News

The world is facing a health financing emergency, according to Dr. Kalipso Chalkidou, Director for Health Financing and Economics for the World Health Organization (WHO).

Although record numbers of people – over 122 million worldwide – have been uprooted due to war, violence and persecution, their ability to find safety and support is threatened more than ever. 

Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave’s people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. 

One week since the Israel-Iran conflict erupted, diplomatic efforts to end the war are ramping up in Geneva today as foreign ministers from France, Germany, the UK and the European Union prepare to meet their Iranian counterpart. In New York, meanwhile, the UN Security Council is also set to discuss this latest worrying escalation, against the backdrop of the ongoing emergency in Gaza. We’ll be covering these developments and more across the UN system today,. UN News app users can follow here.

Last year, 41,370 grave violations against children were documented and verified by the United Nations, according to the Secretary-General’s annual report on children in armed conflict, released on Thursday.  

As deadly missile exchanges between Israel and Iran enter a second week, the United Nations is sounding alarm over the growing toll on civilians, warning of mass displacement and regional instability.

Sexual violence in conflict is a tactic of war, torture and terror. It does not only devastate survivors but also tears apart families and communities. The trauma, shame and stigma are borne by victims, not perpetrators – echoing across generations. 

Of the 122 million people globally displaced by persecution, violence or human rights violations, 42.7 million are refugees who have fled across borders, according to new data from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). 

Global investment fell a full 11 per cent to $1.5 trillion last year – it’s a huge blow for developing nations, the UN trade agency, UNCTAD, said on Thursday.

Of the 700 million people worldwide living in extreme poverty, 40 per cent live in conflict-affected or fragile settings and this is on track to worsen, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday. 

Just days before Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, the UN watchdog agency monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities warned that the country was in violation of its non-proliferation commitments. 

More than 100 days into Israel’s complete fuel blockade in Gaza, UN agencies still in the shattered enclave warned on Thursday that vital services are only “hours away” from shutting down.