Un número récord de tormentas en el Atlántico con huracanes de categoría 4 consecutivos e incendios forestales que consumieron vastas áreas de Australia, Siberia, Estados Unidos y América del Sur, así como 10 millones de desplazados en África y Asia por lluvias históricas, fueron solo algunas de las huellas que dejó este año el cambio climático impulsado por la actividad humana. El calor llegó a niveles sin precedentes en el Ártico y el océano, con consecuencias para los ecosistemas, nuestra alimentación y el futuro de la humanidad.

“La naturaleza precisa de un rescate financiero”, dice António Guterres, advirtiendo que la pandemia de COVID-19 y el clima han colocado al mundo en un punto crítico desde el cual no se puede volver al modelo de inequidad, injusticia y explotación voraz del planeta. “Es el momento de transformar la relación de la humanidad con la naturaleza y la relación entre los seres humanos. Esa es la lección del 2020”, apunta.

La pandemia está haciendo estragos entre los grupos más indefensos de la población. La crisis del COVID-19 ha disparado el número de personas que necesitan asistencia humanitaria en todo el mundo a un nivel sin precedentes: 235 millones de personas requieren ayuda, lo que supone un aumento del 40% respecto al año pasado. Si todos los que necesitarán ayuda humanitaria el próximo año vivieran en un solo país, éste sería la quinta nación más grande del mundo. El panorama humanitario que se presenta es la perspectiva más sombría y oscura sobre las necesidades humanitarias que jamás se haya establecido.

El responsable de la agencia de la ONU encargada de velar por la salud pública mundial recomienda a todos los líderes, desde los políticos a los religiosos o de cualquier otra índole, que se conviertan en modelos de comportamiento porque duplicar los casos y las muertes en tres semanas es una mala señal.

La Organización Mundial de la Salud necesita más datos para evaluar la vacuna de Oxford AstraZeneca y el hecho de que haya mostrado más eficacia con dosis más bajas. Los especialistas de la OMS también advirtieron que el número de contagios en América Central y del Sur puede volver a subir. El Programa Mundial de Alimentos alerta de que más de un millón de personas en la isla africana de Madagascar están pasando hambre extrema.

En América Latina la disponibilidad de agua por habitante ha disminuido en un 22% en los últimos 20 años, y millones de agricultores se enfrentan a sequías que amenazan sus cultivos y ponen en riesgo su supervivencia. Una gestión mejorada y más sostenible del agua a nivel mundial será fundamental para garantizar el acceso de todos a este preciado líquido.

Las tormentas Eta y Iota han transformado repentinamente la vida de millones de personas en América Central, México y el Caribe. La agencia de la ONU para las migraciones dedicará fondos a paliar la situación de los afectados entregando alimentos, equipos de higiene, suministros de limpieza y equipos de protección personal.

Las algas pueden dar de comer a miles de millones de personas y pueden atrapar los gases de efectos invernadero presentes en la atmósfera. Pero, además, se pueden usar como fertilizante natural, como reemplazo sostenible para los plásticos, como componente de medicinas y cosméticos y desempeñan un papel importante en la lucha contra la contaminación de los océanos limpiando el agua de nitratos y fosfatos.

Aunque las emisiones diarias de CO2 habrían disminuido hasta en un 17% por un corto tiempo debido a las restricciones económicas y medidas de confinamiento, se trata de una variabilidad mínima en las concentraciones de gases de efecto invernadero en la atmósfera, que continúan aumentando a un ritmo preocupante, poniendo en peligro el futuro de la Tierra, los ecosistemas y la humanidad por el calentamiento global.

Un grupo de expertas independientes de la ONU afirma que “no hay nada más irónico e indignante que el reciente espectáculo de la policía atacando a aquellas que protestaban contra la violencia y la muerte que las mujeres enfrentan todos los días en México”. Y recuerdan que el Gobierno tiene la obligación de crear un entorno en el que las mujeres puedan ejercer su derecho a la libertad de reunión.

UNICEF publica un informe en el que se demuestra cómo, si bien los síntomas entre los menores infectados siguen siendo leves, las infecciones están aumentando y el impacto a largo plazo en la educación, la nutrición y el bienestar de toda una generación de niños y jóvenes puede marcar su vida. Por ello, pide acabar con el mito de que los niños apenas se ven afectados por la enfermedad. También destaca que, con las medidas adecuadas, es mejor tener las escuelas abiertas que cerradas.

El fin del brote en la República Democrática del Congo se logra tras más de cinco meses de trabajo conjunto del gobierno y la agencia de salud de la ONU, que insta a aplicar la experiencia adquirida en la gestión de esta enfermedad en los planes de respuesta a la pandemia de coronavirus. Por ejemplo, la tecnología utilizada para mantener la vacuna contra el ébola a temperaturas extremadamente frías será útil cuando se transporte una vacuna contra el COVID-19.

