UN News

November 28, 2023 – As the pause in fighting in Gaza appeared to enter a fifth day on Tuesday, UN humanitarians warned that aid deliveries needed to multiply immediately to save the lives of the injured and stem the risk of a deadly disease outbreak that has left doctors “terrified”. Priorities include transporting fuel to […]

Desperate Gazans in the north of the enclave had their first sip of clean water in weeks on Monday as a continuing pause in fighting enabled broadening aid access to the Strip, UN humanitarians said.  “This aid barely registers against the huge needs of 1.7 million displaced people,” a statement from the UN Secretary-General’s office said on […]

November 21, 2023 – A “tragic…entirely avoidable surge” in child deaths is expected in Gaza where some 160 youngsters are already being killed every day, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, after six weeks of aerial bombardment by Israeli forces in response to the 7 October Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel that claimed 1,200 lives […]

Any plans for short-term pauses in the fighting in Gaza must be carried out in coordination with the UN and following agreement by all sides, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General said on Thursday during his regular press briefing from New York.  Stéphane Dujarric was responding to a journalist’s question following the White House’s announcement that […]

With the humanitarian system in Gaza on the verge of “total collapse”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday again appealed for greater aid access to the besieged enclave, where “misery is growing by the minute.”  “Life-saving humanitarian aid – food, water, medicine, fuel – must be allowed to reach all civilians swiftly, safely and at […]

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza. The failure by the Council to make its first public intervention on the Israel-Gaza crisis followed the rejection of a Russian-backed draft on Monday evening. While 12 of the […]

In Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, all parties must stop targeting civilians and Hamas and other armed groups must immediately release their hostages, UN rights chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday.  The High Commissioner said that he was “deeply shocked and appalled by allegations of summary executions of civilians, and, in some instances, horrifying mass killings […]

Civilians continue to pay a horrendous price in the war in Ukraine, with nearly 10,000 dead and tens of thousands injured since conflict began in February 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country said in a report published on Wednesday.  It reveals the deadly toll of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukrainian civilians, […]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called for expanding the UN Security Council and reforming the right of veto granted to its permanent members, in his first in-person address around the iconic horseshoe table.  “Regardless of who you are, the current UN system still makes you less influential than the veto power possessed by a […]

Now is the time for a global plan to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are woefully off-track halfway towards their 2030 deadline, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday in New York.  Mr. Guterres was speaking at the opening of a high-level forum at UN Headquarters where world leaders adopted a political declaration to accelerate action to achieve the […]

Refugees deserve support and solidarity, not closed borders and pushbacks. That’s a reminder from UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday’s World Refugee Day, regarding the international community’s duty to assist and protect refugees. With forced displacement at a record high of 110 million people around the world, Mr. Guterres called for more solutions to resettle refugees and help […]

Around the world, some 160 million children work to earn a living, instead of going to school. That’s almost one in every 10 children. On Monday’s World Day against Child Labour, the International Labour Organization (ILO) shared these staggering numbers as a reminder of the urgent need to end this practice. ILO’s Director-General Gilbert Houngbo […]

The humanitarian situation following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine is still a “moving target”, immediate needs are “huge”, and concerns are rising for what the future holds, according to the UN’s top official in the country, Denise Brown. Speaking to journalists from Bilozerka, a town on the Dnipro River about 20 kilometres […]

Racism is a global problem, and every country must take a stance against it, General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi said on Monday, addressing the latest meeting of a UN platform to improve the safety and quality of life of people of African descent worldwide.  “Racism and xenophobia continue to spoil our communities, like scars that […]

The UN chief has pledged that the Organization “will never be silent” when women and girls’ rights are under attack, as they are today in Afghanistan, and declared that the Taliban ban on Afghan women doing lifesaving humanitarian work is putting millions of lives in jeopardy there. Secretary-General António Guterres was speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar, […]

The draconian restrictions on women’s ability to study and work have contributed to the calamitous socio-economic situation in Afghanistan, with devastating consequences for the population, according to a UN report released on Tuesday. The Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023, released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides an overview of the fallout resulting from the takeover of […]

Regional and international partners must collectively work with greater urgency and determination to help Palestinians and Israelis break chronic cycles of violence and restore a credible political horizon, the UN chief said on Wednesday. “Our immediate priority must be to prevent further escalation, reduce tensions, and restore calm,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a meeting of the Committee on […]

The UN human rights chief on Tuesday called for taking a measured approach to a package of new laws the Government of Israel is currently considering. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk raised a range of concerns that several sets of proposed legislative changes that Israel’s parliament is considering would pose serious risks to the effectiveness of the judiciary […]

That’s the message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed this Saturday, who appealed for concrete action to increase their ranks.  Diversity and fresh perspectives  “On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we highlight a simple equation: More women and girls in science equals better science,” said Mr. Guterres.  […]