UN News
- A UN peacekeeper has been killed and three others injured after a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol came under fire in southern Lebanon, the mission said.
- The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised alarm over the killing of two contracted workers delivering clean water to families in the Gaza Strip.
- Globally, most people say they want two or more children, but many are having only one, or none at all. According to a senior UN economist, fears of a demographic timebomb are unwarranted.
- The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
- In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
- Six weeks since war erupted in the Middle East, the shockwaves have spread to the Caribbean region, already pushed to the brink, amid fears of a looming El Niño-linked climate disaster.
- Senior UN officials painted a sorry picture of South Sudan on Friday at the Security Council, describing political turmoil, rising violence, hunger and disease, amid budget cuts that are limiting the ability of the UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians.
- Since the Middle East war started on 28 February, several sites of major cultural significance have come under attack in Israel, Iran and Lebanon. Ensuring their protection is the task of the UN agency for education, science and culture, UNESCO.
- 5.8 million Haitians, or roughly 52 per cent of the population, are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, or worse. Of those, more than 1.8 million are dealing with emergency levels, which means they are exhausting their last assets and unable to meet even basic food needs.
- Authorities in Myanmar released the country’s ousted president from prison on Friday, along with some 4,000 other people, as part of an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year festival.
- Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
- The choice of the tenth UN Secretary-General, who will take office in January 2027, could shape global diplomacy, the response to crises across the world and the direction of the multilateral system for the next decade.
- A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight in Beirut, offering a pause in hostilities after weeks of fighting. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement and urged all parties to respect it, expressing hope it could open the way for further negotiations. He also welcomed Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire, calling it a step in the right direction. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- The world is at a “moment of crisis” and countries must reaffirm commitment to international law amid rising violations and geopolitical tensions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at an event on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- From election support in the Central African Republic to patrols in the disputed Abyei region, UN peacekeepers are operating in increasingly volatile environments – but shrinking resources and new threats, including drone warfare, are testing their ability to keep communities safe.
- War in Lebanon continues amid the fragile US-Iran ceasefire amid hopes for direct talks between Israel and Beirut. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is debating the China-Russia Security Council veto on the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis last month, with assembly president Annalena Baerbock saying debate must move “to action”, on stabilising the Middle East. Stay with us for live updates below and live Meetings Coverage on the veto meeting is here. App users can follow our live coverage here.
- The latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa, which killed and injured scores of civilians, was roundly condemned by Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) released its next-generation platform on Thursday known as HungerMap Live, a digital monitoring and intelligence site that integrates food security data with predictive modelling to help fight hunger in more than 50 countries.
- The Epstein files: Rights experts demand accountability, call for probe into trafficking allegationsUN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files.
- Across the Middle East, tensions remain high with Israeli military operations continuing in Lebanon following direct talks between the two governments in Washington on Tuesday. More than 2,000 Lebanese have been reported killed since early March. Uncertainty also continues over the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis. Stay with us for live updates on developments on the ground, humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.
- The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised alarm over the killing of two contracted workers delivering clean water to families in the Gaza Strip.
- A UN peacekeeper has been killed and three others injured after a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol came under fire in southern Lebanon, the mission said.
- A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight in Beirut, offering a pause in hostilities after weeks of fighting. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement and urged all parties to respect it, expressing hope it could open the way for further negotiations. He also welcomed Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire, calling it a step in the right direction. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
- Since the Middle East war started on 28 February, several sites of major cultural significance have come under attack in Israel, Iran and Lebanon. Ensuring their protection is the task of the UN agency for education, science and culture, UNESCO.
- War in Lebanon continues amid the fragile US-Iran ceasefire amid hopes for direct talks between Israel and Beirut. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is debating the China-Russia Security Council veto on the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis last month, with assembly president Annalena Baerbock saying debate must move “to action”, on stabilising the Middle East. Stay with us for live updates below and live Meetings Coverage on the veto meeting is here. App users can follow our live coverage here.
- Across the Middle East, tensions remain high with Israeli military operations continuing in Lebanon following direct talks between the two governments in Washington on Tuesday. More than 2,000 Lebanese have been reported killed since early March. Uncertainty also continues over the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis. Stay with us for live updates on developments on the ground, humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.
- Respect for international law is being “trampled” the UN chief warned on Tuesday, urging further negotiations between the US and Iran over ending the war and extending the fragile ceasefire as needed. Saying “there is no military solution,” he called for international navigation rights to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a regional humanitarian crisis continues. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.
- As the war in the Middle East continues, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a passionate call for “serious negotiations” between the US and Iran to resume, warning that respect for international law “is being trampled” underfoot.
- Yemen must not be drawn into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Security Council heard on Tuesday, stressing the need for de-escalation, political progress and urgent humanitarian funding for beleaguered civilians battered by years of grinding war.
- Weekend developments have raised fresh concerns worldwide after talks between the United States and Iran on Saturday ended without agreement, fuelling uncertainty and raising tensions once again. The planned US blockade targeting Iranian ports going into effect has added to fears of further escalation and global trade disruption. Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll mounts, with Lebanese authorities reporting that deaths from Israeli airstrikes has now surpassed 2,000. Stay with us for live updates on humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.
- The clock is ticking for global food systems as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten to choke off the flow of fuel and crucial fertilizers needed for the next planting season – also raising the risk of higher food prices and a new wave of inflation.
- The United States and Iran must continue talks aimed at ending their weeks-long war, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, underscoring that there is no military solution to the conflict.
- With Lebanon still reeling from Israel’s devastating airstrikes on 8 April, UN humanitarians reported new fears of attacks on ambulances and looming food shortages in the south of the country on Friday.
- Fighting continues across parts of the Middle East, with renewed exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Humanitarian needs are deepening, with rising civilian casualties, mounting displacement and growing strain on services. Diplomatic efforts continue with high stakes negotiations due to start Saturday between the US and Iran over the faltering ceasefire deal. Lebanon is an active war zone and the Strait of Hormuz is still effectively closed. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- With a US-Iran ceasefire offering a fragile glimmer of hope after weeks of conflict, violence continues to reverberate across the Middle East. Massive airstrikes in Lebanon have caused heavy civilian casualties and widespread destruction, drawing strong UN condemnation. As humanitarian needs deepen and diplomatic efforts intensify, the situation remains highly volatile. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- The scale and speed of destruction from the wave of airstrikes in Lebanon which began just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, has left the country’s already strained health system struggling to cope, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- After nearly 40 days of intense hostilities across the Middle East – marked by rising civilian casualties and widespread damage to critical infrastructure – a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been announced. While the UN Secretary-General has welcomed the move as a step toward a broader peace, reports of continued Israeli strikes and mass casualties across Lebanon underscore the fragility of the situation. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- The United Nations has strongly condemned airstrikes by the Israeli military across Lebanon on Wednesday which have resulted in significant casualties and destruction.
- The latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa, which killed and injured scores of civilians, was roundly condemned by Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
- A senior United Nations official on Monday hailed the European Union (EU) as “a major economic and diplomatic actor and a strong advocate of multilateralism.”
