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31 August marks the International Day for People of African Descent, on which the UN calls for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against persons who fit this description. Ahead of the Day, UN News spoke to Dominique Day, and Verene Shepherd, two experts on the subject, who want to raise awareness about the links between the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the global economy.

An independent UN human rights expert on Tuesday warned that the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) people are being “deliberately undermined by some state governments in the United States”, urging more action on the part of the Biden administration to protect them.

As millions of people in the Greater Horn of Africa have already “suffered the longest drought in 40 years,” parts of the region are bracing for a fifth consecutive failed rainy season, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported.

It’s been five years since more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown. The UN chief on Thursday called on the international community to find “comprehensive, durable and inclusive solutions” to help end their plight.

Amidst deteriorating levels of malnutrition and Ethiopia’s worst drought in 40 years, 17 million people are being targeted for humanitarian assistance, the UN spokesperson said on Wednesday. 

UN-appointed independent human rights experts called on Wednesday for stronger measures to prevent and penalize female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone.

This week marks five years since more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya fled military persecution from Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, appealing to the international community for greater support.

On Tuesday, UN Children’s Fund UNICEF warned that children in the Horn of Africa and the vast Sahel region “could die in devastating numbers” without urgent intervention and support. In the last five months, the number of people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia without reliable access to safe water, has risen from 9.5 million to 16.2 million

As the threat of famine looms in the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Friday that it is scaling up operations to support millions going hungry who “cannot wait” for assistance.

On World Humanitarian Day, marked annually on 19 August, aid workers Ahmad Alragheb, based in Syria, and Veronica Houser, stationed in Afghanistan, talk about the crucial humanitarian effort in these countries, and the challenges they and their colleagues face.