UN News

• ‘Defining moment’ in Afghanistan requires leaders to work together, top UN official tells Security Council
  With the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, political parties in Afghanistan are being urged to prioritize national interests and come together for peace talks with the Taliban, the UN Deputy Special Representative for the country told a videoconference meeting with Security Council members on Tuesday.
• Economic sanctions should be lifted to prevent hunger crises in countries hit by COVID-19 – UN rights expert
  As the world exhibits new bonds of solidarity in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is a matter of “humanitarian and practical urgency to lift unilateral economic sanctions immediately,” to prevent hunger crises in pandemic-hit countries, a UN human rights expert, said on Tuesday.  
• UN appeals to all Somalis to ‘come together’ in fight against COVID-19 pandemic 
  Like most countries in the world, Somalia is facing the unparalleled challenge of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations system in the country noted on Tuesday, calling on its citizens to “unite” in stemming the spread.
• UN launches COVID-19 plan that could ‘defeat the virus and build a better world’
  The UN chief launched on Tuesday a new plan to counter the potentially devastating socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on everyone to “act together to lessen the blow to people”.
• Coronavirus poses latest threat to battered health system in DR Congo
  The looming threat of the new coronavirus disease COVID-19 is just the latest challenge to the beleaguered health care system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is struggling with deadly measles and cholera epidemics that have killed thousands of children over the past year, the UN children’s fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
• FROM THE FIELD: Humanitarians on the frontline in COVID-19 fight
  Humanitarian workers in developing countries are on the front lines and taking “urgent action” in the fight against the spread of the deadly new coronavirus, COVID-19, according to the United Nations.
• First Person: Humankind’s ‘modern mentality to tame’ the environment: A volcanologist’s view
  The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it’s anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living or studying aspects of the goals in their everyday work.
• ‘Immediate nationwide ceasefire’ needed for all-out effort to counter COVID-19 in Syria
  Syria is at “high risk” of being unable to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Monday, reiterating calls for a “complete, immediate nationwide ceasefire” to enable an all-out-effort to counter the march of the new coronavirus.
• Coronavirus necessitates global increase in protective equipment, medical supplies: UN health chief
  The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for stepped-up production of medical equipment and supplies as health facilities and health workers in many countries struggle with increasing and urgent demands brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Release inmates in Yemen to avert nationwide coronavirus outbreak, experts urge
  An international panel of human rights experts called today for the immediate release of political prisoners and detainees in war-ravaged Yemen to help avert a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19.
• UN helps Pacific prepare for COVID-19 pandemic, warns that children are ‘hidden victims’
  United Nations agencies are working together to provide vital support to Pacific Island countries as they rally to combat COVID-19 outbreaks across the region. 
• $2.5 trillion COVID-19 rescue package needed for world’s emerging economies
  The economic fallout from COVID-19 is likely to get “much worse” before it gets better for some six billion people living in developing economies, the UN said on Monday, in an appeal for a $2.5 trillion rescue package to boost their resilience to further hardship. 
• COVID-19 stoking xenophobia, hate and exclusion, minority rights expert warns
  Combatting the COVID-19 pandemic must also include stamping out what one independent human rights expert has called the “darker sides” of the disease: verbal and physical attacks against Chinese and other minority communities, and excluding them from access to healthcare.
• COVID-19: UN donates 250,000 face masks to NYC health workers
  On behalf of the city, the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, was on hand to receive 250,000 face masks donated by the UN on Saturday, destined for health workers in the metropolis that is home to the Organization’s Headquarters.
• First Person: Hawaii’s ‘silver tsunami’: the challenge of caring for kupuna elders
  The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it’s anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living aspects of the goals in their everyday work. 
• First Person: False promises in Mauritania
  Women and girls face particular challenges as migrants, whatever their reason for leaving their country of origin. UN agencies are learning more about these difficulties, and how to address them.
• COVID-19: UN envoy hails strong Israel-Palestine cooperation
  Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has praised the coordination between the Israeli and Palestine authorities in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• First Person: Heartbreak and hope – one doctor’s story from China’s coronavirus ground zero
  Xiang Lu is one of the thousands of Chinese doctors who was dispatched to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in the hardest-hit province of Hubei, as it reached its peak. When UN News spoke to him on 23 March, he said that the situation is vastly improved and he may, at last, be able to return home.
• Peacekeeping radio stations provide COVID-19 information to vulnerable communities in conflict-affected countries
  UN Peacekeeping radio stations have in recent decades helped build support for peace process in a dozen countries around the world including Cambodia, Croatia, Namibia and Timor-Leste.  
• Critical work of UN ‘largely uninterrupted’, despite unprecedented challenge of COVID-19
  Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the United Nations to operate in new ways, its vital work worldwide continues largely uninterrupted, heads of UN principal organs assured Member States, during a joint briefing on Friday held online.
• UNFPA advocates for women, girls suffering unseen impacts of COVID-19 pandemic
  The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is pledging support for those suffering from invisible impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including women and girls whose access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health care may be disrupted. 
• Protect ‘healthcare heroes’ from COVID-19, urges UN rights expert
  States and business leaders must step up efforts to ensure that the selfless doctors, nurses, first-responders and other medical professionals working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic receive adequate protective equipment, a UN rights expert said on Friday.
• Migrants in Hawaii care for the elderly, the aloha way
  Migrants are playing an increasingly important role in the provision of health care around the world. The number of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who move from developing countries to take up posts in developed countries is expected to rise as the global population of older persons and children continues to grow.
• First Person: two months of COVID-19 confinement in Wuhan
  Many countries have recently begun to introduce lockdown measures that have led to many citizens having to spend much, if not all, of their time at home. For those in Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 is believed to have originated, the period of self-isolation has lasted around two months. UN News spoke to Dizi*, a Wuhan resident, to find out how she has been coping. The interview has been translated.
• A sustainable global economy must arise once COVID-19 pandemic is reversed, UN chief tells G-20 summit
  World leaders at the G-20 virtual summit held on Thursday committed to inject over $5 trillion into the global economy to counteract the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.