Europe

Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) with Mustafa Akinci (right) Turkish Cypriot leader and Nicos Anastasiades (left) Greek Cypriot leader during Cyprus talks.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN chief urges Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides to seize ‘historic’ chance for peace

30 June 2017
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today called on the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus to grasp “an historic opportunity” to reach a comprehensive settlement to the conflict that has divided the Mediterranean island for more than four decades.
Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, speaks to reporters following the opening of the conference.
UNDPA

Conference on Cyprus off to constructive start but hard work remains, says UN facilitator

28 June 2017
On the opening day of the Conference on Cyprus, a senior United Nations official expressed hope that the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as the guarantors – Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom – have the determination to overcome the challenges and resolve the issues before them.
Espen Barth Eide, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus during press conference ahead of the Cyprus talks in Geneva.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Upcoming Cyprus Conference 'a unique opportunity,' says UN negotiator

27 June 2017
A fresh round of talks on Cyprus will last “as long as it takes,” but there are no guarantees of success, the United Nations negotiator facilitating the process said today.
European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Carmen Cuesta Roca

Strengthen existing protections to curb negative impact of sanctions, UN rights expert urges EU

23 June 2017
Noting progress made by the European Union (EU) to ensure that its sanctions allow for legal remedy and offer a measure of due process, a United Nations expert has called for further strengthening such measures to ensure that the human rights of those impacted are protected to the greatest extent.
Secretary-General António Guterres.
UN Photo/Mark Garten (file)

UN chief 'deeply saddened' by the many lives claimed by raging wildfires in Portugal

18 June 2017
'Shocked and horrified' at the many lives claimed by the devastating fires that hit the Pedrógão Grande region of Portugal, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today expressed his deep sadness and condolences to the Portuguese Government and people.
Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany, addresses a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in June 1997.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN chief praises 'vision, tenacity' of the late Helmut Kohl, chancellor who reunited Germany

16 June 2017
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has lauded the vision and tenacity of the former Chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl, who died today at the age of 87.
On 13 February 2017, first-grade students in eastern Ukraine, including 6-year-old Sasha (in red sweater), participate in a drill to practice their response to a shelling.
© UNICEF/UN053119/Zmey

Ukraine: 750,000 children at risk of losing access to safe drinking water, warns UN

16 June 2017
With the recent escalation of hostilities damaging vital water infrastructure in eastern Ukraine, at least 750,000 children are at imminent risk of being cut off from safe drinking water, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.
Many homes on the front line in Ukraine have been so badly damaged by shelling that they remain abandoned.
Daniel Gerstle/IRIN

Hundreds of thousands in eastern Ukraine at grave risk after water supplies disrupted – UN aid chief

14 June 2017
Raising alarm over lack of safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the so called contact line in Donetsk Oblast of eastern Ukraine since 11 June, the top United Nations relief official today called on all parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international law and ensure that civilian areas and infrastructure are not targeted.
The bomb shelter at the school in the village of Hranitne, which is located along the ‘contact line’ that divides Government and non-Government controlled areas where fighting is most severe, eastern Ukraine. UNICEF/Kozalov

Conflict in Ukraine enters fourth year 'with no end in sight' – UN report

13 June 2017
Warring parties in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly failed to implement ceasefire agreements, allowing hostilities to escalate and the cumulative death toll to exceed 10,000 as the conflict entered its fourth year, a new United Nations report reveals.
Air pollution from an old coal-fired power plant in Kosovo.
World Bank/Lundrim Aliu

Polluted environments kill 1.4 million in Europe annually; UN agencies urge stepped-up action

13 June 2017
As some 1.4 million people in Europe and Central Asia die prematurely each year from polluted environments, United Nations agency heads at high-level meeting call for regional leaders to scale up action to stem environmental deaths and diseases.