09:00 (New York) The tenth Emergency Special Session of the Assembly is expected to start at 10 AM, New York time, and as of reporting, 110 speakers are inscribed on the list. The State of Palestine is expected to address Member States first, with Israel expected to go second. Emergency Special Session Under the “Uniting…
An alert from Gaza’s main hospital in the south of the enclave that lifesaving operations would stop on Wednesday evening because of fuel shortages followed an appeal from UN chief António Guterres for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. A truce was needed, he told the Security Council on Tuesday, “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery…
Dr. Thieren spent almost two weeks travelling across the country to meet with survivors, authorities and families of more than 200 hostages held captive in Gaza. WHO offered humanitarian support to Israel’s health response immediately after the attacks. At the time, Israel’s Health Ministry replied that the system was coping, but that it would not…
Addressing the Council’s annual debate on resolution 1325, he appealed for countries to “urgently bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality” through concrete action in the areas of participation, financing and leadership. “Of 18 peace agreements reached last year, only one was signed or witnessed by a representative of a women’s group or organization,” he…
Addressing Tuesday’s debate in the Council on the worsening crisis in Israel and Palestine, the UN chief said that although nothing could justify the “appalling” attacks by Hamas of 7 October which triggered the siege and bombardment of Gaza, it was important to recognize they “did not happen in a vacuum” and did not justify…
Tipping points are reached when the systems we rely on stop functioning as designed, amplifying the risk of catastrophic impacts, according to new research published by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). The Interconnected Disaster Risks report 2023 finds that the world is fast approaching risk tipping points on multiple fronts….
Last Monday, a previous Russian-led draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” was voted down at the Council, and the following Wednesday, the United States vetoed a Brazilian-led text that urged “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to millions in the Gaza Strip. The new proposals, currently under negotiation, reportedly address the shortages of essential…
War in Ukraine and conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia, as well as a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan have been the main drivers of the alarming new total. Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, expressed his concern, stating that “globally, far too…
Water is crucial to rice farmers and when it is lacking, they tend to rely on groundwater. Globally, water taken from underground reservoirs supports 40 per cent of agriculture, but if groundwater levels fall, it becomes harder to reach over time. In Punjab known by some as India’s breadbasket, groundwater is being depleted faster than…
In Nigeria, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer deaths among women aged between 15 and 44. In 2020 – the latest year for which data is available – the country recorded 12,000 new cases and 8,000 deaths from cervical cancer. Under the new immunisation protocol,…
