Global

A united global effort to phase out ozone-depleting substances means that today, the hole in the ozone layer is healing.
WMO/Chunseong Bang

Act now to slow climate change and protect the planet, urges UN chief

16 September 2021
Climate and Environment

The ozone layer – a fragile shield of gas that protects the Earth from the harmful rays of the sun – is “on the road to recovery”, the UN chief said on Thursday in his message for the World Ozone Day.

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. 

Ola al-Aghbary is the founder of the Sheba Youth Foundation for Development which focuses on youth and women empowerment in Yemen.
Hana Haza’a

FROM THE FIELD: Women owning the peace

16 September 2021
Peace and Security

The contribution of women activists towards building peace across the world is being highlighted in a UN exhibition of images taken by women photographers which is opening online and in New York.

Some world leaders will deliver speeches in the UN General Assembly hall in person, but it's expected the majority will not be travelling to New York.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

From BTS, K-Pop heroes, to net zero: 5 things to look out for at UNGA76

15 September 2021
UN Affairs

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly is due to begin on 14 September, and it will be very different from 2020’s fully virtual gathering. UNGA 76 will still be overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that won’t stop leaders (some of them in the Assembly Hall) from addressing urgent global challenges. Here are five things you should know about 2021’s “hybrid” event.

Volkan Bozkir (right), President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, hands the gavel over to Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

76th General Assembly gets underway at UN Headquarters in New York 

14 September 2021
UN Affairs

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be the most challenging period the world has seen since the Second World War, said the UN Secretary-General on Tuesday – as the 75th session of the General Assembly gave way to the new – deepening inequalities, decimating economies and plunging millions into extreme poverty. 

Globally, more than 700,000 people die by suicide every year.
Unsplash/Dan Meyers

Pandemic increasing risk factors for suicide, UN health agency warns

10 September 2021
Health

Suicide prevention must be prioritized after 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Americas office of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, commemorated annually on 10 September. 

Students at a school in Hanoi Viet Nam.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

The future of international cooperation: Time to think big, urges Guterres

10 September 2021
UN Affairs

Celebrating the UN’s 75th anniversary last year, prompted major internal discussion about its future, and a new direction away from the post-World War Two consensus of its early days. These reflections have resulted in Our Common Agenda, a landmark new report released on Friday by the UN Secretary-General, setting out his vision for the future of global cooperation.

Children from the Central African Republic attend class in a protected space at a refugee camp in the Cameroon.
© UNICEF/Sebastian Rich

Protecting education, means ‘we protect the future’: UN chief 

9 September 2021
Culture and Education

The global community needs to say with one voice that “attacks on schools must stop”, the UN chief urged a virtual event on Thursday commemorating the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.  

 

A Chinese police officer deployed to the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), talks to a young girl whilst on patrol (file photo).
UN Photo/Albert González Farran

National ownership critical, once guns fall silent, Security Council hears

8 September 2021
Peace and Security

Although UN peacekeeping missions can help put a country on the right track following conflict, only a commitment from national governments can keep it there over the long term, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told a Security Council meeting on Wednesday to examine support for the transition towards lasting peace.  

Locust swarms in Kenya have the ability to destroy the crops and thus livelihoods of farming families.
FAO/Sven Torfinn

From locusts to cyclones: The human cost of interlinked disasters

8 September 2021
Climate and Environment

Many extreme environmental events have a devastating effect on people’s lives, and a new UN report reveals that many of them are linked by the same underlying causes. On the day the study is released, we look at the impact of a locust swarm on a Kenyan farmer, and the ways that Cyclone Amphan affected an Indian worker.