UN News

• Promoting ‘a healthy sustainable future’, the UN health agency engages young and young at heart to 'Walk the Talk'
  Celebrating the importance of fitness, on Sunday morning in the Swiss city of Geneva, the United Nations health agency kicked off its second “Walk the Talk: The Health for All Challenge”.
• UPDATED: Guterres condemns armed attack against UN peacekeepers in Mali
  A violent attack against the United Nation's Integrated Stabilization Mission for Mali (MINUSMA) that left one peacekeeper dead on Saturday, drew strong condemnation from Secretary-General António Guterres. 
• UN blue helmets in South Sudan use Sustainable Development Goals to help build peace  
   The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has concluded the week by harnessing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to support the nation, including by offering free medical services, encompassing SDG 3’s target on health coverage.
• UN chief calls for ‘enlightened self-interest’ from world leaders to save ‘the whole planet’ from climate change 
  Concluding a week-long visit to the South Pacific, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world’s decision-makers to make “enlightened” choices on climate action because “the whole planet” is at stake. 
• Friday’s Daily Brief: Syria, Yemen airstrikes, Anti-torture panel, Gay rights, Climate change, #Vesak Day
  On Friday, we cover: Fighting in Syria’s Idlib province; UN condemnation of airstrikes in Yemen; UK’s forced-return policy; LGBTI rights; the UN chief’s climate action trip to Tuvalu; and Vesak Day.
• Repatriation of extremist fighters and families to Kazakhstan, welcomed by UN rights expert
  Stressing the need for some Governments to reform their laws and policies on fighting terrorism and extremism, an independent UN human rights expert welcomed on Friday Kazakhstan’s repatriation of 231 of its citizens from conflict sites in Syria and Iraq, earlier this month.
• Are robots sexist? UN report shows gender bias in talking digital tech
  Why do most voice assistants have female names, and why do they have submissive personalities? The answer, says a new report released on Friday by UNESCO, the UN’s Education, Science and Culture agency, is that there are hardly any women working in the technical teams that develop these services and other cutting-edge digital tools.
• Risk grows of ‘catastrophic humanitarian fallout’ in Syria’s Idlib, where 3 million are trapped: top UN officials urge unity in Security Council
  The UN’s Political and Humanitarian Affairs chiefs on Friday called on the Security Council to unite in support of an immediate de-escalation of fighting around Syria’s Idlib province, and work towards an enduring political solution on behalf of the Syrian people.
• Deadly Yemen airstrikes that claim children’s lives in capital Sana’a, strongly condemned by UN
  Thursday’s airstrikes on Yemen’s capital Sana’a that reportedly killed five children and injured dozens more, have been strongly condemned by UN agencies, which have warned of the “brutal toll” on civilians of more than four years of conflict.
• Stop Tuvalu and ‘the world from sinking’ UN chief tells island nation facing existential threat from rising seas
  Tuvalu “faces an existential threat from sea-level rise”, the United Nations chief said during his visit to the Pacific island nation on Friday whose highest point is less than five metres above the waves.
• ‘The time for action is now’ senior UN peacekeeping official says, urging support for regional force combating Sahel terrorism
  The five-year-old force working to stabilize Africa’s Sahel has shown great potential, but needs more support from the international community to reach full operational capacity, a top UN peacekeeping official said on Thursday, calling for enhanced political and economic solutions to help tackle the strife-torn region’s myriad challenges.
• ‘Climate change is the battle of my life’, UN chief tells students living on the frontline in Fiji
  The UN Secretary-General António Guterres saw the frontline of “the battle against climate change” for himself on Thursday, by taking to the tropical waters of the South Pacific off the coast of Fiji, on a solar-powered boat.
• Thursday’s Daily Brief: Ebola in DR Congo, malnutrition in Laos, baby health, support for Sahel force, #ClimateAction
  On Thursday, we cover: more support needed for Sahel force, fears in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as Ebola response funding dwindles; food and nutrition concerns in Laos; an update on low birthweight babies across the world; and the UN chief’s trip for climate action in the Pacific continues.
• Humanitarian situation increasingly dire for displaced Syrians stranded in camp near Jordanian border
  Food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation has become increasingly dire in a camp for displaced people in south-east Syria, a senior UN official said on Thursday, while condemning ongoing airstrikes and retaliatory shelling in opposition-held territories in the north-west.
• UN chief lauds Fijians as ‘natural global leaders’ on climate, environment, hails ‘symbiotic relationship’ with land and sea
  Fiji’s strong traditions of community and social responsibility, and its “symbiotic relationship” with its surroundings, has made its people “natural global leaders on climate and the environment”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the nation’s Parliament on Thursday.
• Sudan: UN chief calls for ‘positive momentum’ as civilian rule talks stall between military and opposition
  The UN Secretary-General has commended the progress made so far between Sudan’s military leaders and opposition forces towards agreeing a timetable for a return to civilian rule, following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir just over a month ago.
• Countries must up their game to reduce low birth weights, warns UN-backed report
  Many countries need to invest more and take greater action to reduce the number of babies born with low birth weights which put their health at risk, urges a United Nations-backed report released on Wednesday.
• Wednesday’s Daily Brief: climate challenges for the Pacific, new global health tool, updates on Yemen, the Gulf and Somalia
  This Wednesday, top stories includes: the UN chief’s continued visit in the Pacific to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change; in Yemen, the fatal price that children are paying due to a conflict they did not cause; a new tool to track medical products worldwide; drought in Somalia; and updates on tensions in the Gulf.
• Yemen war ‘a test of our humanity’, and we’re ‘badly failing’ warns UN Children’s Fund chief
  “Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives” the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the 15 members of the Security Council on Wednesday, in an impassioned plea for action to end four years of fighting which has left at least 7,300 children killed or seriously injured. 
• UN chief outlines ‘intertwined challenges’ of climate change, ocean health facing Pacific nations on the ‘frontline’
  Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Tuesday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.
• Myanmar: Conflict resolution at ‘total standstill’, military commanders must answer for crimes against humanity
  Myanmar’s military commanders must answer charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in a credible court, a United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM) said on Tuesday, urging the international community to cut off all financial and other support to them.
• Tuesday’s Daily Brief: hate speech, dementia, Libya and Yemen, human rights in Brazil and Lebanon
  This Tuesday, we cover: the UN chief in New Zealand’s Christchurch calls for end to hate speech; how a healthy lifestyle can prevent dementia; updates on fighting in Libya and Yemen; the human rights of detainees in Lebanon and people affected by leprosy in Brazil.
• UN monitoring team in Yemen verifies pullout of armed forces from crucial port zones
  The UN team set up to monitor the ceasefire agreement between warring parties in Yemen has formally verified the pullout of armed Ansar Allah, or Houthi forces, from port zones in the country that are crucial to the flow of humanitarian aid, describing cooperation they have received so far as “very good.”
• ‘Hateful attacks’ pushing Sri Lanka backwards, UN advisers warn, urging an end to ‘discriminatory practices’ that feed intolerance
  Growing instances of religious-based violence in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka have prompted two United Nations Special Advisers to call for an end to “hateful attacks” directed towards the country’s Muslim minority.
• UN health agency highlights lifestyle choices that can prevent onset of dementia, as millions more succumb each year
  Key lifestyle choices such as getting regular exercise, not smoking or drinking too much, can reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline, the UN health agency said on Tuesday.