UN Photo/Manuel Elias
UN rights experts call on Philippines Government to halt ‘unacceptable attacks’ on Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
1 May 2019
Human Rights
False claims levelled at the UN expert on the rights of indigenous peoples by her own Government in the Philippines, “are without grounding in fact or law” and must cease immediately, said a statement issued by a group of her fellow experts on Wednesday.
SDG Action Campaign
Thursday’s Daily Brief: Press Freedom Day, Tuna Day, cultural dialogue, #GlobalGoals awards, updates on Syria, Somalia, Mali
2 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
This Thursday, top stories include: the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day and World Tuna Day, events for inter-cultural dialogue in Azerbaijan and for Global Goals action in Germany, and updates from Syria, Somalia and Mali.
UNICEF/Grove Hermansen
Grave concern over escalating humanitarian crisis, casualties, displacement across northwest Syria: UN
2 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN has said it is “gravely concerned” over reports of a worsening humanitarian situation facing civilians across northwest Syria, with rising casualties, and “waves of displacement” due to intensifying conflict.
UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi
Not faith, ‘but those who manipulate the faithful’ driving wedge between religions, UN-backed forum in Baku told
2 May 2019
Culture and Education
Following a string of hate-fuelled attacks on places of worship around the world, the High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations (UNOAC), said on Thursday that it was with a “heavy heart” that he was opening the annual UN-backed forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the role of cultural dialogue in building human solidarity and countering violence.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
A free press is ‘cornerstone’ for accountability and ‘speaking truth to power’: Guterres
2 May 2019
Culture and Education
At a time when disinformation and mistrust of the news media is growing, a free press is “essential for peace, justice, sustainable development and human rights”, said the UN Secretary-General, in his message for World Press Freedom Day, marked on Friday.
Ziemowit Porębski
FROM THE FIELD: New sensors protect vulnerable Malawians against deadly lightning
2 May 2019
Economic Development
The deadly threat of lightning strikes, as well as their damaging impact on a country’s development, has been recognized in a new project supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Photo: Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Azerbaijan
Baku forum to push back against ‘rise of hate’ with strong call for cultural and religious tolerance, says UN official
1 May 2019
Culture and Education
Just off a plane from Sri Lanka, Miguel Angel Moratinos, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations (UNOAC), said on Wednesday that tomorrow’s 5th World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue is opening at a “very timely” moment.
UNHCR/Vincent Tremeau
Venezuela: UN human rights office calls for ‘maximum restraint’ by authorities in face of new demonstrations
1 May 2019
Human Rights
With another day of mass protests taking place across Venezuela, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Wednesdayit was “extremely worried by reports of the excessive use of force” by security forces, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, a day after an opposition-led uprising appeared to stall.
IMO/Lee Adamson
FROM THE FIELD: Stopping aquatic hitchhikers to safeguard environments at sea
1 May 2019
SDGs
A plan to protect the global marine environment from the dangers of non-indigenous invasive aquatic species has been launched by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO).
© UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Wednesday’s Daily brief: Day 3 of anti-hatred summit, UNFPA turns 50, Ben Stiller #WithRefugees, updates on Abyei and Venezuela
1 May 2019
Human Rights
This Wednesday, our top stories cover: leaders gathered in Geneva to tackle hate speech; the 50th birthday of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA); Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller advocating for Syrian refugees in the USA; human rights issues in the Philippines and in Venezuela; and an update on the UN peacekeeping misson in Abyei.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard
End ‘political opportunism’ that’s letting hate speech flourish, urges top UN genocide official
1 May 2019
Human Rights
With murderous attacks against religious institutions on the rise, leaders across the world need to do more to end “political opportunism” and policies which allow hate speech and violent extremism to flourish, said the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on Wednesday.LATEST NEWS
UN
Deadly violence at Israel-Gaza border escalates dangerously: UN chief condemns in strongest terms
5 May 2019
Peace and Security
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, is following with “deep concern” the latest developments across the Gaza-Israeli border and urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint. Over the weekend, hundreds of rockets were launched from the Occupied Palestinian Territory into southern Israel, and Israel retaliated with hundreds of airstrikes and tank fire.
UNICEF/Vishwanathan
International Day of the Midwife: 5 things you should know
5 May 2019
Women
Why are midwives important? What impact have they had on mothers’ and babies’ health? As the United Nations celebrates midwives across the world on Sunday, here are five things you should know about the critical role they play in communities.
Mohamed Mahmoud Awad
'Grave consequences' await if new deadly escalation of violence in Gaza continues - top UN official
4 May 2019
Peace and Security
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, is “deeply concerned by yet another dangerous escalation in Gaza and the tragic loss of life”. According to news reports, approximately 200 rockets were fired on Saturday from the Occupied Palestinian Territory towards Israel, and various Israeli airstrikes were carried out in retaliation.
Eric Cuvillier/Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan
UN-backed intercultural dialogue forum urged to keep working to ‘bridge gap between the like-minded’
3 May 2019
Culture and Education
As a United Nations-baked intercultural forum drew to a close in Baku, Azerbaijan, the participants agreed that the journey to a better world, fuelled by the discussions over the past two days, including the important input by youth, will continue moving forward.
OCHA/Vincent Tremeau
Cyclone Fani hits India, UN moves to protect vulnerable refugees in Bangladesh
3 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
One of the strongest storms to batter India in decades made landfall near the northeastern coastal city of Puri on Friday morning. UN agencies are monitoring Cyclone Fani’s movements closely and taking measures to protect families living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, which is on alert.
Audio - 3'8" Playlist
UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi
Engaging world’s youth vital to preventing violent extremism, building sustainable peace, UN official tells Baku Forum
3 May 2019
Culture and Education
The spotlight for the second and final day of the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan, shined brightly on youth, with a lively discussion on the vital role young people play in countering and preventing violent extremism.
WFP/James Belgrave
Friday’s Daily Brief: hunger in North Korea, human rights in Iran, updates on DR Congo and Benin
3 May 2019
Peace and Security
This Friday, we cover: a worrying food crisis in the Democratic Republic of North Korea; attacks against civilians in DR Congo; outrage after the execution of child offenders in Iran; concerns over a super cereal distributed by the World Food Programme; and post-electoral violence in Benin.
Audio - 3'9" Playlist
WFP/James Belgrave
North Korean families facing deep ‘hunger crisis’ after worst harvest in 10 years, UN food assessment shows
3 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
More than 10 million North Koreans are suffering “severe food shortages” after the worst harvest in a decade, according to a United Nations food security assessmentreleased on Friday.
UNHCR/Mark Henley
Migrants, asylum seekers detained in Hungary ‘deliberately deprived of food’: UN human rights office
3 May 2019
Human Rights
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday it was alarmed by reports that migrants and asylum seekers who are being held in Hungarian detention centres are being “deliberately deprived of food in contravention of international laws and standards”.
