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© UNOCHA/Olga Cherevko

Unexploded bombs in Gaza will take years to clear, says Palestine UN Mine Action chief

The residents of Gaza have faced unimaginable horrors since October. The massive bombardments that pummelled the territory over the last five months have flattened entire neighbourhoods, and when reconstruction eventually begins, the costs are likely to be in the tens of billions.

That reconstruction will be hampered by an unwelcome, deadly, hangover from the conflict: unexploded bombs, missiles, and other types of munitions.

Audio
10'7"
UN News

Ordeal of Ukrainians revealed after full-scale Russian invasion

It’s been a full two years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine which gave rise to “horrific” abuses and likely war crimes, including systematic torture and rape.

These grave violations are detailed in a new report to the UN Human Rights Council by the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine which was published on Friday.

Leading the inquiry is independent rights expert and Commission Chair Erik Møse.

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6'13"
UN News

Gaza: More than 40 per cent of agriculture sector totally destroyed

The entire agriculture sector of Gaza which was already under strain before the Israeli offensive “collapsed many weeks ago”, especially in the most damaged northern areas of the enclave.

That’s according to AbdelHakim ElWaer, Assistant Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) speaking exclusively to UN News, who called for immediate international action to prevent starvation and malnutrition from spreading.

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8'59"
UN Photo

After losing 150 relatives in Gaza, US doctor says ‘those left are waiting to die’

Dr. Rola ElFarra, a physician from Houston, Texas, has family in the Gaza Strip. Some 150 of her relatives have been killed during the Israeli incursion and bombardment of the besieged enclave.

Among a group of Palestinian women who met with the UN Secretary-General last week, Dr. Elfarra shared stories and family photos of some of those killed, over 90 of whom were women and children, at a virtual event, War on #Gaza: Impact on Palestinian Women and Children, held on Wednesday on the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68).

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6'24"
UN News

UNRWA deputy chief: ‘More aid has to come in at scale’

On her return from a visit to Gaza, her first since 7 October, Natalie Boucly, the Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), described the “shocking conditions” she had witnessed in the Strip.

Speaking to Khaled Mohamed from UN News, Ms. Boucly said that the population is “literally besieged”, with limited health and sanitation and no access to electricity, and is only receiving “a trickle” of aid.

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10'24"
© UNICEF/Andrew Cullen

Mongolian Dzuds: Unravelling a climate change crisis and how space tech can help

The Dzud – literally meaning disaster in Mongolian – is a recurring and damaging weather event in the landlocked northeast Asian country, devastating its unique nomadic and pastoral way of life and wiping massive numbers of livestock. But this season, the winter phenomenon is particularly extreme, affecting nearly 250,000 people and tens of millions of heads of cattle, horses, goats and sheep.
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8'52"
© UNDP Ukraine/Oleksiy Ushakov

UNDP supports building homes and breaking stereotypes in Ukraine

Roughly two million homes have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine, where the full-scale Russian invasion has entered a third year.

A recent UN-backed assessment estimated that overall reconstruction and recovery will cost $486 billion over the next decade. 

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is working with the authorities and civil society on recovery efforts, which includes supporting a project called Velyke Divnytsvo that encourages women to take up tools and rebuild their country, one house at a time. 

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8'35"