This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. With the COVID-19 outbreak now a pandemic, countries should not let up on efforts to fight its spread, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in Geneva on Thursday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking during his regular update on the new coronavirus disease, one day after the new designation was announced. “Let me be clear: describing this as […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Yemen is at a “critical juncture”, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday. Speaking via video-link, Martin Griffiths said that the combatants will either move towards de-escalation or greater violence, which would make “the path to the negotiating […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The UN mission in Iraq has called for ‘maximum restraint’ following a deadly attack on foreign forces serving under the United States-led coalition against the militant group ISIL. Three soldiers—two American, one British—were killed, and up to 12 others injured, on Wednesday in a rocket strike against Camp Taji, located north of the capital, Baghdad. The […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. UN agencies have underscored their commitment to continue supporting civilians affected by the war in Syria, which this month enters its tenth year. The Secretary-General issued a statement on Thursday, declaring that “we cannot allow the tenth year to result in the same carnage, […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the COVID-19 outbreak from epidemic to pandemic. Here are five important pieces of information on what this means for you and your community. 1) What’s the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Threats, unlawful surveillance and harassment by the authorities, are just some of the concerns facing journalists in Iran, prompting a group of independent UN human rights experts on Wednesday, to once again sound the alarm. “Journalists working for the BBC Persian Service and other […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Children from linguistic minorities should be taught in their own mother tongue, said the UN independent expert on minority issues, presenting his latest report on Wednesday to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. According to Fernand de Varennes, this is not only necessary for inclusive, […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Countries must “double-down” on their efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, after announcing that the global emergency can now be described as a pandemic. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the announcement as “a call to […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Farmers who gather flowers from the Espinhaço Mountain Range in Brazil received well-deserved recognition on Wednesday for their crucial role in enhancing biodiversity and preserving traditional knowledge. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has, for the first time, recognized these traditional farmers who […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday afternoon welcoming recent steps towards ending the conflict in Afghanistan. All 15 members supported the resolution, tabled by the United States, which endorses a joint US-Afghan declaration on peace and an agreement signed between […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. While the medical world rushes to develop an effective and safe vaccine for the deadly coronavirus which is sweeping across the planet, millions of doses of other life-saving immunizations against other diseases, continue to be delivered by the United Nations – albeit at a […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Millions of girls have been able to avoid “an unwanted marriage and an unwelcome end to their childhood”, since the launch four years ago, of a joint UN agency programme, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. The UNFPA-UNICEF Global […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Two months ahead of Burundi’s planned local and presidential elections, senior UN-appointed independent rights investigators have urged the Government to reopen the “democratic, civil and political space” there. “These are not only basic human rights, they are also an absolute requirement for the holding […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. In an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, classrooms have been shuttered across the world, causing a record number of students to miss school, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said on Tuesday. Close to 363 million learners worldwide have been […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The number of young people around the world who are neither employed, studying or in some kind of training, is on the rise, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Labour Organization (ILO). And young women are more than twice […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Apart from the tragic human consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, the economic uncertainty it has sparked will likely cost the global economy $1 trillion in 2020, the UN’s trade and development agency, UNCTAD, said on Monday. “We envisage a slowdown in the global […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Iran’s nuclear capabilities moved back into the international spotlight on Monday as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it had concerns about possible “undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities” in unregistered locations there. The development follows Iran’s declaration on 5 January that […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Sudan’s Prime Minister survived a reported assassination attempt in the capital Khartoum on Monday, tweeting after the incident that he was “safe and in good shape”. Briefing reporters, the UN’s Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said UN chief António Guterres was “shocked and saddened” to learn […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Despite constraints imposed by the new coronavirus disease, activists for gender equality gathered at UN Headquarters on Monday for the latest session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), to reinforce the message that women’s rights are human rights. Member States adopted […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Difficult winter weather conditions, road congestion and military manoeuvres are restricting humanitarian aid delivery to desperate civilians in the Syrian province of Idlib, where a Government operation to weed out extremists has uprooted nearly one million people since December. Women and children account for more than 80 per cent of the displaced, who are running out of safe places to […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Human rights defenders working in conflict and post-conflict situations need to be given greater recognition, protection and support, an independent UN expert said on Wednesday, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Defenders in conflict settings are courageous men and […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The organizing committee of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a major UN conference scheduled to take place in March, has decided to cut the event down to a one-day meeting, citing current concerns surrounding the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Positive developments in South Sudan have “moved the country further along the road to sustainable peace”, the top UN official there told Security Council members on Wednesday. The world’s youngest nation has been mired in instability and conflict for nearly all the eight years […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. The extent of the damage to the global economy caused by novel coronavirus COVID-19 moved further into focus on Wednesday as UN economists announced a likely $50 billion drop in worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone. In remarks made at a joint press conference […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Twenty-five years after the historic Beijing women’s conference in China – a milestone in advancing equal rights – violence against women and girls is not only common, but widely accepted, a new UN report revealed on Wednesday. While there have been remarkable gains for […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. A shortage of protective equipment is endangering health workers worldwide, warned the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, citing “severe and mounting disruption to the global supply” caused by “rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse”. Speaking to the media in Geneva, WHO chief […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. Political leaders in Iraq will have to “step up to the plate” and prioritize national interests if the country is to realize a more just and prosperous future, the top UN official there said in the Security Council on Tuesday. Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert updated ambassadors on the ongoing […]

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations. After more than a year of battling an Ebola virus outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people, UN officials are “cautiously optimistic” that the epidemic in the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will soon be history as the country gears up to face the emerging threat of coronavirus disease […]