Photo: Ministry of Tourism and CultureAzerbaijan
Inclusion, equality a must for ‘long-lasting peace and sustainable development’, UN official tells high-level event in Baku
2 May 2019
Culture and Education
Exclusion and deep inequality will forever thwart “long-lasting peace and sustainable development”, a high-level official from the United Nations cultural agency said on Thursday at the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.
LATEST NEWS
Public Domain
Tuesday’s Daily Brief: prize-winning journalists freed in Myanmar, new tracking tool for suspected terrorists, and a global bid to stop snakebite deaths
7 May 2019
Human Rights
This Tuesday, we cover: the release of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar; how to detect and disrupt terrorist travel; escalation in Syria fighting; an update from the World Food Programme on Yemen; and how the UN is working to reduce snakebite deaths.
Audio - 4'7" Playlist
Photo: UNHCR/Ivor Prickett
UN launches innovative programme to detect and disrupt terrorist travel
7 May 2019
Law and Crime Prevention
A new programme aimed at improving the tracking of suspected terrorists, using state-of-the-art software, was launched by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) on Tuesday.
Audio - 7'45" Playlist
UNMISS
Better training ‘a necessary and strategic investment’ in peacekeeping that saves lives: Guterres
7 May 2019
Peace and Security
Better training for peacekeepers being deployed to increasingly hostile environments is a “necessary and strategic” investment which can also save lives, the UN Secretary-General told Security Council members on Tuesday.
UNICEF/Watad
Escalation in Syria fighting cause for ‘great concern’ says UN chief, dozens more civilians dead or injured
7 May 2019
Peace and Security
UN chief António Guterres has said that he’s following “with great concern” intensifying clashes in north-western Syria that have claimed yet more civilian lives and displaced thousands in recent days.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
Release of prize-winning Reuters journalists in Myanmar welcomed by UN
7 May 2019
Human Rights
The release of two prize-winning Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after reporting on the massacre of Rohingya Muslims has been welcomed by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, which warns however that press freedom there remains “dire”.
World Bank/Dana Smillie
UN and African Union in ‘common battle’ for development and climate change financing
6 May 2019
Climate Change
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a “quantum leap” in funding for development and climate change for Africa, speaking to journalists on Monday, following the plenary meeting of the latest United Nations-African Union (AU) Conference, which took place in New York.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Cameroon: Clear ‘window of opportunity’ to solve crises rooted in violence - Bachelet
6 May 2019
Human Rights
The UN human rights chief on Monday welcomed Cameroon’s willingness to cooperate over finding workable solutions to “major human rights and humanitarian crises”, caused by months of serious unrest and violence across the west and north of the country.
© FAO/Zinyange Auntony
Monday’s Daily Brief: biodiversity and forests, labour and road safety, women’s rights, and fallen UN staff remembered
6 May 2019
Climate Change
This Monday, we cover: how one million species face extinction; the importance of safeguarding forests; a look at labour inequalities worldwide; efforts to tackle road safety; a new intergenerational campaign for the realization of women’s rights; and a memorial service honouring fallen UN staff.
Audio - 3'39" Playlist
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN honours fallen colleagues and friends who ‘risk all to promote peace’
6 May 2019
UN Affairs
The lives of 115 colleagues who lost their lives between the beginning of last year and the end of March, serving the United Nations, were honoured on Monday at the annual Memorial Service for Fallen Staff, in New York.
UNDP Ecuador
World is ‘on notice’ as major UN report shows one million species face extinction
6 May 2019
SDGs
A hard-hitting report into the impact of humans on nature shows that nearly one million species risk becoming extinct within decades, while current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely fail without radical action, UN biodiversity experts said on Monday.LATEST NEWS
Peter Schmidt
FROM THE FIELD: ‘Race is on’ to halt biodiversity loss in Indonesia
9 May 2019
Climate Change
The “race is on” in Indonesia to halt the illegal trade in wildlife and the loss of biodiversity according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
United Nations
New SDG Advocates sign up for ‘peace, prosperity, people’ and planet, on the road to 2030
9 May 2019
SDGs
As the UN and partners around the world push towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, six new influential public figures came on board as official SDG Advocates on Thursday, committing themselves to the pursuit of the 17 goals on behalf of “peace, prosperity, people, planet, and partnerships.”
UNOCHA/Giles Clarke
‘Abhorrent’ ambulance attack in Libyan capital imperils life-saving work, warns UN
9 May 2019
Peace and Security
An attack on an ambulance in Tripoli on Wednesday that has critically injured the head of emergency services in Libya’s war-torn capital, along with two paramedics, has been strongly condemned by UN humanitarians.
WHO/Junior Kannah
Wednesday’s Daily Brief: updates from the Near East and Libya, Ebola in DR Congo, World War remembrance
8 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
On Wednesday, we cover: chronic hunger in the Middle East; the toll of war on Gazans; the one-year-long detention of an academic in Iran; Syrian health facilities under attack; Ebola casualties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo hitting the 1,000 mark; and a two-day remembrance effort for those who died during the Second World War.
Audio - 2'31" Playlist
UN Photo / Loey Felipe
Arrest of three Libyans wanted for grave crimes ‘would send strong and necessary message’ to victims, urges top Prosecutor
8 May 2019
Law and Crime Prevention
The arrest and transfer of three men in Libya who are wanted on war crimes charges – including the son of former ruler Muammar Gadaffi - would “send a strong and necessary message” to victims, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Audio - 3'49" Playlist
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
DR Congo: Ebola claims over 1,000 lives, Guterres commits ‘whole’ UN system, to help ‘end the outbreak’
8 May 2019
Health
Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of “the whole United Nations system” into stemming the spread of the deadly virus.
WFP/Justin Smith
Sahel crisis reaching unprecedented levels, warn top UN humanitarian officials
8 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Repeated and increasingly sophisticated armed attacks in the Sahel and food shortages linked to last year’s severe drought, have reached unprecedented levels, putting the future of a “whole generation” at stake, three top UN humanitarian officials said on Wednesday.
Audio - 18'55" Playlist
© UNICEF/Taha Almahbashi
Around 52 million in Near East, North Africa, suffering chronic undernourishment, new UN food agency report reveals
8 May 2019
SDGs
Hunger continues to rise as conflicts and protracted crises have worsened in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA), which is likely to affect food security for years to come, warned the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday.
UNRWA/Khalil Adwan
Hundreds of wounded Gaza protesters risk limb amputation without immediate help, warns top UN official
8 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Millions of dollars in emergency funding is needed in Gaza to save the shattered limbs of some 1,700 people who have been seriously injured in demonstrations against Israel along the border fence, a top UN humanitarian official said on Wednesday.
