Haiti: UN officials say ‘we are running out of time’ amid escalating crises

Haiti: UN officials say ‘we are running out of time’ amid escalating crises

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…

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Zero Waste Day: UN calls for a war on garbage

Earth’s ‘life support system’ is being destroyed by global business paradigm, UN expert warns

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…

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Stories from the UN Archive: UN General Assembly’s first female president

Stories from the UN Archive: UN General Assembly’s first female president

Ms. Pandit was a veteran politician and leader in her own right but also came from a family background steeped in politics, including her brother, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister following the country’s hard-won independence from a near century of British rule. An active Indian nationalist, she was also the first Indian woman to…

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UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes

UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes

Citing alarming examples in Aleppo, Grozny, Mariupol, Myanmar, Sudan and Gaza, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, said an “increasingly systematic, massive and arbitrary destruction of civilian housing and infrastructure” during too many conflicts around the world is in blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws. “We have seen or are…

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North Gaza aid mission reveals more infants may die from hunger

North Gaza aid mission reveals more infants may die from hunger

“WHO and partners managed to access (Al) Shifa (hospital) in the north and deliver fuel, some lifesaving supplies for 150 patients and treatment of 50 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition and also bring it vaccines,” said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  For the first time…

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Drug control on the internet: UN-backed body offers solutions to counter narcotics surge

Drug control on the internet: UN-backed body offers solutions to counter narcotics surge

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) study recommends responding with the same methods, running counter-narcotics campaigns offering advice that can be trusted on popular online platforms.  “We can see that drug trafficking is not just carried out on the dark web. Legitimate e-commerce platforms are being exploited by criminals too,” said Jallal Toufiq, INCB President. …

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World News in Brief: Climate change in the countryside, Yemen polio drive success, development and peace

World News in Brief: Climate change in the countryside, Yemen polio drive success, development and peace

The Unjust Climate report highlights the reality that every year in low and middle-income countries, female heads of households in rural areas suffer significantly greater financial losses than men. On average, female-headed households lose eight per cent more of their income due to heat stress and three per cent more due to floods compared with male-headed households….

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Haiti crisis: UN chief calls for ‘urgent action’ to end rampant insecurity

Haiti crisis: UN chief calls for ‘urgent action’ to end rampant insecurity

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that António Guterres wanted to see “urgent action, particularly in providing financial support for the multinational security support mission”, which has been authorized by the Security Council in a bid to restore law and order to the crisis-wracked nation, the poorest in the western hemisphere. Kenya…

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