SDGs

UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

Low-skilled workers, developing countries at risk of steep economic decline as coronavirus advances

1 April 2020

The global economy could shrink by up to one per cent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and may contract even further if restrictions on economic activities are extended without adequate fiscal responses, according to analysis released today by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

© UNICEF/Ashima Narain

International Women’s Day: Gender equality benefits everyone

7 March 2020
Global

The benefits of gender equality are not just for women and girls, but “for everyone whose lives will be changed by a fairer world”, the chief of UN Women said in her message for International Women’s Day (IWD) at UN Headquarters on Friday, being celebrated in New York, ahead of the official day.

WMO/Victor Hugo

World Wildlife Day: UN chief urges ‘more caring’ relationship with nature

3 March 2020
Global

People everywhere need to remember that we depend on Mother Earth to survive, the UN chief said in his message for World Wildlife Day marked on Tuesday, advocating for “a more caring, thoughtful and sustainable relationship with nature”.

© UNDP India

With science ‘held back by a gender gap’, Guterres calls for more empowerment for women and girls

10 February 2020
Global

Fewer than 30 per cent of the world’s scientific researchers are women: that’s just one of the statistics showing how many challenges remain for women and girls in the scientific field, as the world marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, on Tuesday.

Screenshot from Oceanix

World Urban Forum: cities must be ‘at the heart’ of sustainable development 

9 February 2020

The official opening of the 10th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF) took place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with UN chief António Guterres telling delegates that cities and towns were crucial to deliver sustainable development across the globe during the next decade. 

WMO/Ulla Nordlinder

Ocean Conference has potential to be a ‘global game-changer’

4 February 2020

The second global Ocean Conference taking place in Portugal in a few months’ time promises to be “a critical moment” for the health of life under water and on land, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday, as preparations got underway.

UN-HABITAT

The digital building blocks of better communities

31 January 2020
Global

In cities and communities across the world, citizens of all ages and backgrounds are getting the chance to literally play an important role in redesigning their public spaces, thanks to an innovative collaboration between the UN, and the company behind the popular computer game Minecraft.

World Bank/Sarah Farhat

Rising inequality affecting more than two-thirds of the globe, but it’s not inevitable: new UN report

21 January 2020
Global

Inequality is growing for more than 70 per cent of the global population, exacerbating the risks of divisions and hampering economic and social development. But the rise is far from inevitable and can be tackled at a national and international level, says a flagship study released by the UN on Tuesday.

© UNESCO – India

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: climate crisis reports, renewal in Iraq, Zimbabwe’s hunger crisis, Disabilities Day

3 December 2019

A recap of Tuesday’s stories: New climate change reports on human health and global warming; Zimbabwe’s ‘worst hunger crisis in a decade’; protests and civil unrest show ‘renewed sense of patriotism’ in Iraq; UN ‘determined to lead by example’ on disability rights.

UNDP/Louis Fourmentin

Time to step up: UN summit to push for development finance breakthrough

24 September 2019
Global

A sustainable global economy – one that preserves the planet and improves lives everywhere – is also a huge opportunity to create new jobs and market opportunities worth trillions of dollars, says the UN. But to make it happen, the international community needs to rapidly scale up investment.