, call for probe into trafficking allegations

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, one of the UN independent human rights experts calling for more accountability for the alleged trafficking victims in the Epstein files.This article is published in association with United Nations. UN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files. The Human Rights Council-appointed experts also issued a general warning over the “continuing violence of patriarchal power systems” revealed […]

Strength in numbers: Developing countries band together as Iran war batters global economy

Photo: WFP South Sudan High food prices and hyperinflation are contributing to a spike in hunger in South Sudan.This article is published in association with United Nations. Developing countries are banking on having a stronger voice in debt negotiations, following the launch of a new country-led borrowing initiative on Wednesday on the margins of the annual IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. The economic shockwaves of the Middle East conflict are reaching far beyond the region, […]

‘Sudan is an atrocities laboratory’, UN aid chief tells Berlin conference

© UNOCHA/Giles Clarke Women who fled fighting in Darfur's El Fasher town are treated at a health centre in Tawila.This article is published in association with United Nations. Foreign ministers from across the world met in Berlin on Wednesday to show support for Sudan, where a fourth year of brutal warfare has begun as humanitarian needs deepen.  Countries reportedly pledged over $1 billion at the third International Conference for Sudan co-hosted by Germany, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), France, and the United […]

EU and Member States pledge over €811 million in response to crisis in Sudan

EU and Member States pledge over €811 million in response to crisis in SudanThis article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, as Sudanese citizens continue to suffer the world’s most severe humanitarian emergency, the European Union, together with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the African Union, co-hosted the Third International Sudan Conference in Berlin.  As the Sudan war enters its fourth year, the […]

Middle East conflict chokes end of supply chain as lights go out in the Pacific

© World Bank A ship offloads its cargo at the port in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.This article is published in association with United Nations. For Pacific Island countries, the Middle East crisis is not a distant geopolitical event. It is already showing up in higher fuel prices, electricity uncertainty and fears that communities sitting at the far end of global supply chains could be pushed into deeper economic insecurity. “We are […]

World failing Sudan as war enters a fourth year, UN relief chief warns

© UNOCHA/Giles Clarke A woman who fled fighting in El Fasher, holds her daughter who was recently treated for malnutrition.This article is published in association with United Nations. Sudan remains the world’ s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, UN agencies and partners said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war between rival militaries on the eve of the three-year mark.  “This grim and chastening anniversary marks another year when the world has failed […]

‘Now is the moment to invest’: Syria needs global backing, says UN expert

© UNFPA/David Brunetti A displaced Syrian woman.This article is published in association with United Nations. Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict. While the determination of Syrians to rebuild their country following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 has been widely […]

‘Time for diplomacy over escalation’ in Middle East war: Guterres

© UNICEF/Fouad Choufany The Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, Lebanon, lies in ruins.This article is published in association with United Nations. As the war in the Middle East continues, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a passionate call for “serious negotiations” between the US and Iran to resume, warning that respect for international law “is being trampled” underfoot.  Addressing journalists at UN Headquarters in New York outside the Security […]

Tech gaps and budget cuts threaten global efforts to track and help the vulnerable

sudanThis article is published in association with United Nations. Digital tools are changing the way countries manage everything from tracking refugees to caring for the elderly.  But as nations gather at the UN this week to discuss the future of our population growth, two major hurdles are taking centre stage: a lack of funding and a […]

European Union support for the UN ‘more vital than ever’, Security Council hears

This article is published in association with United Nations.A senior United Nations official on Monday hailed the European Union (EU) as “a major economic and diplomatic actor and a strong advocate of multilateralism.”   UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Khaled Khiari was speaking during the Security Council’s annual debate on cooperation between the two organizations in the areas of peace and security.  “In an increasingly complex and uncertain international environment, sustained […]

US-Iran war: Guterres calls for continued talks, end to ceasefire violations

© IMO A seafarer works on a ship.This article is published in association with United Nations. he United States and Iran must continue talks aimed at ending their weeks-long war, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, underscoring that there is no military solution to the conflict.  Marathon discussions hosted by Pakistan ended in stalemate this weekend in the country’s capital, Islamabad.   While no agreement was reached, “the discussions themselves underscored the […]

Sudan: 14 million displaced; hunger and attacks on health continue as war enters fourth year

Sudan: 14 million displaced; hunger and attacks on health continue as war enters fourth yearThis article is published in association with United Nations. As Sudan approaches the third anniversary of a brutal civil war, millions remain displaced and hungry while the health system lies in ruins, with no end to the violence in sight, UN agencies said on Friday. Speaking from Khartoum, the representative of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in […]

Haiti’s freefall demands urgent global action as millions face hunger and violence

© UNOCHA/Wilbert Georges Edem Wosornu (left), Director of OCHA's Crisis Response Division, on her visit to Haiti in March 2026.This article is published in association with United Nations. Haiti is facing “one of the most severe and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere,” a senior UN aid official warned on Friday, underscoring the need for continued global attention to alleviate suffering there.  Edem Wosurnu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, briefed journalists on her recent mission to the Caribbean island nation where violent armed gangs remain in […]

Lebanon airstrike casualties ‘still under the rubble’ as ambulances, hospitals face new threats

This article is published in association with United Nations.This article is published in association with United Nations. With Lebanon still reeling from Israel’s devastating airstrikes on 8 April, UN humanitarians reported new fears of attacks on ambulances and looming food shortages in the south of the country on Friday. Speaking from Beirut, where he witnessed Wednesday’s attacks first-hand, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s representative […]

Lebanon: Health system overwhelmed following a ‘horrific’ day of Israeli strikes

This article is published in association with United Nations.This article is published in association with United Nations. The scale and speed of destruction from the wave of airstrikes in Lebanon which began just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, has left the country’s already strained health system struggling to cope, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Representative in Lebanon Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar […]

Hundreds feared dead in Lebanon strikesd in Lebanon strikes

© WFP/Marco Frattini People who have fled their homes in the conflict are living in tents in Beirut city centre.This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The United Nations has strongly condemned airstrikes by the Israeli military across Lebanon on Wednesday which have resulted in significant casualties and destruction.   The attacks came within hours of the ceasefire announced between the United States and Iran following weeks of deadly hostilities that have disrupted lives, global trade and […]

Iran ceasefire raises hopes for reopening key Strait of Hormuz

© NASA/Jeff Schmaltz A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz. (far right)This article is published in association with United Nations. The announcement of a shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, will it is hoped, lead to the opening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes. The strait has become a global […]

World News in Brief: Death on the Mediterranean, displacement in Afghanistan, ‘One Health’ summit

This article is published in association with United Nations. Over 180 people are feared dead or missing in the latest shipwrecks on the Mediterranean, according to the UN migration agency, IOM. It brings the total number of migrants and refugees killed this year attempting the crossing into Europe to almost 1,000.  Reacting to these latest figures, on […]
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