World

Global temperatures reached exceptionally high levels in 2023. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, monitored several key climate indicators throughout the year, reporting on record-breaking conditions such as the hottest month on record and daily global […]

With no let-up in fighting across Gaza, the UN health agency pleaded on Tuesday for better access across the enclave, where relief is arriving “too little…too late” to help civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.  “Even if there is no ceasefire, you would expect humanitarian corridors to operate… in a much more sustained way than what’s […]

The immediate priority in Gaza must be saving civilian lives said the President of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by the United States in the Security Council last month.  Assembly Vice President Cheikh Niang of Senegal, holding the gavel in the General Assembly […]

Amid reports of continued Israeli airstrikes overnight in southern and central Gaza and more rocket fire into Israel from the enclave, UN teams said on Thursday they have been unable to deliver urgently needed aid to civilians beyond central areas and further north for the past three days. In its latest alert on the deteriorating situation for […]

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warns that any attempts by Israel to deport and permanently displace Palestinians within and from Gaza would constitute a serious breach of international law and an atrocity crime. This concern follows Israel’s forcible transfer of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians within Gaza. Palestinians fear further displacement could lead to a […]

Major aerial attacks causing widespread death and destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure have rained down on Ukraine in the first days of 2024 due to an intense new Russian offensive. In a statement on Tuesday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown strongly condemned the assaults targeting mostly cities. “For the people of Ukraine, the new […]

UN humanitarians repeated dire concerns for civilians caught up in the war in Gaza on Tuesday, amid reports of continued Israeli bombardment of the southern towns of Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, direct clashes on the ground and the firing of rockets overnight by Palestinian armed groups into Israel. The latest warnings from […]

GENEVA (28 December 2023) – A UN report released today details the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after 7 October 2023, and calls on Israel to end unlawful killings and settler violence against the Palestinian population. The report calls for an immediate end to the use of […]

Geneva, 26 December 2023 – We are gravely concerned about the continued bombardment of Middle Gaza by Israeli forces, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Christmas Eve. It is particularly concerning that this latest intense bombardment comes after Israeli forces ordered residents from the south of Wadi Gaza to move to Middle […]

December 18, 2023 – The head of the UN health agency Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has spoken out against the “effective destruction” of a hospital in northern Gaza by Israeli forces over the weekend, leading to the deaths of eight patients including a nine-year-old child. Kamal Adwan Hospital was raided by the Israeli military over four […]

The war in Ukraine is not just a war against a people, but a war on culture. And after nearly two years of fighting, it is destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage on a scale not seen since World War II, according to new research by University of Notre Dame faculty members Ian Kuijt and William Donaruma. Kuijt, a professor […]

GENEVA, December 13, 2023 – As global forced displacement reaches unprecedented levels, some 4,000 delegates from 165 countries, including refugee leaders, heads of state, governments, businesses and non-profit leaders from around the world have come together to open the three-day Global Refugee Forum (GRF). Together they will address the urgent challenges and long-term solutions needed […]

December 12, 2023 – The UN General Assembly met on Tuesday afternoon in Emergency Special Session on the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict and as the ongoing crisis in Gaza shows no signs of abating.   Member States adopted a resolution, demanding an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and well […]

December 12, 2023 – The wildfires that Canada experienced during 2023 have generated the highest carbon emissions in record for this country by a wide margin. According to GFASv1.2 data, the wildfires that started to take place in early May emitted almost 480 megatonnes of carbon, which is almost five-times the average for the past […]

December 11, 2023 – UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths reiterated deep concerns for the people of Gaza on Monday, amid reports of intense fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza City and Jabalia in the north of the Strip, and in Khan Younis in the south, while Israeli bombardment of the enclave has […]

December 8, 2023 – The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday morning New York time to discuss the catastrophic situation in Gaza. This follows Wednesday’s urgent letter by Secretary-General António Guterres – one of the most powerful tools at his disposal – urging the body to help end carnage in the war-battered enclave through a lasting humanitarian […]

December 8, 2023 – The United Nations Security Council must demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, lifting of the siege, and unrestricted aid to reach the entire Gaza Strip. To date, the inaction of the United Nations Security Council and vetoes from member states, particularly the United States, make them complicit in the ongoing slaughter […]

December 4, 2023 – Reports of hundreds of fatalities from bombing in southern Gaza over the weekend heightened deep concerns for civilians sheltering there, while UN humanitarians on Monday said that aid teams had only “extremely limited” movement and access to the north was “now entirely blocked”.  The latest update from the UN aid coordination […]

December 4, 2023 – The Elders today call for governments providing military assistance to Israel to review their approach, and set conditions for any future provision. They warn that Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza risks fuelling an escalating cycle of mass atrocities. Israel’s disproportionate response to the horrendous terror attacks by Hamas on 7 […]

December 3, 2023 – UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday sent a strong message to the oil and gas industry: the pledges made at COP28 in Dubai fall well short of what’s needed to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis. As the fourth day of this year’s UN climate conference got under way, the UN chief […]