- Despite successful legislative elections in Kosovo late last year, a “delicate equilibrium” persists as deep divisions remain over the future of the United Nations presence in the region.
- In conflict zones where new technologies are making landmines more dangerous, deminers must innovate at the same pace to avoid being left behind, a leading UN mines expert has told UN News.
- More than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the “danger is only increasing”, particularly from attack drones, a top UN human rights official warned on Thursday.
- The Security Council is met for an open briefing on Ukraine, requested by European members following Kyiv’s 18 March letter citing a surge in Russian strikes. Inside the country, attacks continue to take a heavy toll: since 19 March, at least 25 civilians have reportedly been killed and more than 130 injured, including children, particularly in Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. We’ll have live coverage below, app users can follow here – and for all our key meetings coverage each day, go here.
- More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “the violence is worse than ever” and far from abating, the head of UN political and peacebuilding affairs said on Monday in a briefing to the Security Council.
- Forests cover more than 40 per cent of Belarus. At the same time, the country recorded twice as many forest fires last year compared to the year before.
- Scores of Ukrainian children are still missing after being deported far and wide across Russia and occupied territories while their families continue to search for them, human rights investigators said on Thursday.
- Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many people are trying to overcome deep-rooted trauma and rebuild what has been lost.
- One evening in war-ravaged southern Ukraine, a group of armed men entered Maryna’s home. She had nowhere to hide.
- The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on 24 February 2022 shattered the peaceful aspirations of an entire continent, but war must never be the new normal, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
- Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UN is marking the day with high-level debate and renewed calls to end the war – including in the General Assembly which passed a resolution reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The UN chief just told the Security Council diplomats must use every tool available to finally end the war. UN News App users can follow the coverage here. For full UN meetings coverage today and every day, go here.
- The international community must “use every diplomatic tool” to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday as Russia’s full-scale invasion entered a fifth year.
- Although fighting had been raging in the east of Ukraine since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, most in the country did not believe all-out war would occur. With the full-scale invasion now reaching the four-year mark, many Ukrainians cannot believe it has gone on for so long, with no end in sight.
- Reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine will cost almost $588 billion over the next decade, or nearly three times the estimated GDP in 2025, as housing, energy and other critical sectors continue to come under fire from Russian forces.
- Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, millions in Ukraine struggle to keep the lights on and heat their homes, with the crisis taking a particular toll on women, humanitarians warned on Friday.
- Civilian suffering shows no sign of letting up in Ukraine as the four-year-mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion nears amid attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
- As Ukraine prepares to enter the fifth year of the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February, UN monitors say harm to civilians has “demonstrably worsened”, while energy attacks and freezing temperatures are making it harder for displaced families to return.
- Measles cases across Europe and Central Asia declined by 75 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), which warned of remaining outbreak risks.
- Six weeks since war erupted in the Middle East, the shockwaves have spread to the Caribbean region, already pushed to the brink, amid fears of a looming El Niño-linked climate disaster.
- 5.8 million Haitians, or roughly 52 per cent of the population, are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, or worse. Of those, more than 1.8 million are dealing with emergency levels, which means they are exhausting their last assets and unable to meet even basic food needs.
- The Epstein files: Rights experts demand accountability, call for probe into trafficking allegationsUN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files.
- Six-time Trinidad and Tobago archery champion, Anthurium Lewis, has told UN News how sport helped her overcome age barriers in environmental advocacy and how in the future it can contribute to reaching globally agreed poverty and sustainability goals.
- Katerine Avella is a former combatant in Colombia’s decades-long civil war, a peace signatory and a community leader. After the guns fell silent, she created the fashion brand Ixora but, with violence returning to the region, Ms. Avella is now focusing on trying to keep the project afloat in the face of new challenges.
- Haiti is facing “one of the most severe and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere,” a senior UN aid official warned on Friday, underscoring the need for continued global attention to alleviate suffering there.
- The UN has issued an urgent call for international support as Cuba grapples with a ‘worsening’ humanitarian crisis fuelled by a prolonged energy blockade and the lingering devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last year.
- Deadly gangs in Haiti are expanding their reach to include control over key sea and road routes as police in the beleaguered Caribbean island nation are being accused of using “unnecessary and disproportionate lethal force and summary executions.”
- At a time when some state laws dictated where different races could live, Parkway Village, built to house some of the first UN staff in New York in 1947, led the way in eliminating racially segregated housing in the United States.
- The liberation of territory from gangs and a more “motivated and visible” police presence has provided a “glimmer of hope” for Haiti as the Caribbean island nation continues to struggle with violence, insecurity and poverty.
- Haiti remains mired in a multidimensional crisis marked by weak institutions, political uncertainty, widespread gang violence and overwhelming humanitarian needs, but a recent new agreement by political groups offers “a moment of hope and progress for the Haitian people”, according to the UN’s most senior official in the Caribbean country.
- Venezuela’s repressive State apparatus remains operational despite the seizure of former President Nicolás Maduro by United States forces on 3 January, according to independent UN human rights investigators.
- Nicaragua’s Government is financing the repression of its opponents through illegal misuse of public funds and targeting exiles through a transnational surveillance and intelligence network, the UN Group of Independent Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua warned in its latest report on Tuesday.
- Cuba’s humanitarian situation is worsening as fuel shortages deepen nearly a month after Washington took measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation, a senior UN official warned on Wednesday.
- A 16-year-old Haitian boy has been talking about how he was lured into working for a criminal gang but then threatened with death when he said he would not fight against the police.
- There has been an “alarming increase” in the number of children being recruited into gangs in Haiti with “devastating consequences” for children, families and society as a whole, the UN reported on Friday.
- A draft amnesty law in Venezuela aimed at granting immediate clemency to people jailed for participating in political protests or criticizing public figures, has been welcomed by a UN commission of experts – although they have emphasised the Venezuelan people need to be at the centre of the process.
- Haiti is facing one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises, driven by escalating gang violence, political paralysis, and deep economic distress.
- The UN on Wednesday warned of potential humanitarian “collapse” in Cuba, following Washington’s attempt to block oil supplies from reaching the island.
- Towns and cities are home to more than half of the world’s population and responsible for around 70 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis, which is why urban planners in Brazil are leading a design revolution that could point the way to creating built-up areas with a dramatically smaller carbon footprint.
- In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
- For Pacific Island countries, the Middle East crisis is not a distant geopolitical event. It is already showing up in higher fuel prices, electricity uncertainty and fears that communities sitting at the far end of global supply chains could be pushed into deeper economic insecurity.
- A “new wave of global instability is hitting Myanmar at the worst possible moment,” a UN official in the country warned on Friday, as increases in fuel, food, and fertilizer prices due to the ongoing Middle East conflict push vulnerable families closer to hunger one year after a devastating earthquake.
- Domestic violence was not something people spoke about openly in Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but after a long road of dedicated efforts, there are now laws addressing family abuse, crisis centres and hotlines while human rights defenders tackle such new challenges as sexual slavery.
