UN News Centre

A new strategy announced on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for $23.4 billion to combat inequities in accessing COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, as cases of the disease mount globally for the first time in two months. 

Ahead of the UN Climate Conference COP26, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday it was time now to act, and put “empty speeches, broken promises, and unfulfilled pledges behind us”. 

The deputy UN chief on Thursday emphasized the “vital importance” of peace and security in Africa, thanking ambassadors in the Security Council for helping the UN shine a spotlight on the issue, and how all Member States can work with the African Union and other regional and sub-regional groups, to make lives more secure across the continent.

Forests in at least 10 World Heritage sites have become net sources of carbon, due to pressure from human activity and climate change, according to a new report released on Thursday, by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

Green industrial policies will be critical for developing countries to adapt to climate change, UN trade and development body UNCTAD said in a report published on Thursday. 

The delivery of reproductive health services, including safe childbirth, has been seriously impacted in Afghanistan, due to the turmoil surrounding the Taliban takeover of the country.  Najaba, 36, has experienced firsthand how the dangers of pregnancy, collided with rising insecurity, according to the UN reproductive and maternal health agency, UNFPA, which continues to provide lifesaving services on the ground.

How well do you know the UN climate conference and the big issues under discussion? Here’s your chance to test your knowledge, with our UN News climate action quiz (answers at the bottom of the page).

Victims of trafficking by terrorist groups are too often being punished instead of protected, a human rights expert warned the General Assembly this Wednesday. 

Although the outcome of the latest meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was “a disappointment”, members must continue their vital work, the UN Special Envoy for the country said in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday. 

More than half the population of Latin America and the Caribbean has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, a senior official with the regional arm of UN health agency WHO said on Wednesday. 

The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations told the Security Council on Wednesday that he was encouraged by a thaw in relations between South Sudan and Sudan, now that both have established national committees on the question of Abyei, the disputed oil-rich border territory claimed by both countries.  

The jobs recovery is stalled worldwide and disparities between advanced and developing economies threaten the whole global economy, warned the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Wednesday.  

Countries must unite and act urgently to secure stability in Afghanistan, and a better future for its people, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message on Wednesday to a regional conference of the country’s neighbours, organized by Iran.  

In a UN first, a ferocious and talkative dinosaur bursts into the iconic General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York, with a special warning for any diplomats who still think climate action is for the birds.  

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday renewed his call for the immediate release of all those detained in the military coup in Sudan, as the Security Council meets behind closed doors in New York to discuss the crisis. 

While women in Belarus overall are being denied rights and freedoms, female political activists are subjected to enforced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and exile, an independent UN human rights expert told the General Assembly on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) body advancing public health for all is asking for ambitious investments in healthcare spending, reframing it as a long-term investment and not a short-term cost. 

If you’ve been following the UN for any period of time, you will quickly notice the plethora of acronyms, initialisations and jargon that abound across the Organization. There will be plenty more to confuse you at COP26 (a classic example in itself), so here’s our handy guide to help you make sense of some of the key buzz words you’ll be hearing, as the landmark climate change conference gets going. 

Bridging the financial and technical gaps that will limit global warming, is the focus of a high-level debate in the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. 

The UN Secretary-General warned on Tuesday that “hatred takes root in the soil of ignorance” of historical facts, science, and the human qualities which “bind all people together.”