In a speech marking 60 years of UN Trade and Development – the agency previously known by the acronym UNCTAD – the UN Secretary-General highlighted the multiple challenges standing in the way of a more sustainable and inclusive global economy for all. “New and protracted conflicts are having a ripple effect across the global economy. Global debt…
Addressing the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Director General Rafael Grossi indicated no progress had been made in resolving outstanding issues. He mentioned that Iran is still not implementing provisions of the nuclear safeguards agreement, and that withdrawal of designations for several IAEA inspectors are yet to be reversed. “These…
Dennis Francis was speaking at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo. The landmark conference concluded with a Programme of Action, adopted by 179 governments, that put reproductive rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls and young people at the heart of development…
Pehr Lodhammar, a senior officer from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), said that the war has left an estimated 37 million tonnes of debris. He said it was impossible to determine the exact amount of unexploded ordnance in the enclave where formerly heavily built-up and densely populated neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble,…
Rafael Grossi told ambassadors that the first direct attacks since the Russian invasion began. earlier this month, on what is Europe’s largest nuclear facility, constituted a “step change increase in risk to nuclear safety and security”. Although the damage from drone strikes on the Russian-occupied power plant’s Unit 6 reactor building was superficial, it sets…
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran – a group of Council-appointed independent experts – said that Ms. Amini’s death in September 2022 was “unlawful and caused by physical violence” for which the State is responsible. Chairperson Sara Hossain told the forum’s 47 Member States that after Ms. Amini’s death, young…
In a fresh alert about the disastrous humanitarian emergency still unfolding in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Friday that it will “take years” before the Strip is made safe again. The lives of more than two million Gazans have been devastated by daily Israeli bombardment, since Hamas-led terror attacks in…
“This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who described as “staggering” the latest Gaza health authority data indicating that at least 12,300 youngsters have died in the enclave in the last four months, compared with 12,193 globally between 2019 and…
“Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten. The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long,” Volker Türk said ahead of the anniversary of the coup on 1 February. He explained that fighting between the military and armed opposition groups has resulted in mass displacement and…
Catherine Russell made the appeal in a statement to mark World Children’s Day, which commemorates the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. “At no time since the CRC was adopted 34 years ago have children’s rights been in greater…
