Global

A woman breast feeds her premature baby at the UNICEF supported Maternity ward of the State University Hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti.
UNICEF/Marco Dormino

Greater investment in family-friendly policies critical to support breastfeeding – UNICEF

31 July 2019
Women

While the benefits of breastfeeding for both children and mothers are extensive, policies that support nursing, particularly in workplaces, are not yet available to most mothers worldwide, the Head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.  

A mother is breastfeeding her newborn child at the Mother and Child Health Center in Bumbu, a district of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 20 October 2017.
UNICEF/UN0156352/Dubourthoumieu

Wednesday’s Daily Brief: World Breastfeeding Week kickoff, Second Ebola death on DR Congo’s eastern border, UN chief lauds climate activist Thunberg, Afghan bus attack, and outgoing UN agriculture chief hands over reigns

31 July 2019
Health

Our main stories today cover:  World Breastfeeding Week kickoff, Ebola on DR Congo side of Rwandan border, 15-year-old Greta Thunberg to said to UN climate summit, UN chief condemns deadly Afghan bus attack and UN agriculture agency chief marks last day.

Men on camels and donkeys travel through a dust storm in the desert near the western city of Mao, in the Kanem Region of Chad.
© UNICEF/UNI82205/Holt

Migration and the climate crisis: the UN’s search for solutions

31 July 2019
Climate and Environment

Throughout human history, migration and climate have always been connected, but in the modern era, the impacts of the man-made climate crisis are likely to extensively change the patterns of human settlement.

A young girl looks through a paneless window frame near Kabul, in Afghanistan, 2013. Civlilians in Afghanistan have borne the brunt of an almost 20 years of conflict.
UNICEF/UNI152469/Dragaj

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Children in armed conflict, Ebola in DR Congo, human rights in Bahrain, and two International Days

30 July 2019
Peace and Security

Our main stories today cover: A new report on children and armed conflict, a day to combat human trafficking; funds needed to fight Ebola in DR Congo; UN rights office condemns the execution of two Bahraini citizens; and International Day of Friendship

Former child soldiers are released in Yambio in South Sudan in 2018.
UNMISS/Isaac Billy

New UN report shows record number of children killed and maimed in conflict

30 July 2019
Peace and Security

A new UN report has found that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in armed conflict; the year saw the highest numbers killed or maimed since the United Nations began monitoring the violation.

Refugee women show their support for UNHCR's anti-trafficking campaign at Wad Sharife camp in east Sudan. (24 July 2018)
© UNHCR/Bahia Egeh

Conflict, climate change among factors that increase ‘desperation that enables human trafficking to flourish’, says UN chief

30 July 2019
Human Rights

To mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that “human trafficking is a heinous crime that affects every region of the world” – especially women and children.

El-Miskin Camp in in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State is home to around 5000 IDPs.
IOM/Jorge Galindo

Monday’s Daily Brief: Nigeria massacre, Libya shelling condemned; recycled plastic used to build classrooms in Côte d’Ivoire

29 July 2019
Peace and Security

Our main stories today: UN chief and senior UN official condemn the ‘terrible massacre’ in Nigeria that left some 65 dead, and the shelling of a hospital in Libya that killed medical workers; UN Secretary-General António Guterres reacts to a deadly landslide in China; recycled plastic waste is used to build classrooms in Côte d’Ivoire; and scouts are urged to become human rights defenders.

A woman, her child behind her, pauses in the field to smoke a cigarette in Sawa Khola Village, Mugu District.
UNICEF/Brian Sokol

UN sees progress in fight against tobacco, warns more action needed to help people quit deadly product

26 July 2019
Health

Progress is being made in the battle against the global tobacco epidemic, but more action is needed to help people quit the deadly products, according to a new report from the UN World Health Organization (WHO).  

UNHCR Chief of Mission for Libya, Jean-Paul Cavalieri, with officials, refugees and migrants after arriving at Tajoura detention centre. (3 July 2019)
© UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem

Friday’s Daily Brief: Libya mass drownings response: Syria ‘carnage’ denounced, food aid doubled for Ebola-affected in DR Congo

26 July 2019
Migrants and Refugees

Our main stories today: UN leaders call for a return to sea rescues in the Mediterranean, following Libya shipwreck; UN human rights chief denounces indifference to victims of Syrian airstrikes; World Food Programme doubles supplies to those affected by Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, and WHO urges more investment to eradicate hepatitis.

This pentavalent vaccine, used at a health centre in Mali, is a combined vaccine with five individual vaccines conjugated into one, intended to actively protect people from multiple diseases, including hepatitis B. (9 March 2018)
UNICEF/Ilvy Njiokiktjien

Eliminating hepatitis calls for ‘bold political leadership, with investments to match,’ UN health chief says

26 July 2019
Health

Calling for “bold political leadership” ahead of World Hepatitis Day, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged countries to take advantage of recent reductions in the costs of diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis and scale up investments in disease elimination.