In a joint press encounter with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, Mr. Guterres appealed for EU leaders to help the world “get back on track” towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a time when progress in so many parts of the world had been reversed. Acceleration and reform “We...
Secretary-General António Guterres told a conference side event dedicated to the issue of preserving the world’s glaciers that new data released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) showed global average sea levels have already risen faster since 1900, “than over any preceding century in the last 3,000 years.” ‘Erased forever’ He said that “low-lying...
Gender equality in the judiciary has been historically unbalanced, including at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The first woman to be elected as a member of the ICJ in 1995 was Dame Rosalyn Higgins, who in 2006 also became the first...
The Doha Political Declaration was adopted to a round of applause in the plenary hall of the Qatar National Convention Centre, where LDC5 has been under way since 5 March. Ushering in new era of solidarity, and enormous socio-economic benefits for world’s 46 least developed countries, today’s action comes nearly...
“One million species teeter on the brink of extinction, due to habitat destruction, fossil fuel pollution and the worsening climate crisis. We must end this war on nature,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in his message for the Day. The scores of species of fauna and flora under threat from...
Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that are found in shallow waters from the tropics to the Arctic Circle, covering over 300,000 square kilometres of the ocean floor. Although not as colourful as coral reefs, or mysterious as mangrove forests, they provide a wealth of benefits to humans and marine life....
Adding her voice to the High Commissioner’s call for action, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned in a video message that the right to development has “yet to be realized by billions of people” who were “hurting (while) the planet is burning. The world cannot wait.” Marking the 35th anniversary of...
David Malpass, a former senior United States’ Treasury official nominated by then President Donald Trump, served as chief of World Bank Group (WBG) since 2019. In a post on the social media platform LinkedIn, he said he intends to step down by June, one year before the end of his...
World Radio Day, observed annually on 13 February, celebrates the power of the medium. The theme this year is ‘Radio and Peace’, highlighting its role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. “Since it was developed about a century ago, radio has proven to be an exceptional means of communication, debate and...
This decision recognizes the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it. ‘Reinforced protection’ “Odesa, a free city, a world city, a legendary port that has left its mark on cinema, literature and the arts, is thus placed under the reinforced protection of...
Swarming the office of President Csaba Kőrösi, the children – who ranged in age from toddler to high-school teen – pulled on the UN and Hungarian flags that flank a UN seal in the office and ran around to look at the skyline outside of the balcony. Meanwhile, parents tried...
The World Social Report 2023 calls for concrete measures to support the greying global population, amidst escalating pension and healthcare costs. Population ageing is a defining global trend of our time, according to the study, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Countries can reap...