The virus is still circulating globally but relatively few countries are following infections closely, meaning the actual threat due to the coronavirus and its variants could be anything from two to 19 times higher than what is being reported to WHO. The agency’s COVID focal point, Dr Maria Van Kerhove,...
“People and our planet are in crisis”, the UN chief said, highlighting how conflicts continue to drive the vulnerable from their homes, while heatwaves and floods claim lives and division prevails. ‘Leave no one behind’ This year’s Peace Day coincides with the halfway point on the road to the Sustainable...
UNICEF estimates that 76 per cent of children under 18 in the region – 460 million – are exposed to extreme high temperatures where 83 or more days in a year exceed 35° Celsius. July was the hottest month ever recorded globally, raising further concerns about a future where children, including those living...
The 19-day operation will pump more than one million barrels out of the rusting vessel, the Safer, which was abandoned over eight years ago, to a nearby replacement vessel. Secretary-General António Guterres said the UN has taken on the delicate operation as a spill would spell environmental catastrophe for the...
With 360 million people worldwide in need of humanitarian assistance, up 30 percent since early 2022, global humanitarian needs have yet again reached record levels. In a video message to the Humanitarian Affairs Segment, a platform created by the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to find solutions to pressing humanitarian...
A turbulent transition to civilian rule has been underway in Sudan since the ouster of former President Omar Hassan El-Bashir in April 2019. The civilian-led transitional Government put in place later that year, through a power-sharing agreement between military and civilian leaders, was toppled by a military coup in October...
Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov briefed the Security Council where he presented the latest UN report on the terrorist organization, underlining the need for concerted global action. Mr. Voronkov began by focusing on the plight of victims and survivors of terrorism worldwide. “Because beyond the headlines and behind the numbers, there are...
WFP Executive Director, David Beasley, said that if we don’t address this humanitarian crisis, “things are going to get worse than we can possibly imagine”. Following 12 years of brutal conflict, an economy crippled by runaway inflation, a currency that has collapsed to a record low and soaring food prices,...
Addressing the opening of the 92nd session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, he stressed that its work is more vital than ever. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and Mr. Türk noted that the document has paved the...
The new forecast of $1.94 trillion would represent an all-time high and a 10 per cent increase over the record level of 2021. However, the pace of increase is expected to slow down in response to higher food prices and the depreciation of currencies against the United States dollar, according...