- The fallout from the war in the Middle East is rippling far beyond the Gulf, disrupting fuel supplies, shipping routes and supply chains across Asia and the Pacific, with some of the region’s most vulnerable economies already feeling the strain through rising prices, rationing and threats to jobs, food security and remittances.
- Top UN officials condemned on Tuesday Pakistan’s overnight strike on a rehab centre that reportedly killed at least 400 people in Kabul, according to Taliban authorities, and injured more than 250 others.
- The Sawyers from Australia were never really interested in volatile investing. As their retirement age approached, the idea of a low-risk investment for their pension seemed attractive. But one day, after clicking on a seemingly legitimate online advert that offered a reasonable risk-averse plan, they unlocked a process that would lead them to lose over $2.5 million.
- More than five years after Myanmar’s military coup, international resolve to hold the junta accountable must not weaken, an independent human rights expert warned on Friday, as escalating violence and growing humanitarian needs push millions of civilians deeper into crisis.
- Crises in the region on both Afghanistan’s longest borders are undermining the country’s stability, a senior UN official warned the Security Council on Monday as concerns over Middle East crisis grow amid clashes with Pakistan and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
- Every morning in Kabul, several cars make their way across the Afghan capital to pick up the producers of Radio Begum. The young women do not travel to the office on their own as moving around the city has become too complicated.
- 16-year-old Raul John Aju – dubbed the “AI Kid of India” at home – is a business prodigy who advises government and industry and has created several innovative AI tools.
- Judges at the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday opened a confirmation of charges hearing for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send him to trial on alleged crimes against humanity linked to killings during the country’s so-called “war on drugs”.
- A sprawling online scam industry worth an estimated tens of billions of dollars a year is being powered by trafficked workers subjected to torture, sexual abuse and forced labour inside heavily guarded compounds in Southeast Asia, a new UN human rights report has found.
- The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for the immediate release of all children detained during the recent public unrest in Iran, expressing deep concern that minors arrested in connection with the protests remain behind bars.
- Climate inaction, biodiversity loss and rising emissions are pushing Asia and the Pacific further off course on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the region set to miss nearly nine out of ten targets by 2030, the United Nations has warned.
- After a year that saw heavy monsoon floods, prolonged drought and dry spells, and a surge in violence, 7.5 million people in Pakistan face high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition according to a report from the global hunger monitor.
- The UN human rights chief on Monday called for the immediate release of Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai after a Chinese court handed him a 20-year prison sentence under the city’s national security legislation, warning the verdict violates international human rights law.
- Far from global newsrooms and editorial boardrooms, a radically different model of journalism has been taking shape for over two decades in rural India.
- The UN Secretary-General on Friday strongly condemned an attack on worshippers at a mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, after an explosion during prayers reportedly killed dozens and injured many more.
- The small Pacific Ocean island of Palau is helping communities build resilience against the dangers of climate change-driven extreme weather with the establishment of a network of emergency refuges – thanks to support from the United Nations.
- Senior UN officials painted a sorry picture of South Sudan on Friday at the Security Council, describing political turmoil, rising violence, hunger and disease, amid budget cuts that are limiting the ability of the UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians.
- Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
- The UN Security Council met Wednesday over the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wider Great Lakes region. Despite mediation efforts in Doha and Washington, regional tensions between the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi remain acute. Follow the full live updates below from our Meetings Coverage team, and app users can click here.
- Measles vaccinations have saved nearly 20 million lives in Africa since the year 2000 and more than 500 million children were protected through routine immunisation, but the continent remains offtrack in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases.
- Foreign ministers from across the world met in Berlin on Wednesday to show support for Sudan, where a fourth year of brutal warfare has begun as humanitarian needs deepen.
- On the outskirts of the Ugandan town of Biale, tents are scattered along dirt roads that give way to open fields. The Kriandongo camp sits between a shattered past and a life tentatively being rebuilt. Here, the story does not end with fleeing war. Another phase begins, one where days are measured not in hours, but in the weight of loss and the effort to carry on.
- Sudan remains the world’ s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, UN agencies and partners said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war between rival militaries on the eve of the three-year mark.
- As Sudan’s war moves into a fourth year, civilians are still being killed, displaced and subjected to widespread sexual violence, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country warned on Monday, calling for urgent action to stop the fighting and protect civilians.
- Thirty-two years ago, a genocidal campaign was unleashed against Rwanda’s Tutsi minority, resulting in more than one million deaths. On Tuesday, the UN is holding commemorations to ensure that the genocide is never forgotten and never repeated.
- As violence forces tens of thousands to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan state, doctors in a key maternity hospital are facing impossible choices – with too few supplies, too many patients, and lives slipping away.
- Fears are mounting for civilians caught up in Sudan’s deadly war between rival militaries as attacks intensify and humanitarian access shrinks, following a deadly airstrike on a funeral gathering in West Kordofan.
- An Ethiopian man describes how he was tortured by human traffickers as he went in search of his nephew on a now infamous migration route from the Horn of Africa through Yemen to Saudi Arabia.
- The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) verified on Saturday a hospital attack in war-torn Sudan that killed 64 people.
- The UN’s emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war in the Middle East, at a time when humanitarian needs are soaring and aid funding is falling dangerously short.
- Travelling more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State in southwestern South Sudan, a team of justice experts escorted by United Nations peacekeepers moved slowly along rough, dusty roads, determined to reach communities that have waited years for their day in court.
- South Sudan was the focus of debate in the UN Human Rights Council on Friday as escalating violence and political tensions – alongside a massive humanitarian emergency and war in neighbouring Sudan – threaten efforts to achieve lasting peace.
- Nearly three years of war in Sudan have been marked by killings, rape and other violations, with risk of genocidal violence spreading, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Thursday.
- Fresh from holding the most extensive elections in its history, the Central African Republic (CAR) is entering what the UN’s top envoy in the country describes as a “decisive period” in consolidating fragile peace gains, even as security challenges persist and disarmament efforts continue.
- Funding shortfalls are putting the lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan at risk amid rising humanitarian needs, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
- Measles vaccinations have saved nearly 20 million lives in Africa since the year 2000 and more than 500 million children were protected through routine immunisation, but the continent remains offtrack in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases.
- The scale and speed of destruction from the wave of airstrikes in Lebanon which began just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, has left the country’s already strained health system struggling to cope, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- For 25 years, the world has made significant progress in advancing women’s right to health, particularly in sexual and reproductive care. Women are living longer than ever before – but they are not living better.
- As violence forces tens of thousands to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan state, doctors in a key maternity hospital are facing impossible choices – with too few supplies, too many patients, and lives slipping away.
- South Sudan is evolving into a catastrophic human rights and humanitarian crisis, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts warned on Thursday.
- The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Tuesday for countries to step up action to end tuberculosis (TB) – one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers – by expanding access to new diagnostic tools that can help save lives.
- An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new United Nations estimates released on Tuesday – highlighting a worrying slowdown in global progress on child survival.
- The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing another $2 million in emergency funds to support health systems in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as strikes against Iran by the US and Israeli continue amid counterstrikes across the Gulf and wider region by Tehran.
- Clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have continued for a seventh straight day, with humanitarian access to affected areas still restricted, the UN said on Wednesday.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Friday that the Epstein and Gisèle Pellicot scandals are an illustration of intensifying threats to women and girls forced to suffer in silence.
- An international early warning system blocked a shipment of chemicals used to make fentanyl that could have produced up to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses, the UN narcotics control body said on Thursday.
- Renewed fighting in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in recent weeks, damaged health facilities, fuelled the spread of cholera and prompting the UN relief chief to warn of a “perfect storm” of conflict, climate shocks and deprivation.
- Nearly two thirds of all maternal deaths worldwide occur in countries marked by conflict or fragility, according to a report released on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.
- The detection of a newly identified recombinant mpox virus containing genetic material from two known strains underscores the need for continued genomic surveillance, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday, as the overall global public health risk assessment remains unchanged.
- Measles cases across Europe and Central Asia declined by 75 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), which warned of remaining outbreak risks.
- The UN agency leading the global effort to end HIV/AIDS worldwide welcomed legislative approval from the United States on Thursday for a $6 billion spending package to help tackle the disease, following nearly a year of sharp aid cuts.
- As World Cancer Day is marked on Wednesday, thousands of patients in Gaza face worsening illness, untreated pain and closed crossings – despite the limited opening of the vital route through Rafah this week.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday launched its 2026 global appeal for nearly $1 billion to ensure that millions of people living in humanitarian crises and conflicts can access healthcare.
- Up to four in 10 cancer cases globally could be prevented, new analysis has revealed, highlighting the need for stronger tobacco control and other measures to reduce risks and save lives.
- The choice of the tenth UN Secretary-General, who will take office in January 2027, could shape global diplomacy, the response to crises across the world and the direction of the multilateral system for the next decade.
- Top officials updated Member States Monday on selected proposals under the UN80 reform initiative, including an initial assessment of a possible merger between gender equality agency, UN Women, and the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, as well as updates on the technology and data tracks.
- The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a landmark resolution to strengthen how UN mandates – the decisions taken by Member States that guide the Organisation’s work – are created, implemented and reviewed across the system.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for the immediate release of the 118 UN staff currently detained worldwide as attacks against the United Nations increase with 179 personnel arrested or detained last year alone.
- Applause erupted in the UN General Assembly Hall on Wednesday as Member States adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.
- Born from the ashes of the Second World War, the dream of a more peaceful and fairer world drew nations together in 1945 under a new vision for humanity: the United Nations.
- The UN is mourning the loss of Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, who went from advising Nelson Mandela following the historic anti-apartheid struggle to becoming a “tireless” champion of crisis diplomacy for the UN in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
- The UN chief on Monday urged countries to “work together” and eradicate a rising tide of anti-Muslim hate, calling for a rejection of “the narratives of fear and exclusion”.
- Welcome to our live coverage of International Women’s Day 2026 and the opening of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters in New York. Throughout the day, we will bring you updates, reactions and key moments from global leaders, diplomats and advocates gathering at the UN, alongside stories and reports from the field across the UN system, as communities around the world mark International Women's Day and advance the theme “Rights. Justice. Action” for all women and girls. UN News app users can follow the coverage here.
- Access to justice for women and girls dominated the agenda on Monday as the Commission on the Status of Women opened its 70th session at UN Headquarters in New York. Government officials, civil society representatives and UN leaders called for renewed efforts to dismantle the discrimination and legal obstacles that continue to limit women’s and girls’ rights worldwide.
- A Nobel laureate who survived an assassination attempt, a Hollywood actor turned UN advocate and a young Afghan musician whose voice defied repression took the stage at the United Nations on International Women’s Day, delivering a powerful message: justice for women and girls cannot wait.
- On Friday the General Assembly was briefed on the latest developments of the UN80 Initiative – a system-wide reform effort to make the organisation more effective and fit for the future – including progress on the New Humanitarian Compact and on training and research reforms.
- The President of the United Nations General Assembly appealed on Tuesday for Europe to protect the international rules-based system, defend the truth in the face of fake news and other falsehoods, and support UN reform.
- The UN on Wednesday announced the list of experts nominated to the General Assembly to serve on a new Independent International Scientific Panel tasked with assessing how AI is transforming lives worldwide.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a detailed statement regretting the United States decision to leave the UN agency, and declaring that it will leave both the US and the world less safe as a result.
- From humanitarian crises and youth unemployment, to climate resilience and development financing, many of today’s global challenges pass through a single United Nations body that is quietly turning 80 this year.
- From Davos, the President of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday warned that the world has entered a “make‑or‑break” moment for multilateralism, saying the rules‑based order can survive only if states speak the truth and act when it’s hard. She called for a cross‑regional alliance to push back against growing lawlessness, disinformation, and power‑based politics.
- Powerful forces are lining up to undermine global cooperation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned at a landmark event in London on Saturday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the General Assembly, but he urged that “humanity is strongest when we stand as one”.
- More children in war-ravaged Gaza are now back in the classroom, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
- In his final annual address outlining his priorities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is “brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability” – even as international cooperation is fraying at the moment it is most needed.
- The world is at a “moment of crisis” and countries must reaffirm commitment to international law amid rising violations and geopolitical tensions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at an event on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.
- Domestic violence was not something people spoke about openly in Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but after a long road of dedicated efforts, there are now laws addressing family abuse, crisis centres and hotlines while human rights defenders tackle such new challenges as sexual slavery.
- She woke up to messages flooding her phone. Doctored images of her, sexualised and viral, had spread while she slept.
- The Sawyers from Australia were never really interested in volatile investing. As their retirement age approached, the idea of a low-risk investment for their pension seemed attractive. But one day, after clicking on a seemingly legitimate online advert that offered a reasonable risk-averse plan, they unlocked a process that would lead them to lose over $2.5 million.
- Haiti remains mired in a multidimensional crisis marked by weak institutions, political uncertainty, widespread gang violence and overwhelming humanitarian needs, but a recent new agreement by political groups offers “a moment of hope and progress for the Haitian people”, according to the UN’s most senior official in the Caribbean country.
- An international early warning system blocked a shipment of chemicals used to make fentanyl that could have produced up to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses, the UN narcotics control body said on Thursday.
- A 16-year-old Haitian boy has been talking about how he was lured into working for a criminal gang but then threatened with death when he said he would not fight against the police.
- There has been an “alarming increase” in the number of children being recruited into gangs in Haiti with “devastating consequences” for children, families and society as a whole, the UN reported on Friday.
- A sprawling online scam industry worth an estimated tens of billions of dollars a year is being powered by trafficked workers subjected to torture, sexual abuse and forced labour inside heavily guarded compounds in Southeast Asia, a new UN human rights report has found.
- A majority of parliamentarians worldwide are facing threats and abuse from voters, according to a new report released by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which found that 71 per cent of lawmakers surveyed experienced violence from the public – whether offline, online or both.
- Fish fraud is widespread in markets, grocers and restaurants around the world, but a growing number of innovative tools are turning the tide, according to a new report published on Tuesday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- Haiti is facing one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises, driven by escalating gang violence, political paralysis, and deep economic distress.
