Together with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers lock up about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves. They are striking indicators of climate change as they typically remain about the same size in a stable climate. But, with rising temperatures and global warming triggered by human-induced climate...
Briefing journalists in New York from Damascus, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, explained that the country remains at a critical juncture as the situation continues to worsen despite the hope sparked by the fall of Assad. The presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war continues to...
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home,” said Anna Fierst, quoting her great-grandmother Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech of 1958, in which she highlighted the number of ordinary citizens determined to be active in their local neighbourhoods, schools, and factories. “Unless these rights have meaning...
Mr. Lazzarini made the remarks in a social media post, in which he noted that the siege, which is preventing food, medicines, water and fuel from entering the occupied Palestinian territory, has lasted longer than blockades imposed during the first phase of the war. The UNRWA chief pointed out that people...
Córdoba in Argentina, Fortaleza in Brazil and Manchester in the UK picked up accolades at a healthy cities summit, co-hosted by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies. The Argentinian city won recognition for its policy to eliminate sugary and artificially sweetened drinks – along with...
With his signature geeky glasses and TED-Talk-style headset, Sundar Pichai looked straight out of a Silicon Valley incubator. That Monday, February 10, Google’s chief executive took the stage at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris. From the Grand Palais podium, he heralded a new golden age of innovation. “Using...
The attack on one of the last operational hospitals in the area further deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis sparked by the civil war between rival militaries, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in April 2023. Among the stolen supplies were 2,200 cartons...
Sigrid Kaag, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (ad interim) briefed the Security Council on the latest report relating to resolution 2334 (2016), which calls for an immediate halt to Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She detailed continued violations, escalating military operations and rising...
Spokespersons for UNICEF and UNHCR in Geneva warned that the liquidity crunch has jeopardized lifesaving work, including progress in reducing child mortality, which has fallen by 60 per cent since 1990. By slashing severe acute malnutrition by one-third since 2000, UNICEF’s efforts have kept 55 million children alive, through simple...
There have been a staggering 1,614 recorded attacks on Ukrainian schools up to the end of last year says the report from the UN human rights office OHCHR – part of a legacy of death, injury, disability and family separation. Children’s educational attainment level has plummeted during the unrelenting hostilities,...
“We’re waking up from another intense night of bombardments, the fourth night of bombardment since the ceasefire abruptly broke down on Monday night…the situation is gravely, gravely concerning,” said Sam Rose, Acting Director of Affairs in Gaza for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. Speaking from close to the...
21 March marks the adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and honours the legacy of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, when South African police opened fire on a peaceful protest against apartheid, killing 69 people. A toxic legacy Despite decades of progress, racism...