In a statement, Tor Wennesland reminded that all Israeli settlements the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law. Permits for the new dwellings were approved by Israeli authorities on Wednesday, the first since the war in Gaza erupted on 7 October. According to news reports, the permits mean that more than 20,000 housing units…
The war between rival militaries Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now in its eleventh month, has not only claimed thousands of lives but has created a massive internal displacement crisis. More than six million are seeking refuge within Sudan and 1.7 million have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries….
Doreen Bogdan-Martin underscored ITU’s wide-ranging brief, emphasizing its pivotal role in fostering connectivity across the globe. Founded in 1865 as an international telegraph association, today ITU champions two paramount goals: universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation. The first woman in the post, Secretary-General Bogdan-Martin highlighted the stark digital divide impacting women and marginalized communities. Women…
Kanni Wignaraja, Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, who recently visited the country, told correspondents in New York that 69 per cent of Afghans are “subsistence insecure” – meaning they do not have enough basic resources. “Something that really hit me … was the harsh impact of continuous natural disasters,” she…
“This year’s theme – invest in women – reminds us that ending the patriarchy requires money on the table,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement for the International Day. “This all depends on unlocking finance for sustainable development so that countries have funds available to invest in women and girls,” he said, calling…
For months, the UN has been warning of a looming famine, particularly in northern Gaza as everything needed to sustain life has either been destroyed or simply run out. This is now being translated into , not as a result of shells and bullets, but for lack of proper nutrition – or any nutrition at…
Nearly 8,600 people on the move died in 2023, a 20 per cent increase from 2022, according to the UN agency’s Missing Migrants Project online platform. It details the global movement of people risking their lives to escape conflict, economic crisis and natural disasters, including drought and flooding linked to climate change. IOM says the…
“Children are dying from hunger,” he said via videolink, as media reports indicate that at least 20 children have succumbed to starvation in the besieged and bombarded enclave, including most recently a 14-day-old baby. Calling for a plan to address this crisis, he said immediate needs would include using a military access road to northern…
Ahead of an expected closed-door Security Council meeting, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for the urgent deployment, with no further delay, of the Council-mandated multinational security support mission in Haiti. “The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives,” the High Commissioner…
In a hard-hitting report to the Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur David Boyd underscored that current business practices, particularly large coporations, pose a severe threat to the planet’s ecological integrity. ‘Colossal impacts’ of the ultrarich Mr. Boyd emphasized the “colossal impacts” on natural resources, which are being consumed six times faster than the planet can…
