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In Kabul, Afghanistan, school children hold hands and take advantage of the last few moments of sunlight to finish their game.
UNAMA/Najeeb Farzad
In Kabul, Afghanistan, school children hold hands and take advantage of the last few moments of sunlight to finish their game.

2019: The UN News year in photos

31 December 2019
Peace and Security

From sustainable development to economic development, and human rights to humanitarian aid, UN News provides daily coverage across all of the Organization's  key issues – health, migration, climate change and so much more.

Acting as a visual gateway for our readers, we carefully select the most eye-catching and powerful images to help tell the story before delving into the text.

As the year winds down, we have compiled below, 12 months of some of the most visually arresting images for our 2019 stories.

January

As 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Periodic Table by Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the UN has launched a yearlong initiative to raise awareness of chemistry and its applications for sustainable development.
Graham Crouch/World Bank
As 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Periodic Table by Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the UN has launched a yearlong initiative to raise awareness of chemistry and its applications for sustainable development.

In January, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements at its headquarters in Paris, kicking off a series of events and activities to be held throughout the year, as the world celebrates the 150th anniversary since its creation by Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev. Here's our story.

February

Internally displaced children in Bangui, Central African Republic.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
Internally displaced children in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Hailing the recent peace agreement signed by 15 warring parties in the Central African Republic (CAR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stressed that “now is the time for action” and outlined concrete steps that armed groups, judicial authorities and the Government can take so the future of millions of children can be safeguarded.  Read our story here.

March

Nine-year-old Syrian refugee from Deir el Zor sits outside his flooded tent at Dalhamiya informal settlement camp in Lebanon. 9 January 2019.
© UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Nine-year-old Syrian refugee from Deir el Zor sits outside his flooded tent at Dalhamiya informal settlement camp in Lebanon. 9 January 2019.

Governments across the world have a “moral obligation” to help Syrians “unite around a vision for their common future”, finally bringing an end to eight years of brutal conflict, the UN Secretary-General  said as the conflict entered its ninth year. More on the story here.

April

A building in Sana'a damaged by fighting in the war-torn country (file photo)
Giles Clarke/UN OCHA
A building in Sana'a damaged by fighting in the war-torn country (file photo)

Further details have emerged about an attack on a school in the Yemeni capital Sana’a that killed 14 youngsters and critically injured 16 others. Read more here.

May

A participant at World Bee Day, held at FAO headquarters in Rome to raise awareness on the role of bees and pollinators in food and agriculture, captures a photo of a bee observation hive. (20 May 2019)
FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico
A participant at World Bee Day, held at FAO headquarters in Rome to raise awareness on the role of bees and pollinators in food and agriculture, captures a photo of a bee observation hive. (20 May 2019)

If you think you’re busy, then spare a thought for the world’s bees; for they, along with other insects and animals, are responsible for pollinating more than 75 per cent of the planet’s favourite food crops. Read more about it here.

June

Eight-year-old Hanaa, who was paralysed by an exploding bomb and lost the use of her legs, sits in her wheelchair near her home in East Aleppo City, Syria (28 February 2018)
UNICEF/Khudr Al-Issa
Eight-year-old Hanaa, who was paralysed by an exploding bomb and lost the use of her legs, sits in her wheelchair near her home in East Aleppo City, Syria (28 February 2018)

The Security Council adopted its first-ever resolution calling on UN Member States and warring parties to protect persons with disabilities in conflict situations and to ensure they have access to justice, basic services and unimpeded humanitarian assistance. Read more here.

July

Former child soldiers are released in Yambio, South Sudan.
UNMISS/Isaac Billy
Former child soldiers are released in Yambio, South Sudan.

A new UN report has found that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in armed conflict; the year saw the highest numbers killed or maimed since the United Nations began monitoring the violation.  Here's more on the story.

August

A young boy carries water in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
© UNICEF/Patrick Brown
A young boy carries water in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Access to safe drinking water is a right critical to a child’s survival, yet protracted crises have left some 420 million children without basic sanitation, and 210 million lacking access to safe drinking water, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Read more here.