- In 2011, a trafficker in Chile was convicted for recruiting economically vulnerable Peruvian citizens and arranging for them to be brought into the country – destined to become victims of sexual exploitation.
- Atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region are spreading from town to town in an organized campaign of violence that includes mass executions, rape and ethnic targeting, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the UN Security Council on Monday.
- Past geopolitical tensions related to the synthetic drug “captagon” are now being mitigated with the Syrian authorities’ commitment to dismantle illicit manufacturing, says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
- Last year, one in five people who dealt with a public official were asked to pay a bribe, according to a UN report. The world is doing something about it.
- In Gaza, as airstrikes, shelling and gunfire continued to kill and maim Palestinians, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday rejected suggestions by the Israeli military that the so-called “Yellow Line” of concrete blocks it has erected inside the enclave represented a new border.
- A social media ban for children under 16 came into effect in Australia on Wednesday, marking a global first.
- The world is witnessing an alarming erosion of respect for international law, with conflicts increasingly targeting civilians and heightening the risk of atrocity crimes, warns the United Nations’ newly appointed Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.
- The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
- In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
- The Epstein files: Rights experts demand accountability, call for probe into trafficking allegationsUN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files.
- Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has described reparatory justice for colonialism, enslavement and the trade in enslaved Africans as “key to dismantling systemic racism.”
- The UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI – the first global body of its kind – is gearing up for its inaugural in-person summit.
- Deadly new strikes reported across the Middle East overnight and Thursday rattled energy markets and pushed crude oil prices up to $107 in early trading. Hopes dwindled of a quick end to the conflict as President Trump spoke of another "two to three weeks" of attacks, alongside "ongoing" discussions with Tehran. Civilians across the region continue to suffer misery and displacement. The UN chief told reporters at UN Headquarters the conflict ‘is already being felt everywhere,” and “the spiral of destruction must stop”. Follow live coverage from the Security Council here. App users can follow coverage here.
- From Iran to multiple nations in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, around 3,000 people have reportedly been arrested in the first month of the ongoing war across the region, sparking alarm over free speech restrictions and state repression.
- The Secretary-General’s commitment towards women leadership in the United Nations was recognized at a pivotal moment marked by global uncertainty, economic volatility and increasing pressure on hard-won rights.
- More than a month since war erupted in the Middle East, UN agencies confirmed on Tuesday that huge numbers of people have returned to Syria from Lebanon "exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings". Meanwhile, the UN International Maritime Organization said that another vessel has been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, increasing concerns of further delays in transporting lifesaving aid. The Security Council met in New York in emergency session on Lebanon. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here
- Further attacks have been reported across the Middle East as the war enters a second month, with two more Indonesian peacekeepers killed in Southern Lebanon on Monday, following the death of a fellow ‘blue helmet’ a day earlier. On the diplomatic front, the UN has announced a taskforce to restore the flow of fertilizer and aid through the Strait of Hormuz, while the UN's atomic watchdog confirms an attack on a heavy water facility at Khondab in Iran. Stay with us for live updates on this and UN agencies. App users can follow coverage here.
- A night of drone attacks reportedly killed two people and injured 12 in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, as a maternity hospital and three educational facilities were also damaged.
- The war in the Middle East continues, with attacks causing further terror and suffering, deepening the humanitarian crisis across the region. The UN announced the launch of a task force to meet the immense needs. In Geneva, diplomats at the Human Rights Council have been discussing the school strike in Iran’s Minab that killed more than 100 children. Stay with us for live updates on this and from UN agencies providing relief. App users can follow coverage here.
- More than 1,700 people were killed and nearly 200,000 more displaced in the July 2025 massacres in Sweida, Syria, UN human rights investigators said on Friday in a report that called for greater action towards accountability.
- More than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the “danger is only increasing”, particularly from attack drones, a top UN human rights official warned on Thursday.
- It’s day 26 of war in the Middle East. The UN chief says with the conflict now totally out of control, diplomacy must prevail. Ongoing strikes in Israel and Iran have included intensifying Israeli attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, while some US troops are heading to the region, the Pentagon has confirmed. Meanwhile, Iran has told the UN maritime agency that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to “non-hostile” ships not associated with the US and Israel. UN News app users can follow coverage here.
- As the war continues to roil the Middle East and compound suffering for civilians across the region, the economic ramifications of the emergency are still playing out, with the Strait of Hormuz the focus of global attention with crude oil prices surging over $100 a barrel again. Meanwhile, settler attacks have escalated dramatically against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, a topic that we'll be across today also, with aid updates and live reporting from the Security Council. UN News app users can follow coverage here.
- The war in the Middle East is well into its fourth week and the humanitarian emergency it has sparked continues to be the focus of international attention, along with the energy crisis caused by attacks on shipping in key Strait of Hormuz and other oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.
- Nearly 70 years after South African police fired upon peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville protesting apartheid-era laws, killing 69, the UN renewed the commitment to work for justice and equality on Monday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
- At a time when some state laws dictated where different races could live, Parkway Village, built to house some of the first UN staff in New York in 1947, led the way in eliminating racially segregated housing in the United States.
- The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
- In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
- 5.8 million Haitians, or roughly 52 per cent of the population, are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, or worse. Of those, more than 1.8 million are dealing with emergency levels, which means they are exhausting their last assets and unable to meet even basic food needs.
- Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
- Foreign ministers from across the world met in Berlin on Wednesday to show support for Sudan, where a fourth year of brutal warfare has begun as humanitarian needs deepen.
- Yemen must not be drawn into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Security Council heard on Tuesday, stressing the need for de-escalation, political progress and urgent humanitarian funding for beleaguered civilians battered by years of grinding war.
- Sudan remains the world’ s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, UN agencies and partners said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war between rival militaries on the eve of the three-year mark.
- As Sudan’s war moves into a fourth year, civilians are still being killed, displaced and subjected to widespread sexual violence, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country warned on Monday, calling for urgent action to stop the fighting and protect civilians.
- As Sudan approaches the third anniversary of a brutal civil war, millions remain displaced and hungry while the health system lies in ruins, with no end to the violence in sight, UN agencies said on Friday.
- Haiti is facing “one of the most severe and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere,” a senior UN aid official warned on Friday, underscoring the need for continued global attention to alleviate suffering there.
- More than a million Sudanese refugees who’ve fled into neighbouring Chad risk losing out on essential food, shelter and other support due to funding cuts, as the war in their homeland approaches the three-year mark.
- The scale and speed of destruction from the wave of airstrikes in Lebanon which began just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, has left the country’s already strained health system struggling to cope, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- At least 326 humanitarians were killed in the line of duty across 21 countries during 2025, bringing the total killed over three years to over 1,010. The International Red Cross warned the Security Council on Wednesday that “we are losing our humanity in war.”
- The United Nations has strongly condemned airstrikes by the Israeli military across Lebanon on Wednesday which have resulted in significant casualties and destruction.
