UN News

• The Caribbean is ‘ground zero’ for the global climate emergency: Guterres
  The UN Secretary-General’s final day in Suriname began on a small plane and ended at a podium. A 90-minute flyover from Paramaribo into the Central Suriname Nature Reserve revealed to António Guterres the astounding beauty of the Amazon but also spotlighted the threats the rainforest is facing from extraction activities and climate change. 
• Haitian children at mercy of armed gangs as schools close
  Rising gang crime in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince is limiting access to education and is preventing thousands of children from going to school. Since 2020, gang-related violence has led to school closures, and children have become easy prey for gang recruitment.
• Suriname gives ‘hope and inspiration to the world to save our rainforests’: UN chief 
  Suriname might be the smallest and least populated country in South America, but it is also one of the greenest. Considered a global leader in biodiversity conservation, with more than 90 per cent of its land surface covered by native forests, the nation’s unrivaled natural resources more than make up for its size. 
• What COVID-19 taught us about risk in a complex, inter-connected world
  A new UN report has shed fresh light on the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed cascading risks, particularly on vulnerable people, worldwide.
• Sudan: UN human rights chief alarmed over killing of protesters by security forces
  The UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed alarm over the killing of at least nine protesters by security forces in Sudan a day earlier, including a 15-year-old child.
• US abortion debate: Rights experts urge lawmakers to adhere to women’s convention 
  A week since the US Supreme Court overturned a landmark, 50-year-old judgement guaranteeing access to abortion, top UN-appointed independent experts urged United States lawmakers on Friday to adhere to international law that protects women’s right to sexual and reproductive health. 
• UN Ocean Conference ends with call for greater ambition and global commitment to address dire state of the Ocean
  Following a week of discussions and events in Lisbon, Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference concluded on Friday, with governments and heads of state agreeing on a new political declaration to Save Our Ocean.
• In Afghanistan, women take their lives out of desperation, Human Rights Council hears
  The situation for women is so desperate in Afghanistan that they are committing suicide at a rate of one or two every day, the Human Rights Council has heard.
• Migrant deaths in Libyan desert ‘wake-up call’ for stronger protections  
  The UN migration agency on Friday deplored the deaths of at least 20 migrants in the Libyan desert and renewed its call for stronger migrant protection along the Chad-Libya border. 
• As global food and fuel crisis deepens, Lebanon’s crisis is affecting ‘everyone, everywhere’
  Veteran UN aid coordinator Najat Rochdi on Friday signalled grave concerns about rising humanitarian needs across Lebanon linked to the global food and fuel crisis, which are affecting “everyone, everywhere”.
• With mangrove conservation, Kenya’s coastal communities plant seeds of sustainable ‘blue growth’
  The southern ocean border of Kenya and Tanzania is dotted with thick hedges of mangroves – indispensable carbon sinks and spectacular ecosystems teeming with life – that appear to float dreamlike over creek beds and mudflats. These hardy trees and shrubs, and the communities that depend on them, are getting a major boost from UN-backed restoration plans that are also helping to reduce poverty and build economic resilience.
• US Supreme Court ruling on environmental protection ‘a setback in our fight against climate change’
  The ruling by the United States Supreme Court against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday, is “a setback in our fight against climate change” said the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
• Ethiopia still in grip of spreading violence, hate speech and aid crisis
  UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights investigators announced on Thursday that they’ve launched a probe into an alleged massacre of at least 200 people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. 
• ‘Effort and patience’ required to restore Iran nuclear agreement
  Despite diplomatic engagements, restoring the so-called Iran nuclear agreement continues to be hindered by political and technical differences, the UN political and peacebuilding chief told the Security Council on Thursday.  
• New UN financing initiative goes live to power climate action
  A new UN-led financing tool to strengthen weather and climate forecasting, improve life-saving early warning systems, safeguard jobs, and underpin climate adaptation for long-term resilience, officially opened for business on Thursday.
• Save lives, support development, and ‘steer our world to safer roads ahead’: Guterres 
  Road traffic accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives each year, cost some countries up to three per cent of their annual GDP, and are the biggest killer of five to 29-year olds globally, the UN General Assembly President told a High-level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety on Thursday.
• Ukraine: Four months after Russian invasion, humanitarian needs intensify
  Across Ukraine, the scale of needs caused by Russia's invasion is still massive and human rights concerns persist, UN humanitarians said in an update on Thursday, as they repeated calls for access to the country's Black Sea ports to export vitally needed cereals.
• Scientific knowledge essential for sustainable oceans, UN Ocean Conference hears
  Increasing scientific knowledge, developing research capacity and making the most of new marine technology, are essential to sustainable ocean management, the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, heard on Thursday.
• COVID-19: BA.4 and BA.5 variants spur 20 per cent rise in cases
  COVID-19 cases are on the rise in some 110 countries, driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, said the UN health agency chief on Wednesday, amounting to a 20 per cent spike overall, and a rise in the number of deaths across three of the six world regions monitored by the World Health Organization.
• Safer roads, a global development challenge for all: Senior UN official 
  Every 24 seconds someone is killed in traffic, making safety on the world’s roads a global development challenge for all societies, especially for the most vulnerable, a senior UN official has said, ahead of the first ever High-level General Assembly Meeting on Improving Road Safety.  
• Myanmar: Shocking toll on children must be spur to action, says UN rights expert 
  Myanmar’s military junta is responsible for shocking violence against children caught up in the bloody aftermath of last February’s coup, a top independent Human Rights Council-appointed investigator said on Wednesday. 
• Syria’s needs are at their highest ever, says top rights probe 
  Syria’s humanitarian needs are at their highest ever and any move to block aid from reaching the war-torn country should be resisted strongly, a top UN Human Rights Council probe said on Wednesday. 
• Human rights under threat in DR Congo and beyond, Security Council hears
  The resurgence of the M23 armed group has “broad repercussions” for the security, human rights and humanitarian situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and for the wider region, the UN Special Representative there told the Security Council on Wednesday.
• Flight from cities due to COVID-19 short-lived, says flagship UN-Habitat report
  A new United Nations report says that rapid urbanization was only temporarily delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the global urban population back on track to grow by another 2.2 billion people by 2050.
• Belarus ‘engulfed in fear’, Human Rights Council hears
  The deterioration of human rights in Belarus continues to engulf the country in a climate of fear and arbitrary rule, a UN-appointed independent human rights expert warned on Wednesday.