UN News

More than 2,000 rescue workers from 27 countries have been deployed to Venezuela to locate people trapped under the rubble following the twin earthquakes on Wednesday, in a deployment supported and coordinated by the United Nations. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for stronger independent oversight of the United States immigration detention system and investigations into all deaths in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

More people are using drugs than ever before, while synthetic substances are reshaping illicit markets and exposing vulnerable communities to greater health risks, according to the UN World Drug Report 2026, released on Friday.

The United Nations’ maritime agency said on Friday that it had successfully evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending the operation, after an attack on a commercial vessel exposed uncertainty over who can guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Secretary-General António Guterres and General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock reaffirmed the principles outlined in the UN Charter and called for a renewed commitment to multilateralism at a General Assembly meeting on Friday marking the Charter’s 81st anniversary. 

A senior United Nations official warned on Friday that the opportunity to prevent a major escalation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid is “rapidly narrowing” as fighting intensifies in and around the North Kordofan state capital.

More than 2,600 people were displaced in the Artibonite department of Haiti following clashes between armed groups last week as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).

Nearly seven million Venezuelans could be affected by this week’s double earthquakes as the death toll rises to at least 235 people amid massive, growing needs and ongoing emergency search and rescue efforts, UN agencies reported on Friday. UN News app users can follow here.

Aid agencies on Friday highlighted massive needs across Venezuela caused by a double earthquake disaster that has killed at least 235 people so far, with search and rescue for people trapped under the rubble still the top priority.

The new head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has urged parties to the peace processes for the volatile eastern region to maintain momentum and fully implement their commitments.

Two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela less than a minute apart on Wednesday, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, causing at least 164 deaths and widespread destruction in and around the capital, Caracas as international assistance begins to arrive early Thursday, with UN agencies rapidly deploying aid, support and rescue teams. UN News app users can follow here.

As a record-breaking heatwave grips large parts of Europe, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), national weather services and partners are mobilising heat-health action plans for millions of people facing dangerous temperatures. 

As wars persist in different parts of the world, it’s perhaps easy to lose sight of the many countries that have managed to recover from past violence, sustain peace and prevent conflict. The UN Peacebuilding Fund, which is marking its 20th year of operation in 2026, has contributed to many of these success stories. UN News app users click here.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan voiced alarm on Wednesday over escalating violence in and around the city of El Obeid, warning that further military escalation could put thousands of civilians at risk and deepen Sudan’s already devastating humanitarian crisis.

Since Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers have detected no airstrikes or new missile fire in southern Lebanon. The lull remains fragile, however, as Israeli drones continue to fly over the area and military operations continue on the ground.

The UN's top humanitarian official has allocated $8 million in funding to help Burundi and South Sudan prepare for the potential spread of Ebola. 

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Thursday renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

UN teams scrambled on Thursday in support of the international response to the devastating double earthquake disaster in Venezuela, where buildings lie flattened and people are likely still trapped in the capital, Caracas, and beyond. 

Thousands of civilians trapped in frontline communities in southern Ukraine are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as access to food, medical care and evacuation routes continues to shrink, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HMRRU, warned on Wednesday.

As the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) released more details of its plan to evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, one mariner caught up in the emergency has described the ever-present fear of coming under attack.

The United Nations’ maritime agency said on Friday that it had successfully evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending the operation, after an attack on a commercial vessel exposed uncertainty over who can guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Since Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers have detected no airstrikes or new missile fire in southern Lebanon. The lull remains fragile, however, as Israeli drones continue to fly over the area and military operations continue on the ground.

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Thursday renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

As the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) released more details of its plan to evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, one mariner caught up in the emergency has described the ever-present fear of coming under attack.

Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, a UN independent commission of inquiry said in its latest report released on Tuesday.

Syria has emerged after more than a decade of crisis with “clear signs of progress”, but acute needs remain and efforts must boost support so the country can “move from survival towards recovery”, UN officials told the Security Council on Monday.

After another deadly night of clashes in Lebanon, aid agencies issued a new alert for Gaza, where 265 Palestinian children have been killed since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025.

The United Nations has welcomed reports of a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday while warning that civilians on the ground are still fleeing amid ongoing insecurity.

The head of the UN-affiliated atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-US memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing “to sit down” with both parties to assist with concrete measures such as verification of Iran’s nuclear programme, a key sticking point.

The Security Council debated conditions in Gaza at the request of its 10 elected members amid concern that the territory's humanitarian crisis is being overshadowed by wider regional developments. The meeting took place under a ceasefire that has existed in name since October 2025 – but nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, and most Gazans remain displaced. Relief chief Tom Fletcher told ambassadors that “fragile gains” since the truce are “the bare minimum of what Palestinians need.” Full coverage here, and wider Meetings Coverage can be found here.

The United Nations has again called for freedom of movement for its peacekeepers in Lebanon who continue to closely monitor developments in the south of the country, including in the wake of the recent provisional agreement signed by the United States and Iran.

More than 100 days of war reveals a shattering snapshot of life for civilians in Lebanon amid Israeli strikes and forced displacement, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Wednesday.

Top UN officials called for bolstered efforts to stave off rising hunger and foster a path towards permanent peace in Yemen as they briefed the Security Council Tuesday morning.

As representatives of Iran and the United States reportedly prepared to sign a new peace agreement at the end of the week, the UN on Monday stressed the urgent need to open an aid corridor to transit the choked-off Strait of Hormuz and prevent a global hunger crisis.

UN Secretary General António Guterres welcomed on Sunday a new peace deal between the United States and Iran, calling it a “critical step” toward ending the conflict.

The odyssey begins in Indonesia and ends, 15,000 kilometres later, in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Along the way, critical food aid destined for young Afghan students crosses nine countries, over land and sea, skirting geopolitical unrest and conflict zones.

The United Nations continues to monitor developments amid conflicting reports on Friday of a possible ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General said in New York.

The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is being pushed further into crisis as hostilities continue between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants – and essential services and healthcare are targeted.