September

Pastoralists moved to temporary sites close to permanent water point, as drought affected Ethiopia Somali region.
UNOCHA/Mulugeta Ayene
Pastoralists moved to temporary sites close to permanent water point, as drought affected Ethiopia Somali region.

Ethiopia is beset by “persistent and multi-faceted humanitarian problems”, the United Nations relief chief said, calling for more international funding as well as support for the Government-led response to the country’s displacement crisis. Read more about the situation here.

October

Two young  unaccompanied Gambian migrants look at a map after crossing to Italy. (file)
© UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson
Two young unaccompanied Gambian migrants look at a map after crossing to Italy. (file)

A landmark UN migration study shows that 93 per cent of Africans making the journey to European countries along irregular routes, would do it again, despite facing often life-threatening danger.  Click here to read more.

November

Villagers grow rain-fed rice in Beung Kiat Ngong wetlands, Lao People's Democratic Republic. (File)
© FAO/Xavier Bouan
Villagers grow rain-fed rice in Beung Kiat Ngong wetlands, Lao People's Democratic Republic. (File)

To help ensure the most-consumed foods don’t disappear in the face of the climate crisis, farmers must cultivate crops able to resist environmental shocks and other stresses, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlighted in a new set of conservation guidelines. Read our coverage here.

December

Displaced children stand in the shredded remains of tents in Abs settlement, Yemen, for internally displaced persons. Located just 40 km from the frontlines, the settlement is regularly damaged by passing sandstorms.
OCHA/Giles Clarke
Displaced children stand in the shredded remains of tents in Abs settlement, Yemen, for internally displaced persons. Located just 40 km from the frontlines, the settlement is regularly damaged by passing sandstorms.

A record 168 million people worldwide will need help and protection in crises spanning more than 50 countries in 2020, the UN’s emergency relief chief has said, in an appeal for nearly $29 billion in humanitarian aid from donors.  Here's more on the story.

 

 

 

 

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Central African Republic|syria|Yemen|bees|Children in Armed Conflict|sanitation|Ethiopia|refugees|food security

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People in rural parts of Yemen are suffering from extreme hunger.

Yemen: New World Bank funds offer lifeline to most vulnerable

Masha Khromchenko stands in the kindergarten classroom that took a direct hit from a shell in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. (23 September 2018)

Security Council demands an end to attacks on schools worldwide

In Bambari, Central African Republic, humanitarian operations are being hindered by poor roads, banditry, looting and random violence by militias. (2015)

UN humanitarian coordinator condemns Central African Republic hospital attack as 'inhuman and unworthy'

News Tracker: Past Stories on This Issue

From left: Ambulance driver being disinfected after carrying suspected Ebola cases; Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland is growing perpetually from a shrinking glacier; Display at UN Headquarters illustrating the 17 SDGs.

The 2010 – 2020 UN News Decade in Review, part two

25 December 2019
Peace and Security

With the 2020s now in full view, welcome to the second in our three-part series looking back at some of the major UN-related stories of the past decade. In part two, we take in the years 2014 to 2016, which saw the worst outbreak of Ebola ever recorded; new hope that the climate crisis could be tackled by world leaders, through the historic Paris climate agreement; a UN mission in Colombia to facilitate a much-awaited peace process; and the launch of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, a plan of action for people, the planet and prosperity.

From left: Malala Yousafzai attends an education event at UN Headquarters; People walk along Port-au-Prince streets following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti; UN peacekeeper on patrol in Kidal, Mali; Smoke drifts into the sky from buildings and houses hit by shelling in Homs, Syria.

The 2010 – 2020 UN News Decade in Review, part one

23 December 2019
UN Affairs

The teenage years of the Twenty-First Century are nearly over and, as we prepare to enter the 2020s, UN News takes a look back at some of the big stories on our global patch, that unfolded between 2010 and 2019: welcome to our three-part Decade in Review.

In part one, which takes in the period between 2010 and the end of 2013, we focus on the devastating Haiti earthquake, the beginning of the ongoing Syrian conflict, the inspiring work of Malala Yousafzai in favour of girls’ education, and the creation of what has now become “the world’s most dangerous UN mission”, in Mali.

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