Audio - 8'11" Playlist
UN OCHA/Giles Clarke
FROM THE FIELD: Faces and Voices of Conflict
8 May 2019
Peace and Security
“I want the war to stop, I want to go home and I want to go to school” - the melancholy words of a 15-year-old Ola who has been caught up in the civil war in Yemen; her story is one of many which features in a photo exhibition called Caught in Conflict put on by the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) in the United States.
LATEST NEWS
UNICEF/Taha Almahbashi
As Houthi forces withdraw from key Yemeni ports, UN monitoring chief welcomes 'first practical step on the ground'
10 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
As Yemenis continue to finalize redeployment procedures in line with the UN-brokered Hudaydah Agreement, under which Government coalition and rebel leaders are to pull forces out of the key port city of Hudaydah, the Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee on Friday welcomed an offer by the Houthi opposition to begin a unilateral withdrawal.
OCHA/Philippe Kropf
Friday’s Daily Brief: human rights in Colombia, Myanmar and Nigeria, global displacement, and more
10 May 2019
Human Rights
This Friday, we cover: the UN calling for an end to attacks against human rights defenders; a record number of displaced due to conflict and disasters; human rights issues in Myanmar; 900 children released from the ranks of a north-east Nigeria self-defense armed group; and referenda asking for the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala to be examined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Audio - 9'43" Playlist
Olga Lavrushko
Ensuring the ‘lungs of the planet’ keep us alive: 5 things you need to know about forests and the UN
10 May 2019
Climate Change
Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up on Friday in New York, we delve deeper into the subject, and find out what the UN is doing to safeguard and protect them.
UNDP Samoa
Paradise islands of Pacific increasingly vulnerable to climate change, as UN boosts resilience
10 May 2019
Climate Change
A seeming paradise, life on the Pacific islands is threatened by climate change and extreme weather, frustrated by remoteness and a lack of educational and economic opportunities. Secretary-General António Guterres begins a visit to the region this weekend, where he will speak to people living on some of the islands and see for himself how the UN is helping to mitigate some of the biggest issues.
Audio - 9'43" Playlist
UN Colombia/Bibiana Moreno
Colombia: ‘Terrible trend’ of rights defenders killed, harassed; UN calls for ‘significant effort’ to tackle impunity
10 May 2019
Human Rights
Alarmed by the “strikingly high number” of human rights defenders being killed, harassed and threatened in Colombia, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in the country on Friday, called on authorities to “make a significant effort” to “tackle the endemic impunity” surrounding these cases.
UNICEF
Nearly 900 children released by north-east Nigeria armed group
10 May 2019
Peace and Security
The decision by a large armed group based in north-east Nigeria to release nearly 900 youngsters has been welcomed by UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which has warned that those freed will need long-term help if they are to lead a normal life in the future.
CITES
African elephants under continued threat of poaching, warns UN-backed report
10 May 2019
Culture and Education
An updated assessment by a United Nations Environment Programme-administered treaty has confirmed that poaching continues to threaten the long-term survival of the African elephant.
UNDP Comoros/James Stapley
Climate change: ‘A moral, ethical and economic imperative’ to slow global warming say UN leaders, calling for more action
9 May 2019
Climate Change
It is nothing less than a “moral, ethical and economic imperative” to take more action to mitigate the existential threat posed by climate change, said top executives from across the United Nations system on Thursday.
Brett Matthews
Thursday’s Daily Brief: ambulance attack in Libya, #GlobalGoals defenders, human rights in Cambodia, Swine Fever
9 May 2019
SDGs
On Thursday, we cover: a tragic attack against an ambulance in Libya; six new advocates for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; a call for a change in political culture in Cambodia; and how Swine Fever in China is affecting global food prices.
Audio - 4'3" Playlist
UN News/Patrick Newman
From his room with a view, UN chief takes to Instagram with an eye on hope and a brighter future
9 May 2019
UN Affairs
United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres has long highlighted the importance of young people in addressing the challenges confronting the world. And on 4 May, he took a page from their book and opened an Instagram account, reinforcing his role as the UN’s “lead influencer”.
LATEST NEWS
UNICEF/UNI28581/Ron Haviv
‘Hateful attacks’ pushing Sri Lanka backwards, UN advisers warn, urging an end to ‘discriminatory practices’ that feed intolerance
14 May 2019
Peace and Security
Growing instances of religious-based violence in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka have prompted two United Nations Special Advisers to call for an end to “hateful attacks” directed towards the country’s Muslim minority.
World Bank/Miso Lisanin
UN health agency highlights lifestyle choices that can prevent onset of dementia, as millions more succumb each year
14 May 2019
Health
Key lifestyle choices such as getting regular exercise, not smoking or drinking too much, can reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline, the UN health agency said on Tuesday.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
In Christchurch, UN chief calls for tolerance, solidarity to extinguish ‘wildfire’ of hate speech
13 May 2019
Culture and Education
On a three-day visit to New Zealand, UN Secretary-General António Guterres paid his respects to the victims of the horrific mosque attacks in Christchurch, where dozens of Muslims were gunned down in two separate incidents during Friday prayers on 15 March.
UN Environment
‘Disaster resilient’ farming reduces agriculture risks, yields economic gains, says new UN agriculture agency report
13 May 2019
SDGs
A scale of economic gains through easy-to-implement "disaster resilient" farming practices was revealed on Monday at the launch of a new study by the United Nations agriculture agency.
IFRC/Benoit Matsha-Carpentier
Monday’s Daily Brief: #ClimateAction for the Pacific, Gaza blockade, attack in Burkina Faso
13 May 2019
Climate Change
This Monday, top stories are: Gaza's aid dependency due to the ongoing blockade; a special focus on climate change and its impact on islands and people of the Pacific; UN condemnation after a deadly attack in Burkina Faso.
Audio - 4'12" Playlist
ECHO/Fadwa Baroud
Gaza blockade causes ‘near ten-fold increase’ in food dependency, says UN agency
13 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
At a time when Muslims globally are observing the holy month of Ramadan, more than half the population in Gaza depends on the international community for food aid, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Monday, citing a “near ten-fold increase” in need.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Climate action: 4 shifts the UN chief encourages Governments to make
12 May 2019
Climate Change
Speaking to young Māoris and people of the Pacific islands in New Zealand on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said “nature does not negotiate” and emphasized four key measures that Governments should prioritize in order to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
OCHA/Otto Bakano
UN condemns deadly attack on Burkina Faso church
12 May 2019
Peace and Security
Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres have voiced their outrage at a deadly attack on a Catholic church in the north of Burkina Faso on Sunday, during which six people were reportedly killed by gunmen.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN chief praises New Zealand premier’s ‘admirable’ response to Christchurch attacks
12 May 2019
Peace and Security
Speaking to media in the New Zealand capital Auckland on Sunday, alongside New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his solidarity with the victims and families of the March Christchurch mosque attacks, which killed 51 people, and praised Ms. Ardern’s leadership in the aftermath of the killings.