Yemen remains gripped by one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 22 million – out of a population of 35 million – requiring assistance. Women and girls account for half of those in need, and two-thirds of them are of childbearing age, placing reproductive health at the heart of the emergency.

Three Indian seafarers were killed in an attack on an oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, as renewed hostilities in one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors once again heightened concern over food security, fuel prices and broken global supply chains.

As a record-breaking heatwave grips large parts of Europe, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), national weather services and partners are mobilising heat-health action plans for millions of people facing dangerous temperatures. 

Thousands of civilians trapped in frontline communities in southern Ukraine are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as access to food, medical care and evacuation routes continues to shrink, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HMRRU, warned on Wednesday.

Deadly drone and missile attacks in Ukraine over the weekend represented a “dangerous cycle of escalation” in Russia’s full-scale four-year-old war, the Security Council heard on Monday from Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, while Edem Wosornu, crisis response director at the UN relief office, OCHA, warned that “the choices made here can mean the difference between lives saved or lives lost.”

Several civilians were killed and dozens more were injured in the latest wave of overnight attacks in Ukraine that targeted the capital Kyiv, the city of Kharkiv and the country’s history and cultural heritage, the United Nations said on Monday.

More civilians were killed and injured in Ukraine in May than in any other month in the past four years, UN investigators said on Friday in their latest update.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, conditions in southern Ukraine have rapidly deteriorated. Maintaining humanitarian operations has become an increasingly complex balancing act between enabling aid delivery and managing risk.

The Security Council met on Monday amid a sharp escalation in hostilities across Ukraine, where UN officials warned that the war has reached its deadliest point since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Briefing members, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for political affairs, said recent months had seen some of the most extensive aerial attacks of the conflict, while the humanitarian toll on civilians continued to mount on both sides of the front line.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on Thursday for greater protection for environmental and land defenders, noting that hundreds worldwide have been killed or detained in recent years.

Children in Ukraine have been profoundly impacted by years of war, sheltering in underground schools – or forced to study online – and living with the psychological strain of constant air raid sirens that could spell death for them and their families.

Overnight attacks in three key cities in Ukraine have left several civilians dead, scores more injured, and homes, hospitals and shops destroyed or damaged, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said on Tuesday. 

The United Nations continues to warn against the dangerous escalation in the war in Ukraine, a senior official told the Security Council on Monday, underlining the need for restraint and dialogue. 

Every day in Kharkiv begins with uncertainty: air raid sirens interrupt sleep; missiles strike residential neighbourhoods, industrial sites, and roads. Anxious citizens rush into metro stations during bombardments and children study underground.

The UN Security Council is meeting in emergency session on Ukraine, with Secretary-General António Guterres telling ambassadors following what Kyiv describes as the most devastating attack on its capital to date, that “the time for peace is now.” In the early hours of 23-24 May, Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles and drones against multiple Ukrainian cities. Moscow has since threatened further sustained strikes. Sharp divisions among Council members are expected, with European nations demanding an immediate ceasefire while Russia insists its strikes target only military infrastructure.

The United Nations on Thursday warned of a dangerous escalation in the war in Ukraine after a wave of large-scale Russian strikes and threats of further attacks, with Secretary-General António Guterres saying “the death spiral must stop.”

The World Food Programme (WFP) has deplored a Russian attack on a warehouse in Dnipro, Ukraine that destroyed “a significant quantity” of food aid destined for thousands in frontline areas.

The overnight Russian attack on Ukraine, which centred on the capital, Kyiv, reportedly involved some 90 missiles, including a powerful hypersonic ballistic missile and 60 drones. The senior UN official in the country called for an end to civilian harm.

On 23 February 2022, in her home city of Kharkiv, Dr Inna Soldatenko finished work, collected her daughter from school, cooked dinner and prepared a lecture for her students. The next morning, she awoke to explosions.

The Security Council is meeting at the request of Russia which on Friday accused Ukraine of targeting a student dormitory overnight in the occupied Luhansk region, reportedly killing six people – including children – and injuring dozens. Kyiv has denied targeting the civilian building, saying it had struck a Russian military drone command headquarters, according to news reports. Follow live coverage below and for full meetings coverage of the council, click here.

The United Nations voiced alarm on Friday over reports of an overnight attack on a vocational school and dormitory in the town of Starobilsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region which killed and injured multiple civilians, including children.

The war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year, “is becoming deadlier by the day”, a senior UN official warned in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. 

More than 2,000 rescue workers from 27 countries have been deployed to Venezuela to locate people trapped under the rubble following the twin earthquakes on Wednesday, in a deployment supported and coordinated by the United Nations. 

Aid agencies on Friday highlighted massive needs across Venezuela caused by a double earthquake disaster that has killed at least 235 people so far, with search and rescue for people trapped under the rubble still the top priority.

Nearly seven million Venezuelans could be affected by this week’s double earthquakes as the death toll rises to at least 235 people amid massive, growing needs and ongoing emergency search and rescue efforts, UN agencies reported on Friday. UN News app users can follow here.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for stronger independent oversight of the United States immigration detention system and investigations into all deaths in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

UN teams scrambled on Thursday in support of the international response to the devastating double earthquake disaster in Venezuela, where buildings lie flattened and people are likely still trapped in the capital, Caracas, and beyond. 

Two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela less than a minute apart on Wednesday, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, causing at least 164 deaths and widespread destruction in and around the capital, Caracas as international assistance begins to arrive early Thursday, with UN agencies rapidly deploying aid, support and rescue teams. UN News app users can follow here.

Passengers look out of the back of a brightly-coloured shared pick-up style taxi, known locally in Haiti as a “tap tap” as it makes its way along the Boulevard du 15 Octobre in the east of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicines, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a stark warning on Monday, calling for the immediate lifting of United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation that were causing “widespread harm”.

Escalating gang violence across Haiti has pushed displacement to record levels, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis and leaving nearly 1.5 million people without a stable place to live, according to new figures released Friday by the UN migration agency, IOM.

As World Cup fever rises in the Americas, countries are urged to strengthen measles surveillance and vaccination amid ongoing outbreaks across the region. 

