SDGs

Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, pictured during a meeting of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.
UNECE/Pierre Albouy

UN Commission celebrates 70 years of 'connecting countries and driving progress in Europe'

25 April 2017
Europe

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is celebrating 70 years of bringing countries across the continent together to cooperate on a wide range of issues, including trade, transport, sustainable development and food safety, which impact the daily lives of its citizens.

Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA/Bill Ingalls

On International Day, UN celebrates historic event that opened doors to outer space

12 April 2017
Global

The United Nations today commemorated the International Day of Human Space Flight to celebrate the 56th anniversary of the first human space flight, which ushered in the beginning of the space era for mankind.

Children doing physical exercises in a school gym in Uzbekistan, among them a child affected by down syndrome.
UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

At UN event, people with Downs Syndrome ‘speak up’ to influence government policy and action

21 March 2017
Global

Today, the call that people with Down Syndrome be included to fully and equally participate in all aspects of society echoed widely throughout United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Woman in Lebanon drives a cab.
UN Women/Joe Saad

PHOTO FEATURE: UN Women’s Commission tackles parity and empowerment in changing workplace

15 March 2017
Global

Against the backdrop of rapid transformations in the world of work, the annual session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women – or in UN parlance CSW – will this year examine the impact such changes will have on women and girls, including in the areas of equal pay, unpaid care work, the informal economy and in technology.

Local people from Watamu, Kenya, work with Local Ocean Conservation to pick up plastic on the beach.
Cyril Villemain/UNEP

‘Turn the tide on plastic’ urges UN, as microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy

23 February 2017

Launching an unprecedented global campaign, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is urging everyone to eliminate the use of microplastics and stop the excessive, wasteful use of single-use plastic, to save the world’s seas and oceans from irreversible damage before it’s too late.

Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan was appointed in 2013 by former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his first-ever Envoy on Youth.
UN Photo

INTERVIEW: ‘It’s time to work with young people, not just for young people’ – outgoing UN Youth Envoy

10 February 2017
Global

In his second term in office, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon established the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, subsequently appointing Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan as his first-ever Envoy on Youth – the youngest senior official in the history of the Organization.

Fatima, 7, sits on a bed in her home in Afar region, Ethiopia. She was subjected to FGM/C when she was 1 year old.
UNICEF/ Holt

PHOTO FEATURE: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

6 February 2017
Global

While the exact number is unknown, at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or FGM, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Stefan Schweinfest, Director of the Statistics Division in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and his staff.
UN Photo/Runa A.

FEATURE: Number crunchers in the spotlight ahead of UN World Data Forum

13 January 2017
Global

The first-ever United Nations World Data Forum is set to kick off in Cape Town, South Africa, on 15 January 2017, with the aim of increasing political and resource support for statistical capacity building worldwide.

A rocket with the Soil Moisture Active Passive observatory onboard launches from Space Launch Complex 2 in California, United States.
NASA/Bill Ingalls

INTERVIEW: Space technology can help create a better world – Simonetta Di Pippo, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs

13 January 2017
Global

The heads of national space agencies, government officials and representatives from the space community worldwide are being challenged to get more women into the aerospace industry.

Michael Simpson, Executive Director, Secure World Foundation (left); Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) (centre); and Mohammed Nasser Al-AHBABI, of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (right).

Space community underlines need for stronger cooperation as UN conference in Dubai closes

24 November 2016
Global

Members of the global space community have affirmed the need for stronger international cooperation and dialogue as they wrapped up the work of a high-level United Nations forum in Dubai.