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South-South cooperation is key to the world’s sustainable development and the fight against global warming said the United Nations Secretary-General on Wednesday, as the opening session of the Second UN Conference on South-South Cooperation got underway in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. 

When countries of the Global South forged an historic technical cooperation deal among themselves 40 years ago, digital technology was a thing of the future, but developing nations have come a long way since then.

Safe water and access to proper sanitation are essential to eradicate poverty, build peaceful societies and ensure that no one is left behind on the path towards sustainable development, according to the 2019 UN World Water Development Report, launched on Tuesday in Geneva. 

This week in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, over one thousand people, including high level government delegations and representatives from the private sector and civil society, will gather for the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, or BAPA+40.

Despite the relatively peaceful passage of December’s presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN Special Representative to the country told the Security Council she “remained concerned” over developments in the east, where dozens of armed groups continue to operate.

Ceremonies were held at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva on Friday, to remember and honour the staff who died on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed near Addis Ababa last Sunday, killing all 157 passengers and crew.

It is within our power to make 2019 the “year of transformative solutions” and “avoid the disastrous effects of climate change“, which threaten ecosystems, the global economy, health and security, the UN Deputy Secretary-General told delegates gathered in Nairobi for the UN Environment Assembly, on Thursday.

Human activity is damaging the planet so badly, exacerbated by climate change, that it will increasingly put our health at risk, warns a major report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), released on Wednesday at the UN Environment Assembly, currently taking place in Nairobi.

An $8.8 billion funding appeal has been issued by the UN to help millions of Syrians who live a “razor-edge existence” inside and outside the war-torn country, along with the communities struggling to host them.

Sexual attacks in South Sudan are so common that mothers now teach their daughters how to survive the ordeal of being raped, in such a way as to minimize the violence. That’s according to Yasmin Sooka, chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, who was speaking on Tuesday in front of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, during its latest session.