- The UN is significantly scaling up its presence in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to expand life-saving operations as the conflict between rival militaries approaches its third year.
- The UN has issued an urgent call for international support as Cuba grapples with a ‘worsening’ humanitarian crisis fuelled by a prolonged energy blockade and the lingering devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last year.
- Deadly new strikes reported across the Middle East overnight and Thursday rattled energy markets and pushed crude oil prices up to $107 in early trading. Hopes dwindled of a quick end to the conflict as President Trump spoke of another "two to three weeks" of attacks, alongside "ongoing" discussions with Tehran. Civilians across the region continue to suffer misery and displacement. The UN chief told reporters at UN Headquarters the conflict ‘is already being felt everywhere,” and “the spiral of destruction must stop”. Follow live coverage from the Security Council here. App users can follow coverage here.
- The Middle East crisis has lurched into its second month, prompting UN Secretary-General António Guterres to issue a stark warning on Thursday morning that the world is “on the edge of a wider war” with catastrophic global implications.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has facilitated the delivery of some 106 metric tonnes of lifesaving nutrition supplies to the Gaza Strip – the first shipment via a mechanism to deliver aid by sea, in line with a UN Security Council resolution and amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
- More than a month since war erupted in the Middle East, UN agencies confirmed on Tuesday that huge numbers of people have returned to Syria from Lebanon "exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings". Meanwhile, the UN International Maritime Organization said that another vessel has been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, increasing concerns of further delays in transporting lifesaving aid. The Security Council met in New York in emergency session on Lebanon. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here
- Since the Middle East war started on 28 February, several sites of major cultural significance have come under attack in Israel, Iran and Lebanon. Ensuring their protection is the task of the UN agency for education, science and culture, UNESCO.
- The world of football met the world of diplomacy this week as Brazilian World Cup legend Zico touched down at UN Headquarters in New York.
- The 2026 World Cup final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a few miles away from UN Headquarters where, on Wednesday, elite athletes and sports administrators spoke about the power of football and other international sports to change the world for the better.
- The number of children and young people out of school worldwide has climbed for the seventh consecutive year, reaching 273 million, according to a new report from the UN education agency, UNESCO.
- Since the outbreak of war on 28 February, several unique sites of cultural significance have been damaged in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, alongside immense suffering, displacement and death.
- Around two-thirds of children worldwide report an increase in cyberbullying, with one in two say they don’t know how to get the right support, according to a recent poll carried out by the UN’s top official who works to end violence against children.
- From delivery couriers compelled to follow the demands of online platform algorithms to content moderators who confront pornography and death every day while training artificial intelligence (AI) systems, the impact of new technologies on working conditions is becoming increasingly obvious.
- 16-year-old Raul John Aju – dubbed the “AI Kid of India” at home – is a business prodigy who advises government and industry and has created several innovative AI tools.
- Children in Gaza are voicing their demands for the future through a UN-run initiative that seeks to amplify their voices and restore the “fundamentals of childhood”.
- Creators worldwide are facing mounting financial pressures as rapid advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence continue to transform the cultural and creative industries, according to a new global report released by the UN culture agency, UNESCO, on Wednesday.
- Even as the world fixates on ever‑brighter screens and sprawling digital feeds, radio endures with a quiet resilience, shaping how we share experience and understand one another. Its waves travel where sight cannot, pairing with cutting‑edge innovation in some places and acting as a lone, indispensable lifeline in others when technology fails to keep pace.
- Broadcaster Rami Al-Sharafi works on a laptop inside the damaged Zaman FM radio station building in Gaza, marking what may seem an unlikely return to the airwaves amid the rubble of the deadly two-year Israel-Hamas war.
- Far from global newsrooms and editorial boardrooms, a radically different model of journalism has been taking shape for over two decades in rural India.
- AI looks set to be transformative for us all, but it also brings a real risk of job losses and widening social and economic divides. UN experts are focusing on how to manage that transition, to ensure the benefits of the technology outweigh the threats.
- On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the global community to “not only to look at our past, but to reflect on our present, and to safeguard our future.”
- With young people under 30 making up more than half of the global population and over 272 million children and youth still out of school, their participation in shaping education is becoming increasingly vital.
- A teenage Haitian girl who was forced to flee her home in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, due to gang violence has urged adults not to “give up on children.”
- In a region long overshadowed by conflict narratives, a new kind of leadership is emerging – quiet, insistent, and unmistakably women-centred.
- The UN cultural agency, UNESCO, is preparing to celebrate the first ever World Turkic Language Family Day on Monday, following a decision by UNESCO’s General Conference in Samarkand to establish 15 December as an annual observance.
- It’s a win-win recipe: schoolchildren eat a free, nutritious meal every day and local farmers gain reliable access to local markets.
- Globally, most people say they want two or more children, but many are having only one, or none at all. According to a senior UN economist, fears of a demographic timebomb are unwarranted.
- Six weeks since war erupted in the Middle East, the shockwaves have spread to the Caribbean region, already pushed to the brink, amid fears of a looming El Niño-linked climate disaster.
- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) released its next-generation platform on Thursday known as HungerMap Live, a digital monitoring and intelligence site that integrates food security data with predictive modelling to help fight hunger in more than 50 countries.
- For Pacific Island countries, the Middle East crisis is not a distant geopolitical event. It is already showing up in higher fuel prices, electricity uncertainty and fears that communities sitting at the far end of global supply chains could be pushed into deeper economic insecurity.
- Developing countries are banking on having a stronger voice in debt negotiations, following the launch of a new country-led borrowing initiative on Wednesday on the margins of the annual IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
- Digital tools are changing the way countries manage everything from tracking refugees to caring for the elderly.
- The clock is ticking for global food systems as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten to choke off the flow of fuel and crucial fertilizers needed for the next planting season – also raising the risk of higher food prices and a new wave of inflation.
- Katerine Avella is a former combatant in Colombia’s decades-long civil war, a peace signatory and a community leader. After the guns fell silent, she created the fashion brand Ixora but, with violence returning to the region, Ms. Avella is now focusing on trying to keep the project afloat in the face of new challenges.
- The UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI – the first global body of its kind – is gearing up for its inaugural in-person summit.
- After a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon, the four astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission are set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean late on Friday.
- Global fragmentation, deepening geopolitical tensions and conflicts are putting decades of development progress at risk, the UN warned in a report published on Thursday – calling for stepping up investment to meet internationally agreed goals.
- The war in the Middle East and the near halt to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has amplified the energy crunch facing developing nations in Africa and South Asia that rely heavily on imported liquid gas, food and fertilizers.
- Developing countries are being priced out of the affordable finance they desperately need for sustainable development, with sovereign credit ratings often overstating risk and overlooking long-term economic potential, the UN said on Monday.
- Since the start of the Middle East conflict with Israeli and US strikes on Iran on 28 February, concerns have been growing over rising oil and commodity prices.
- The fallout from the war in the Middle East is rippling far beyond the Gulf, disrupting fuel supplies, shipping routes and supply chains across Asia and the Pacific, with some of the region’s most vulnerable economies already feeling the strain through rising prices, rationing and threats to jobs, food security and remittances.
- Critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt are central to the transition to a zero-carbon economy. As the Security Council meets on Thursday to discuss “energy, critical minerals and security,” here is some of the work the UN is doing to ensure that the transition is just and equitable.
- Secretary-General António Guterres told the inaugural meeting of a new independent group of experts on Artificial Intelligence convened by the UN that they have a huge responsibility to help shape how it is used “for the benefit of humanity”.
- 16-year-old Raul John Aju – dubbed the “AI Kid of India” at home – is a business prodigy who advises government and industry and has created several innovative AI tools.
- The lucrative, illegal trade and trafficking of waste products including many that are toxic could be set to surge across continents, thanks to patchy regulation, savvy criminal groups and corruption, UN experts said on Wednesday.
- A new UN report forecasts that the Arab region is seeing a gradual economic recovery despite continuing geopolitical uncertainties.
- The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
- Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
- The Epstein files: Rights experts demand accountability, call for probe into trafficking allegationsUN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files.
- For 25 years, the world has made significant progress in advancing women’s right to health, particularly in sexual and reproductive care. Women are living longer than ever before – but they are not living better.
- The Secretary-General’s commitment towards women leadership in the United Nations was recognized at a pivotal moment marked by global uncertainty, economic volatility and increasing pressure on hard-won rights.
- Domestic violence was not something people spoke about openly in Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but after a long road of dedicated efforts, there are now laws addressing family abuse, crisis centres and hotlines while human rights defenders tackle such new challenges as sexual slavery.
- More than two years of unrelenting violence, displacement and loss have pushed children and young people in Palestine into what one UN official describes as a “profound mental health emergency”, with girls facing heightened risks, including a resurgence in child marriage.
- UN Women will continue delivering for Afghan women and girls despite sweeping restrictions and ongoing instability, a senior official said on Tuesday.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Thursday he was appalled by the devastating impact on civilians of increasing drone attacks in Sudan, amid reports that more than 200 civilians have been killed by drones since 4 March alone, in the Kordofan region and White Nile state.
- The UN chief on Tuesday applauded civil society groups for “shaking the foundations of privilege” in a male-dominated world, addressing a range of questions during a townhall meeting on the margins of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at UN Headquarters.
- Welcome to our live coverage of International Women’s Day 2026 and the opening of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters in New York. Throughout the day, we will bring you updates, reactions and key moments from global leaders, diplomats and advocates gathering at the UN, alongside stories and reports from the field across the UN system, as communities around the world mark International Women's Day and advance the theme “Rights. Justice. Action” for all women and girls. UN News app users can follow the coverage here.
- Access to justice for women and girls dominated the agenda on Monday as the Commission on the Status of Women opened its 70th session at UN Headquarters in New York. Government officials, civil society representatives and UN leaders called for renewed efforts to dismantle the discrimination and legal obstacles that continue to limit women’s and girls’ rights worldwide.
- A Nobel laureate who survived an assassination attempt, a Hollywood actor turned UN advocate and a young Afghan musician whose voice defied repression took the stage at the United Nations on International Women’s Day, delivering a powerful message: justice for women and girls cannot wait.
- Every morning in Kabul, several cars make their way across the Afghan capital to pick up the producers of Radio Begum. The young women do not travel to the office on their own as moving around the city has become too complicated.
- Women have never been closer to equality and never closer to losing it, according to UN Women ahead of the start of the world’s largest gender equality gathering.
- Women held 27.5 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide as the year began –a 0.3 per cent increase from 2025, marking the slowest growth in nearly a decade, according to a new report from the UN-backed Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
- As an increase in conflicts leads to a significant spike in gender-based violence, women across the world face a “justice gap” with discriminatory laws reported in most countries, according to a report from gender equality agency UN Women, released on Wednesday.
- The large-scale disclosure of materials known as the “Epstein Files” has revealed “disturbing and credible evidence” of what independent human rights experts describe as a possible global criminal enterprise involving systematic sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls.
- Women entrepreneurs must be recognized as the architects of economic change and not the beneficiaries.
- From a crochet hook in a Cairo living room to digital marketplaces reaching across borders, women entrepreneurs are demonstrating how creativity, persistence and targeted support can translate into livelihoods — even when formal employment is out of reach.
- A UN peacekeeper has been killed and three others injured after a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol came under fire in southern Lebanon, the mission said.
- The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised alarm over the killing of two contracted workers delivering clean water to families in the Gaza Strip.
- A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight in Beirut, offering a pause in hostilities after weeks of fighting. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement and urged all parties to respect it, expressing hope it could open the way for further negotiations. He also welcomed Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire, calling it a step in the right direction. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
- The world is at a “moment of crisis” and countries must reaffirm commitment to international law amid rising violations and geopolitical tensions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at an event on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- Senior UN officials painted a sorry picture of South Sudan on Friday at the Security Council, describing political turmoil, rising violence, hunger and disease, amid budget cuts that are limiting the ability of the UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians.
- Authorities in Myanmar released the country’s ousted president from prison on Friday, along with some 4,000 other people, as part of an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year festival.
- The latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa, which killed and injured scores of civilians, was roundly condemned by Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
- War in Lebanon continues amid the fragile US-Iran ceasefire amid hopes for direct talks between Israel and Beirut. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is debating the China-Russia Security Council veto on the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis last month, with assembly president Annalena Baerbock saying debate must move “to action”, on stabilising the Middle East. Stay with us for live updates below and live Meetings Coverage on the veto meeting is here. App users can follow our live coverage here.
- From election support in the Central African Republic to patrols in the disputed Abyei region, UN peacekeepers are operating in increasingly volatile environments – but shrinking resources and new threats, including drone warfare, are testing their ability to keep communities safe.
- Across the Middle East, tensions remain high with Israeli military operations continuing in Lebanon following direct talks between the two governments in Washington on Tuesday. More than 2,000 Lebanese have been reported killed since early March. Uncertainty also continues over the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis. Stay with us for live updates on developments on the ground, humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.
- The UN Security Council met Wednesday over the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wider Great Lakes region. Despite mediation efforts in Doha and Washington, regional tensions between the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi remain acute. Follow the full live updates below from our Meetings Coverage team, and app users can click here.
- Foreign ministers from across the world met in Berlin on Wednesday to show support for Sudan, where a fourth year of brutal warfare has begun as humanitarian needs deepen.
- Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.
- Respect for international law is being “trampled” the UN chief warned on Tuesday, urging further negotiations between the US and Iran over ending the war and extending the fragile ceasefire as needed. Saying “there is no military solution,” he called for international navigation rights to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a regional humanitarian crisis continues. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.
- Yemen must not be drawn into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Security Council heard on Tuesday, stressing the need for de-escalation, political progress and urgent humanitarian funding for beleaguered civilians battered by years of grinding war.
- Sudan remains the world’ s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, UN agencies and partners said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war between rival militaries on the eve of the three-year mark.
- As the war in the Middle East continues, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a passionate call for “serious negotiations” between the US and Iran to resume, warning that respect for international law “is being trampled” underfoot.
