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As the Turkish President signed a decree on Friday converting the ancient Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque, the UN cultural agency (UNESCO) said that it "deeply regrets the decision" made "without prior discussion", having earlier in the day called on the State to abide by its “legal commitments and obligations” in accordance with it’s status as a museum, on the World Heritage List.

Sounding the alarm over the crippling impact of “growing economic shocks, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic” in Lebanon, the UN human rights chief called on Friday for a unified response by politicians and the people to overcome the worsening socio-economic crisis there. 

The COVID-19 pandemic shows how wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment but to human health, according to a new UN report issued on Friday.

What does it take to help the world’s most vulnerable people, often in dangerous and unstable situations, and at considerable personal risk? In the latest season of the award-winning UN podcast, Awake At Night, host Melissa Fleming speaks to some of the Organization’s most prominent humanitarians to find out what motivates them, and how they cope.

In Yemen, fears of famine have resurfaced as UN humanitarians also warned on Friday that 360,000 severely malnourished children could die unless they continue to get treatment and aid is stepped up. In an urgent appeal for funding, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that it needs $200 million per month to maintain assistance in the war-torn country.

Intercommunal violence and persistent attacks by extremists, continue to undermine peace and security across West Africa, the UN’s top official in the region warned the Security Council on Thursday, calling for sustained engagement with all partners to urgently advance a holistic approach to peace.

A new mechanism launched on Thursday aims to speed up action so that people everywhere will have access to water and sanitation by the end of the decade, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world, Latin America and the Caribbean are now suffering some of the highest rates of transmission, the UN chief said on Thursday, releasing a new policy initiative on how best to recover in a region already embroiled in poverty, hunger, unemployment and inequality. 

 

Twenty-five years after the Srebrenica genocide, peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains fragile, underscoring the need for true reconciliation in the region, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday in a video message marking the anniversary of the worst atrocity crime in Europe, since the Second World War.

The growing use of weaponised drones risks destabilising global peace and security and creating a “drone power club” among nations, that face no effective accountability for deploying them as part of their “war on terror”, a senior UN-appointed independent rights expert said on Thursday.