UN News Centre

To support the rehabilitation of schools, historic heritage buildings, museums and the creative economy, which suffered extensive damage in the deadly explosions that shook Beirut earlier this month, the head of the UN cultural agency on Thursday launched an international fund-raising appeal.  

COVID-19 is having a dramatic impact on health services in Syria, where limited testing is obscuring the real extent of the pandemic, the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator said on Thursday.

The UN’s expert on human rights in the Central African Republic (CAR) issued a series of recommendations on Wednesday to ensure that citizens – after years of civil unrest – can freely decide the future of their country during presidential elections on 27 December.

An independent expert committee will be established to examine various aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday. 

A new UN report launched on Thursday highlights human rights violations and abuses that were committed during recent demonstrations in Iraq and calls for immediate action for justice.

Some of the world’s most marginalized and defenseless communities have fallen victim to violence and other rights abuses during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the UN agency dedicated to tackling the AIDS virus to urge Governments to protect the most vulnerable, particularly key populations at higher risk of HIV. 

The West African nation of Togo has eliminated human African trypanosomiasis or “sleeping sickness” as a public health problem, becoming the first in the continent to achieve the milestone, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said. 

For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, “there was no such a thing as remote learning,” the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday, as the agency launched a new report outlining the limitations of remote learning and exposing the deep inequalities in access.  

The COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating deep-rooted economic, social and political challenges in Iraq, but elections in 2021 – if credible - could open a new chapter for the Middle East nation after years of conflict and strife, the UN’s top official in the country said Wednesday. 

Achieving a nuclear-free world is the best way to honour lives devastated by these weapons, the UN disarmament chief told a virtual meeting held on Wednesday to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on 29 August. 

The socio-economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted UN agencies on Wednesday to call on countries to increase social protection programmes to protect those most at risk. 

A UN taskforce set up to look into the risks and benefits of the digital economy, has concluded that it could have a transformational impact on sustainable development, and empower citizens, both as taxpayers and investors.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to reduce its food and cash assistance for refugees in Eastern Africa by up to 30 per cent, the agency has said, voicing fears that the reductions could worsen in the coming months unless urgent additional funding is received in time. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for greater attention to the Rohingya refugee crisis – which entered its fourth year – and for addressing the root causes of the conflict. 

The wild poliovirus has been eradicated in Africa, health officials announced on Tuesday, calling it a “momentous milestone” for the continent. 

The recent agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has the potential to change dynamics across the Middle East, the UN’s top envoy in the region told the Security Council on Tuesday, urging Palestinian and Israeli leaders to re-engage in efforts to resolve their protracted conflict.

Lack of investigation into the killing of a journalist three years ago in South Sudan is indicative of a wider climate of hostility towards journalists in the country, an independent UN human rights expert has said. 

In mid-May, just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Yemen, funding for UNFPA’s life-saving reproductive health services dried up. The agency has been forced to suspend the provision of reproductive healthcare in 140 out of the 180 health facilities, it supports, meaning only 40 now remain.  

A plane chartered by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) landed at Sana’a airport on Saturday with lifesaving supplies to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in conflict-torn Yemen.  

In countries suffering from conflict, readjusting to life in a peaceful society is a challenge, both for former fighters and the wider community. Since the spread of the COVID-19 crisis, the UN is having to refocus many of its programmes, aimed at reducing violence in communities, and rehabilitating combatants.