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Tuesday welcomed the opening of two specialised judicial units in Haiti, saying the move marked “a significant step toward tackling widespread impunity in the country.” 

As gangs continue to “terrorise” communities in Haiti, children are the ones paying the highest price, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict warned on Thursday.

Around 30,000 people have had to flee their homes in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas following a new wave of violent attacks and atrocities perpetrated by armed gangs over the past ten days.

Record-breaking temperatures, deadly floods, worsening drought and intensifying hurricanes are placing millions of people across Latin America and the Caribbean at growing risk of hunger, displacement and water shortages, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 

Hospitals across Cuba are suspending surgeries, struggling to keep lifesaving equipment running and facing severe medicine shortages as blackouts and fuel shortages push the country’s healthcare system deeper into crisis, senior UN officials warned on Friday.

Journalists working in Haiti are under constant threat of death or injury from rapidly expanding criminal gangs, as they continue to report news and information which they hope will help keep fellow citizens safe.

The Security Council is addressing the deepening crisis in Haiti on Thursday, centered on the Secretary-General’s latest report which highlights a security landscape of both intensified enforcement and rising civilian risk. While operations including by the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) between December and February resulted in the deaths of 1,343 suspected gang members, the humanitarian cost remains staggering. The UN Special Representative told ambassadors elections are the “only legitimate path” back to political stability, while his counterpart with the GSF said its success depends on “effective coordination”. Follow full meetings coverage below.

Mexican authorities must intensify efforts to end impunity, protect journalists and human rights defenders, and address the country’s “painful” crisis of disappearances, UN human rights chief Volker Türk has said.

While hope for peace is alive in Colombia as the country prepares for presidential elections, the Security Council on Tuesday heard that achieving it – and making it last – still requires the full implementation of a peace accord signed almost 10 years ago.

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.

Imagine being one of a family of nine and sitting down to a meal of potato peelings and other scraps, boiled up into a soup. This is the harsh reality for many of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families, forced on them by climate change and drought, widespread malnutrition and increasing restrictions on women, since the Taliban overran Kabul in 2021.

A drop in humanitarian assistance is worsening the suffering of millions of people in Myanmar after five years of conflict-related violence, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Monday.

As countries grapple with energy price shocks, supply disruptions and the growing impacts of climate change, energy security has become a pressing concern. 

A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday morning just as millions of children were returning to school after the summer break.

As the Security Council met on Afghanistan, senior officials and civil society representatives delivered a clear warning Monday: despite relative security under the Taliban, worsening humanitarian conditions, restrictions on women and growing economic pressures are creating a fragile and uncertain future. 

As the world approaches nine years since the mass displacement of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has appealed to the international community not to abandon the 1.2 million refugees living in the country, most of them in camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Cambodian activist Panha Theng, a 2025 UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, says visibility and safe spaces remain critical for LGBTQI+ youth across Southeast Asia amid continuing stigma and discrimination.

Afghanistan’s deepening malnutrition crisis is pushing mothers and children to the brink, the UN World Food Programme has warned, as mass returns from neighbouring countries and severe funding shortfalls overwhelm already strained humanitarian operations.

Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis is deepening despite modest economic growth, with nearly three in four people unable to meet basic needs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday.

Serious human rights violations continue in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and must not be allowed to fade from international attention, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Wednesday.

More than 150,000 people have been affected by Tropical Cyclone Maila, the latest storm in the Pacific area, which continues to drive what the UN relief coordination office OCHA has described as “significant humanitarian needs” across the Solomon Islands.

A Thai woman who spent more than 20 years in prison after being found guilty of drugs trafficking – including eight on death row – has told the UN how learning to sew helped her find meaning in life behind bars, and a job when she was released.

Indonesia is expecting a “strengthened multilateral system that delivers real impact on the ground,” as one of the key outcomes of the ongoing reform of the United Nations, that’s according to the country’s outgoing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Cooperation, Tri Tharyat.

Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan was once the Soviet Union’s primary testing ground for nuclear weapons. Today, in an age of rising nuclear threats, the Semipalatinsk Treaty – which saw a group of Central Asian countries renounce nuclear weapons in 2006 – is more relevant than ever.

The continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remain “a matter of serious concern,” the UN’s political affairs chief told the Security Council on Thursday. 

As the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu battles rising sea levels that threaten to put large parts of the island entirely underwater by the end of this century, its citizens are making efforts to safeguard their future while preparing for the worst impacts of climate change. 

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.

A senior United Nations official warned on Friday that the opportunity to prevent a major escalation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid is “rapidly narrowing” as fighting intensifies in and around the North Kordofan state capital.

The new head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has urged parties to the peace processes for the volatile eastern region to maintain momentum and fully implement their commitments.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan voiced alarm on Wednesday over escalating violence in and around the city of El Obeid, warning that further military escalation could put thousands of civilians at risk and deepen Sudan’s already devastating humanitarian crisis.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread faster than aid efforts can keep pace, despite significant gains in treatment capacity and growing community engagement, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

Ebola has been spreading at unprecedented speed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing risk and fear into people’s daily lives, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. 

The Central African Republic (CAR) “has made remarkable and tangible progress towards lasting peace and security” in recent years, but security remains fragile in border areas, including with war-torn Sudan, UN Special Representative Valentine Rugwabiza told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

A new UN human rights report issued on Tuesday details the brutality and scale of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since war erupted in April 2023 and its profound, long-term impacts on victims, families and communities. 

Escalating violence in and around the Sudanese city of El Obeid is putting civilians at increased risk and disrupting essential services, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday. 

As global confirmed Ebola cases reach 1,000, nearly three million children and adolescents are at risk in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while efforts increase to treat prisoners near the epicentre of the current outbreak, UN agencies warned on Monday.

One month after the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, case numbers continue to rise. 

The UN Security Council has expressed alarm over reports of substantial military reinforcements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around El Obeid in Sudan, warning of the risk of a potential ground offensive on the city.

The spread of Ebola is accelerating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid continued armed violence, posing a grave and growing risk to the region, UN agencies warned on Friday.

When 19-year-old Stephane Kulimushi looks around the basketball court in Kampala where he trains young refugees, he sees more than players.

