Peace and Security

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
Global

“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.

A man carried a child in his suitcase as he fled eastern Ghouta in 2018.
© UNICEF/UN0185401/Sanadiki

Syria: 10 years of war has left at least 350,000 dead

24 September 2021
Middle East

A decade of war in Syria has left more 350,200 people dead, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council on Friday, noting that this total was an “under-count of the actual number of killings”.

Progressively more acute droughts in Somalia have prompted people to move – undermining food security and leaving women vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
IOM/Celeste Hibbert

UN chief: Window to avert devasting climate impacts ‘rapidly closing’

23 September 2021
Global

No region is immune to climate disasters the UN chief told the Security Council on Thursday, warning that “our window of opportunity” to prevent the worst climate impacts is “rapidly closing”.

Maghrabah district in Hajjah governorate in Yemen is one of 11 districts in the country with famine-like conditions.
© WFP/Mohammed Awadh

Millions in Yemen ‘a step away from starvation’

22 September 2021
Middle East

The crisis in Yemen, now in its seventh year of war, continues unabated, with thousands of people displaced and millions “a step away from starvation”, the UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator said on Wednesday during a high-level side event on the margins of the 76th General Assembly.

Schoolgirls in Côte d'Ivoire perform as part of activities to raise awareness about peace and human rights.
UN Photo/Hien Macline

Counting on youth, for an ‘equitable and sustainable world for all’

17 September 2021
Global

At a virtual event on Friday commemorating the International Day of Peace, the UN chief saluted the “voices, vision and commitment of young people in shaping a more peaceful world”.

South Sudan remains one of the least developed countries in the world.
UNMISS

South Sudan: Cash shortage triggers food suspensions for 100,000 displaced

13 September 2021
Africa

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday that beginning next month, funding shortages will force it to suspend lifesaving food assistance for more than 100,000 displaced people in parts of South Sudan until the start of 2022.

An elderly woman drags water back to her tent in a displacement camp in Abs, near the Saudi border in northern Yemen.
UNOCHA/Giles Clarke

Yemen: As conflict drags on, ‘no quick wins’ – UN envoy

10 September 2021
Asia Pacific

The complexities of the years-long war in Yemen “multiply as the conflict drags on”, the country’s new UN envoy told the Security Council on Friday, adding that he was “under no illusions about the difficulty of the task” at hand.

Demonstrators call for a ban on nuclear weapons.
ICAN/Tim Wright

General Assembly President calls for halt to nuclear tests

8 September 2021
Global

The President of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, on Wednesday called for an end to nuclear tests, as ambassadors gathered to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on 29 August.

 

Craters and boreholes dot the former Soviet Union nuclear test site Semipalatinsk in what is today Kazakhstan. (File)
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)

Reaffirm commitment to ban nuclear tests, UN chief says in message for International Day

28 August 2021

Countries which have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) are urged by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to do so without delay.

Voters in Iraq go to the polls on 10 October 2021.
© UNICEF/Wathiq Khuzaie

Iraq: Clock ticks on all-important elections, commitment to credibility needed

25 August 2021
Middle East

With just 46 days until Iraq goes to the polls, the UN Assistance Mission for the country (UNAMI) is stepping up its communications to inform voters about their conduct, Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council on Wednesday, stressing that it is up to the political parties themselves to refrain from attempts to distort the results.