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UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaks from a podium in the United Nations General Assembly Hall during the opening of the eighty-first session, with delegates seated and his image on two screens.

110 leaders, 18,000 delegates: Inside the UN’s busiest week of high-stakes diplomacy

The busiest week of the year at the UN got underway at the organization’s New York Headquarters on Monday.

Reaching the most vulnerable: Frontline teams support earthquake-hit Venezuela

Photo by UNOCHA/Veronique Durroux showing search and rescue operations near the earthquake ground zero in La Guaira, Venezuela, on June 29, 2026. A CAT backhoe loader is positioned in the foreground amidst rubble, with several rescue workers visible on top of the collapsed building structure.

UN ramps up ceasefire support to hungry and war-weary Gazans

A smiling young girl, Shereen, carries a large pot of rice and chickpeas in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, while other children and adults stand near tents in the background.

From podiums to patrols: Taking the pulse of the UN’s busiest week

Silhouettes of delegates stand near a United Nations flag at sunrise outside UN Headquarters during the 80th General Assembly Debate in New York.

Ukraine: Keeping the lights on during the darkest times

A group of people, including a woman pushing a stroller, walk down a foggy street in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, carrying humanitarian aid supplies provided by UNHCR.

More Photo Stories

UN peacekeeping’s long history of support to DR Congo

Two UN peacekeepers in blue helmets take cover behind a rock wall with armored vehicles in the background during a mission in North Kivu, DR Congo.

UN peacekeepers in blue helmets and camouflage uniforms conduct a foot patrol along a rural road in D.R. Congo, engaging with a local civilian.

Children walk along a dirt path in a displaced persons camp in Munigi, North Kivu, DR Congo.

UN Police officers and Congolese national police engage with local residents during a community patrol in Goma, D.R. Congo, sharing emergency information.

Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion soldiers from MONUSCO conduct tactical training and a foot patrol with FARDC in Sake, North Kivu, D.R. Congo.

Men surrender weapons to MONUSCO peacekeepers during a disarmament ceremony in Kashege, Tanganyika, DRC.

South African Engineer Company troops from MONUSCO are working on a bridge in Rwindi, North Kivu Province, DR Congo.

‘Massive response’ needed following Gaza conflict’s ‘horrific toll’ on children

An injured Palestinian boy receives medical aid after an airstrike at the Rufaida school in Gaza.

Three premature babies in diapers are sleeping inside a clear hospital incubator.

Children stand amidst rubble of a destroyed building in Rafah, Gaza.

A young Palestinian girl eats from a green bowl while sitting on the ground in front of a makeshift tent shelter in Gaza.

A child in an orange shirt receives an oral polio vaccine drop in Khan Younis, surrounded by other children.

A Palestinian boy walks past a makeshift shelter in Gaza, carrying water jugs.

A young Palestinian girl, Tala, sits in a classroom at a UNICEF learning centre in Gaza. She looks up thoughtfully while other children are seated at tables with books and UNICEF materials.

An aerial view shows families returning to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza, during a ceasefire on January 20, 2025.

Photo Story: Gazans return home to devastation and an uncertain future

Displaced people and a car loaded with belongings move through a street in Gaza surrounded by rubble and damaged buildings.

A young boy in a red shirt walks through a refugee camp in Gaza, carrying a green water container. Makeshift shelters and other people are visible in the background.

Palestinian children and a young man holding a Palestinian flag in Deir el Balah, Gaza Strip.

Maryam Haboub, a displaced woman in Nuseirat Camp, Gaza, reacts emotionally after hearing news about a ceasefire.

Shadi Jomaa Abu Sheha stands inside the rubble of his destroyed home in Nuseirat, Gaza.

Suleiman Al-Rawagh, a displaced Palestinian, stands in front of his damaged home in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip.

A World Food Programme worker walks between rows of food aid trucks outside Gaza.

Resilience and readiness: Protecting Timor-Leste from the Climate Crisis

A man with a megaphone addresses a group of children in yellow shirts and their teachers on a dirt path.

Aerial view of a residential area in Timor-Leste flooded with muddy water in 2021.

Civil Defence personnel in Timor-Leste conduct a rescue drill, carrying simulated casualties down a hillside. Red Cross volunteers and onlookers observe the exercise.

Antonio Ornai, a visually impaired man, speaks during an evacuation simulation training in Timor-Leste.

Two Red Cross volunteers in Timor-Leste train a child on how to apply a head wrap during an evacuation drill.

