Global

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo engages with children in the Housh el Refka informal settlement, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
©UNICEF/Diego Ibarra Sanchez

UNICEF’s women Goodwill Ambassadors, give voice to the voiceless

24 September 2021
Women

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August, the world has continued to watch anxiously, as the fate of women and girls throughout the country hangs in the balance.

UN officials say that gender-based violence is a “shadow pandemic,” hidden beneath COVID-19.
UNDP

Call to action: Prevent gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies

23 September 2021
Women

Top UN officials met in the margins of the 76th General Assembly on Thursday,  with a strong call to action to stamp out gender-based violence (GBV), amid a rise in forced displacement and other humanitarian emergencies around the globe.

An atmospheric nuclear test conducted by the United States at Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, on 1 November 1952.
US Government

UN chief appeals for countries to sign nuclear test-ban treaty

23 September 2021
Peace and Security

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday again urged eight key countries which have not yet signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to do so without delay.

A COVID-19 vaccine is administered in Indonesia.
© UNICEF/Arimacs Wilander

‘We can end the pandemic’, UN chief says in new call for global vaccine plan

22 September 2021
Health

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday repeated his call for a global COVID-19 vaccination plan to boost production and reach millions over the coming months, in line with recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Local school children eat their meals at a primary school in Xay District, Lao PDR.
FAO/Manan Vatsyayana

No improvement in young children’s diets over past decade: UNICEF

22 September 2021
SDGs

There has been little sign of improvement in the diets of the world’s youngest children over the last ten years, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. 

National governments are the main drivers of change to reduce harmful emissions.
Unsplash/Daniel Moqvist

World’s two largest economies commit to climate action – Guterres

21 September 2021
Climate and Environment

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday welcomed important commitments made towards climate action by the world’s two largest economies, as the 76th High Level Debate began in New York.

An Afghan refugee is vaccinated against COVID-19 in Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
© UNHCR/Asif Shahzad

Refugees face dire consequences from COVID-19 underfunding, UNHCR warns 

17 September 2021
Migrants and Refugees

Underfunding has left a “yawning gap” in the UN Refugee Agency’s ability to protect forcibly displaced people worldwide from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNHCR said on Friday. 

A boy stands in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Ahvaz, Iran. The country is among those being subjected to international sanctions, despite the ravages of COVID-19.
© UNICEF

Bachelet calls for major re-think over impact of sanctions on human rights

16 September 2021
Human Rights

Unilateral and coercive sanctions imposed by governments can create severe and undue suffering for innocent people who bear no responsibility for alleged misconduct, the UN rights chief warned the Human Rights Council on Thursday.

A domestic worker from the Kalayanpur Slum in Bangladesh who lost her job due to the COVID-19 crisis.
WFP/Sayed Asif Mahmud

Annual Secretary-General’s report reveals a world tested ‘to the limit’

16 September 2021
UN Affairs

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be the greatest shared global challenge since the UN’s founding 75 years ago, according to the annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, published on Thursday. 

People cross a flooded river in western Haiti after a bridge was washed away by Hurricane Matthew. (file)
MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

‘Tipping point’ for climate action: Time’s running out to avoid catastrophic heating

16 September 2021
Climate and Environment

The temporary reduction in carbon emissions caused by global COVID-19 lockdowns did not slow the relentless advance of climate change. Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels, and the planet is on path towards dangerous overheating, a multi-agency climate report published on Thursday warns.