- Weekend developments have raised fresh concerns worldwide after talks between the United States and Iran on Saturday ended without agreement, fuelling uncertainty and raising tensions once again. The planned US blockade targeting Iranian ports going into effect has added to fears of further escalation and global trade disruption. Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll mounts, with Lebanese authorities reporting that deaths from Israeli airstrikes has now surpassed 2,000. Stay with us for live updates on humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.
- A senior United Nations official on Monday hailed the European Union (EU) as “a major economic and diplomatic actor and a strong advocate of multilateralism.”
- On the outskirts of the Ugandan town of Biale, tents are scattered along dirt roads that give way to open fields. The Kriandongo camp sits between a shattered past and a life tentatively being rebuilt. Here, the story does not end with fleeing war. Another phase begins, one where days are measured not in hours, but in the weight of loss and the effort to carry on.
- An Ethiopian man describes how he was tortured by human traffickers as he went in search of his nephew on a now infamous migration route from the Horn of Africa through Yemen to Saudi Arabia.
- Barham Salih has spent much of his life crossing borders, first as a young Kurdish exile fleeing repression in Iraq, and now as the UN top official for refugees, confronting a world in which more than 117 million people have been forced from their homes.
- A 2018 agreement that aims to strengthen international cooperation on migration management must become reality, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday in New York.
- The UN on Thursday condemned the latest attacks against civilians in Ukraine by Russian forces, reiterating that they always constitute a violation of international law “and must stop immediately.”
- Funding shortfalls are putting the lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan at risk amid rising humanitarian needs, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
- Concerns have been raised about the “coercive” repatriation from Tanzania of Burundian refugees, many of whom do not want to return to their home country.
- The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has received credible reports of civilian casualties following airstrikes carried out by Pakistan inside Afghanistan late on 21 February and into the early hours of the next day.
- As the war in Sudan approaches a fourth year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and 123 partners appealed on Tuesday for $1.6 billion to support millions of people forced to flee the country in pursuit of safety.
- Fifty-three migrants including two babies are dead or missing after a large rubber dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya, the UN migration agency said on Monday.
- Amid the ongoing war in Sudan, Chad, the country receiving the most refugees in Central Africa, saw slight improvements in its humanitarian situation last year, but as one of the most vulnerable nations on the African continent, it is still struggling to support four million people in need.
- Step by step, mile by mile, Deo Kato ran his way across a continent — and beyond. After a year and a half on the road, the Ugandan British runner and campaigner has become the first person to run from Cape Town to London.
- UN-appointed independent human rights experts have raised alarm over violations of children’s rights during US immigration procedures, nearly a year after federal funding for legal representation for unaccompanied minors was terminated.
- The UN migration agency, IOM, expressed deep concern on Monday over multiple deadly shipwrecks that are believed to have taken place over the past ten days across the Central Mediterranean.
- As global leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, UN agencies are warning that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian emergencies but growing threats to global economic stability.
- In war-torn Sudan, local communities say they don’t have enough settlements for the internally displaced, few solutions for women who have suffered sexual violence – and there’s a lack of aid available for people with disabilities.
- They ask heartbreaking questions: “What will happen to us?” “Is it true they will deport us?” “We don’t want to go back. How can I live in Afghanistan?” The words of Sumaiya, who staffs a helpline for refugees and asylum-seekers living in Pakistan but facing the eventuality of having to return to neighbouring Afghanistan.
- Sudan’s deepening war is driving unprecedented levels of hunger, child malnutrition and displacement, UN agencies report, as new data from Darfur and a renewed refugee influx into Chad underscore the rapidly deteriorating situation.
- The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) will evacuate its logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, in the wake of the “heinous attack” this past weekend that killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers and seriously injured eight others.
- Through her ceramics, Crimean Tatar artist Elvira Demerdzhi finds moments of calm and a sense of home amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
- As we confront increasingly complex and interconnected crises – from climate change to the AI revolution – the leadership and voices of young people have never been more vital, says the UN.
- Six-time Trinidad and Tobago archery champion, Anthurium Lewis, has told UN News how sport helped her overcome age barriers in environmental advocacy and how in the future it can contribute to reaching globally agreed poverty and sustainability goals.
- The world of football met the world of diplomacy this week as Brazilian World Cup legend Zico touched down at UN Headquarters in New York.
- For 25 years, the world has made significant progress in advancing women’s right to health, particularly in sexual and reproductive care. Women are living longer than ever before – but they are not living better.
- The Secretary-General’s commitment towards women leadership in the United Nations was recognized at a pivotal moment marked by global uncertainty, economic volatility and increasing pressure on hard-won rights.
- An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new United Nations estimates released on Tuesday – highlighting a worrying slowdown in global progress on child survival.
- Despite global progress in strengthening land tenure and governance, more than a billion people worldwide – nearly one in four adults – fear they could lose the rights to some or all of their land and housing within the next five years.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the key role science has in international governance of artificial intelligence during an event on Friday held on the margins of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India.
- After a year that saw heavy monsoon floods, prolonged drought and dry spells, and a surge in violence, 7.5 million people in Pakistan face high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition according to a report from the global hunger monitor.
- Climate inaction, biodiversity loss and rising emissions are pushing Asia and the Pacific further off course on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the region set to miss nearly nine out of ten targets by 2030, the United Nations has warned.
- The future of artificial intelligence “cannot be decided by a handful of countries or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” the UN Secretary-General told the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, calling for a global fund to help developing nations to better access these technologies.
- Rising food prices and declining farm incomes are putting increasing pressure on the global food system, with up to 720 million people facing hunger last year, and billions more struggling to afford healthy diets.
- With inequality deepening and trust in public institutions under strain, the UN’s main forum on social policy wrapped up its annual session on Tuesday with a renewed push to turn global commitments on social justice into action.
- Towns and cities are home to more than half of the world’s population and responsible for around 70 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis, which is why urban planners in Brazil are leading a design revolution that could point the way to creating built-up areas with a dramatically smaller carbon footprint.
- With global tensions rising and “reckless actions” triggering dangerous consequences, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday called for renewed efforts on peace, justice and sustainable development as he outlined his priorities for 2026 – the final year of his tenure.
- “Giving up is not an option – so many people depend on you,” the words of Maryanne Gichanga, a participant in a UN supported initiative, which aims to help farmers in Kenya find solutions to alleviate the pressures of climate change on agricultural production.
- From humanitarian crises and youth unemployment, to climate resilience and development financing, many of today’s global challenges pass through a single United Nations body that is quietly turning 80 this year.
- In his final annual address outlining his priorities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is “brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability” – even as international cooperation is fraying at the moment it is most needed.
- Top finance experts are meeting at UN Geneva this week to push for a radical shake up in the way economic growth is gauged, in response to concerns that GDP measurements provide little insight about progress on key sustainability targets that are vital to our survival.
- Some two decades after a shaky political transition, Iraq today is a country “at peace, with increased security and a clear determination to win the battle of development,” says the UN resident coordinator for Iraq on Wednesday.
