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The UN political affairs chief underscored the urgent need for a ceasefire in Ukraine in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. 

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed “deep concern” over rising tensions between India and Pakistan since the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir a week ago in which 26 tourists were killed.

The UN Secretary-General has warned that the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine is nearing collapse, urging world leaders to take bold, irreversible steps to preserve hopes for lasting peace.

Faced with mounting debt and economic stagnation, middle-income countries have issued a call for financial reform, sustainable investment, and a roadmap to escape the so-called “middle-income trap,” at a UN-backed international conference held in Manila, Philippines, which concluded on Tuesday.

Aftershocks continue to sow fear across Myanmar, where millions remain in desperate need of humanitarian aid a full month since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed more than 3,800 people and injured 5,100. 

Afghanistan’s escalating humanitarian crisis is being compounded by the mass return of its nationals from neighbouring countries, UN aid agencies warned on Tuesday.

The Security Council is discussing the situation in the Middle East, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot presiding. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has briefed ambassadors as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, with reports from the UN Palestine refugee relief agency (UNRWA) this morning that children are “going to bed starving” amid the two-month Israeli aid blockade and continuing bombardment. App users can follow coverage here.

The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade that has left families eating barely enough to survive amid daily bombings – and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help.

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is deepening as escalating violence blocks aid deliveries and forces thousands more civilians to flee, the UN warned on Monday.

A new UN initiative aims to drive collective action to support the rights and needs of people everywhere whose lives have been upended by the continuing threat posed terrorism. 

Facing a staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap for development and mounting trade wars, top UN officials on Monday called for urgent action to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and revive international cooperation.

Thousands of lives have been “destroyed in the pursuit of supremacy”, as international humanitarian law has been “dismissed” and “cast aside”, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, on Monday.