Europe

A wide view of delegates at the high-level meeting on environment and health in Europe, held in Haifa, Israel.
WHO Europe

One in three Europeans potentially exposed to asbestos, new UN study shows

30 April 2015
A high-level meeting on environment and health in Europe today appealed urgently to all European countries to eliminate asbestos-related diseases, as a new United Nations report showed that one third of the 900 million people living in the region are potentially exposed to asbestos at work and in the environment.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) addresses a joint press conference with François Hollande, President of France, in Paris.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

In Paris, Ban discusses Mediterranean crisis and climate change with President Hollande

29 April 2015
During his visit to Paris, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday met with French President François Hollande, to discuss, among other issues the crisis in the Mediterranean, climate change and sustainable development.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

At Vatican meeting, UN chief and Pope Francis discuss climate change, Mediterranean migration

28 April 2015
During a meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he very much looked forward to the Pontiff's encyclical on climate change, which he said he believed would act as a moral voice on the issue.
Photo: UNEP
UNEP

Air pollution in Europe costs $1.6 trillion a year in deaths and diseases, UN study shows

28 April 2015
Health

The United Nations health agency reported today in first-of-its-kind study that air pollution across Europe is costing “a staggering” $1.6 trillion a year in deaths and diseases, which amounts to nearly one tenth of the region’s gross domestic product.

Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Cyprus: UN envoy welcomes new Turkish Cypriot leader’s commitment to negotiations

27 April 2015
The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, has spoken with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, according to the United Nations Good Offices Mission.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (walking, right) on board the Italian naval vessel, San Giusto, in Sicily.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

Aboard Italian navy ship, Ban urges collective action to ease plight of migrants crossing Mediterranean

27 April 2015
The Mediterranean Sea has sadly become “a sea of tears, a sea of misery,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today aboard an Italian naval ship, where he called on the global community to unite and take action to address the root causes of the migrant crisis.
The unit 4 reactor and shelter which was damaged in an accident at Chernobyl in 1986.
IAEA/Dana Sacchetti

Marking anniversary of Chernobyl disaster, Secretary-General reiterates UN's commitment to those affected

26 April 2015
In a message to mark the 29th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today remembered the hundreds of emergency workers who responded to the accident and the more than 330,000 people uprooted from their homes in its aftermath.
Refugees and migrants rescued at sea by the Italian Coastguard ship Bettica arrive at Port Augusta. On the boat are four separate groups of people who were rescued. Many are women and children.
UNHCR/F. Malavolta

Mediterranean crisis: UN welcomes EU measures on migrants, urges more comprehensive action

24 April 2015
The United Nations refugee agency welcomed the European Union's (EU) mobilization of resources in response to the ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, while also urging increased efforts aimed at saving lives and integrating asylum seekers in accordance with human rights.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN rights chief urges UK to curb tabloid hate speech, end ‘decades of abuse’ targeting migrants

24 April 2015
After decades of “sustained and unrestrained anti-foreigner abuse,” and in the wake of a recent article in the Sun newspaper calling migrants ‘cockroaches,’ the United Nations human rights chief today urged British authorities and media to take steps to curb incitement to hatred by tabloid newspapers, in line with the country’s obligations under national and international law.
Survivors of a boat that capsized in the Mediterranean over the weekend of 18-19 April 2015 arrive in Sicily after being rescued. Hundreds are missing and feared dead.
UNHCR/F. Malavolta

UN urges Europe to ‘put human life, rights and dignity first’ in response to Mediterranean crisis

23 April 2015
The most senior United Nations officials dealing respectively with refugees, human rights, and migration and development, have appealed strongly to European leaders to put human life, rights, and dignity first when agreeing today a common response to what they called the “tragedy of epic proportions” unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea, where some 1,600 people have died this year trying to flee their strife-torn homelands.