SDGs

Football for reconciliation, an event held between people involved the Colombian peace process.
UNVMC/Jennifer Moreno

Guterres highlights power of sport for inclusive, sustainable future

6 April 2021
Global

The United Nations Secretary-General on Tuesday urged everyone involved in the sport sector to help advance climate action, combat discrimination and prejudice, and ensure that global sporting events leave a positive legacy. 

Women work in a vegetable garden in a village in Senegal. The village is part of the
© FAO/Eduardo Soteras

More climate action needed during ‘make-or-break year’ for people and planet 

31 March 2021
Global

The world needs “a major breakthrough” to slow the pace of climate change and build resilience to protect the most vulnerable from increasingly severe and frequent climate impacts, the deputy UN chief told a crucial high-level meeting on Wednesday, looking ahead to November’s COP26. 

An interconnected network of greenery across Medellín city in Colombia has significantly improved the lives of its citizens.
Unsplash/Mike Swigunski

UN-Habitat report calls for cities post-pandemic to lead the way to a fairer, greener, healthier future

30 March 2021
Global

A new report on pandemics and cities from UN-Habitat, points the way to how hard-hit urban centres can reduce the impact of future outbreaks and become more equitable, healthy and environmentally friendly.

Food systems in Africa have been adversely impacted by climate-induced shocks, conflicts and most-recently, COVID-19.
© FAO/Petterik Wiggers

Pandemic threatens lost decade for development, UN report reveals

25 March 2021
Global

The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed development gains for millions in poor countries, creating an even more sharply unequal world, according to a new UN report released on Thursday.  

Fish swim around a coral reef in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Alexander

Biodiversity at risk, threatens human survival, UN forum hears 

24 March 2021
Global

As the living tissue of the earth, biodiversity is “intimately linked to human health” the head of the UN’s scientific agency told a global forum on Wednesday, noting that “we are part of that living tissue”. 

A train snakes its way through Seoul in the Republic of Korea.
UN Photo/Kibae Park

‘Seize the moment’ to recover and rebuild better, UN deputy chief urges Asia-Pacific nations

23 March 2021
Asia Pacific

Confronting major setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic, countries in Asia and the Pacific “must now seize the moment” to rebuild and recover better together, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General said on Tuesday. 

More mass-market consumer applications are expected with the development of what is known as 'assistive technologies'.
Unsplash/Possessed Photography

Inventions boom in ‘assistive tech’ offers wider benefits for all

23 March 2021

Rapid growth in innovations that are designed to help people overcome their disabilities could soon offer a fix to all manner of mobility, sight and other difficulties, UN patent experts WIPO said on Tuesday.

A lighthouse off the coast of Florida in the United States.
Coral Reef Image Bank/David Gros

Oceans under threat like never before, warns World Meteorological Organization 

22 March 2021
Global

Climate change has hit the world’s oceans hard, UN weather experts said on Monday, in a call for lifesaving monitoring and early warning services that were interrupted by COVID-19 to be ramped up again, to protect shipping and coastal communities at risk. 

According to UN data, about one in three persons globally lack access to safe drinking water.
World Bank/Arne Hoel

Recognize ‘true value’ of water, UN urges, marking World Day

22 March 2021
Global

The UN is marking World Water Day on Monday with a global conversation on how people value the lifegiving resource in different parts of the world, according to local needs.

Female tea workers are going to drop the collected leaves at factory. Tea leaf pickers get 120 Taka ($1.5 USD) daily wages to collect 24 KG leaves.
ILO/Alexius Chicham

Exploited and marginalized, Bangladeshi tea workers speak up for their rights

21 March 2021
Asia Pacific

Tea garden workers in Bangladesh, who are mainly women, are one of the most marginalized groups in the country, with limited access to education for their children and prone to dire health risks. A programme supported by the UN’s Joint SDG Fund, which funds initiatives focused on sustainable development, aims to boost social protection for these works, helping them access their rights and improve their life prospects.