Global

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Red from the ‘Angry Birds’ who was appointed Honorary Ambassador for International Day of Happiness.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

PODCAST: From anger to laughter, what happens when three top comedians walk into the UN?

29 March 2016
Climate and Environment

What happens when three top comedians leave their Hollywood comfort-zone and walk into the United Nations to talk climate change and sustainability?

This child was among thousands of Iraqis who fled to the high-altitude region of northern Kurdistan during the winter of 2014 with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and found themselves entirely dependent on humanitarian agencies.
OCHA/Iason Athanasiadis

Agenda for Humanity: five key actions the world needs

21 March 2016
Humanitarian Aid

Not since the Second World War have global humanitarian needs been so high. From the crisis in Syria and the drought in Ethiopia, to the conflict in Sudan and the violence in the Lake Chad Basin, more than 125 million people around the world whose lives have been devastated by conflict and disaster desperately need humanitarian aid and protection. 

Afghans celebrate Nowruz – New Year – with special meals, decorations and gifts and it's a time for renewal and for promoting peace and solidarity.
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Nowruz is an opportunity to bolster UN goal to 'leave no one behind' on road to sustainable future – Ban

21 March 2016
Culture and Education

On the first year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations celebrates Nowruz, “an ancient tradition with modern relevance,” as an occasion to strengthen the international community's resolve to leave no one behind in the collective journey to a better future.

An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments.
World Bank/John Hogg

UN estimates 12.6 million deaths each year attributable to unhealthy environments

15 March 2016
Health

An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly one in four of total global deaths, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, briefs on disaster trends and losses in 2015 during a press conference in New York in February 2016.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

INTERVIEW: Managing disaster risk vital for sustainable development, UN official stresses

10 March 2016
Climate and Environment

Nearly 350 reported disasters, over 22,000 deaths, 98.6 million people affected, and $66.5 billion in economic damage. That was the devastating toll of disasters worldwide in 2015, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). At the helm of the Geneva-based office is Robert Glasser, an experienced development official who took up his post at the start of this year.

African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks.
UNEP GRID Arendal/Peter Prokosch

Marking World Wildlife Day, UN calls for global actions to save planet’s most iconic species

3 March 2016
Climate and Environment

“Time is running out” to end wildlife poaching that threatens some of the world’s most iconic species, such as elephants, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as the United Nations marked World Wildlife Day.