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Palestinian elections raise hopes for two-State solution, Middle East Coordinator tells Security Council

The holding of free and fair elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territory will help “clear the path” for restoring a legitimate political horizon to realize a long sought two-State solution, the leading UN diplomat for the region told the Security Council on Friday.

Pandemic pushing people ‘even further behind’, UN rights chief warns

As the COVID-19 pandemic gathers pace, people worldwide are “being left behind – or pushed even further behind”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Friday. 

Myanmar Ambassador to UN denounces military coup, as envoy warns democratic processes have been ‘pushed aside'

As the democratically elected leader of Myanmar, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still in detention following the military takeover that triggered country-wide protests, violence and arrests, the UN envoy for the country observed on Friday, declaring that “democratic processes have been pushed aside”. 

USA: Rights experts call for reforms to end police brutality, systemic racism

Independent UN human rights experts appealed on Friday for the new United States Government to adopt wide ranging reforms to end police violence and address systemic racism and racial discrimination. 

Côte d'Ivoire takes delivery of latest COVAX vaccine shipment, in further boost for Africa

Côte d'Ivoire received 504,000 doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine on Friday making it the second African nation in a week to benefit from the first shipments of shots from the UN-backed global COVAX initiative, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.

Condemnation over new attack on Nigeria school, ‘more than 300’ girls missing 

An attack on a secondary school in northwest Nigeria on Friday in which several hundred girls are still missing, has been strongly condemned by the UN Secretary-General, and UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. 

UN climate report a ‘red alert’ for the planet: Guterres

Nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming, a UN climate action report said on Friday, urging countries to adopt stronger and more ambitious plans to reach the Paris Agreement goals, and limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century. 

In Yemen’s man-made catastrophe, women and girls pay the price

Midwife Lena Al-Shurmani, remembers meeting Abia at Al Mawa Camp in Yemen’s Ibb Governorate. Abia was 15 years old and eight months pregnant. “I was very worried,” Ms. Al-Shurmani recalled. “She had a prolapsed uterus, and she was severely malnourished.” 

Relief programmes hit by ongoing crisis in Myanmar, UN humanitarian office says

The political unrest in Myanmar has impacted the ability of humanitarians to respond to the needs of vulnerable communities, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country’s conflict-affected areas, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday. 

WHO-backed policy brief calls for action to address ‘long COVID’

With one in 10 people still feeling ill 12 weeks after having COVID-19, authorities must do more to support them, a UN-backed policy brief issued on Thursday argues.