There is no substitute for seeing the humanitarian needs of people first-hand according to the top UN relief official.
Stephen O'Brien began his work as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs just a couple of months ago and has already travelled to a number of conflict zones in locations such as Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen.
A memorial at UN Headquarters dedicated to the millions of African victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade urges people to “acknowledge the tragedy, consider the legacy, lest we forget.”
It’s an example of how art can promote reflection, thus invoking conversations which encourage tolerance, says Omyma David, focal point for the Remember Slavery Programme in the UN’s Department of Public Information.
The Sudanese government and armed opposition groups in the country are being urged by the UN to end widespread impunity of serious human rights violations in Darfur.
A new report by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, says killings and rape in the strife-torn region last year have largely been dismissed by local police and underreported by victims due to a lack of trust in the authorities.
Nearly 225 years ago, enslaved Africans in what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic rose up against their oppressors.
Their fight for justice is remembered on the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, observed on 23 August.
A UN radio series on youth in politics is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of people across four northeastern provinces of Afghanistan, according to the United Nations mission in the country, UNAMA.
The first out of four episodes, designed to encourage young people to participate in politics, was launched on Radio Roshani in the city of Kunduz.
It features lively discussions with a women’s rights activist, a youth affairs leader and a religious scholar.
A new agreement between France and the UK to deal with the influx of migrants and refugees at a port city in northern France has been welcomed by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
UNHCR hailed steps aimed at improving the living conditions and ensuring the rights of the estimated 3,000 people who have sought refuge in Calais.
At least 10 people have died trying to cross the Channel tunnel linking France to the United Kingdom since June.
Japan renewed its calls for the total elimination of nuclear weapons at the UN on Tuesday…with a little help from one high school student from Hiroshima.
Tsugumi Inoue, one of 22 so-called Japanese “Peace Messengers” who’ve come to Geneva, presented a petition to ban nuclear weapons to the UN Conference on Disarmament.
In what has become an annual tradition at the talks, Japan’s messengers for peace have now presented more than 1.6 million signatures supporting their cause.
Tackling climate change is critical to achieving a sustainable future for all people and the planet, according to a senior adviser to the UN Secretary-General.
Janos Pasztor, UN Assistant Secretary-General on Climate Change, says global agreement on the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) complements efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
All 193 countries that make up the UN recently signed off on the SDGs which world leaders are expected to adopt at a summit in New York next month.
Recent floods in Myanmar highlighted the resilience of local communities, with people taking the initiative to look after their neighbours.
That’s according to Rosalia Gitau from the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.
Ms Gitau, who is normally stationed in Guinea, was on holiday in Myanmar when the floods occurred in early August.
Siobhán Garside spoke with Ms Gitau about humanitarian concerns related to the natural disaster.
Duration: 3'10"
Although women possess the skills and perseverance to be leaders in humanitarian work, they are still underrepresented in the field, according to an official with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Silke von Brockhausen, a UNDP Communications Specialist, believes women humanitarian workers can more easily connect with women in the communities they serve, whose influence is crucial to disseminating messages during crisis situations.
