As crowds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) thronged on Thursday to hear Pope Francis’s message of hope and solidarity on day three of his official visit to Central Africa, UN humanitarians warned that aid agencies face growing demands and shrinking funds in DRC - Africa’s biggest hunger crisis.
The first World Food Forum, a youth-led event aimed at harnessing the energy and creativity of young people, and featuring speeches from Heads of State and senior UN officials, opened on Friday.
While visiting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres extended wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Our top stories for Friday include: Pope Francis receives the UN chief in Rome, Lesotho famine threat, concern for jailed Iranian protestors, and strengthened global action to prevent corruption.
In the midst of “turbulent and trying times”, all the world’s people must stand together in peace and harmony, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday. António Guterres was speaking following an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, who he thanked for his strong support for the global Organization.
The Vatican must take action to ensure justice for people who were sexually abused by priests during childhood, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday.
The previous two weeks of intense activity at United Nations headquarters were an “historic” convergence of high-level events, said the spokesperson for the President of the UN General Assembly.
The Pope addressed the UN General Assembly as Member States voted to adopt new Sustainable Development Goals.
The annual debate of world leaders followed immediately, with a raft of global crises and issues on the agenda.
World leaders have been told by the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, that more needs to be done to help the world’s most disadvantaged people in times of peace and war.
In a wide-ranging speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Pontiff said that human beings were too often, in his words, “discarded” during conflicts.
This is the fifth time that a Pope has visited the United Nations.
Daniel Dickinson reports.
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His Holiness the Pope told United Nations staff to carry on working for peace, in peace,during his visit to the organization's headquarters in New York on Friday.
Pope Francis is visiting the United States for the first time.
He has a packed itinerary in the city, including a speech to the General Assembly, a visit to Ground Zero, and a procession through Central Park.
At UN headquarters, the Secretary General told the pope that his humility and humanity was an inspiration to staff across the world.
Matthew Wells reports on an historic morning.