NOAA CREP
World Migratory Bird Day highlights deadly risks of plastic pollution
11 May 2019
Climate Change
Saturday marks World Migratory Bird Day which, this year, is raising awareness about the serious threats that plastic pollution poses to bird life, with a call for urgent measures to end the problem.
LATEST NEWS
WFP
‘Starvation’ now a reality for displaced Syrians stranded in camp near Jordanian border
16 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Starvation “is already starting” in a camp for displaced people in south-east Syria, a senior UN official said on Thursday, while condemning ongoing airstrikes and retaliatory shelling in opposition-held territories in the north-west.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN chief lauds Fijians as ‘natural global leaders’ on climate, environment, hails ‘symbiotic relationship’ with land and sea
16 May 2019
Climate Change
Fiji’s strong traditions of community and social responsibility, and its “symbiotic relationship” with its surroundings, has made its people “natural global leaders on climate and the environment”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the nation’s Parliament on Thursday.
WFP/Abeer Etefa
Sudan: UN chief calls for ‘positive momentum’ as civilian rule talks stall between military and opposition
16 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN Secretary-General has commended the progress made so far between Sudan’s military leaders and opposition forces towards agreeing a timetable for a return to civilian rule, following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir just over a month ago.
UNICEF/Kate Holt
Countries must up their game to reduce low birth weights, warns UN-backed report
15 May 2019
Health
Many countries need to invest more and take greater action to reduce the number of babies born with low birth weights which put their health at risk, urges a United Nations-backed report released on Wednesday.
OCHA/Giles Clarke
Wednesday’s Daily Brief: climate challenges for the Pacific, new global health tool, updates on Yemen, the Gulf and Somalia
15 May 2019
Climate Change
This Wednesday, top stories includes: the UN chief’s continued visit in the Pacific to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change; in Yemen, the fatal price that children are paying due to a conflict they did not cause; a new tool to track medical products worldwide; drought in Somalia; and updates on tensions in the Gulf.
Audio - 2'30" Playlist
© UNHCR/Rashed Al Dubai
Yemen war ‘a test of our humanity’, and we’re ‘badly failing’ warns UN Children’s Fund chief
15 May 2019
Peace and Security
“Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives” the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the 15 members of the Security Council on Wednesday, in an impassioned plea for action to end four years of fighting which has left at least 7,300 children killed or seriously injured.
UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek
UN chief outlines ‘intertwined challenges’ of climate change, ocean health facing Pacific nations on the ‘frontline’
14 May 2019
Climate Change
Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Tuesday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.
Audio - 8'17" Playlist
© UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo
Myanmar: Conflict resolution at ‘total standstill’, military commanders must answer for crimes against humanity
14 May 2019
Human Rights
Myanmar’s military commanders must answer charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in a credible court, a United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM) said on Tuesday, urging the international community to cut off all financial and other support to them.
Photo courtesy of 'Come On, Let’s Bike'
Tuesday’s Daily Brief: hate speech, dementia, Libya and Yemen, human rights in Brazil and Lebanon
14 May 2019
Peace and Security
This Tuesday, we cover: the UN chief in New Zealand’s Christchurch calls for end to hate speech; how a healthy lifestyle can prevent dementia; updates on fighting in Libya and Yemen; the human rights of detainees in Lebanon and people affected by leprosy in Brazil.
Audio - 4'8" Playlist
UNMHA
UN monitoring team in Yemen verifies pullout of armed forces from crucial port zones
14 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN team set up to monitor the ceasefire agreement between warring parties in Yemen has formally verified the pullout of armed Ansar Allah, or Houthi forces, from port zones in the country that are crucial to the flow of humanitarian aid, describing cooperation they have received so far as “very good.”
UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek
UN chief outlines ‘intertwined challenges’ of climate change, ocean health facing Pacific nations on the ‘frontline’
14 May 2019
Climate Change
Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Tuesday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.
© UNHCR/Rashed Al Dubai
Yemen war ‘a test of our humanity’, and we’re ‘badly failing’ warns UN Children’s Fund chief
15 May 2019
Peace and Security
“Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives” the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the 15 members of the Security Council on Wednesday, in an impassioned plea for action to end four years of fighting which has left at least 7,300 children killed or seriously injured.
Wednesday’s Daily Brief: climate challenges for the Pacific, new global health tool, updates on Yemen, the Gulf and Somalia
15 May 2019
Climate Change
This Wednesday, top stories includes: the UN chief’s continued visit in the Pacific to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change; in Yemen, the fatal price that children are paying due to a conflict they did not cause; a new tool to track medical products worldwide; drought in Somalia; and updates on tensions in the Gulf.
Countries must up their game to reduce low birth weights, warns UN-backed report
15 May 2019
Health
Many countries need to invest more and take greater action to reduce the number of babies born with low birth weights which put their health at risk, urges a United Nations-backed report released on Wednesday.
LATEST NEWS
© UNHCR/Shadi Abusneida
Deadly Yemen airstrikes that claim children’s lives in capital Sana’a, strongly condemned by UN
17 May 2019
Peace and Security
Thursday’s airstrikes on Yemen’s capital Sana’a that reportedly killed five children and injured dozens more, have been strongly condemned by UN agencies, which have warned of the “brutal toll” on civilians of more than four years of conflict.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Stop Tuvalu and ‘the world from sinking’ UN chief tells island nation facing existential threat from rising seas
17 May 2019
Climate Change
Tuvalu “faces an existential threat from sea-level rise”, the United Nations chief said during his visit to the Pacific island nation on Friday whose highest point is less than five metres above the waves.
MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko
‘The time for action is now’ senior UN peacekeeping official says, urging support for regional force combating Sahel terrorism
16 May 2019
Peace and Security
The five-year-old force working to stabilize Africa’s Sahel has shown great potential, but needs more support from the international community to reach full operational capacity, a top UN peacekeeping official said on Thursday, calling for enhanced political and economic solutions to help tackle the strife-torn region’s myriad challenges.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
‘Climate change is the battle of my life’, UN chief tells students living on the frontline in Fiji
16 May 2019
Climate Change
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres saw the frontline of “the battle against climate change” for himself on Thursday, by taking to the tropical waters of the South Pacific off the coast of Fiji, on a solar-powered boat.
FAO/Manan Vatsyayana
Thursday’s Daily Brief: Ebola in DR Congo, malnutrition in Laos, baby health, support for Sahel force, #ClimateAction
16 May 2019
Climate Change
On Thursday, we cover: more support needed for Sahel force, fears in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as Ebola response funding dwindles; food and nutrition concerns in Laos; an update on low birthweight babies across the world; and the UN chief’s trip for climate action in the Pacific continues.
