UN News

• UN deputy chief see first-hand toll of climate change on Zimbabwe’s natural habitat
  Alongside the human population, Africa’s animals are suffering greatly from the effects of climate change, which United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed saw first-hand on Sunday in Zimbabwe.
• UN chief welcomes South Sudan’s Unity government, lauds parties for ‘significant achievement’
  United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed on Saturday the establishment of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) in South Sudan. 
• Ten new migratory species protected under global wildlife agreement
  Asian elephants, jaguars and great Indian bustards were among 10 new species added to a global wildlife agreement on Saturday. 
• Afghanistan: Civilian casualties exceed 10,000 for sixth straight year
  More than 10,000 civilians in Afghanistan were killed and injured last year, according to a new United Nations report that details record-high levels of civilian harm in the ongoing conflict.
• Situation in central Mali ‘deteriorating’ as violence, impunity rise, UN rights expert warns
  The growing violence has contributed to a deteriorating security situation in central Mali, with impunity being one of the aggravating factors, an independent UN human rights expert warned on Friday.
• UN launches new project to address link between terrorism, arms and crime
  Cheap and easily accessible small arms are increasingly becoming the “weapon of choice” for many terrorist groups, the UN counter-terrorism chief told an event on Friday aimed to raise awareness of the nexus between terrorism, organized crime and illicit small arms trafficking.
• Cameroon: UN officials raise alarm over escalating violence, call for civilian protection
  Four senior UN officials issued a joint statement on Friday deploring the continued human rights abuses committed against civilians, including women and children, in the south-west and north-west regions of Cameroon.
• UN chief appeals for end to Syria’s ‘man-made humanitarian nightmare’
  In a tersely delivered statement on Friday, the UN Secretary-General appealed for an end to the “man-made humanitarian nightmare” currently unfolding in Syria, where ongoing military operations in the north-west have displaced hundreds of thousands amid bitter winter temperatures. 
• UN must continue to be a forum for dialogue on decolonization: Guterres
  With 17 non-self-governing territories remaining worldwide, the United Nations must continue to be the place where their concerns can be heard, the Secretary-General said in New York on Friday. 
• Escalating Burkina Faso violence brings wider Sahel displacement emergency into focus
  Deadly attacks on villages in Burkina Faso have forced 150,000 people to flee in just the last three weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday, warning of a displacement emergency in the wider Sahel region.
• On World Social Justice Day, the UN labour agency  says ‘put people and planet first'
  Reduce inequality around the world, the United Nations labour agency urged on Thursday, World Social Justice Day.
• Haitian leaders urged to end political impasse
  Leaders in Haiti must step up and end the political impasse between President Jovenel Moïse and a surging opposition movement that has paralyzed the island nation since July 2018, the top UN official there said on Thursday in a briefing to the UN Security Council in New York.
• More than $1 billion pledged for post-earthquake recovery in Albania
  The international community has pledged $1.25 billion to help Albania recover from a devastating earthquake during a European Union-led donors’ conference in Brussels.  
• Simple urine test could improve early detection of bladder cancer – WHO study
  A new study conducted by researchers from the United Nations health agency revealed that bladder cancer mutations can be detected in urine up to 10 years before clinically diagnosing the disease.
• Central African Republic: Security Council reflects on peace deal anniversary
  One year after the signing of a peace deal in the Central African Republic (CAR), State authority is being extended throughout the country, violence against civilians has decreased, and an inclusive Government remains in place, the UN Security Council heard on Thursday. 
• End hostilities, ‘preserve lives’: UN refugee chief makes appeal for people trapped in Syria’s Idlib
  As the already dire situation in north-west Syria dramatically continues to worsen in Idlib province, the head of the United Nations refugee agency called on Thursday for an end to the hostilities and appealed for urgent action to allow the people trapped there to move to places of safety.
• ‘Deliberate starvation’ tactics used in South Sudan could be a war crime
  The people of South Sudan have been “deliberately starved” in different parts of the country for ethnic and political reasons, and sexual violence against women and men as a weapon of war is ongoing, UN investigators said on Thursday. 
• At Stockholm road safety summit, UN officials join global call to end ‘scourge’ of preventable deaths
  Road traffic accidents take some 1.35 million lives every year and cost most countries three per cent of their gross domestic product, the top UN health official said on Wednesday as the Third Global Ministerial Conference On Road Safety kicked off in Stockholm, Sweden.
• Millions of children and families in Niger struggle as humanitarian needs mount – UNICEF
  Malnutrition, disease, floods, droughts and displacement in Niger have put nearly three million people, more than half of them children, in need of humanitarian assistance, UNICEF said on Wednesday, calling for increased attention to their plight.
• Amid ‘devastating scale’ of suffering in Syria’s north-west, UN Security Council urged to find political way forward
  With progress stalled on both the peace and political fronts in Syria, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen urged ambassadors in the Security Council on Wednesday to “put their weight” into finding a solution to end nearly nine years of conflict. 
• ‘Not a single country’ does enough to help children flourish, say health experts
  The world’s survival depends on children being able to flourish, but no country is doing enough to give them a sustainable future, dozens of highly respected international health experts said on Wednesday. 
• Hope for ‘long-elusive progress’ in negotiating peace in eastern Ukraine
  Marking the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Minsk II agreement, the UN political chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, that along with the Minsk Protocol and the Minsk memorandum, it remains “the only agreed framework” for a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
• UN rights experts ‘gravely’ concerned at spike in civilian casualties in north-west Myanmar following internet shutdown
  Independent UN human rights experts on Tuesday voiced grave concern over the killing and displacement of civilians in north-west Myanmar during the intensifying conflict between the military and an armed group, the Arakan Army, amid an information blackout in some parts of Rakhine and Chin states. 
• Polio eradication a UN priority, says Guterres in Pakistan visit
  In one of the last bastions of polio on the planet, millions of children are being given a fighting chance against the paralyzing and potentially fatal disease. 
• As Libya talks resume in Geneva, UN negotiator seeks to overcome sticking points
  Talks to end fighting in Libya have resumed in Geneva, where UN negotiator Ghassan Salamé said that ongoing clashes must end for there to be a chance for progress.