Pacific Island leaders speaking in the UN General Assembly on Saturday underlined the need for global solidarity, commitment and action to tackle COVID-19 and climate change, two crises which threaten sustainable development. 

Afghanistan’s health system is on the brink of collapse, the head of the World Health Organisation, WHO, warned on Wednesday, while on the streets of Kabul, the hunger families are suffering is as acute in urban areas as the drought-stricken rural parts of the country. 

The return of humanitarian flights to Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is a turning point in the crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. 

Peaceful protesters in many parts of Afghanistan have been met with an increasingly violent response by the new Taliban authorities over the past four weeks, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday, including the use of live ammunition, batons and whips.