UN News Centre

  The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth… »

The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the “positive responses” of Libya’s Tripoli-based government and the Libyan National Army (LNA) to calls for a pause to stop the fighting, in the hopes that this would allow humanitarian access throughout the crisis-torn country and head off the potential threat… »

The importance of treating migrants with dignity and respect has not changed, UN migration agency (IOM), spokesperson Joel Millman has told UN News, adding that the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on migrants, highly represented in the food industry, which is now seeing widespread shutdowns, is ‘a huge concern’… »

Marking the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Minsk II agreement, the UN political chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, that along with the Minsk Protocol and the Minsk memorandum, it remains “the only agreed framework” for a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political… »

The rise in new coronavirus cases outside China, now constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee declared on Thursday, calling on all countries to take urgent measures to contain the respiratory disease. Latest WHO figures state there are more than 7,800 confirmed cases globally, with 7,736… »

The start of the New Year finds the world facing four looming threats to human progress: surging geopolitical tensions, the climate crisis, global mistrust and the downsides of technology, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday. Global tensions mounting For the Secretary-General, global tensions are at their highest level in years, making the… »

The Security Council on Friday evening renewed a UN operation delivering humanitarian aid across the Syrian border to millions of civilians, but some of the body’s members expressed disappointment that the “watered down” measure cut in half the number of crossing points and duration of the authorization. Failing last month to extend… »

In the wake of an Iranian ballistic missile attack on air bases which house US forces in Iraq, the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday that he would “continue his active engagement” to de-escalate tensions and avert full-scale war. In a statement released by his Spokesperson, António Guterres re-iterated the “passionate appeal for… »

The world will welcome more than 392,000 babies on New Year’s Day, according to estimates from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  The agency believes 2020’s first baby will be born in Fiji and that globally, over half of all births on 1 January will take place in… »

Conflicts around the world are lasting longer and claiming more young lives, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said on Monday, as the agency reported that over this ‘deadly decade’, there has been a three-fold rise in verified attacks on children since 2010 – an average of 45 violations a day. “Attacks on children continue unabated as warring parties… »