United Nations

Efforts by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver desperately needed food supplies to northern Gaza resumed on Tuesday but were largely unsuccessful, the agency reported.

An independent UN housing rights expert condemned on Tuesday the arbitrary destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure during conflicts, comparing the ongoing bombardment of Gaza with strikes against Dresden during the Second World War.

With only nine months remaining before the polls in December, South Sudan is not ready to hold elections and a lot more needs to be done, the head of UN peace operations said on Tuesday.

The UN Secretary-General reiterated his deep concern on Tuesday over the “rapidly deteriorating” security situation in Haiti as violent gangs tighten their grip on the country in the wake of a jailbreak at the weekend which saw nearly 4,000 criminals return to the streets.

Widespread sexual abuse of children in the entertainment industry must be urgently stamped out, an independent UN expert told the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, presenting hard-hitting findings and recommendations on how to end the scourge.

Drug dealers have continued to use cutting-edge digital technology, social media platforms and disinformation to sell their illegal produce, fuelling narcotics consumption globally, a UN-backed report launched on Tuesday showed. 

Progress on women’s representation in national legislatures was “slow and mixed” in 2023, registering a growth of 0.4 per cent over the preceding year, the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) reported on Tuesday.

Climate change is disproportionately affecting the incomes of rural women, the poor and older populations, who also have the least capacity to adapt to extreme weather events, a new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed on Tuesday.

A rare opportunity to deliver desperately needed supplies to hospitals in northern Gaza for the first time in months has been welcomed by UN humanitarians who on Tuesday issued a fresh alert about “appalling” conditions in medical facilities where more children risk are battling life-threatening malnutrition.

The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Ghada Waly has highlighted the threats of transnational organized crime, terrorism and corruption that is plaguing Somalia.

Following a 17-day visit to Israel, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict reported on Monday that she and a team of experts had found “clear and convincing information” of rape and sexualized torture being committed against hostages seized during the 7 October terror attacks.

Dozens of elections taking place this year around the world will likely be “free from hatred” and respect the will of the people, but there are warning signs that several polls may not, including Bangladesh, Chad, Hungary, Russia and Senegal, UN rights chief Volker Türk warned on Monday.

Ambassadors in the UN General Assembly again discussed on Monday the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the critical work of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which is facing an existential threat, hearing a briefing by its Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, and holding a heated debate on the US veto of the latest Security Council draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war-torn enclave.

Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza continued in Egypt for a second day on Monday as the UN’s top rights official warned that the war there risked morphing into a much “wider conflagration” enveloping every country in the Middle East and beyond. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for action now to protect nature in his message to mark World Wildlife Day on Sunday.

A senior official with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for wider and safer humanitarian access in Gaza, where malnourished babies are slowly dying while the world watches.

More funding is needed to support small island developing States (SIDS) on the frontlines of climate change, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Saturday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The UN Security Council has underscored the need to protect civilians in Gaza in the wake of the deadly incident at an aid convoy on Thursday. 

Over 400 million people globally need hearing aids, a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals, but only 20 per cent get them due to lack of financial and human resources, as well as stigma. 

The Gaza conflict “is also a war on women”, who continue to suffer its devastating impacts, the UN agency championing gender equality has said.