The UN’s top human rights official has issued an urgent warning that an imminent offensive against El Obeid, the capital of Sudan’s North Kordofan state, carries the risk of serious international crimes and threatens to deepen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Treatment capacity for the rare and deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola is expanding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that community mistrust remains a major challenge to ending the outbreak.

In Ebola-stricken Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), winning the race against the disease requires earning the community’s trust first and foremost, humanitarians said on Tuesday.

As Sudan’s conflict enters a fourth year, civilians are increasingly trapped not only by frontline violence but by fear, disappearance and detention, according to an update by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Uganda’s response to an Ebola outbreak that has spread from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while warning that continued vigilance and cross-border cooperation will be critical to stopping transmission.

In the heart of the Central African Republic (CAR), a nation long marked by conflict, Nina Mireille Yankinon stands as a symbol of resilience, leadership, and hope, dedicating her life to helping communities torn apart by war. 

The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is continuing to spread with a spike in child infections an increasingly likely scenario in the days ahead, UN agencies said on Friday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for stronger independent oversight of the United States immigration detention system and investigations into all deaths in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread faster than aid efforts can keep pace, despite significant gains in treatment capacity and growing community engagement, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

Ebola has been spreading at unprecedented speed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing risk and fear into people’s daily lives, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. 

Four decades after AIDS first emerged as a global crisis, world leaders, advocates and community representatives gathered at UN Headquarters on Monday issued a stark warning: progress against HIV is slowing just as financial pressures and shrinking support threaten to reverse decades of gains.

As global confirmed Ebola cases reach 1,000, nearly three million children and adolescents are at risk in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while efforts increase to treat prisoners near the epicentre of the current outbreak, UN agencies warned on Monday.

One month after the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, case numbers continue to rise. 

The spread of Ebola is accelerating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid continued armed violence, posing a grave and growing risk to the region, UN agencies warned on Friday.

Words like “sustainability” and “healthy” shouldn’t take the joy out of eating. As elite chef Jaume Biarnés has been explaining to UN News, sustainable gastronomy can be delicious, exciting and fun.

Treatment capacity for the rare and deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola is expanding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that community mistrust remains a major challenge to ending the outbreak.

In Ebola-stricken Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), winning the race against the disease requires earning the community’s trust first and foremost, humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Global officials are calling on world leaders to finalise a crucial international agreement aimed at preventing future pandemics, according to a joint letter issued on Monday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Uganda’s response to an Ebola outbreak that has spread from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while warning that continued vigilance and cross-border cooperation will be critical to stopping transmission.

Every day, safe blood helps save the lives of women experiencing childbirth complications, accident victims, cancer patients and people living with chronic diseases. Yet despite decades of progress, access to lifesaving blood remains deeply unequal, with shortages continuing to put lives at risk in many lower-income countries, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report.

External funding cuts, a backlash against human rights, and chronic under-investment in HIV prevention and community services are threatening to reverse years of hard-won progress in the AIDS response, a UN report warned on Friday.

Yemen remains gripped by one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 22 million – out of a population of 35 million – requiring assistance. Women and girls account for half of those in need, and two-thirds of them are of childbearing age, placing reproductive health at the heart of the emergency.

The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is continuing to spread with a spike in child infections an increasingly likely scenario in the days ahead, UN agencies said on Friday.

Violence spread across Belfast following a shocking knife attack allegedly carried out by a Sudanese asylum seeker on Monday, triggering a wave of anti-immigration unrest. The victim suffered significant injuries to his face and back.

In Ebola-stricken eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a massive push for early testing and contact tracing is helping to contain the virus, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The top UN aid official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in Ituri province – the epicentre of the country's Ebola outbreak – for a three-day assessment visit, as the confirmed case count reaches 515 across three eastern provinces.

In a village in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers arrived a few days ago to help bury a person who had died from Ebola. Instead, they were threatened, told armed rebels would be called if they stayed, and forced to leave.

Secretary-General António Guterres and General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock reaffirmed the principles outlined in the UN Charter and called for a renewed commitment to multilateralism at a General Assembly meeting on Friday marking the Charter’s 81st anniversary. 

Criminal networks are moving faster, reaching further and blurring the lines between threats. Into this shifting landscape steps Monica Juma, taking on one of the UN’s most demanding security and justice portfolios.

From peacekeepers to math teachers, 136 UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2025 were commemorated on Monday morning in an annual service hosted by the Secretary-General.

A closely watched Security Council election delivered a mix of continuity and change on Wednesday, as Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Zimbabwe – and first-time member Kyrgyzstan, secured seats around the iconic horseshoe table.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was elected President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session on Tuesday after defeating Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus in a closely contested vote, positioning himself to steer the world body through a pivotal year marked by intensifying global crises, UN reform efforts and major leadership transitions.

Peacekeepers are serving in a dangerous era of mounting global tensions and tight resources. UN chief António Guterres is now calling for greater political backing and reliable financial support for ‘blue helmets’ who put themselves in harm’s way.

UN chief António Guterres has outlined further progress in the wide-ranging UN80 Initiative, a major reform and restructuring project aimed at making the global body more effective, agile and better equipped to respond to global challenges.

The UN Charter is facing one of its gravest tests in decades, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday, warning that wars, arms races, climate shocks and the erosion of international law are placing intense pressure on the multilateral system established to prevent a third world war.

A landmark gathering of more than 57,000 participants – the largest in the history of the World Urban Forum – closed on Friday in Baku with an urgent call to rethink how the world houses its people, as a new roadmap urges governments, cities and communities to act collectively on a crisis affecting billions.

From AI-powered transit systems to digital twins and flood-proof parks, cities are embracing technology at an unprecedented scale. But as innovation accelerates, experts warn that inclusion, trust and security will determine who truly benefits.

The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday underscored the need to effectively re-open the Strait of Hormuz and expand UN Security Council membership to curb the impunity of veto-wielding “superpowers”.

