World

Briefing by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, on the situation in Ukraine. WARNING: The video contains graphic images at the end!

A new flagship UN report on climate change out Monday indicating that harmful carbon emissions from 2010-2019 have never been higher in human history, is proof that the world is on a “fast track” to disaster, António Guterres has warned. Reacting to the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Secretary-General insisted […]

GENEVA, Apr 4 –   In 2010-2019 average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history, but the rate of growth has slowed. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach. However, there is increasing evidence of climate action, said scientists in the […]

A new UN initiative aims to promote greater inclusion and acceptance of transgender children, and to advocate for their rights. The Unbox Me campaign was launched by UNAIDS ahead of the International Transgender Day of Visibility, observed this Thursday, 31 March.  The goal is to raise awareness among parents, teachers, and the wider community about gender identity during childhood.  […]

Beirut, March 31, 2022 – Iranian authorities prevented dozens of Iranian women from entering Imam Reza football stadium in the city of Mashhad on March 29, 2022, possibly using excessive force, Human Rights Watch said today. FIFA should use its leverage with Iranian authorities to demand that they urgently overturn Iran’s discriminatory stadium ban on […]

Tuvalu has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), bringing the total number of Treaty ratifications to 172 and underscoring the Pacific island state’s commitment to ending all nuclear tests, everywhere. The move was marked on 31 March 2022 in a Treaty ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, attended by Tuvalu’s Permanent Representative […]

Forests and their loss through deforestation have long been factored into climate calculations with regards to the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere when forest cover is lost.  But a new study, published in March 2022 in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, examined how a range of biophysical factors are changed by deforestation, […]

I share the profound frustration and disappointment of Afghan high school girls and women, who after six months of anticipation were prevented from returning to school today. The de facto authorities’ failure to adhere to commitments to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade – in spite of repeated commitments towards girls’ education, including […]

Despite global Sustainable Development Goals and commitments made in 2015, just 29 African nations have made some progress over the past three to five years, 25 have made none, according to the UN’s first-ever assessment of water security in Africa. Published on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) by UN University’s Canadian-based Institute […]

In this troubled time of war and pandemic, the World Happiness Report 2022 shows a bright light in dark times. According to the team of international researchers, including McGill University Professor Christopher Barrington-Leigh, the pandemic brought not only pain and suffering but also an increase in social support and benevolence. As the world battles the ills of disease […]

Russia must immediately suspend military operations in Ukraine, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Wednesday, in The Hague. By a vote of 13 to two, with Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian of Russia and Judge Xue Hanqin of China dissenting, the ICJ ruled that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February.” The court’s ruling […]

GENEVA (16 March 2022) – The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, today expressed grave concerns about the situation of minorities in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the treatment of minorities fleeing the conflict. He issues the following statement: “The world is witnessing tremendous human suffering in Ukraine. The […]

Reacting to recent so-called “parliamentary elections” held on 12 March 2022 in the Abkhazia region in Georgia, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Leendert Verbeek, made the following statement: “By organising these “elections”, the so-called “de facto” authorities of Abkhazia, once again, undermined the principle of […]

JUBA, March 11, 2020 – More than 70 percent of the South Sudanese population will struggle to survive the peak of the lean season this year as the country grapples with unprecedented levels of food insecurity caused by conflict, climate shocks, covid, and rising costs, warned the United Nations World Food Programme today. While global […]

People gather outside the U.N. headquarters in New York City to protest the war in Ukraine on March 2, 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Shelley Inglis, University of Dayton When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 23, 2022, the U.N. Security Council was conducting an emergency late-night meeting […]

Ukrainian passports say “Ukraine” with no “the.” On the Polish border, March 5, 2022. Enrico Mattia Del Punta/NurPhoto via Getty Images Kathryn E. Graber, Indiana University For most of the 20th century, English speakers referred to “the Ukraine,” following Soviet practice. That’s not the case now. Ukraine’s official name in English does not include “the,” […]

Distinguished President, Excellencies, Colleagues and friends, The United Nations, and this Council, stand for the human rights of the world’s peoples: their rights to participate in decisions, to voice their views, and to live in dignity, free from fear and want. We stand for peace and for the right to development: development that is sustainable, […]

The Elders today call for a special criminal tribunal to investigate the alleged crime of aggression in Ukraine, and hold President Putin to account for the invasion of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. The Elders welcome the opening of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor into alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity or […]

March 4, 2022 – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi briefed journalists on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine today, Friday 4 March 2022 at 10:30 CET.

March 3, 2022 – Fires could still be seen smoldering in what used to be a row of high-rise apartment buildings on the main street of Borodyanka on March 3. The small town 50 kilometers northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, came under Russian air strikes and artillery shelling the previous day. Originally published at […]