UN News Centre

After visiting refugee camps in Jordan, UN-backed schools in Gaza, municipalities in Kosovo and Youth Councils in Denmark, the UN’s Youth Envoy visited the Security Council on Wednesday with a simple message from the field that “young people care about peace”.

The second worst Ebola outbreak of all time, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was officially declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Wednesday, with the head of the World Health Organization calling for countries to ‘take notice and redouble our efforts”.

Expressing deep concern over how migration and migrants themselves are being politicized and scapegoated in Hungary, an independent United Nations human rights expert on Wednesday urged the Government to immediately end its “crisis” approach to the issue. 

In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to review a death sentence handed down in the case of a former Indian Navy officer accused by Pakistan of spying, finding that the country’s authorities acted in breach of the Vienna Convention, which lays out rules for diplomatic relations between countries.

Many women and girls “still face enormous challenges to their health, well-being and human rights”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a High-level General Assembly meeting on Tuesday conevened to mark the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), a milestone in reproductive health and rights. 

In today’s Daily Brief: Inclusion resonates widely at development meeting, UN offers help after monsoons devastate Asia, DR Congo Ebola effecting children, obesity plagues island communities, Yemen’s warring parties agree to ceasefire for key port

The world’s people are demanding “transformative change that is fair and sustainable,” Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, calling on government leaders to use the upcoming slate of key United Nations meetings in September to “kickstart a decade of delivery and action for people and planet.” 

With the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 280 Ethiopians returned home on 10-11 July, after being facing traumatic experiences in Yemen.  

Deeply concerned about the new rule barring from asylum the majority of people crossing the southern land border of the United States, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned that the ‘severe’ measure will endanger vulnerable people in need of international protection from violence or persecution.

The human cost of the conflict in Ukraine is growing, the UN political chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, during a briefing on the current situation in the country.

The UN programme leading the global effort to end AIDS is calling for greater urgency and more funding in the fight against the disease, with data showing that the pace of progress in reducing new HIV infections is slowing, and some countries experiencing a rising number of cases.

Ahead of a key expert meeting convened by the United Nations to decide whether to declare the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) an international health emergency, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF warned that the epidemic “is infecting more children” than earlier outbreaks.  

The scale and barbarity of the crimes committed by ISIL have ultimately served not to divide but to unify, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD), told the Security Council on Monday.   

Without the full participation and leadership of women, “we have no hope” of realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the President of the United Nations General Assembly told gender equality leaders on Monday.

Deadly, attacks on health workers in Ebola-hit areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including one at the weekend that left two dead, are an indication that combating the disease outbreak will require far greater international support, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said on Monday. 

In today’s Daily Brief: achieving zero hunger an “immense challenge”, with numbers of hungry rising; 20 million children are missing out on potentially life-saving vaccines, the killing of health workers in DR Congo shows the need for a stronger Ebola response; a UN expert calls for an end to violations against children in Mali; and better training is needed to cut global youth unemployment.

Proper nutrition for newborn babies into early childhood is key to development and good health in later life, according to the Regional Director of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe, as she launched two new studies on Monday.

More than one in 10 children – almost 20 million worldwide – failed to receive potentially lifesaving vaccines in 2018, the UN said on Monday, citing obstacles including conflict, cost and complacency. 

At UN Headquarters, and across the globe, events are taking place on Monday to celebrate World Youth Skills Day – marked each year on 15 July – to raise awareness about the importance of youth skills development.

After nearly a decade of progress, the number of people who suffer from hunger has slowly increased over the past three years, with about one in every nine people globally suffering from hunger today, the United Nations said in a new report released on Monday.