From Thailand to Jordan, from Brazil to Germany, new approaches to housing are quietly taking shape. Residents of informal settlements once facing eviction are rebuilding their communities with State support. Refugees and host communities are reclaiming neglected spaces, turning them greener and safer. In Brazil, favelas are being upgraded rather than torn down, while in Germany, rent controls are helping to steady the market.

A missed warning sign. A forged cheque. A passport confiscated in a foreign country. Within months, the life Latyr Thioye had built began to unravel.

Now is the time to place housing at the heart of sustainable development. That was the message delivered on Monday by UN Secretary General António Guterres to participants at a global forum on urban sustainability under way this week in Baku.

Ministers, mayors, international organisations, urban planners and experts are in Baku, Azerbaijan, to tackle one of the world’s fastest-growing challenges: the global housing crisis, which, according to the United Nations, affects nearly 2.8 billion people worldwide.

Africa’s rising influence is being constrained by outdated global institutions, unfair borrowing costs and cascading global crises, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres warned in Addis Ababa, as the United Nations and African Union reaffirmed their strategic partnership.

The United Nations on Monday launched a major expansion of its Nairobi headquarters, with Secretary-General António Guterres and Kenyan President William Ruto marking what officials described as a significant milestone for the Organization’s presence in Africa.

The United Nations Victims’ Rights Advocate has called for stronger and sustained action on behalf of the people she serves across the UN system.

The American businessman, media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner is being remembered by the United Nations for his long-standing support for the Organization and its values. 

With spending on advertising topping $1 trillion a year worldwide, the United Nations on Wednesday highlighted the untapped power of major brands to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence, warning that a failure to act could deepen a global information integrity crisis.

More people are using drugs than ever before, while synthetic substances are reshaping illicit markets and exposing vulnerable communities to greater health risks, according to the UN World Drug Report 2026, released on Friday.

Criminal networks are moving faster, reaching further and blurring the lines between threats. Into this shifting landscape steps Monica Juma, taking on one of the UN’s most demanding security and justice portfolios.

The Security Council on Friday weighed the future of the UN mechanism responsible for completing the remaining work of the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as members debated how to preserve its legacy while bringing its mandate to an orderly close.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Tuesday welcomed the opening of two specialised judicial units in Haiti, saying the move marked “a significant step toward tackling widespread impunity in the country.” 

As gangs continue to “terrorise” communities in Haiti, children are the ones paying the highest price, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict warned on Thursday.

The UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday ruled that the right to strike is protected under a core International Labour Organization (ILO) convention, in a landmark advisory opinion settling a long-running dispute between workers and employers worldwide.

A Thai woman who spent more than 20 years in prison after being found guilty of drugs trafficking – including eight on death row – has told the UN how learning to sew helped her find meaning in life behind bars, and a job when she was released.

The United Nations Victims’ Rights Advocate has called for stronger and sustained action on behalf of the people she serves across the UN system.

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).

Aid agencies on Friday highlighted massive needs across Venezuela caused by a double earthquake disaster that has killed at least 235 people so far, with search and rescue for people trapped under the rubble still the top priority.

Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, a UN independent commission of inquiry said in its latest report released on Tuesday.

A new UN human rights report issued on Tuesday details the brutality and scale of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since war erupted in April 2023 and its profound, long-term impacts on victims, families and communities. 

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people work, communicate and access information, UN Women warned on Monday that the technology is reproducing old gender stereotypes, which amplify online abuse and leave women out of the decisions that will define the digital future.

A drop in humanitarian assistance is worsening the suffering of millions of people in Myanmar after five years of conflict-related violence, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Monday.

It’s 20 years to the day since the UN Human Rights Council began its work as the world’s principal forum tasked with promoting and defending fundamental rights everywhere, particularly the world’s most vulnerable people.

From the invisibility of women and girls to “media deserts” amid an artificial intelligence (AI) tsunami, dozens of UN independent experts have been shedding light on the battle for equal rights worldwide as the Geneva-based Human Rights Council continued its 62nd session on Thursday.

As online platforms continue to fuel a surge in real-world violence against vulnerable communities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is warning that freedom of expression must never be used to justify hate speech. 

Attacks against human right defenders have reached record levels over the past year, according to a new report issued on Wednesday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

Countries must uphold international law limiting the use of anti-personnel mines, which kill and maim civilians long after conflicts have ended, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Tuesday. 

As Sudan’s conflict enters a fourth year, civilians are increasingly trapped not only by frontline violence but by fear, disappearance and detention, according to an update by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. 

More civilians were killed and injured in Ukraine in May than in any other month in the past four years, UN investigators said on Friday in their latest update.

The biggest-ever football World Cup begins on Thursday, across three countries and two continents, with over 100 games. The UN is raising awareness of the game’s powerful capacity to serve as a platform for sustainable development and social justice.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has launched a Global Alliance for Human Rights, a broad coalition aimed at placing the issue at the heart of decision-making, when conflict levels have reached a record high amid deepening inequality and accelerating climate change.

Gender equality agency UN Women is “gravely concerned” by the arrest of at least 30 women in Herat city last weekend in Afghanistan for allegedly violating dress requirements imposed by Taliban authorities.  

The UN's top human rights official has called for a 'massive rethink' of US immigration and security policies ahead of the World Cup, warning that racial profiling, surveillance and aggressive enforcement are already affecting teams, officials and supporters. 

Palestinian civilians are trapped between escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank and fear-based Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday in a new report.

Historical gains have been hard-won, but much more needs to be done to advance progress in realising promises made two decades ago, said the UN chief at the opening on Tuesday of the 19th global meeting on the rights of persons with disabilities at UN Headquarters.

Ahead of World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June, the UN is urging governments and communities to accelerate efforts to end a crisis that still affects millions of children worldwide.

Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicines, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a stark warning on Monday, calling for the immediate lifting of United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation that were causing “widespread harm”.

More than 2,000 rescue workers from 27 countries have been deployed to Venezuela to locate people trapped under the rubble following the twin earthquakes on Wednesday, in a deployment supported and coordinated by the United Nations. 

Aid agencies on Friday highlighted massive needs across Venezuela caused by a double earthquake disaster that has killed at least 235 people so far, with search and rescue for people trapped under the rubble still the top priority.

