WORLD NEWS

Briefing journalists in New York, Ghulam Isaczai spoke about the transition from the long-running UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which ended its mandate in December, to a partnership with national authorities anchored to development. “For those who lived through the troubled early years of the transition, today Iraq is unrecognisable and remarkable,” he said….

“Sexual violence made up just over half of the cases, (about 3,700) and with nearly two thirds of these involving gang rape (about 2,500), he added. Alarming levels of GBV continue in Haiti, yet survivors and those at-risk face severely limited access to essential support due to insecurity, logistical challenges, and funding shortfalls, warned the…

The “Green Revolution” is believed to have saved millions of lives in India during the 20th century, introducing new scientific techniques that led to a surge in yields, providing food and livelihoods.  But the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides came at a huge cost, both to the environment and to health, leading to a…

Speaking ahead of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Annalena Baerbock recalled her years as a young trampoline gymnast chasing the Olympic dream – and the sense of unity that sport can forge, even between rivals. The Olympic Truce, she said, is a powerful symbol of that possibility – “a living metaphor of what peace requires:…

In a sharply worded statement issued on Tuesday, the Humanitarian Country Team – which brings together senior UN officials and more than 200 local and international aid groups – called on the international community to press Israeli authorities to reverse measures that are choking humanitarian work, particularly in the Gaza Strip. At the centre of…

The report by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, documents what it describes as a decades-long system of discrimination that has sharply intensified since at least December 2022. ‘Systematic asphyxiation’ of rights Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the findings reveal “a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the…

“Our children were murdered just because they bore a different name, they were called differently, and they were Muslim,” said Munira Subašić, President of the Association of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa, speaking to more than 100 people on a cold but sunny November afternoon in New York. She has spent 30 years advocating…

The multi-donor trust fund is the UN’s primary instrument for supporting countries worldwide who are emerging from – or at risk of – violent conflict. The fund sits alongside the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office. The announcement came as the Security Council and the General Assembly passed twin resolutions in support of the…

In its response to the verdict, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reiterated its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. Last July, student protests which began over a quota system for public service jobs in Bangladesh quickly escalated into widespread demonstrations, which were violently repressed by national security forces. Following the former prime minister’s…

For frontline workers like Oleg Kemin from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), this involves travelling deep into disputed territory along the 1,000-kilometre contact line separating Ukraine from Russia, where attack drones are a deadly menace. In an exclusive interview with UN News, Oleg describes his work as a security officer and the challenges he…