El imparable crecimiento de habitantes en el planeta, con una previsión de 9700 millones de personas para el año 2050, afectará a la humanidad en muchos factores, pero uno de ellos tendrá una especial relevancia para nuestra subsistencia: la producción de alimentos.

La pandemia de COVID-19 ha evidenciado el papel clave del saneamiento y la higiene para detener la propagación de enfermedades. Con un nuevo fondo, la ONU busca canalizar millones de dólares a la creación de infraestructura útil para resolver los grandes problemas de salud pública en los países de renta baja.

El meteoro agrava la falta de alimentos en Centroamérica en un momento en el que de por sí había aumentado el hambre debido a la pandemia del coronavirus. Eta, uno de los peores desastres de los últimos veinte años en la región, dejó cerca de tres millones de siniestrados en Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua y el sur de México.

El año pasado se registraron más de 800.000 casos mientras las muertes por esta dolencia aumentaron casi un 50% en los últimos cuatro años. El futuro no es halagüeño: más de 94 millones de personas se encuentran desprotegidas ya que 26 países interrumpieron sus campañas de vacunación debido a la pandemia del COVID-19. En el lado positivo, la vacunación ha salvado más de 25,5 millones de vidas en todo el mundo desde el año 2000.

Ningún sistema de salud del mundo está preparado para cubrir las necesidades de almacenamiento y transporte de la cadena de frío de dos de las vacunas de la COVID-19 que actualmente se encuentran en la tercera fase de ensayos clínicos, entre ellas la anunciada este lunes por la empresa farmacéutica Pfizer, afirmó este miércoles la agencia regional de salud de la ONU.

Los mercados laborales de América Latina y el Caribe están siendo golpeados por la pandemia del COVID-19 de una manera nunca vista lo que se ha traducido en la mayor contracción de los últimos 100 años con fuertes costos económicos, laborales, sociales y productivos. Los mayores efectos se sintieron en el segundo trimestre del año en el que se estima una pérdida de aproximadamente 47 millones de empleos

El responsable de la agencia sanitaria mundial llama a rechazar el “nacionalismo erróneo” que empuja a las sociedades “al abismo de un futuro más injusto e inseguro”, erosionando los propósitos comunes y retrasando la agenda de desarrollo sostenible. Por otra parte, felicita el presidente electo estadounidense y confía en trabajar “de cerca” con su gobierno.

La ratificación del Acuerdo es muy trascendente para México porque establece disposiciones en materia de generación, divulgación y acceso a la información ambiental ,y aborda la generación de un entorno seguro y propicio para los defensores de los derechos humanos en asuntos ambientales.

La situación en la región aún se recrudece, mientras que el huracán ETA ha puesto en riesgo los avances en Centroamérica, informaron los expertos de la agencia panamericana de salud de la ONU. Además, advirtieron que Venezuela debe cumplir con el protocolo de ensayos y fases clínicas para la molécula R10, un posible tratamiento contra el coronavirus.

Al quedar Estados Unidos oficialmente fuera del Acuerdo de París este miércoles; China, Francia, Italia, el Reino Unido y la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático emitieron una declaración conjunta llamando a la unidad mundial para reducir los efectos del calentamiento global.

Los equipos de las Naciones Unidas ya se encuentran en el terreno también en Honduras, El Salvador y Guatemala, donde el poderoso temporal amenaza a cientos de miles de personas. Eta podría causar marejadas ciclónicas, inundaciones y deslizamientos de tierra potencialmente mortales, especialmente en las áreas costeras

Los expertos de la agencia de salud de la ONU explicaron que los niveles muy altos o bajos de humedad crean las condiciones adecuadas para que el virus sobreviva por más tiempo. Los casos continúan aumentando exponencialmente en Europa y Estados Unidos, y el director de la Organización anunció que está en cuarentena tras ser identificado como contacto de una persona positiva.

Los enjambres arrasan los cultivos que podrían alimentar a 35.000 personas diariamente, así como el forraje que se utiliza para los animales. Yemen es actualmente un caldo de cultivo de la plaga, que de no ser controlada también puede volver a extenderse al Cuerno de África. Los insectos migran cada vez más lejos a medida que el cambio climático altera los patrones de lluvia.

Según los pronósticos de temporada más recientes, algunas de las anomalías de precipitación más importantes relacionadas con el episodio de La Niña de 2020 se registrarán en el Gran Cuerno de África (con lluvias por debajo de lo normal), Asia central (con precipitaciones por debajo de lo normal) y sudoriental, algunas de las islas del Pacífico y la región septentrional de América del Sur (con lluvias por encima de lo normal). Se espera que el actual episodio sea “de moderado a intenso”

La incertidumbre y restricciones derivadas de la pandemia causaron que no llegaran ni un tercio de los turistas que normalmente pasean en el hemisferio norte cada verano en la temporada de vacaciones. En todo 2020 se prevé una caída de hasta el 70%.

