UN News

• A busy year in the UN Security Council: more openness, diversity mark 2019
  With over 240 public meetings and a wider range of civil society briefers, the UN Security Council continued its push towards more transparency in 2019, a year marked by widespread popular uprisings and the erosion of hard-won international treaties.
• Haiti cholera outbreak ‘stopped in its tracks’
  After a nine-year long cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed close to 10,000 people, this week the country reached the milestone of an entire year free from any new cases of the deadly waterborne disease.
• The drive for quality education worldwide, faces ‘mammoth challenges’
  Aligning inclusive, quality education with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was centre-stage on Friday, as the President of the UN General Assembly held a high-level interactive meeting for the International Day of Education.       
• FROM THE FIELD: Niger supporting the most vulnerable, as crises mount  
  The number of people requiring humanitarian assistance in Niger, a country which the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, says is “being assaulted on all fronts”, is expected to increase in 2020. 
• Health services for Syrian women caught up in war, foster safety and hope: UNFPA
  Continued displacement from conflict-affected areas in northeast Syria leaves women and girls in urgent need of safe spaces, shelter and reproductive health services, according to a Flash Update this week from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
• Myanmar: Departing UN rights expert still hopeful for democratic transition
  An independent human rights expert said she has not given up hope for a democratic transition in Myanmar even though the country has yet to address “grave allegations” of international crimes, including possible genocide.   
• Coronavirus: ‘An emergency in China, but not yet a global health emergency’
  The head of the UN health agency, WHO (World Health Organization), declared on Thursday that the respiratory disease Novel Coronavirus, is not yet an official Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), but warned that is an emergency in China.
• At Davos, UN chief urges ‘big emitters’ to take climate action
  The world is “doomed” in the face of climate change unless major industrial nations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. 
• 75 years after Auschwitz liberation, antisemitism still threatens ‘foundations of democratic societies’
  Commemorating 75 years since the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, independent UN rights experts said on Thursday that “urgent action” is needed to combat mounting antisemitism.
• Top UN court orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya from genocide
  Myanmar must take steps to protect its minority Rohingya population, the top UN court unanimously ruled on Thursday. 
• UN health emergency committee to re-convene on global threat posed by China coronavirus
  Experts convened in Geneva by the World Health Organization (WHO) will meet again on Thursday to determine whether novel coronavirus is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). 
• UN chief outlines solutions to defeat ‘four horsemen’ threatening our global future
  The start of the New Year finds the world facing four looming threats to human progress: surging geopolitical tensions, the climate crisis, global mistrust and the downsides of technology, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday. 
• Independent UN rights experts call for ‘immediate investigation’ into alleged Bezos phone hack by Saudi Arabia
  Independent UN rights experts said on Wednesday they were “gravely concerned” over allegations that in 2018, a messaging app account belonging to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was used to hack into The Washington Post owner’s mobile phone, calling for an “immediate investigation” by authorities in the United States.
• Joint UN-Congolese strategy needed to address insecurity following deadly attacks
  Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the UN peacekeeping operation in the country, MONUSCO, are being urged to develop a comprehensive joint strategy to address insecurity in Beni territory, located in the east. 
• Portraits show ‘dignity and humanity’ of Holocaust survivors, 75 years after Auschwitz liberation
  Seventy-five years ago, when soldiers of the Soviet army entered the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland, they were “stunned into silence” by what they saw, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recalled on Tuesday.
• ‘Negative developments’ undermining two-State solution in Middle East
  Recent heightened tensions in the Middle East underscore the critical need for dialogue and diplomacy in the region, the UN’s Political Affairs chief told the Security Council on Tuesday. 
• Healthcare’s a human right, not ‘a privilege for the rich’ UNAIDS argues at Davos
  The UN agency devoted to ending AIDS as a public health threat is calling on top politicians and governments across the world to ensure the right to quality healthcare is upheld, and not just a privilege to be enjoyed by the wealthy.
• Lebanon: UN rights office calls for de-escalation of protest violence
  What had been largely peaceful demonstrations against Lebanon’s Government in the capital Beirut grew increasingly violent over the weekend, sparking the concern of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Rising inequality affecting more than two-thirds of the globe, but it’s not inevitable: new UN report
  Inequality is growing for more than 70 per cent of the global population, exacerbating the risks of divisions and hampering economic and social development. But the rise is far from inevitable and can be tackled at a national and international level, says a flagship study released by the UN on Tuesday.
• FROM THE FIELD: Weeding out Mexico’s unwanted beach invader
  An invasive species of seaweed which has blighted tourist beaches in Mexico has become more aggressive due to the heating effects of climate change. But now, thanks to support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), efforts are underway to hold back its advance and protect local ecosystems.  
• UN human rights ruling could boost climate change asylum claims
  The UN Human Rights Committee has determined that countries cannot deport people who have sought asylum due to climate-related threats. 
• UN health agency to gauge global threat, as China confirms coronavirus transmission between humans
  Following an announcement by China’s national health body that a new virus first identified there, can be transmitted from person to person, the World Health Organization (WHO) is to hold a meeting on Wednesday to decide if it should be declared a global health emergency.
• Nearly half a billion can’t find decent work, unemployment set to rise: new UN labour report
  Around half a billion people work fewer paid hours than they would like, or are not getting enough access to paid work, shows a study published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Monday, which also forecasts that unemployment will rise by about 2.5 million this year.
• Major humanitarian hub in northeast Nigeria burned in attack
  The top UN aid official in Nigeria has condemned a weekend attack against a major humanitarian facility in the north-east of the country. 
• East Africa locusts threaten food security across subregion, alerts UN agriculture agency
  Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dealing with desert locust swarms of “unprecedented size and destructive potential” that could spill over into more countries in East Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.