War crimes, racism, arbitrary detention and rape as a weapon of war: these just a few of the pressing international issues over which the UN Human Rights Council deliberates.
Every two years, all 193 UN Member States have an opportunity to collectively address critical environmental issues facing the planet. This moment is the United Nations Environment Assembly, or UNEA, the sixth edition of which will be held from 26 February to 1 March, in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Here are the choices: ethnic cleansing, apartheid or genocide,” said Palestine’s foreign minister at the opening of public hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) this week, with a record 52 States and three international organizations providing comments and presentations on a case based on the UN General Assembly’s request for an advisory opinion on legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In 1951, the UN Secretariat opened for business. The slender 39-storey office tower has become the iconic symbol of the United Nations, so we dove into our archives for a look at the world’s meeting place that has grown alongside New York’s ever-changing skyline over the past seven decades.
Zero energy light bulbs and sturdy bricks for schools and homes. Some innovative communities in South Sudan are reusing waste in new ways as the world rallies to ban plastic pollution by the year’s end, with help from a small team of experts led by climate and environmental scientist Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar at theUN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Twenty-one years ago in February, US Secretary of State Colin Powell held up a tiny blue-capped vial in the UN Security Council, claiming Iraq and President Saddam Hussein were producing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
The latest song by Spanish-Palestinian singer Marwán, one of Spain's most acclaimed songwriters, is a lullaby for the children living under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. He tells UN News about his enduring links to the Palestinian people.
South African leader Nelson Mandela speaks out about crushing apartheid. US Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial in the UN Security Council. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg asks “How dare you?”
Children in Gaza will likely lose at least a year of education, with the school year suspended and classrooms closed or turned into shelters. Ziad Taleb, a correspondent for UN News, has been talking to teachers and children at a school in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, which is overflowing with displaced people who have fled their homes in a desperate attempt to find safety.
Shakira has long helped raise awareness for the rights of the world’s most vulnerable children, so on the heels of the International Day of Education, marked annually on 24 January, we took a look at the Grammy-award winning singer’s work with the UN.
