UN News Centre

With the largest-ever outbreak of the deadly Lassa fever in Nigeria having been contained, continued vigilance is vital to deal with any flare-ups, the United Nations health agency warned on Friday.

The chances of the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) spreading across borders are low, said the United Nations health agency on Friday, although nine neighbouring countries remain on alert.

Late last year, as violent repression in Myanmar sent Rohingyas fleeing to safety in Bangladesh, women from the mainly Muslim minority were subjected to what a United Nations official called “a frenzy of sexual violence”.

Economies in the Asia-Pacific region registered robust growth in 2017 and prospects for this year look promising, the United Nations development arm in the region said, urging countries to take advantage of positive conditions and address underlying vulnerabilities.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned an attack this weekend on a village in the Nigerian province of Kaduna and underscored the need to hold the perpetrators to account.

The international community must present a united front against gun violence which kills nearly 250,000 each year and injures many more, said a senior United Nations official on Monday, marking the start of a Global Week of Action Against the scourge.

With extreme weather costing hundreds of billions a year and fears that by 2050, one in four people will be living in a country affected by severe water shortages, a global conference got underway on Monday convened by the United Nations meteorological agency to manage the precious resource more sustainably.

The largest cholera vaccination drive in history targeting two million people across Africa is underway, the United Nations announced on Monday, in response to a series of recent deadly outbreaks of the water-borne disease. 

Poland’s new law designed to address safety concerns during the United Nations climate change conference to be held there later this year could infringe on the privacy of environmentalists and curtail their rights to protest peacefully, UN human rights experts said Monday.   

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned an attack on a mosque being used as a voter registration centre in Afghanistan’s Khost province and underscored his support to the country as it prepares for elections later this year.

Deadly storms in India and record temperatures in Pakistan are an indication that more extreme weather events are happening globally owing to climate change, United Nations weather experts said on Friday.

Leaders from across the UN system on Friday pledged to increase efforts to stamp out sexual harassment within their ranks; ensuring a zero-tolerance approach where abusers are held accountable, and staff feel safe to report incidents.

Midwives are vital to driving sustainable development and key to helping mothers, and expectant-mothers, make informed, healthy choices, said the United Nations health agency’s chief nurse on Friday.

The dangers of working as a journalist in Afghanistan have been dramatically underlined by an attack in the capital Kabul on Monday in which nine Afghan photographers and reporters were killed. They had gone to report on a suicide attack, and were targeted by a second suicide bomber when they arrived on the scene.

The surge of violence in South Sudan’s Unity region "looks set" to continue despite the ceasefire accord signed last year by warring parties, the top United Nations official in the African country said on  Wednesday.

More than 140 million children are at greater risk of illness, hearing loss, blindness and even death globally if urgent action is not taken to provide them with life-saving vitamin A supplements, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

The United Nations’ top official for the Middle East Peace Process has said that spreading “deeply disturbing” conspiracy theories which fuel anti-Semitism are unacceptable, and serve neither the interests of Palestinians themselves, or the pursuit of peace in the region.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has appealed for calm following fresh violence in the capital Bangui which claimed the lives of several civilians, including a religious leader.

Secretary-General António Guterres has said that the United Nations stands ready to discuss “possible forms of support” to further inter-Korean talks over denuclearizing the Peninsula, and working towards a lasting peace.

Air pollution claims seven million lives a year, UN health experts said on Wednesday, amid new data showing that the problem affects nine out of ten people worldwide.