Nearly seven million Venezuelans could be affected by this week’s double earthquakes as the death toll rises to at least 235 people amid massive, growing needs and ongoing emergency search and rescue efforts, UN agencies reported on Friday. UN News app users can follow here.

A senior United Nations official warned on Friday that the opportunity to prevent a major escalation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid is “rapidly narrowing” as fighting intensifies in and around the North Kordofan state capital.

More than 2,600 people were displaced in the Artibonite department of Haiti following clashes between armed groups last week as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).

The new head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has urged parties to the peace processes for the volatile eastern region to maintain momentum and fully implement their commitments.

Two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela less than a minute apart on Wednesday, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, causing at least 164 deaths and widespread destruction in and around the capital, Caracas as international assistance begins to arrive early Thursday, with UN agencies rapidly deploying aid, support and rescue teams. UN News app users can follow here.

Since Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers have detected no airstrikes or new missile fire in southern Lebanon. The lull remains fragile, however, as Israeli drones continue to fly over the area and military operations continue on the ground.

The UN's top humanitarian official has allocated $8 million in funding to help Burundi and South Sudan prepare for the potential spread of Ebola. 

UN teams scrambled on Thursday in support of the international response to the devastating double earthquake disaster in Venezuela, where buildings lie flattened and people are likely still trapped in the capital, Caracas, and beyond. 

Imagine being one of a family of nine and sitting down to a meal of potato peelings and other scraps, boiled up into a soup. This is the harsh reality for many of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families, forced on them by climate change and drought, widespread malnutrition and increasing restrictions on women, since the Taliban overran Kabul in 2021.

Deadly drone and missile attacks in Ukraine over the weekend represented a “dangerous cycle of escalation” in Russia’s full-scale four-year-old war, the Security Council heard on Monday from Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, while Edem Wosornu, crisis response director at the UN relief office, OCHA, warned that “the choices made here can mean the difference between lives saved or lives lost.”

Escalating violence in and around the Sudanese city of El Obeid is putting civilians at increased risk and disrupting essential services, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday. 

Pope Leo called on the international community to renew its commitment to tackling hunger and malnutrition, describing access to adequate food as a “fundamental human right” during a visit to the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome on Monday.

After another deadly night of clashes in Lebanon, aid agencies issued a new alert for Gaza, where 265 Palestinian children have been killed since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025.

Millions of people already facing hunger, displacement and economic hardship could soon face another major climate shock, as UN agencies warned on Thursday that extreme weather risks are intensifying across some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

The Security Council debated conditions in Gaza at the request of its 10 elected members amid concern that the territory's humanitarian crisis is being overshadowed by wider regional developments. The meeting took place under a ceasefire that has existed in name since October 2025 – but nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, and most Gazans remain displaced. Relief chief Tom Fletcher told ambassadors that “fragile gains” since the truce are “the bare minimum of what Palestinians need.” Full coverage here, and wider Meetings Coverage can be found here.

Two United Nations agencies have together welcomed more than $1 billion in assistance from the United States to support their operations targeting millions of children and hungry families in more than 40 countries.

The United Nations has again called for freedom of movement for its peacekeepers in Lebanon who continue to closely monitor developments in the south of the country, including in the wake of the recent provisional agreement signed by the United States and Iran.

Treatment capacity for the rare and deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola is expanding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that community mistrust remains a major challenge to ending the outbreak.

Conflict, displacement and climate shocks are disrupting education for an estimated 258 million school-aged children and adolescents worldwide, raising fears that millions risk losing not only years of schooling but future opportunities altogether, according to a new report released Tuesday. 

UN cultural agency UNESCO has launched a global consultation process to inform its Draft Guidance on Fair Compensation for News, particularly as online platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly rely on journalistic content. 

From a gold collar worn by an enslaved African to music preserved for nearly a century after the Holocaust, a staged reconstruction of a hate radio broadcast or porcelain coffee cups laid out in participatory remembrance, artists in a United Nations discussion on Friday used powerful images to underscore how culture can shape the fight against hatred.

Several civilians were killed and dozens more were injured in the latest wave of overnight attacks in Ukraine that targeted the capital Kyiv, the city of Kharkiv and the country’s history and cultural heritage, the United Nations said on Monday.

Matches organised by a former professional player are providing a brief respite from the harsh reality of life for the thousands living in overcrowded tents, schools or damaged buildings in the shattered Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza.

With the World Cup just days away, 16 greats of the game have been appointed Football for the Goals (FFTG) Champions, using their profiles to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advocate for a better future for people and the planet.

A symbolic team of famous footballers with first hand experience of life as a refugee was announced on Tuesday by UNHCR, just weeks ahead of the world’s biggest sporting event – the FIFA Men’s World Cup.

Ten-year-old Shadrac Anyazaka does not hesitate when asked about his future. “After finishing my studies, I would like to become President of the Republic one day,” he tells visitors to his school in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Eighty years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, artist Sandy Walker believes art still has the power to cut through abstraction and confront people with the human reality of nuclear violence. Inspired by the writings of Hiroshima survivor Tamiki Hara, Walker’s work seeks to transform historical catastrophe into intimate acts of memory, grief and attention. 

War in the Middle East has made Lebanon the deadliest country for media workers so far this year, but practically no country offers a safe environment in which to be a journalist, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

A month after completing their historic flyby of the Moon, the astronauts from NASA’s Artemis II mission landed at UN Headquarters in New York this week with a message that sounded like a reminder: humanity is capable of extraordinary things when it acts together.  

An independent organization for journalists in Sudan has been honoured for its commitment “to deliver accurate, lifesaving information” amid the ongoing civil war, the UN educational and cultural agency UNESCO announced on Thursday. 

Jazz music can bring people together and promote freedom, humanity and love according to a contemporary musician practicing his art in New York City.

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.

The way societies talk about ageing can shape everything from public policy to people's own expectations of later life, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said on Wednesday in a new report that calls  for shifting away from narratives that portray older persons as a burden. 

