UN News Centre

The UN migration agency, IOM, is running migrant centres across six provinces in Turkey as part of its refugee response, which provide migrants, refugees, and host community members, with education, social services, law, vocational guidance, and community support. One of those who has benefited from the centres is Leyla Al Darazi, originally from Lebanon, who although born male, has identified as female since a young age. To coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, marked on 17 May, Leyla told her story to Begum Basaran, a communications assistant with IOM Turkey. 

Risk of monkeypox transmission in the United Kingdom is minimal following a confirmed case of the rare and sometimes fatal animal-bourne disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday expressed concern over the current COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), where no public vaccination programme has been put in place, reiterating its commitment to support the country response to the pandemic.

Investigators probing allegations of war crimes in the Ukraine conflict must work closely together and in compliance with international standards of forensic best practice, the UN expert on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions said on Monday. 

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, on Monday welcomed the resumption of commercial flights from the capital city’s main airport after six years, as a potential game changer for citizens needing lifesaving medical treatment.

Countries taking part in the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour this week in South Africa, are being urged to do more to end child labour by 2025.

The United Nations in Somalia welcomed the conclusion of the country’s presidential election held on Sunday, praising the “positive” nature of the electoral process and peaceful transfer of power.

Almost one billion people with disabilities and older persons are being denied access to assistive technology, according to a UN report published on Monday, calling on governments and industry to fund and prioritize access.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday appealed for greater commitment to harmony and diversity one day after 10 people were killed, and three wounded, in a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

A group of former combatants with the FARC rebel group in Colombia have been reflecting on five years of peace and community building in a locality called Tierra Grata, which translates as “pleasant land”

Investigations must be held into the actions of the Israeli security forces, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Saturday, calling for accountability and an end to impunity.

A human trafficking expert at the United Nations has told UN News how she was instrumental in saving over 1,000 trafficking victims. Reda Sirgediene works for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the Regional Adviser on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling for Central Asia after serving for more than 20 years in the Lithuanian police force.

Governments, cities, companies, and communities around the world are taking action to address a significant and growing threat to wildlife, including many species of migratory birds - light pollution.

Humanitarians continue to call for scaling up assistance in the Horn of Africa, where the worst drought in 40 years is affecting some 15 million people across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. 

Amid new claims by Moscow of a covert biological weapons programme in Ukraine, the Director of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) affirmed on Friday that the UN is not aware of any such programme and has neither the mandate nor the technical operational capacity to investigate it - a message first delivered to the Security Council on 11 and 18 March, by High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu. 

A new UN-led push to prevent an arms race in outer space has received wide-ranging support and participation from civil society and Member States – including all five permanent members of the Security Council - at talks in Geneva.

Ensuring everyone has access to a healthy diet is among the goals of a UN-backed initiative launched on Friday in line with efforts to transform food systems globally. 

Kicking off a three-day meeting on Friday on the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its wider impact on food and energy prices, the head of the UN agriculture agency outlined key ways for governments to help safeguard global food security.

Recent deep cuts to overseas aid budgets by governments, will have “direct, negative impacts” on the ability of the world to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN chief warned on Friday.

Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating ways of slowing it down must happen “urgently, using every tool we can”, said the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Thursday, calling for a global commitment to support drought preparedness and resilience.