World

NEW YORK – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, addressed the United Nations Security Council today on the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security. Here are selected highlights from his remarks: “We truly are in an unprecedented crisis. Food pricing is our number one problem right now, as […]

122 civil society organizations are releasing letters to eleven government signatories to the Glasgow Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition, laying out the actions they must take as soon as possible to meet their commitment. In this joint statement at COP26, 35 countries and 5 public finance institutions committed to end […]

GENEVA, May 16, 2022 – UN human rights experts* urgently called on Israel and the international community to stop the forced evictions, arbitrary displacement and forcible transfer of Palestinian communities from Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank.   “Following the judgement of the Israeli High Court of Justice earlier this month, around 1,200 Palestinian residents […]

GENEVA (May 16, 2022) – On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a group of UN and regional human rights experts urged governments to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) persons fleeing persecution are protected against violence and treated with dignity. The experts issued the following […]

May 16, 2022 – Proponents of degrowth have long argued that economic growth is detrimental to the environment. Now scientists show that concerning the food sector, curbing growth alone would not make our food system sustainable – but changing what we eat and putting a price on carbon would. In a first, a group led […]

Donors on Wednesday pledged $33 million towards a UN-coordinated plan to prevent an ageing oil tanker moored off the west Coast of Yemen from sparking a potential ecological and humanitarian disaster.  The FSO Safer, which is holding more than a million barrels of oil, has been described as a “time bomb” because it is at […]

May 12, 2022 (New York, NY)—A new report released today by Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) shows that excessive and inequitable hypertension medication pricing hinders efforts to control high blood pressure in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). High blood pressure, known as hypertension, is the world’s leading cause of death, […]

Geneva, May 10, 2022 – The number of people internally displaced by the war in Ukraine has surpassed the 8 million mark, according to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) latest report. This represents a 24 per cent increase when compared to the first internal displacement figures published on 16 March. Conducted between 29 April and […]

Geneva/Nairobi/New York, May 9, 2022 – The World Council of Churches (WCC), United Nations Environment Programme, Muslim Council of Elders, and NY Board of Rabbis have signed a landmark joint appeal, “Climate-Responsible Finance – A moral imperative and responsibility to all children and the living world“. “Let us come together and influence how money is invested in […]

Geneva, 10 May 2022 (WMO) – There is a 50:50 chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial level for at least one of the next five years – and the likelihood is increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). There is a […]

A team of scientists from Stockholm University and University of California Irvine investigated whether the Petermann Ice Shelf in northern Greenland could recover from a future breakup due to climate change. They used a sophisticated computer model to simulate the potential recovery of the ice shelf. “Even if Earth’s climate stopped warming, it would be […]

GENEVA (5 May 2022) – UN human rights experts* and the Global Protection Cluster Coordinator are alarmed by the scale of displacement in Ukraine and call for urgent action to protect internally displaced people. They issue the following statement: “Since 24 February, nearly 12.8 million people are estimated to have been displaced in Ukraine, most […]

Rome, May 4, 2022 – The number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support continues to grow at an alarming rate. This makes it more urgent than ever to tackle the root causes of food crises rather than just responding after they occur. This is a key […]

Ottawa, May 3, 2022 –  As Barrick prepares to speak at its Annual General Meeting about the soaring gold price in an unstable world, returns on investment for shareholders, and the value of the company’s global assets, affected communities from Alaska to the Dominican Republic, and from Tanzania to Papua New Guinea speak out about […]

April 29, 2022 – More than 3,000 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Central and Western Mediterranean and Atlantic last year to Europe. This is according to a new report released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which calls for urgent support to prevent deaths and protect refugees and asylum seekers who […]

Berlin, April 28, 2022 – Russian authorities should stop broadcasting programs featuring images of and interviews with captured Ukrainian soldiers that expose them to public curiosity, Human Rights Watch said today. Such treatment of prisoners of war, or POWs, violates protections under the Geneva Conventions intended to ensure dignified treatment of captured combatants on all sides. “Russian […]

Geneva, April 26, 2022 – 50 billion tons: enough to build a wall 27 metres wide and 27 metres high around planet Earth. This is the volume of sand and gravel used each year, making it the second most used resource worldwide after water. Given our dependency on it, sand must be recognised as a strategic resource […]

Rome – Some $115.4 million are urgently needed to prevent a further deterioration of the food insecurity situation and worsening of the disruption of food supply chains in Ukraine. There is urgency to support Ukrainian farmers in planting vegetables and potatoes during this spring season, and farmers should be allowed and supported to go to […]

NAIROBI – Desperately needed rains across the Horn of Africa have so far failed to materialise, almost a month into the current rainy season, and if these conditions continue, along with stagnant and even decreasing humanitarian aid, the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the currently estimated 14 million to 20 million […]

Kabul, Afghanistan – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) condemns the senseless bombing of schools in Kabul, where scores have been injured and children are among those who have lost their lives.  Vicki Aken, IRC Afghanistan Director, said, “The IRC is stunned and appalled at this needless act of violence that has shaken Kabul today. Our […]