The destruction earlier this month of the Soviet-era dam and hydroelectric plant in an area reportedly under Russian control since its invasion in 2022, has caused widespread flooding across southern Ukraine, washing away homes, destroying sanitation and sewage systems and crippling water supplies. In a statement, Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown vowed that the UN would…
Hate speech reinforces discrimination and stigma and is most often aimed at women, refugees and migrants, and minorities. If left unchecked, it can even harm peace and development, as it lays the ground for conflicts and tensions, wide scale human rights violations. To turn back the rising tide of hate, the United Nations is marking…
Social media’s role in crushing hate speech From COVID-19 to climate change, hateful exchanges among those with opposing views is a growing concern, said Latifa Akharbach, president of the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication (HACA) in Morocco. The international community’s “failure” in managing and regulating migration “fuels the sponsors of hate speech” and helps them…
In this feature, part of a series exploring trafficking in the Sahel, UN News focuses on migrant smuggling. Migrant smugglers have been reaping rich dividends over the past decade in the Sahel, where armed violence, terrorist attacks, and climate shocks have displaced three million people and triggered growing numbers of others to flee, according to a…
The unpaved road to the village is bumpy and sandy. For people living here, however, the path and the intense heat are part of daily life. High temperatures have not stopped Foureyratou Saidou, a single mother of four and recent widow, from tending to the community garden next to the village. The payoffs are worth…
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned in a statement issued late on Thursday night that conditions in the province were particularly dire: babies dying in hospitals, children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition, camps for displaced persons burned down and sexual violence on the rise. He deplored spreading inter-communal violence in Darfur that threatens…
“Equal land rights both protect land and advance gender equality,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, in a video message, urging all governments to eliminate legal barriers to women owning land, and to involve them in policy making. “We depend on land for our survival, yet we treat it like dirt,” the UN chief added, emphasizing…
The rapid changes in the Artic and Antarctic have serious implications for these regions, and for global weather and climate. The alert follows expert meetings held earlier this month in Europe. Scientists are concerned Sea ice extent is among key climate indicators used by WMO in its State of the Global Climate reports. Others include greenhouse gases, sea level…
Lachezara Stoeva was addressing a special crisis meeting on Haiti organized by ECOSOC to address the country’s urgent food security needs and noted that the humanitarian response plan for this year is only 22.6 per cent funded. Wake-up call “This plan targets 3.2 million Haitian people whereas around 5.2 million Haitian people are in need….
Duty to rescue people in distress In a joint statement, refugee agency UNHCR and migration agency IOM, said that the duty to rescue people in distress at sea without delay was a “fundamental” rule of the international maritime law. They underscored that the current approach to Mediterranean Sea crossings – one of the world’s most…
