It’s the season to take on global challenges, from forging a healthier planet to putting the brakes on nuclear weapons, as world leaders and leading experts land at UN Headquarters in New York in mid-September for the General Assembly’s annual High-Level Week to chart a path towards a better, safer, greener future for all.
A surge in the development of powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools is already improving lives but is also bringing fresh urgency to calls for regulation, as more and more governments wake up to the risks. Effective global regulation to ensure that AI is developed safely for the benefit of all is urgently needed.
Ensuring that world leaders consider the impact their actions will have on the billions yet to be born this century, whilst addressing the inclusion of young people in important national and global decision-making, are central to the UN’s landmark Summit of the Future.
Some of the world’s poorest countries spend more on debt repayments than health, education and infrastructure combined, severely hampering their chances of developing their economies. The UN is calling for an overhaul of the entire international financial system, to reduce inequality and improve people’s lives.
With conflict and violence at record levels, the UN Member States have called on Secretary-General António Guterres to come up with a template for a more peaceful, secure world. The “New Agenda for Peace” will be a key component of the Summit of the Future, a landmark event to be held at UN Headquarters this September.
The UN and other bodies set up in the wake of World War Two, are struggling to cope effectively with today’s global threats and challenges. At a landmark event in New York this September, world leaders will consider far-reaching plans to shake up international institutions and bring about major reforms for a safer, fairer future for all.
Left unchecked, artificial intelligence (AI) could destabilize democratic systems by spreading disinformation, fueling hate speech and distorting public opinion through deepfakes, the UN Secretary-General has warned.
The civil war in Sudan has brought to country’s health system to its knees. UN mobile health teams are attempting to plug the gaps, crossing conflict zones to help pregnant women to give birth in safety.
Around 560,000 children under ten have been successfully vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency campaign in the Gaza Strip, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.
UN humanitarians are rushing to assist scores of newly displaced people in northeast Nigeria, after torrential rains caused a dam to collapse and flood the area, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
The Iranian Government has intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and crush remaining initiatives of women’s activism, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent investigators warned in an update released on Friday.
Amid continuing prohibited weapons transfers to Ukraine and Russia during the ongoing war, top disarmament and legal officials issued calls on Friday for parties to the conflict to abide by international law and protect civilians.