News

In the past decade, the UN has bemoaned the chronically low level of participation by Afghan women and girls in decision-making bodies and in secondary and higher education. 

A senior UN official has warned against the impact of regional escalation on Syria as the country continues on the path to political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime last December and nearly 14 years of devastating civil war. 

At least 14 civilians were reportedly killed and more than 100 injured in Kyiv overnight into Tuesday, as Russian drone and missile strikes struck multiple Ukrainian cities in one of the heaviest nights of bombing in months.

Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of people killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. 

From the high Himalayas down to sea level, climate change is no longer a distant threat for children in Nepal and the Maldives – it is a daily struggle: landslides tear through mountain villages washing away homes and farms, while rising seas surge over island shorelines, threatening to swallow entire communities.

In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwandan-backed rebels, Congolese troops, and allied militias have all committed human rights abuses, some possibly amounting to war crimes, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in Geneva on Monday.

The UN Secretary-General is set to launch a global campaign to boost support for disarmament and mine action. 

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) announced on Monday that it is cutting global staffing costs by around 30 per cent, following a comprehensive review of its activities, spending, staffing and structure, prompted by major funding shortfalls.

Eighty years after the United Nations was established to end war, uphold fundamental human rights and promote justice and international law, those founding principles are increasingly under threat, the UN’s human rights chief warned on Monday. 

Since conflict erupted in Sudan, more than a million people have fled to neighbouring South Sudan, seeking refuge from escalating violence that has displaced 12.4 million people and plunged over half the Sudanese population into food insecurity. 

Facing the most severe funding shortfall in the history of humanitarian aid, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher on Monday announced a “hyper-prioritised” appeal for $29 billion to meet urgent global needs. 

After a weekend of massive strikes and counter-strikes between Tel Aviv and Tehran, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk on Monday condemned the violence and echoed wider calls for a negotiated end to the attacks. Meanwhile in Gaza, aid workers report that mobile communications networks continue to be cut in the shattered enclave. We’ll be covering these developments and more across the UN system and beyond today, thanks for joining us. UN News app users can follow our live coverage here.