News

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees appealed on Thursday for more solutions to address forced displacement in his final address to the General Assembly. 

From Gaza to Ukraine and beyond, conflict has caused widespread death and destruction, but it has also devastated natural resources such as water systems, farmland and forests. 

The United Nations said on Thursday that Israeli authorities have rejected more than 100 requests to bring relief materials into Gaza since the ceasefire began nearly a month ago.

As world leaders gather in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday called for urgent action to drive down global temperatures and keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.

Tropical forests, vital allies in the fight against climate breakdown, are vanishing at an alarming rate. On Thursday, in a bid to help reverse this trend, Brazil launched a new initiative at a summit of world leaders in Belém, the gateway to the Amazon.

The Second World Summit for Social Development concluded in Doha on Thursday with calls for countries to move swiftly from commitments to implementation, ensuring that the Doha Political Declaration delivers measurable progress on poverty reduction, decent work and social inclusion.

Civil society networks and private sector leaders crossed paths in the buzzing corridors of the Qatar National Convention Centre, a reminder that social development is not just debated in meetings rooms – it touches jobs, families and futures.

As the Second World Summit for Social Development continued in Doha on Wednesday, governments warned that global progress risks stalling unless social protection, equality and peace are prioritised – and backed with political and financial commitment.

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has fallen by 20 per cent compared to last year, continuing a dramatic decline since the introduction of a nationwide ban under the Taliban in 2022 – but synthetic drugs and shifting trafficking routes are posing new challenges.

UN agencies are stepping up relief operations to help civilians fleeing the escalating violence in Sudan’s North Darfur state, where fighting has triggered widespread abuses and mass displacement, Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Wednesday.

The UN is ready to support Sudan and South Sudan in resuming talks on the disputed Abyei border region, the Security Council heard on Wednesday. 

The push to put social justice at the heart of global policymaking took centre stage at the Second World Summit for Social Development on Wednesday, as leaders gathered for a high-level forum to drive coordinated action in delivering the newly adopted Doha Political Declaration.