United Nations

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.

Artificial intelligence solutions that transform the way food assistance reaches people facing hunger were on display during an exhibition at an AI meeting this week 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. 

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. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Wednesday for warring parties in Sudan to take urgent steps to protect civilians after at least 57 people were killed in separate drone strikes over two days this week. 

Libya’s prolonged political stalemate, worsening economic conditions and an emerging split within the judiciary pose mounting risks to the country’s unity, the UN’s top envoy for the country, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, told the Security Council on Wednesday.

At least 52 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar on 10 February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday, citing the authorities.

Palestinian Walid Al-Assi was playing with his young granddaughter this week, promising to take her to the market in Gaza City with the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan as his family had done before the Israel-Hamas war, but now circumstances had changed.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Back-to-back cyclones in Madagascar have left more than 400,000 people in need of food assistance, according to estimates by the UN World Food Programme (WFP), while roads, power lines and homes have been severely damaged.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Israel’s decision to resume land registration procedures in a large part of the occupied West Bank, his Spokesman said on Monday. 

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.

More than 60 years after the UN launched its formal decolonization drive, Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday urged renewed commitment to completing the unfinished business of ending colonial rule.

The Tawila camp for internally displaced in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region is home to more than half a million people who live in makeshift huts of sticks, hay and plastic sheeting.

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.

Calling for sweeping reforms of global institutions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told African leaders on Saturday that the absence of permanent African seats on the Security Council is “indefensible,” declaring: “This is 2026 – not 1946.”