Audio - 3'6" Playlist
WFP
Humanitarian situation increasingly dire for displaced Syrians stranded in camp near Jordanian border
16 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation has become increasingly dire in a camp for displaced people in south-east Syria, a senior UN official said on Thursday, while condemning ongoing airstrikes and retaliatory shelling in opposition-held territories in the north-west.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN chief lauds Fijians as ‘natural global leaders’ on climate, environment, hails ‘symbiotic relationship’ with land and sea
16 May 2019
Climate Change
Fiji’s strong traditions of community and social responsibility, and its “symbiotic relationship” with its surroundings, has made its people “natural global leaders on climate and the environment”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the nation’s Parliament on Thursday.
WFP/Abeer Etefa
Sudan: UN chief calls for ‘positive momentum’ as civilian rule talks stall between military and opposition
16 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN Secretary-General has commended the progress made so far between Sudan’s military leaders and opposition forces towards agreeing a timetable for a return to civilian rule, following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir just over a month ago.
© UNICEF/Ahmad Al Ahmad
Friday’s Daily Brief: Syria, Yemen airstrikes, Anti-torture panel, Gay rights, Climate change, #Vesak Day
17 May 2019
Peace and Security
On Friday, we cover: Fighting in Syria’s Idlib province; UN condemnation of airstrikes in Yemen; UK’s forced-return policy; LGBTI rights; the UN chief’s climate action trip to Tuvalu; and Vesak Day.
Audio - 3'28" Playlist
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre
Repatriation of extremist fighters and families to Kazakhstan, welcomed by UN rights expert
17 May 2019
Human Rights
Stressing the need for some Governments to reform their laws and policies on fighting terrorism and extremism, an independent UN human rights expert welcomed on Friday Kazakhstan’s repatriation of 231 of its citizens from conflict sites in Syria and Iraq, earlier this month.
Audio - 7'45" Playlist
World Bank/Charlotte Kesl
Are robots sexist? UN report shows gender bias in talking digital tech
17 May 2019
Women
Why do most voice assistants have female names, and why do they have submissive personalities? The answer, says a new report released on Friday by UNESCO, the UN’s Education, Science and Culture agency, is that there are hardly any women working in the technical teams that develop these services and other cutting-edge digital tools.
© UNICEF/Ahmad Al Ahmad
Risk grows of ‘catastrophic humanitarian fallout’ in Syria’s Idlib, where 3 million are trapped: top UN officials urge unity in Security Council
17 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN’s Political and Humanitarian Affairs chiefs on Friday called on the Security Council to unite in support of an immediate de-escalation of fighting around Syria’s Idlib province, and work towards an enduring political solution on behalf of the Syrian people.
© UNICEF/UN0236862/Rich
UN blue helmets in South Sudan use Sustainable Development Goals to help build peace
18 May 2019
SDGs
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has concluded the week by harnessing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to support the nation, including by offering free medical services, encompassing SDG 3’s target on health coverage.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN chief calls for ‘enlightened self-interest’ from world leaders to save ‘the whole planet’ from climate change
18 May 2019
Climate Change
Concluding a week-long visit to the South Pacific, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world’s decision-makers to make “enlightened” choices on climate action because “the whole planet” is at stake.
Promoting ‘a healthy sustainable future’, the UN health agency engages young and young at heart to 'Walk the Talk'
19 May 2019
Health
Celebrating the importance of fitness, on Sunday morning in the Swiss city of Geneva, the United Nations health agency kicked off its second “Walk the Talk: The Health for All Challenge”.
LATEST NEWS
FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico
On World Bee day, human activity blamed for falling pollinator numbers
20 May 2019
UN Affairs
If you think you’re busy, then spare a thought for the world’s bees; for they, along with other insects and animals, are responsible for pollinating more than 75 per cent of the planet’s favourite food crops.
Audio - 4'52" Playlist
UNMISS/Isaac Billy
Cambodia: Giving back to UN peacekeeping
20 May 2019
Peace and Security
It’s an overcast morning, in South Sudan’s capital Juba, and growling thunder announces the start of some light rain. Standing in the drizzle in his military police uniform, is Colonel Channy Vongvannak, the commander of the Cambodian Force Military Police at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko
UPDATED: Guterres condemns armed attack against UN peacekeepers in Mali
20 May 2019
Peace and Security
A violent attack against the United Nation's Integrated Stabilization Mission for Mali (MINUSMA) that left one peacekeeper dead on Saturday, drew strong condemnation from Secretary-General António Guterres
.
UNICEF/Filippov
Children in crisis-torn eastern Ukraine ‘too terrified to learn’ amid spike in attacks on schools
20 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Schoolchildren are bearing long-lasting mental and physical scars of eastern Ukraine’s conflict, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, as the agency warned of an “alarming” increase in attacks on schools during the first four months of 2019.
OCHA/Giles Clarke
Monday’s Daily Brief: WFP mulls ‘last resort’ Yemen aid suspension, top peacekeeping awardee announced, abuzz over Bee Day, Ebola threat ‘very high’
20 May 2019
Peace and Security
This Monday, headline stories include: WFP mulls “last resort” aid suspension in Yemen; highest UN peacekeeping award to be given on Friday; busy pollinators are focus of World Bee Day; Ebola threat still “very high”.
UNOCHA/Giles Clarke
Hunger in Yemen: WFP considers aid suspension in face of repeated interference by some Houthi leaders
20 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
The UN emergency food relief agency said on Monday that without full access and “freedom to decide” who receives lifesaving aid, in Houthi rebel-controlled areas of Yemen, it could be forced to implement a “phased suspension”.
Audio - 4'45" Playlist
MONUSCO
Sacrifice of fallen 'blue helmet' to be honoured with UN’s highest peacekeeping award
20 May 2019
Peace and Security
In recognition of his “brave and selfless” action under fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ̶ saving the life of a fellow ‘blue helmet’ and helping his colleagues repel an armed group ̶ the late Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete, will be honoured with the UN’s highest peacekeeping award this coming Friday, by the UN Secretary-General.
Bruce Beehler
FROM THE FIELD: Saving the tree kangaroos of Papua New Guinea
20 May 2019
SDGs
The survival of an endangered animal which looks part kangaroo and part lemur has been secured thanks to a project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
World Bank/Chhor Sokunthea
Amidst high trade tensions and policy uncertainty, UN cuts economic growth forecast
21 May 2019
Economic Development
Against a backdrop of unresolved trade tensions, high international policy uncertainty and softening business confidence, the UN on Tuesday announced a broad-based slowdown in the global economy and cut its growth predictions.
OCHA/Otto Bakano
Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Libya civil war, African displacement, global trade tensions, terrorists’ children ‘secretly detained’, and more
21 May 2019
Peace and Security
Tuesday’s stories include: Libya facing “permanent division”, regional war; Africa event highlights forcible displacement; terrorists’ children ‘secretly detained’ in Syria; Venezuelans need protection; global trade tensions rise.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
UN highlights need to solve growing burden of forcibly displaced Africans
21 May 2019
Migrants and Refugees
With 24.2 million Africans forced from their homes in 2017 ̶ 4.6 million more than the previous year ̶ the UN is hosting a three-day event at UN headquarters, focusing on finding durable solutions to the problem, which is a growing burden on the continent’s economy, environment and communities which host those displaced.