Innovators – especially in the Global South – are too often locked out of funding and opportunity despite offering solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Aquaculture now supplies most of the fish people eat, a landmark report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reveals, but rising temperatures and overfishing are putting the future of the industry at risk.

Although United Nations peacekeepers continue to observe violence and exchanges of fire in Lebanon, the level is significantly reduced when compared to the weekend, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Tuesday. 

The biggest-ever football World Cup begins on Thursday, across three countries and two continents, with over 100 games. The UN is raising awareness of the game’s powerful capacity to serve as a platform for sustainable development and social justice.

Ahead of World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June, the UN is urging governments and communities to accelerate efforts to end a crisis that still affects millions of children worldwide.

What began as a geopolitical crisis in the Middle East nearly 100 days ago is increasingly becoming a food security crisis elsewhere, with UN agencies warning of rising hunger in Africa and malnourished children being turned away from medical clinics in Afghanistan.

Every day in Kharkiv begins with uncertainty: air raid sirens interrupt sleep; missiles strike residential neighbourhoods, industrial sites, and roads. Anxious citizens rush into metro stations during bombardments and children study underground.

A landmark gathering of more than 57,000 participants – the largest in the history of the World Urban Forum – closed on Friday in Baku with an urgent call to rethink how the world houses its people, as a new roadmap urges governments, cities and communities to act collectively on a crisis affecting billions.

From AI-powered transit systems to digital twins and flood-proof parks, cities are embracing technology at an unprecedented scale. But as innovation accelerates, experts warn that inclusion, trust and security will determine who truly benefits.

From Thailand to Jordan, from Brazil to Germany, new approaches to housing are quietly taking shape. Residents of informal settlements once facing eviction are rebuilding their communities with State support. Refugees and host communities are reclaiming neglected spaces, turning them greener and safer. In Brazil, favelas are being upgraded rather than torn down, while in Germany, rent controls are helping to steady the market.

A missed warning sign. A forged cheque. A passport confiscated in a foreign country. Within months, the life Latyr Thioye had built began to unravel.

The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran may have eased fears of a wider regional war, but persistent instability around the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt global trade, drive up energy costs and fuel a growing jobs and cost-of-living crisis.

The global economy is entering a more fragile period as geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs and financial instability threaten global growth and trade. 

Now is the time to place housing at the heart of sustainable development. That was the message delivered on Monday by UN Secretary General António Guterres to participants at a global forum on urban sustainability under way this week in Baku.

Ministers, mayors, international organisations, urban planners and experts are in Baku, Azerbaijan, to tackle one of the world’s fastest-growing challenges: the global housing crisis, which, according to the United Nations, affects nearly 2.8 billion people worldwide.

Soaring housing costs, climate shocks and conflicts are leaving millions without adequate shelter – but what can be done? As the 13th UN World Urban Forum opens on Sunday in Baku, Azerbaijan, participants will grapple with solutions to a deepening global housing crisis.

Disruptions to global energy supplies and trade corridors are driving up the cost of food, transport and essential goods worldwide, slowing economic growth and increasing pressure on vulnerable households and debt-strapped developing countries.

A feasibility study is underway to examine whether Gaza’s war debris could be recycled to reclaim coastal land and build artificial islands, as part of reconstruction.

Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis is deepening despite modest economic growth, with nearly three in four people unable to meet basic needs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday.

Ongoing fighting in the Sudanese city of El Obeid continues to endanger civilians and damage infrastructure, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people work, communicate and access information, UN Women warned on Monday that the technology is reproducing old gender stereotypes, which amplify online abuse and leave women out of the decisions that will define the digital future.

In the heart of the Central African Republic (CAR), a nation long marked by conflict, Nina Mireille Yankinon stands as a symbol of resilience, leadership, and hope, dedicating her life to helping communities torn apart by war. 

Gender equality agency UN Women is “gravely concerned” by the arrest of at least 30 women in Herat city last weekend in Afghanistan for allegedly violating dress requirements imposed by Taliban authorities.  

Women and girls in Lebanon are paying an increasingly devastating price as violence and displacement continue despite a ceasefire, the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) warned on Tuesday.

Nearly 10,000 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were recorded worldwide last year – more than double the previous year's figure – as rape, sexual slavery and abduction were deployed as weapons of war across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Caribbean.

Thirteen-year-old Mona still remembers the moment the second airstrike hit.

Afghanistan’s deepening malnutrition crisis is pushing mothers and children to the brink, the UN World Food Programme has warned, as mass returns from neighbouring countries and severe funding shortfalls overwhelm already strained humanitarian operations.

Many women in eastern Chad are being forced to give birth in overcrowded clinics with limited medicine, minimal equipment and severe shortages of anesthesia, as a worsening humanitarian crisis overwhelms the country’s fragile healthcare system, the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, warned on Tuesday.

Reports of online violence against women journalists have doubled since 2020, with serious impacts on their health and well-being, according to a study published ahead of World Press Freedom Day marked annually on 3 May. 

Restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan could leave the country with a deficit of over 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday. 

On a red running track in eastern Uganda, coach Zuena Cheptoek is doing more than training runners. For many girls in the Sebei subregion, she is also a confidante, a mentor and first line of protection against female genital mutilation, child marriage and abuse.

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.

UN 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.

The United Nations’ maritime agency said on Friday that it had successfully evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending the operation, after an attack on a commercial vessel exposed uncertainty over who can guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

A senior United Nations official warned on Friday that the opportunity to prevent a major escalation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid is “rapidly narrowing” as fighting intensifies in and around the North Kordofan state capital.

The new head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has urged parties to the peace processes for the volatile eastern region to maintain momentum and fully implement their commitments.

Thousands of civilians trapped in frontline communities in southern Ukraine are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as access to food, medical care and evacuation routes continues to shrink, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HMRRU, warned on Wednesday.

As wars persist in different parts of the world, it’s perhaps easy to lose sight of the many countries that have managed to recover from past violence, sustain peace and prevent conflict. The UN Peacebuilding Fund, which is marking its 20th year of operation in 2026, has contributed to many of these success stories. UN News app users click here.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan voiced alarm on Wednesday over escalating violence in and around the city of El Obeid, warning that further military escalation could put thousands of civilians at risk and deepen Sudan’s already devastating humanitarian crisis.

