‘Act on the lessons of COVID-19’, Guterres says on Epidemic Preparedness Day 

‘Act on the lessons of COVID-19’, Guterres says on Epidemic Preparedness Day 

The COVID-19 pandemic affected hundreds of millions of lives, caused millions of deaths and inflicted devastating impacts on humanity.  After three years of unprecedented global efforts, on 5 May the World Health Organization (WHO)  declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency, stressing however, that it does not mean the disease is no longer…

Read More
WHO and partners deliver aid to two Gaza hospitals in high-risk missions

WHO and partners deliver aid to two Gaza hospitals in high-risk missions

Teams that undertook the high-risk missions witnessed intense hostilities in their vicinity, as well as high patient loads and overcrowding caused by people seeking refuge. They also reported that food needs remain dire across the enclave, which is impacting operations, with hungry people stopping convoys in hopes of finding something to eat. WHO Director-General Tedros…

Read More
Gaza health workers pushed to the limit amid airstrike ‘carnage’

Gaza health workers pushed to the limit amid airstrike ‘carnage’

World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Medical Teams coordinator Sean Casey said that “100-plus patients” had been brought into Al-Aqsa Hospital on Monday in the space of 30 minutes, following reported blasts, including near Al-Maghazi refugee camp.  All of them needed urgent treatment for serious wounds, the WHO official told UN News, while “about 100” more…

Read More
2023 marked by achievements and 'avoidable suffering': WHO chief

2023 marked by achievements and ‘avoidable suffering’: WHO chief

Reflecting on 2023, which also marked the UN agency’s 75th anniversary, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted key achievements and set out objectives for the coming year. “In May, I declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. This marked a turning point for the world following three years of crisis,…

Read More
World News in Brief: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, cholera spreading in Sudan, aid for eastern Ukraine

World News in Brief: Senior Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, cholera spreading in Sudan, aid for eastern Ukraine

Holland’s outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify aid consignments to the embittered enclave, in line with a recent Security Council resolution. She will also establish a mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief shipments through States that are not party to the conflict. She is expected to take up the assignment…

Read More
Good morning, Mogadishu! Preserving Somalia’s cultural history, one tape at a time

Good morning, Mogadishu! Preserving Somalia’s cultural history, one tape at a time

Sitting in a small, windowless room in a government building in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed loops another audio tape onto the dilapidated machine and presses a few buttons. He’s beginning a time-intensive process to digitize some seven decades of unique historical recordings belonging to the government-run Radio Mogadishu. One down, a couple…

Read More
General Assembly approves $3.59 billion UN budget for 2024

General Assembly approves $3.59 billion UN budget for 2024

In actions taken late evening on Friday, the 193-member General Assembly also adopted nearly $50 million in additional funding for decisions taken by the Human Rights Council, UN’s primary forum on human rights matters. It also decided to establish the Peacebuilding Account, a dedicated multi-year special account, as a modality to finance the Peacebuilding Fund….

Read More