Features

Rape. Murder. Hunger. Corpses filling streets, making it impossible to walk. Sudan was plunged into an ongoing, devastating war one year ago on 15 April, leaving in its wake almost 15,000 dead, eight million civilians on the run, 25 million in dire need of assistance and warnings from humanitarians about famine, aid blockades and a growing list of atrocities on all sides.

From the General Assembly’s first consideration of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) to welcoming astronauts fresh from a walk on the Moon, this #ThrowbackThursday, we looked back at the UN’s role in the space age ahead of the International Day of Human Space Flight, marked annually on 12 April.

Against the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis and gang violence in Haiti, UN agencies are warning that children are suffering not just from a lack of schooling but also through witnessing violence.

A young mother in Madagascar has been describing how she was forced to make a 200km emergency journey on challenging rural roads to a specialist regional hospital after she experienced difficulties giving birth at home.

When the Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda began in April 1994 Eric Eugene Murangwa was a footballer at one of the country’s top clubs. Although he is a Tutsi, he was protected by a member of the notorious Interahamwe, responsible for killing hundreds of thousands. Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the genocide, marked on 7 April, Mr. Murangwa shared his extraordinary story with UN News.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali took on fights outside the ring for civil rights and against war, bringing strong messages to the UN since the 1970s, so ahead of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, we looked back at what he brought to the world.

Some of Haiti’s gangs have bigger arsenals than the police as criminal groups are becoming “stronger, richer and more autonomous” by using arms trafficking to fuel their growth, according to UN experts.

The scale of the bombs dropped on Gaza since 7 October means that it will take millions of dollars, and many years, to decontaminate the Strip from unexploded munitions, the head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Palestine tells UN News, ahead of Mine Action Day.

Racism, discrimination and crippled economies and health are among centuries-old legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and part of the stark messages behind the #RememberSlavery special events and newly unveiled chilling exhibits at UN Headquarters.

Almost five million Haitians are going hungry and need food assistance, according to recent UN figures, but the violence and related insecurity created by heavily armed rival gangs operating mainly in the capital are posing more questions about how to make sure those beleaguered people get enough to eat, now and in the future.