Middle East

Years of conflict in Yemen has resulted in rampant shortages of food, medicine and basic supplies, leaving millions of people on the brink of starvation.
WHO/Yemen

New funding provides much needed boost for Yemen aid operations, but needs outstrip means

30 November 2017
A United Nations-managed humanitarian emergency fund has allocated $70 million to strife-ridden Yemen, enabling critical life-saving relief operations across large parts of the country.
One of the manual water pumps around East-Ghouta serving as one of the very few water sources in the besieged area. Water can be unsafe as it is not tested nor purified.
UNOCHA

UN aid chief spotlights challenges delivering relief inside war-torn Syria, urges continued support

29 November 2017
The conflict in Syria – now into its seventh year, longer than World War II – continues to ratchet up misery on its people, with millions living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, a third of the country’s children out of school, and over half of its health facilities rendered inoperable, the United Nations top relief official said today.
Miroslav Lajvak, President of the General Assembly at the special meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
UN Photo/Kim Haughton

On Day of Solidarity, UN reaffirms two-state solution as only answer to ‘question of Palestine’

29 November 2017
Peace and Security

The Question of Palestine is inextricably linked with the history of the United Nations and is one of the longest-standing issues on the Organization's agenda, United Nations Secretary-General António said in his message commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

A wide view of the 82nd plenary meeting of second regular session of United Nations General Assembly, 17 September 1947.
UN Photo

UN chief reiterates support for two-state solution in Middle East; vows to denounce anti-Semitism

28 November 2017
Peace and Security

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today reiterated that he would continue to work to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve a two-state solution, and vowed to denounce hate speech aimed at Israelis.

On 25 November 2017, a shipment of vaccines is delivered to the Sana’a International airport to protect Yemeni children from diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus.
UNICEF/Madhok

Easing of blockade enables UN aid to enter Yemen, but agencies say imports must also be allowed

28 November 2017
Humanitarian Aid

The United Nations food relief agency said Tuesday that humanitarian air service into Yemen has resumed, and a ship waiting in international waters for three weeks has now docked in Saleef, stressing that unhindered access to all airports and ports is vital to end the dire situation in the conflict-ravaged southern Arabian country.

On 25 November 2017, a shipment of vaccines is delivered to the Sana’a International airport, bringing in15 tonnes of BCG, Penta and PCV vaccine supplies to protect Yemeni children from diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus. UNICEF/UN0147212/Madhok

Yemen’s Sana’a airport opens after blockade; UNICEF says vaccine delivery ‘cannot be a one-off’

27 November 2017
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday warned that more than 11 million Yemeni children – almost every single Yemeni boy and girl – are in acute need of humanitarian assistance, despite the successful delivery of 1.9 million doses of vaccines to Sana’a airport on Sunday.
Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria, briefs the Security Council, via video conference.
UN Photo/Kim Haughton

‘No preconditions’ accepted from Syrian parties, UN envoy says ahead of Geneva talks

27 November 2017
Ahead of fresh intra-Syrian talks on Tuesday in Geneva, the United Nations mediator said Monday that the crisis now has the potential to move towards “a genuine political process.”
An UNMAS contractor conduct clearance operations at the Mosul Directorate of Water in west Mosul, Iraq on August 10, 2017.
Cengiz Yar for UNMAS

Feature: Six months after ISIL, life is returning to Mosul despite hidden bomb threats

27 November 2017

Mosul’s Al Qasoor Water Treatment Plant is on the eastern bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city that was, until about six months ago, one of the last strongholds of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Level (ISIL).

Mark Lowcock, new UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

In Iran, UN aid chief expresses readiness to support post-quake relief efforts

24 November 2017
Concluding a two-day visit to Iran, the top United Nations humanitarian official said the Organization is ready to fill any gaps in the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake on 12 November that struck the Iran-Iraq border.
Ján Kubiš, Special Representative the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), briefs the Security Council.
UN Photo/Kim Haughton

ISIL ‘down but not out’ in Iraq; UN envoy urges efforts to defeat group’s extremist ideology

22 November 2017
The military victory against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) is only one component of a complex battle that addresses the root causes of extremist ideology, the United Nations envoy for Iraq said Wednesday.