1,000 days of war in Ukraine: UN support remains steadfast

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Clements speaks with Svitlana, a displaced person, at a collective shelter in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

People receive food aid from a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution point in Dnipro, Ukraine.

An elderly woman in a knitted hat holds a stack of white food containers in Odesa, Ukraine, as part of a World Central Kitchen aid effort.

A young Ukrainian girl smiles while trying on a new winter jacket provided by UNICEF in Izium, Ukraine.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi walks towards the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant during his official visit to Ukraine.

Workers in safety gear and yellow vests load large white bags of Ukrainian wheat flour into a ship at Hodeidah port, Yemen.

A maternity nurse stands beside a hospital bed with a woman and newborn baby, in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Refugees, including families with children and luggage, wait in a queue at the Medyka border crossing into Poland.

An elderly woman waves from a bed in a crowded room filled with other beds and personal belongings.

Atomic bombs: The second the world changed

A black and white photograph showing a large mushroom cloud rising over the ruins of buildings in Hiroshima, Japan.

Atomic cloud spreading over Nagasaki as seen from about 3 kilometers south of the hypocenter about noon on 9 August 1945.

A black and white historical photograph of three Japanese civilians, likely survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, who have received some medical care.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a ruined building with a concrete dome, stands by a river with visitors nearby and modern buildings in the background.

A general view of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly, held in Central Hall, London, on January 10, 1946. The image shows a large hall filled with delegates seated at long tables.

An elderly Japanese woman, a hibakusha, stands at a podium speaking at an event. She holds up a framed picture with the word 'HIBAKUSHA' on it. A statue is visible in the background.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres makes paper cranes with school children at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.

Faces of Gaza, one year on

Abdullah Abu Al-Qumsan holds a poster with a picture of his son Fouad, who went missing after being injured in October 2023 in a strike in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza.

Sobhi Masoud, an elderly Gazan man, speaks while seated outside, with a car and a piece of meat in the background.

A mother and her children are inside a tent in Gaza, with the mother holding a piece of paper while looking at the camera.

Portrait of an elderly Palestinian woman, identified as Khadra Al-Qadi, who was displaced from Jabalia Camp in northern Gaza.

Bassem Al Habl, a Palestinian man with a disability, stands in a doorway in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, gesturing towards the interior of his home.

Displaced man Fayez Al Zaeem stands in a makeshift shelter in the Gaza Strip with his children nearby.

Thousands descend on UN for busiest week of the year

UN delegates arrive at the headquarters as the sun rises behind the Manhattan skyline.

Close-up of the feet and lower legs of delegates seated in a row at UN Headquarters during the General Assembly.

Samuel Žbogar speaks with Robert Golob, Tanja Fajon, and Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Security Council in Geneva.

Journalists wait for a press briefing at the UN Security Council Media Stakeout area during the 79th UN General Assembly.

A close-up of a hand holding a UN gavel on a podium with microphones.

A female security guard in uniform stands at attention in the General Assembly hall at the UN headquarters.

Ed Norton speaks into a microphone during an interview in the SDG Media Zone at the Summit of the Future on September 23, 2024.

Two speakers at a podium on a stage in front of a screen that reads 'THANK YOU from the United Nations Youth Office &'

View of the Manhattan skyline at dusk, taken from UN Headquarters during the Summit of the Future.

Timor-Leste’s 25-year-long path to freedom and democracy

UN peacekeepers unload ballot boxes from a helicopter in a rugged, mountainous area in Timor-Leste for remote polling centers ahead of the presidential elections.

People participate in an Independence Day celebration in Timor-Leste, carrying a banner that reads 'THE PEOPLE OF EAST TIMOR WELCOME ALL OF YOU TO THE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION'.

A man and four children stand in front of the burnt ruins of their home in Babulo, Timor-Leste.

Officers of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) drag a cart of ballot boxes along a muddy path in Timor-Leste for distribution in remote communities.

Three East Timorese Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) police officers in tactical gear stand outside a building with graffiti, near a group of local children.

Silhouette of an internally displaced person (IDP) with raised hands inside a UNHCR tent in Beto Timur, Timor-Leste.

A woman in a blue headscarf plants a mangrove seedling in a muddy coastal area under a clear blue sky.

A coffee handler from Cooperative Café Timor holds green coffee beans in their hands.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres receives a traditional gift from two young girls in ceremonial attire during a visit to Timor-Leste.