SDGs

A girl carries a basket of fruits through a flooded street in Cotonou, a large port city in Benin.
UNICEF/Oliver Asselin

People, planet on ‘collision course’, warns UN Development Programme

15 December 2020
Global

Countries must redesign their development pathways to reduce damage to the environment and the natural world, or risk stalling progress for humanity overall, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned in a major new report. 

A Palestinian herder takes sheep to a rehabilitated cistern for water.
©FAO/Marco Longari

Address water scarcity ‘immediately and boldly’, urges UN agriculture agency chief 

26 November 2020

More than three billion people live in agricultural areas with high levels of water shortages and scarcity, the UN agriculture agency said in a new report launched on Wednesday. 

A girl writes on a blackboard at a school in Fada, eastern Burkina Faso, after returning to her class. Schools in the country had been closed for months due to COVID-19 mitigation measures.
UNICEF/Dejongh

This World Children’s Day, ‘reimagine a better future’, for every child

20 November 2020
Global

The global community is marking World Children’s Day on Friday, calling for societies to “reimagine a better future” for every child, where each one has the opportunity to thrive. 

The port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's coastal capital.
World Bank/Rob Beechey

Development funding and trade transparency needed, to stop COVID-19 dividing the world

19 November 2020

The pandemic has redefined the world economy in ways that will deepen inequality and can only be reversed if a global transformation in attitudes towards trade and development allows the whole world to recover together, the UN trade body UNCTAD said, in a report published on Thursday. 

A residential building in Nairobi, Kenya. According to UN estimates, by 2050 about 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas.
UN-Habitat/Kirsten Milhahn

World Cities Day: Value communities, today and for the future

29 October 2020
Global

Top UN officials have highlighted the “extraordinary” contributions of grassroots communities in towns and cities across the world in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and urged that their unique efforts be built on, during recovery.

The Mediterranean coast of Montenegro is becoming an ever more popular tourist destination.
UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

Environmental factors behind 15 per cent of deaths across Mediterranean, new UN report reveals

21 October 2020

Around 15 per cent of deaths in the Mediterranean are attributable to preventable environmental factors, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released on Wednesday has revealed.

Seafarers are on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food and medical supplies.
IMO

UN and partners press for seafarers to be designated ‘key workers’ during COVID pandemic

24 September 2020
Global

The UN Secretary-General has again appealed for governments to act on behalf of hundreds of thousands of seafarers and other maritime workers stuck at sea for endless months, in some cases more than a year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A young woman from St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean completed a UN survey about her hopes and futures for the future.
UN Barbados and the OECS

One million people share hopes and fears for future with the UN

21 September 2020
Global

The results are in from a massive, unprecedented crowd-sourcing survey of international opinion, launched in January 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Participants from all walks of life, women, men, girls and boys in developed and developing countries were encouraged to share their hopes and fears for the future and how the UN can help to bring about change. 

As change makers and critical thinkers, young people can play an important role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. They can also lead and inspire countless others to join forces for a sustainable future.
UN-HABITAT

Leveraging youth to shape a better future, UN announces 17 Young Leaders for SDGs

18 September 2020
Global

The United Nations, on Friday, recognized 17 young advocates for sustainable development, who are leading efforts to combat some of the world’s most pressing challenges and inspiring the younger generation for a better future for all. 

In Pakistan, students learn computing skills as billions of people globally are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with the use of digital tools.
© World Bank/Visual News Associate

Under ‘extraordinary circumstances’, General Assembly continues to serve the people

8 September 2020
Global

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly has worked hard, under “extraordinary circumstances” to uphold its vital mandates, perform essential services, and ensure continuity in the name of the people the Organization serves, the president of the UN body said on Tuesday.