Global

Injured civilians, having escaped the raging inferno, gathered on a pavement west of Miyuki-bashi in Hiroshima, Japan, at about 11 a.m. on 6 August 1945.
UN Photo/Yoshito Matsushige

‘Humanity remains unacceptably close to nuclear annihilation, says UN chief on International Day

26 September 2021
Peace and Security

“Now is the time to eliminate nuclear weapons from our world , and usher in a new era of dialogue, trust and peace”, declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday, marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

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.

Graphic for No Denying It, the UN News Podcast about Climate Action
UN News/ Paola Bustamante

No Denying It episode 5: Jane Goodall Introduces Xiaoyuan "Charlene" Ren

23 September 2021
Climate and Environment

In the fifth episode of the UN climate action podcast No Denying It, United Nations Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall, known for her groundbreaking scientific work studying chimpanzees, interviews Xiaoyuan "Charlene" Ren.

Ms. Ren is the founder of MyH20, a network that collects drinking water data to help find solutions to improve water quality across China. Globally, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, a figure that will only go up as infrastructure struggles to keep pace with new climate change-related weather patterns.

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.