The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a new report on Thursday that every year, around 2,000 million tonnes of dust enter the atmosphere, “darkening skies and harming air quality in regions that can be thousands of kilometres away”. WMO chief Petteri Taalas said this was partly due to poor water and land management….
“For nearly two weeks the people of Gaza have gone without any shipments of fuel, food, water, medicine, and other essentials. Disease is spreading. Supplies are dwindling. People are dying,” he said at a press conference in Cairo alongside Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Mr. Guterres is in the Middle East to witness UN preparations…
Briefing Ambassadors in New York, UN Special Representative for Somalia Catriona Laing, described the country as being at a critical juncture. “Last year, we saw the largest increase in civilian casualties since 2017. Sadly, early data indicate a similar trend in 2023, with 1,289 civilian casualties recorded so far,” she said. The military campaign against…
In a news release, the experts denounced the ruthless attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians starting 7 October. They also stressed their concern for the victims of subsequent counter-terrorism measures by Israeli forces. “We decry the scale of the brutal assault on mothers, children, babies, the elderly and ordinary citizens going about their daily lives…
But, what exactly are the rules of war and what happens when they are broken? To find out more about international humanitarian law, known by its acronym IHL, UN News spoke with Eric Mongelard at the UN human rights office, OHCHR. Here’s what you need to know: Rules of war International humanitarian law is as…
The latest upsurge in violence between Israel and Hamas which began on 7 October swiftly reached the radar of the UN Security Council, tasked by the UN Charter with maintaining international peace and security. But, to date, the 15-member organ has rejected similarly worded draft resolutions aimed at, among other things, establishing a ceasefire and…
While 12 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour of the Brazilian-led text, one (United States) voted against, and two (Russia, and the United Kingdom) abstained. A ‘no’ vote from any one of the five permanent members of the Council stops action on any measure put before it. The body’s permanent members are China,…
That’s the message from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which appealed on Wednesday for $19 million to provide emergency food assistance to those “in desperate need” in the country’s western Herat province. The agency’s deputy director in Afghanistan Ana Maria Salhuana stressed that to assist earthquake survivors WFP “is having to take this food…
Mr. Wennesland told an emergency briefing of the Security Council that he “watched in horror and in real time” as reports of mass casualties emerged from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. “The circumstances of this catastrophe and responsibility remains and still needs to be clarified. And we will need a fact-based, full investigation…
Speaking in Beijing, Mr. Guterres said that a ceasefire would “provide sufficient time and space” to realize two essential appeals which he made earlier this week: to Hamas, for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages held in Gaza, and to Israel, to immediately allow aid to enter the sealed-off enclave in the throes…
