The world is witnessing an alarming erosion of respect for international law, with conflicts increasingly targeting civilians and heightening the risk of atrocity crimes, warns the United Nations’ newly appointed Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) chief on Monday urged the UN Security Council to uphold core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights, warning that Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to undermine European security.
Civilians in Ukraine are facing almost daily attacks and growing hardship as Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches the four-year mark, UN human rights investigators said in a new report issued on Tuesday.
Mothers who’ve been left starving in Gaza are now giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
Civilians across Ukraine endured a surge in deadly strikes over the weekend, with the UN warning of an “alarming pattern” of intensifying hostilities and mounting damage to essential services as temperatures continue to drop.
A year after the fall of the Assad regime opened the door to political and judicial reform, Syria’s future is still precarious.
The UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that Israeli police raided its compound in East Jerusalem early on Monday, representing “a new challenge to international law.”
The UN and partners are seeking $23 billion to provide lifesaving support next year to 87 million people worldwide affected by war, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics and crop failures.
As Sudan’s civil war intensified on Monday, top UN officials condemned the killing of dozens of children in drone strikes in South Kordofan state – and the targeting of first responders trying to help the wounded.
Talking to journalists earlier this week on his final day as the first UN Global Advocate for Persons with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations, Giles Duley said he felt he had failed in his core mission. More importantly, he added, the system itself has failed.
The UN Secretary-General has marked the first anniversary of the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, calling the moment “a day to honor [Syrians’] sacrifices and to renew the aspirations that fueled the historic change in the country.”
The United Nations on Friday welcomed a newly signed peace accord between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda as a “critical step” toward restoring trust, while warning that active fighting near border areas continue to exact a heavy toll on civilians.