Since Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers have detected no airstrikes or new missile fire in southern Lebanon. The lull remains fragile, however, as Israeli drones continue to fly over the area and military operations continue on the ground.

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Thursday renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

As the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) released more details of its plan to evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, one mariner caught up in the emergency has described the ever-present fear of coming under attack.

The UN Security Council held on open debate on Thursday focused on strengthening protections for children caught in armed conflict. The Secretary-General's latest report reveals that in 2025, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups, marking a first in 30 years of UN monitoring.  The report verified 38,558 grave violations such as killing, recruitment and abduction, affecting 24,174 children, many of whom suffered multiple violations.

Young people working on promoting peace in some of the world’s most fragile and polarized places say financial support remains essential, but money alone will not sustain their efforts to organize youth to participate in peacebuilding.

Ongoing fighting in the Sudanese city of El Obeid continues to endanger civilians and damage infrastructure, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, a UN independent commission of inquiry said in its latest report released on Tuesday.

The Central African Republic (CAR) “has made remarkable and tangible progress towards lasting peace and security” in recent years, but security remains fragile in border areas, including with war-torn Sudan, UN Special Representative Valentine Rugwabiza told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will begin implementing an evacuation plan for more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN agency announced on Tuesday.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday that calls for accountability for crimes committed against UN peacekeepers.

Imagine being one of a family of nine and sitting down to a meal of potato peelings and other scraps, boiled up into a soup. This is the harsh reality for many of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families, forced on them by climate change and drought, widespread malnutrition and increasing restrictions on women, since the Taliban overran Kabul in 2021.

Syria has emerged after more than a decade of crisis with “clear signs of progress”, but acute needs remain and efforts must boost support so the country can “move from survival towards recovery”, UN officials told the Security Council on Monday.

Deadly drone and missile attacks in Ukraine over the weekend represented a “dangerous cycle of escalation” in Russia’s full-scale four-year-old war, the Security Council heard on Monday from Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, while Edem Wosornu, crisis response director at the UN relief office, OCHA, warned that “the choices made here can mean the difference between lives saved or lives lost.”

Escalating violence in and around the Sudanese city of El Obeid is putting civilians at increased risk and disrupting essential services, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday. 

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called on the international community to strengthen support for the nearly 42 million people worldwide who have fled their home countries to escape conflict, violence or persecution.

When 19-year-old Stephane Kulimushi looks around the basketball court in Kampala where he trains young refugees, he sees more than players.

As millions of people continue to flee their countries due to war or persecution, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, called on Tuesday for an urgent expansion of refugee resettlement programmes, warning that available places continue to fall short of global needs.

Haiti has opened its first State-supported safe house for survivors of sexual violence with support from the UN, marking a significant step in responding to the growing crisis affecting women and girls.

Global forced displacement has decreased for the first time in a decade, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Thursday, though the figure remains unacceptably high and tens of millions of people are still trapped in prolonged exile with little prospect of rebuilding their lives.

Escalating gang violence across Haiti has pushed displacement to record levels, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis and leaving nearly 1.5 million people without a stable place to live, according to new figures released Friday by the UN migration agency, IOM.

The UN and its partners are continuing efforts to contain Ebola outbreaks in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, while warning that insecurity and misinformation remain major obstacles to the response.

As the world approaches nine years since the mass displacement of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has appealed to the international community not to abandon the 1.2 million refugees living in the country, most of them in camps in Cox’s Bazar.

The UN has expressed deep concern over escalating hostilities in Lebanon following intensified Israeli airstrikes in southern Beirut and across southern parts of the country.

On 23 February 2022, in her home city of Kharkiv, Dr Inna Soldatenko finished work, collected her daughter from school, cooked dinner and prepared a lecture for her students. The next morning, she awoke to explosions.

A symbolic team of famous footballers with first hand experience of life as a refugee was announced on Tuesday by UNHCR, just weeks ahead of the world’s biggest sporting event – the FIFA Men’s World Cup.

What do more than half of all doctors in Australia, over 40 per cent of Nobel laureates from the United States, and most of the workforce in some Gulf States have in common? 

Civilians who have fled the war in Sudan and sought shelter in neighbouring Egypt could potentially face a new battle – the loss of critical services that ensure their survival, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned. 

Restricting migration does not stop people from moving. It often pushes them into more dangerous routes.

In South Sudan, the UN aid coordination office [OCHA] reported on Thursday that conflict and flooding continue to drive displacement and food insecurity higher throughout the country.

UN-led efforts are continuing to ensure that all countries can benefit and regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it increasingly shapes our economies, societies and daily lives.

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. 

A UN vehicle standards forum has approved the first global regulations for fully autonomous driving systems (ADS), marking a major step towards the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles. 

The way societies talk about ageing can shape everything from public policy to people's own expectations of later life, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said on Wednesday in a new report that calls  for shifting away from narratives that portray older persons as a burden. 

Young people working on promoting peace in some of the world’s most fragile and polarized places say financial support remains essential, but money alone will not sustain their efforts to organize youth to participate in peacebuilding.

With the World Cup just days away, 16 greats of the game have been appointed Football for the Goals (FFTG) Champions, using their profiles to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advocate for a better future for people and the planet.

Disruptions to global energy supplies and trade corridors are driving up the cost of food, transport and essential goods worldwide, slowing economic growth and increasing pressure on vulnerable households and debt-strapped developing countries.

It can be annoying when the wifi signal is cut, but what about if everything digital we rely on were to crash suddenly – from satellites to life-support systems in hospitals?

Indonesia is expecting a “strengthened multilateral system that delivers real impact on the ground,” as one of the key outcomes of the ongoing reform of the United Nations, that’s according to the country’s outgoing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Cooperation, Tri Tharyat.

With spending on advertising topping $1 trillion a year worldwide, the United Nations on Wednesday highlighted the untapped power of major brands to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence, warning that a failure to act could deepen a global information integrity crisis.

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.