UNICEF/Soulaiman (file)
Children of ISIL terrorists likely held in ‘secret detention facilities’, UN human rights office warns
21 May 2019
Human Rights
In Syria, it is suspected that children whose fathers fought for terrorist group ISIL are being held in unidentified “settlements” and “secret detention facilities” away from their mothers, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Libya on verge of civil war, threatening ‘permanent division’, top UN official warns Security Council
21 May 2019
Peace and Security
The damage done to Libya will already take “years to mend” but unless fighting around the capital Tripoli stops, the country risks “descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country”.
Audio - 8'38" Playlist
OCHA/Themba Linden
Iraq needs support to ‘leave violent past behind’, says UN envoy as Security Council extends UN mission for one year
21 May 2019
Peace and Security
Iraq’s democratic transition – weighed down by political infighting, weak institutions, corruption, and the constant threat of ISIL – needs more international support, “lots of time and lots of hard work,” the top United Nations official in the country said on Tuesday.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Somalia’s population, international partners must be energized to sustain country’s ‘upward trajectory,’ says senior UN official
22 May 2019
Peace and Security
Despite Somalia’s persistent security threats, recurrent political crises, capacity constraints and the difficulties in navigating political obstacles to its reform agenda, the Horn of Africa country remains on a “positive trajectory,” the UN Security Council was told on Wednesday.
Audio - 5' Playlist
ILO/Kevin Cassidy
Wednesday's Daily Brief: Women boost work profits, saving biodiversity, UK loses Chagos Islands vote, Gaza funding, malaria-free in Argentina, Algeria
22 May 2019
Peace and Security
Today's top stories include: boosting profits at work by hiring more women leaders; saving biodiversity to beat climate change; General Assembly condemns UK over Chagos Islands; just a month of funding left for Gaza; celebrating malaria-free Algeria and Argentina; and justice experts dicuss how best to fight hate crime.
UNRWA/Tamer Hamam
Palestine refugees’ relief chief warns Security Council money to fund Gaza operations will run out in mid-June
22 May 2019
Peace and Security
The head of the UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Wednesday that despite weathering a “truly existential crisis” over funding last year, money to continue operations this year in the Gaza Strip will only last until mid-June.
Audio - 8'22" Playlist
Bioversity International/B. Sthapit
Preserving biodiversity vital to reverse tide of climate change, UN stresses on International Day
22 May 2019
SDGs
The food people eat around the world is becoming “alarmingly homogenous” according to UN data, even though access to a wide variety of nutritious food has never been greater. That warning comes as the world marks the International Day for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, which this year highlights the impact of environmental neglect on food security and public health.
Audio - 6'29" Playlist
ILO/Crozet M.
With potential to boost profits by up to 20 per cent, a woman’s place is at work, says UN labour agency
22 May 2019
Economic Development
Businesses perform better – sometimes by as much as 20 per cent – when they employ more women in top positions, UN labour experts said on Wednesday, warning nonetheless that most still pay lip-service to the idea of gender equality in the boardroom.
LATEST NEWS
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi
Thursday’s Daily Brief: Safeguarding civilians, strengthening Ebola response in DR Congo, marking Fistula Day, updates on CAR and Syria
23 May 2019
Peace and Security
Thursday’s main stories include: Better safeguards to protect civilians in conflict; UN ramps up coordination to beat Ebola in DR Congo; Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women; UN mission condemns attack in Central African Republic
UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein
‘Great cause of concern’ UN chief tells Security Council, surveying 'bleak' state of civilian protection
23 May 2019
Peace and Security
Marking 20 years since the UN Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres told the chamber on Thursday that while safeguards were stronger, “compliance has deteriorated”.
Audio - 12'52" Playlist
World Bank /Vincent Tremeau
DR Congo: ‘No time to lose’ says newly appointed UN Ebola response coordinator
23 May 2019
Health
With the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s worst ever Ebola outbreak now in its tenth month, the United Nations on Thursday announced measures to strengthen its response, with the Organization’s newly appointed Emergency Coordinator (EERC) declaring there is “no time to lose”.
© UNFPA Tanzania/Bright Warren
End ‘shame, isolation and segregation’ of fistula sufferers, urges UN reproductive health chief
23 May 2019
Women
Although obstetric fistula has largely been eliminated in developed countries, more than two million women and girls still live with the painful and disfiguring condition, according to UN data.
UN Photo/Manuel Elias
Friday’s Daily Brief: Honouring fallen peacekeepers, action against gender-based violence; LGBT rights in Kenya, Rohingya water crisis
24 May 2019
Peace and Security
Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF’s plea for Afghani children; Brazil’s bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh
OCHA/Giles Clarke
‘Huge’ stakes, ‘daunting’ job to tackle gender-based violence, UNICEF chief tells ground-breaking conference
24 May 2019
Women
One-in-three girls or women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, and “the risk multiplies” during a conflict or natural disaster, the Executive Director of UNICEF told delegates attending the first-ever “Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Humanitarian Crises Conference” on Friday, in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
UN honours peacekeepers who ‘paid the ultimate price’, for the sake of others
24 May 2019
Peace and Security
Ever since the UN deployed the first of its 72 peacekeeping missions back in 1948, more than 3,800 peacekeepers have lost their lives, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, at a wreath laying ceremony in honour of those “brave men and women” who serve.
UNICEF/Thomas Nybo
Around 600,000 Afghan children face death through malnutrition without emergency funds: UNICEF
24 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
In Afghanistan, children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, unless $7 million in funding is found within weeks, UNICEF said on Friday.
UN Photo / Antonio Fiorente
Energy of African youth ‘propelling’ new development era as UN ties bear fruit
24 May 2019
Economic Development
The “boundless energy and optimism” of young Africans is propelling the continent into a new era of sustainable development, alongside new partnerships between the UN and African Union.
UNIC Dar es Salaam
He died so I could live: UN peacekeeper pays tribute to fallen colleague
24 May 2019
Peace and Security
But for the selfless bravery of the UN ‘blue helmet’ who dragged him to safety during a firefight against Congolese militiamen, it is unlikely that Corporal Ali Khamis Omary would be alive to tell the tale. The man who saved him, Malawian peacekeeper Chancy Chitete, was not so lucky.
MONUSCO/Abel Kavanagh
From violence to dialogue: as land conflicts intensify, UN boosts efforts to resolve disputes through mediation
26 May 2019
Peace and Security
The town of Kitchanga, in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hosts the highest concentration of internally displaced people in the country, and has been one of the regions most affected by clashes between local communities, made up of Tutsis and Hutus, especially in terms of accessing land. Today, however, thanks to a UN initiative, many disputes over land in Kitchanga are resolved through dialogue instead of violence, and families can cultivate, rent and make a profit from their land.
