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People ride a bus in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.
ILO/Marcel Crozet

Can we make transport safe and sustainable? An interview with motorsport chief, Jean Todt

Many developed countries have announced plans to ensure that fossil-fuel powered cars will be taken off the roads in the coming decades, but Jean Todt, the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, stresses that, in developing countries, much more immediate concerns, such as access to public transport and reducing accidents, need to be addressed as a priority.

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6'7"
A student passes in front of a 150-megawatt wind farm in the Philippines.
ADB/Al Benavente

LIVE: World leaders pledge to power humanity with clean energy

How can the world come together to radically change the way it produces and uses energy, as part of efforts to hold back climate change and to ultimately give humanity a more secure future on planet earth? That’s the question that over one hundred countries, organizations and businesses will be discussing at the United Nations on Friday at the High-level Dialogue on Energy, the first meeting of its kind in 40 years.

Audio
27'9"
A woman is vaccinated against COVID-19 at a health post in Nepal's remote Darchula District.
© UNICEF/Laxmi Prasad Ngakhusi

COVID vaccines: Widening inequality and millions vulnerable

Health leaders agree that a world without COVID-19 will not be possible until everyone has equal access to vaccines. More than 4.6 million people have died from the virus since it swept across the globe from the beginning of 2020, but it’s expected that the rate of people dying will slow if more people are vaccinated. 

Some world leaders will deliver speeches in the UN General Assembly hall in person, but it's expected the majority will not be travelling to New York.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

From BTS, K-Pop heroes, to net zero: 5 things to look out for at UNGA76

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly is due to begin on 14 September, and it will be very different from 2020’s fully virtual gathering. UNGA 76 will still be overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that won’t stop leaders (some of them in the Assembly Hall) from addressing urgent global challenges. Here are five things you should know about 2021’s “hybrid” event.

The President-elect of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid in the General Assembly hall.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

INTERVIEW: New UN Assembly president highlights hope 

The incoming President of the General Assembly says that hope is desperately needed for those billions around the world struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, devastation, and strife. In his first major interview, he told UN News that the General Assembly, as the UN’s most representative body, is ideally placed to give shape to that hope.  

I Still Believe in Our City.
MK Luff

An illustration of resilience and hope, in the face of anti-Asian hate

The rise in hate crimes against people of Asian and Pacific Island heritage in the United States since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya to produce vibrant artworks featuring people of Asian heritage. Displayed in public spaces around New York City, the images, and the messages they convey, have made headlines around the world.

Students at a school in Hanoi Viet Nam.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

The future of international cooperation: Time to think big, urges Guterres

Celebrating the UN’s 75th anniversary last year, prompted major internal discussion about its future, and a new direction away from the post-World War Two consensus of its early days. These reflections have resulted in Our Common Agenda, a landmark new report released on Friday by the UN Secretary-General, setting out his vision for the future of global cooperation.