This year’s commemoration pays tribute to the people and organizations that have been on the frontlines of the disease – from fighting stigma and discrimination, to advocating for access to affordable interventions and community-led services. They “have left an indelible mark on the world with their activism,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Advocacy and impact Innovations such…
The latest update from UN aid coordination office OCHA indicated that two hospitals in Gaza City, Al Ahli and As Sahaba, had received a total of 10,500 litres of fuel, which is enough to operate their generators for about seven days. But humanitarians have warned that despite the pause in fighting, much more aid is…
Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a claim by the Ministry of Justice that the so-called “international LGBT movement” was committing acts of “an extremist nature” and “inciting social and religious discord”, in violation of the country’s law on countering extremism. Any organisation designated as extremist faces immediate dissolution, and its leaders could receive up…
Elizabeth Spehar, UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, emphasized the importance of civil society. “Civil society organizations are on the frontlines of peacebuilding, all over the world,” she said, adding: “As an unwavering force for peace, they are our strongest allies, from the grassroots to the global stage. We want to enable civil society to better…
The crisis began with the start of the deyr rainy season in October and comes six months after the country emerged from a historic drought that brought it to the brink of widespread famine. “Recurrent climate shocks, widespread insecurity and rampant poverty have pushed the people of Somalia to the breaking point,” said George Conway,…
While 2023 is not yet over, a provisional report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that it is set to be the warmest on record, with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Mr. Guterres said that the race is on to keep alive the 1.5-degree limit agreed by world leaders…
“We are taking baby steps and stepping far too slowly to work out the best responses to the complex climate impacts we are faced with,” Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change Simon Stiell told delegates gathered for COP28. The 28th annual meeting known as ‘COP’ after the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention…
Why 29 November? On that day in 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the partition of Palestine. At the founding commemoration of the international day, the then-UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim expressed a view echoed by successive secretaries-general that “events of these last years have made the world painfully aware that the Palestinian people and…
“As we drove through Gaza City it was like a ghost town; all the streets were deserted,” said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza. “The impact of heavy airstrikes and shelling was so visible. Roads are riddled with craters, complicating aid deliveries.” Truce deadline looms Wednesday marks the sixth and final day of…
The annual observation on 29 November marks the day in 1947 that the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on partitioning Palestine into two independent States, one Arab and one Jewish. The 1948 displacement of Palestinians from land that became Israel – known as the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic) – is the subject of an…