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi
UN Mission in Afghanistan gravely concerned about ill-treatment of prisoners by Taliban, following first-hand testimony
26 May 2019
Peace and Security
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed “grave concern” on Sunday over “credible accounts” it has been given that Taliban militants have been mistreating prisoners, which in some cases “may amount to torture”.
World Bank/Vincent Tremeau
DR Congo: Strengthened effort against Ebola is paying off, but insecurity still major constraint – UN health agency
28 May 2019
Health
Although the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to make headway thanks to the determination of health workers on the ground, insecurity is still hampering the response, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. This has led the UN to establish a new coordination structure in the hopes that access to at-risk areas can be improved.
UN Vienna/Nikoleta Haffar
Social, cultural diversity ‘an enormous richness, not a threat’ Guterres declares calling on investment for a harmonious future
27 May 2019
Migrants and Refugees
Like a well-tuned orchestra, successful modern societies have a balance of diversity and culture, that is a source of “enormous richness, not a threat” said the UN chief on Monday, speaking alongside UN Messenger of Peace, acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in the Austrian capital, Vienna.
WHO/Lindsay Mackenzie
Amid ‘unprecedented combination’ of epidemics, UN and partners begin cholera vaccination campaign in DR Congo
27 May 2019
Health
Amid what global Vaccine Alliance Gavi is calling an “unprecedented combination” of epidemics, the UN and partners are supporting the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s major new immunization campaign against cholera which began on Monday, targeting more than 800,000.
UNICEF/UN026944/Basha
Yemen update: UNICEF chief condemns attack in Taiz that claims lives of seven children
27 May 2019
Peace and Security
Nowhere is safe in Yemen, the head of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said, after an attack in the city of Taiz claimed the lives of 12 civilians, including seven youngsters – the latest victims of the country’s more than four-year war.
UN Syria/Fadwa Baroud AbedRabou
Eight years in, Syria still embroiled in conflict ‘that no longer sparks outrage’, Security Council hears
28 May 2019
Peace and Security
After eight years of deadly air strikes and terrorist attacks that have left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead and millions of others injured, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller asked the Security Council on Tuesday, the hard-hitting question: “Can’t this Council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage”?
UNICEF/Simon Nazer
North Koreans trapped in ‘vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression’ and endemic bribery: UN human rights office
28 May 2019
Human Rights
Bribery is the main way people in North Korea get food, healthcare, shelter and work, a new UN human rights office report said on Tuesday.
Audio - 7'12" Playlist
UN Vienna/Nikoleta Haffar
End fossil fuel subsidies, and stop using taxpayers’ money to destroy the world: Guterres
28 May 2019
Climate Change
“We need to tax pollution, not people”, and “end subsidies for fossil fuels,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the World Summit of the R20 Coalition on Tuesday, a UN-supported environmental organization, founded by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
© UNICEF/UN0212108/Mohammadi
In Afghanistan, attacks against schools have
tripled in one year
28 May 2019
Culture and Education
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this week in Mallorca, Spain.
Audio - 3'20" Playlist
ITU Twitter
Artificial intelligence summit focuses on fighting hunger, climate crisis and transition to ‘smart sustainable cities’
28 May 2019
SDGs
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is at the forefront of fighting hunger, mitigating the climate crisis and facilitating “the transition to smart sustainable cities", said the chief of the UN agency which specializes in information and communication technologies, Houlin Zhao, kicking off the third AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.
© UNHCR/Hélène Caux
Tuesday’s Daily Brief: violence surges in Nigeria, anti-Semitism on the march, taxing pollution to tackle climate crisis, and more
28 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday’s main stories include: thousands fleeing into Niger as violence surges in Nigeria; UN rights office condemns rise in anti-Semitic incidents; UN chief says tax pollution, not people for climate’s sake; North Koreans trapped in vicious cycle of corruption and bribery; Ebola latest from DR Congo.
28 May 2019
Culture and Education
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this week in Mallorca, Spain.
Audio - 3'20" Playlist
ITU Twitter
Artificial intelligence summit focuses on fighting hunger, climate crisis and transition to ‘smart sustainable cities’
28 May 2019
SDGs
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is at the forefront of fighting hunger, mitigating the climate crisis and facilitating “the transition to smart sustainable cities", said the chief of the UN agency which specializes in information and communication technologies, Houlin Zhao, kicking off the third AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.
© UNHCR/Hélène Caux
Tuesday’s Daily Brief: violence surges in Nigeria, anti-Semitism on the march, taxing pollution to tackle climate crisis, and more
28 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday’s main stories include: thousands fleeing into Niger as violence surges in Nigeria; UN rights office condemns rise in anti-Semitic incidents; UN chief says tax pollution, not people for climate’s sake; North Koreans trapped in vicious cycle of corruption and bribery; Ebola latest from DR Congo.
UN Photo/Kibae Park
‘Ground-breaking innovation’ needed in cities, where battle for sustainable development will be won or lost, says UN agency chief
29 May 2019
Economic Development
If the battle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be won or lost in cities, then they need to “achieve a lasting impact on communities and to ensure that no one is left behind,” the head of the UN agency dealing with sustainable urban development said on Wednesday.
UNICEF/UN0305927/Oatway
Wednesday’s Daily Brief: #NoTobacco Day, China’s economy, family farming, #ClimateAction
29 May 2019
Climate Change
This Wednesday, we cover: the dangers of smoking for World No Tobacco Day; China’s creative economy; sustainability through family farming, floating cities and #ClimateAction.
Audio - 3'23" Playlist
UNICEF/Sokhin
‘Save Tuvalu; save the world’; UN chief echoes rallying cry from front lines of global climate emergency
29 May 2019
Climate Change
Further inaction on climate change is “simply not an option”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in an opinion piece where he called for “rapid and deep change in how we do business, generate power, build cities and feed the world.”
UNICEF/UN0291739/Prinsloo
Mozambique cyclones a ‘wake-up call’ to boost resistance: UN weather agency
29 May 2019
Climate Change
The havoc caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth across Mozambique is “a wake-up call” for vulnerable countries “to build resistance" against further high-impact tropical storms, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked to climate change, according to the United Nations weather agency chief.
ESCAP
Asia-Pacific ‘regional parliament’ underway to advance equality, empowerment, for more than four billion citizens
29 May 2019
SDGs
The top United Nations body in the Asia-Pacific region opened its annual sessionthis week, calling for greater empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups if the region is to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and fulfill its promise to leave no one behind.
© UNICEF/Karel Prinsloo
Mozambique: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom meets the child cyclone survivors who’ve lost everything
30 May 2019
Climate Change
Visiting storm-ravaged Mozambique, UN Children’s Fund Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, listened to devastating stories of children who lost everything in Cyclone Idai, while observing on Thursday that UNICEF-built safe spaces have given them “a sense of normality”.
