First-ever World Seagrass Day focuses on conservation

COP28: UN says staggering $7 trillion spent every year on investments that fuel climate change

The report from the UN’s environmental wing, UNEP, also revealed that despite decades of calls for ending finance flows towards sectors that harm some of humanity’s most valuable assets, those investments currently account for a whopping 7 percent of global GDP. Saturday’s report launch comes as negotiations on the conference’s outcome text are shifting into…

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World News in Brief: Nearly a million children displaced in Gaza, Guatemala ‘coup’ concerns, ‘enduring menace’ of genocide

World News in Brief: Nearly a million children displaced in Gaza, Guatemala ‘coup’ concerns, ‘enduring menace’ of genocide

Women and children are bearing the brunt in terms of deaths and injuries as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants across the enclave, with nowhere safe to go, and aid distribution stymied by war, insufficient access and insufficient supplies crossing into the Strip. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said…

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UK Bill ‘significantly erodes’ human rights and refugee protections, UN agencies warn

World News in Brief: Haiti’s humanitarian crisis, disease outbreaks in Sudan, UK sentencing reform

Ulrika Richardson, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, who is also the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva that 5.2 million Haitians need humanitarian assistance and over 4.3 million face acute food insecurity – that’s a staggering two out of five people in a country which used to be…

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Fighting engulfs over two-thirds of Myanmar, fuelling humanitarian needs

Fighting engulfs over two-thirds of Myanmar, fuelling humanitarian needs

Among those fighting the military are a loose coalition of well-armed ethnic militias, as well as the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) – an armed group supporting National Unity Government (NUG) and opposed to the February 2021 military coup, according to media reports. Telecommunication blackouts In a flash update, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian…

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Better data on corruption can reduce its impact, support sustainable development

Explainer: How the UN is promoting a ‘global commitment to fight corruption’

The Executive Director of UNODC, Ghada Waly, was speaking ahead of what she describes as a “milestone” meeting taking place in Atlanta in the United States which will discuss how to improve international cooperation and to better prevent and tackle corruption.   It’s widely accepted that corruption diverts crucial resources, hampers essential services, enables organized crime, and deepens inequalities and grievances. As the UN marks International Anti-Corruption…

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Homicide a bigger killer than armed conflict and terrorism combined

Homicide a bigger killer than armed conflict and terrorism combined

The Global Study on Homicide analyzes the complex dynamics behind these violent deaths and includes a special section on how organized crime is driving death rates up in Latin America and the Caribbean.  The report examines homicides related to criminal activities and interpersonal conflict, as well as “socio-politically motivated homicides” such as the deliberate killing…

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