UN News @news-un-org

1 day ago • global •

Stories from the UN Archive: Human rights must come ‘in hearts of people’

The American diplomat, activist and former First Lady of the United States, who is widely regarded as the driving force behind the establishment of the global principles of human rights and freedoms, is being remembered on Human Rights Day which is marked annually on 10 December.

1 day ago • global •

World News in Brief: Nearly a million children displaced in Gaza, Guatemala ‘coup’ concerns, ‘enduring menace’ of genocide

UN humanitarians in war-ravaged Gaza are “hanging on by our fingertips” with civil society on the brink of full-blown collapse, they warned on Saturday.

3 days ago • global •

UPDATED: Gaza fighting continues amid ‘apocalyptic’ conditions; Security Council to meet Friday

Two months to the day since Hamas’ terror attacks in Israel prompted a massive Israeli military retaliation in Gaza, the situation in the war-torn enclave is becoming “apocalyptic” with hostilities making meaningful humanitarian efforts “nearly impossible”, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.

3 days ago • global •

Stories from the UN Archive: The man who defined genocide

The word “genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. It consists of the Greek prefix genos, meaning race or tribe, and the Latin suffix cide, meaning killing.

3 days ago • global •

Protect those on the move using deadly Darién crossing

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), on Thursday, called for urgent action to address the deepening humanitarian emergency in the Americas, as the number of migrants and refugees traversing the perilous Darién jungle crossed an unprecedented half a million this year.

4 days ago • global •

Ukraine: Lasting toll of war, ‘beyond measure’, Security Council hears

If urgent steps are not taken to end the ongoing war and its dire humanitarian consequences in Ukraine, 2024 may be even more unpredictable and destructive, a senior UN official warned on Wednesday.

4 days ago • global •

Guterres urges Security Council to act over Israel-Palestine crisis as threat to international peace and security

Invoking a rarely used article of the UN Charter, Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday called on the Security Council to “press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and unite in a call for a full humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants.

5 days ago • global •

UN cites ‘alarming surge’ in climate change over the past decade as COP28 pushes for global emissions cuts

The past decade has been confirmed the warmest ever recorded, continuing an alarming 30-year trend that the UN weather chief said on Tuesday is “unequivocally driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.”

5 days ago • global •

Renewable energy boosts safety of UN peacekeepers

The transition to renewable energy at UN peacekeeping missions helps to ensure the safety and security of uniformed personnel serving in the field, a senior official said on Tuesday.

5 days ago • global •

World News in Brief: WFP ‘pauses’ north Yemen food aid, human rights and sport, Myanmar latest

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that it was compelled to pause the distribution of food aid to needy families in northern areas of Yemen under the control of authorities in and around the capital, Sana’a.

6 days ago • global •

Ghana meeting seeks to boost political support to strengthen UN Peacekeeping

Ministers and delegates from more than 85 countries and international organizations are meeting in Ghana this week to express their collective commitment to UN Peacekeeping.

6 days ago • global •

Gaza: Aid access to north entirely blocked as war escalates in the south

Reports of hundreds of fatalities from bombing in southern Gaza over the weekend heightened deep concerns for civilians sheltering there, while UN humanitarians on Monday said that aid teams had only “extremely limited” movement and access to the north was “now entirely blocked”.

6 days ago • global •

Iraq: UN team issues latest report on terrorist atrocities

The UN team investigating crimes committed by Da’esh terrorist group has issued its latest report documenting the terrorist group’s atrocities in Iraq, laying the groundwork for future prosecutions.

1 week ago • global •

COP28: The climate crisis is also a health crisis

Health has made it onto the agenda of a UN climate conference, and health advocates at COP28 in Dubai on Sunday said the topic was long overdue for discussion as climate inaction is costing lives and impacting health every single day.

1 week ago • global •

Gaza: UN rights chief appeals for end to violence and a return to dialogue

The resumption of hostilities in Gaza and its terrifying impact on civilians underscore the need for the violence to end and a long-term political solution between Palestinians and Israelis to be found, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Sunday.