OCHA/D.Palanivelu
Thursday’s Daily Brief: the European Charlemagne prize, sexual abuse, transgender rights, Somalia and Libya updates
30 May 2019
UN Affairs
Top stories this Thursday: UN chief Guterres received the Charlemagne Prize for services towards European unification; sexual abuse in Somalia and within the UN; a leap in transgender rights; news from Libya; and new political appointments at the UN.
‘Ground-breaking innovation’ needed in cities, where battle for sustainable development will be won or lost, says UN agency chief
29 May 2019
Economic Development
If the battle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be won or lost in cities, then they need to “achieve a lasting impact on communities and to ensure that no one is left behind,” the head of the UN agency dealing with sustainable urban development said on Wednesday.
UNICEF/UN0305927/Oatway
Wednesday’s Daily Brief: #NoTobacco Day, China’s economy, family farming, #ClimateAction
29 May 2019
Climate Change
This Wednesday, we cover: the dangers of smoking for World No Tobacco Day; China’s creative economy; sustainability through family farming, floating cities and #ClimateAction.
Audio - 3'23" Playlist
UNICEF/Sokhin
‘Save Tuvalu; save the world’; UN chief echoes rallying cry from front lines of global climate emergency
29 May 2019
Climate Change
Further inaction on climate change is “simply not an option”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in an opinion piece where he called for “rapid and deep change in how we do business, generate power, build cities and feed the world.”
UNICEF/UN0291739/Prinsloo
Mozambique cyclones a ‘wake-up call’ to boost resistance: UN weather agency
29 May 2019
Climate Change
The havoc caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth across Mozambique is “a wake-up call” for vulnerable countries “to build resistance" against further high-impact tropical storms, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked to climate change, according to the United Nations weather agency chief.
ESCAP
Asia-Pacific ‘regional parliament’ underway to advance equality, empowerment, for more than four billion citizens
29 May 2019
SDGs
The top United Nations body in the Asia-Pacific region opened its annual sessionthis week, calling for greater empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups if the region is to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and fulfill its promise to leave no one behind.
© UNICEF/Karel Prinsloo
Mozambique: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom meets the child cyclone survivors who’ve lost everything
30 May 2019
Climate Change
Visiting storm-ravaged Mozambique, UN Children’s Fund Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, listened to devastating stories of children who lost everything in Cyclone Idai, while observing on Thursday that UNICEF-built safe spaces have given them “a sense of normality”.
OCHA/D.Palanivelu
Thursday’s Daily Brief: the European Charlemagne prize, sexual abuse, transgender rights, Somalia and Libya updates
30 May 2019
UN Affairs
Top stories this Thursday: UN chief Guterres received the Charlemagne Prize for services towards European unification; sexual abuse in Somalia and within the UN; a leap in transgender rights; news from Libya; and new political appointments at the UN.
UNICEF/Ahmad Al Ahmad
Syria: Thousands of children ‘hemmed in’ by ‘brutal and gratuitous’ spike in violence
30 May 2019
Peace and Security
A marked escalation in fighting has put tens of thousands of children in northwest Syria at “imminent risk of injury, death and displacement”, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) chief warned on Thursday.
Photo/World Health Organization
A major win for transgender rights: UN health agency drops ‘gender identity disorder’, as official diagnosis
30 May 2019
Human Rights
“To reflect critical advances in science and medicine”, the World Health Organization, WHO, has removed so-called “gender identity disorder” from its official manual of diagnoses, which is being hailed as a major win for transgender rights.
UN Photo/Nektarios Markogiannis
The UN’s unyielding effort to tackle sexual abuse and exploitation: our quarterly update
30 May 2019
UN Affairs
In the first quarter of 2019, according to latest figures released on Thursday, the United Nations recorded a total of 37 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) against UN personnel, including civilian and uniformed personnel from peacekeeping operations, agencies, funds and programmes. So far, most of these allegations remain under investigation.
UNFCCC/James Dowson
A ‘strong and united Europe’ has never been more needed, declares UN chief Guterres
30 May 2019
Peace and Security
With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday.
WHO
Don’t let smoking steal life’s breathtaking moments, urges UN health agency
30 May 2019
Health
Tobacco use continues to claim around eight million lives a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, in a call for faster action from governments to tackle smoking and the “enormous” health, social, environmental and economic costs it entails.
UN Sri Lanka
Asylum seekers in Sri Lanka fear for their safety, in wake of Easter Sunday terror attacks
31 May 2019
Peace and Security
Since the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, there have been concerns for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers living in the country: in the immediate aftermath, there were reports of refugees being targeted and forced from their homes by angry mobs threatening reprisals for the Easter Sunday attacks which targeted Christian churches, as well as upscale hotels.
Audio - 7'17" Playlist
WFP/Nour Hemici
Friday’s Daily Brief: Fundraising for Mozambique, Assange’s rights, Asia-Pacific development, Somalia and Sudan updates
31 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
This Friday, we cover: a donor conference to support life-saving and recovery aid for Mozambique following two recent devastating cyclones; the need to respect Wikileaks’ Assange’s rights; how Asia-Pacific is working towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ; news from Somalia and Sudan; and a new stamp honouring Kofi Annan.
© UNDP Mozambique
Mozambique pledging conference hopes to soften devastating blow of back-to-back cyclones
31 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
As some 1.85 million people in Mozambique try to recover from back-to-back cyclones Idai and Kenneth, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday kicked off a two-day pledging forum to drum up funds to help get the vulnerable country get back on its feet.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
UN expert criticizes States for ‘ganging up’ on Wikileaks’ Assange; warns against extradition, fearing ‘serious’ rights violations
31 May 2019
Human Rights
After visiting Julian Assange in a London prison, an independent UN human rights expert expressed urgent concern on Friday, for the Wikileaks co-founder’s well-being, accusing “a group of democratic States” of “ganging up” on the prisoner to “isolate, demonize and abuse” him and warned against extraditing the controversial publisher to the United States.
WFP/Annabel Symington
World Food Programme accesses Yemeni frontline district for first time since conflict began
31 May 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has gained access to the rebel-held northern district of Nihm, for the first time since the war between Houthis and the Saudi-backed Government coalition escalated in 2015.
EDP - ENERGIAS DE PORTUGAL SA
From philanthropy to profit: how clean energy is kickstarting sustainable development in East Africa
31 May 2019
SDGs
Until recently, Namacurra district, in the Zambezia province of Mozambique, some 1,500 km from the capital Maputo, did not have any basic services – such as schools, health centres, or even energy – connecting the region to the electricity grid would be extremely time-consuming, and costly. But a new UN-backed clean energy initiative looks set to change the outlook for Namacurra, and, within a matter of months, kickstart sustainable development for the benefit of the thousands of people, relocated to the area following the devastating rains of 2015, and it could herald an improved outlook for other economically disadvantaged parts of Africa.