La inversión extranjera directa, un referente de la globalización y la confianza económica, cayó un 49% en el primer semestre de 2020 debido a la crisis generada por la pandemia de COVID-19, revela un nuevo informe de la ONU, que también reporta que esos flujos de inversión se mantuvieron estables en China.

La agencia de la ONU para la salud advirtió que los países e individuos no pueden quedarse de brazos cruzados ante la amenaza de un “tsunami de casos” a pesar de la fatiga que crece en las sociedades ante las medidas de distanciamiento físico. En Estados Unidos y Europa los contagios siguen aumentando con la mayor cantidad de pacientes reportados desde el comienzo de la pandemia. Los expertos también recordaron que una prueba negativa de COVID-19 no es una licencia para ignorar las medidas de salud.

Demasiados países están viendo un aumento exponencial de casos y los hospitales y UCI se están llenando cuando el invierno y la temporada de gripe ni siquiera ha empezado, advirtió la agencia de salud de la ONU, que pidió a los Estados tomar medidas urgentes y contundentes, para evitar la necesidad de cierres como los del inicio de la pandemia.

La UNESCO celebra una reunión virtual de alto nivel sobre educación en la que participan once jefes de Estado y de gobierno, así como 62 ministros de Educación, funcionarios de las Naciones Unidas y embajadores de Buena Voluntad de la ONU, la actriz Angelina Jolie entre ellos. El líder de la ONU advierte que el trabajo para mantener el aprendizaje de los estudiantes durante la pandemia son insuficientes y apela a la voluntad política para evitar que millones de niños y adolescentes pierdan el acceso a su derecho a la educación.

Más de 730 toneladas de desechos plásticos son vertidos en el mar a diario y el cambio climático se ha acelerado en la región. El Mediterráneo es uno de los destinos turísticos más codiciados del mundo y es hogar de 512 millones de personas y 17.000 especies marinas.

La agencia sanitaria mundial, en asociación con el grupo musical Sister Sledge, lanza una nueva campaña que llama a la unidad y solidaridad en la lucha contra la pandemia. Una nueva versión de la conocida canción “We are family”, popularizada en 1979, sirve como tema de la iniciativa. Los expertos de la OMS sostienen que los países pueden evitar una segunda oleada de casos de COVID-19 si emplean las medidas que se ha probado que funcionan, como ha ocurrido en varios países asiáticos y africanos.

Ante la previsible llegada de una vacuna para la COVID-19, UNICEF comienza a preparar el terreno para su distribución rápida, segura y eficiente mediante la compra y el almacenamiento de jeringas y otro tipo de material necesario para una inmunización masiva.

Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, los agricultores y muchos otros han trabajado incansablemente para proveer al mundo de alimentos. Este año, la ONU quiere rendir homenaje a su trabajo, y recordar que deben ser parte fundamental de los planes de la recuperación de la crisis del coronavirus.

Un tercio de la población mundial no tiene acceso a una de las principales armas para combatir el COVID-19, advirtió UNICEF, que pide mayores esfuerzos de los Gobiernos para facilitar instalaciones de agua y saneamiento en zonas periurbanas y rurales, así como escuelas.

Aproximadamente 1,4 millones de personas murieron por enfermedades relacionadas con la tuberculosis en 2019. Este año, la pandemia ha obstaculizado los servicios de prevención y diagnóstico de la enfermedad, y las metas mundiales para reducir los casos de tuberculosis no se alcanzarán.

Pese al gran aumento de los fenómenos meteorológicos y climáticos extremos durante el último medio siglo, que afectan de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades vulnerables, una gran cantidad de personas todavía no está debidamente cubierta por los sistemas de alerta temprana, advierte un estudio coordinado por la Organización Meteorológica Mundial. El lanzamiento del informe sobre el estado de los servicios climáticos en 2020 coincide con la celebración del Día Internacional para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres.

Muchos pacientes infectados con el COVID-19, ya sea de forma leve o grave, meses después aún presentan síntomas como fatiga, dolor y dificultades para respirar. La agencia de la ONU para la salud ha advertido que, por esto, y al ver que hay pacientes que pueden contagiarse dos veces, no se pueden contemplar estrategias que permitan que el virus circule libremente sin proteger a la población.

El Programa Mundial de Alimentos de las Naciones Unidas (PMA), que proporciona asistencia alimentaria a millones de personas en todo el mundo, a menudo en condiciones extremadamente peligrosas y de difícil acceso, recibió este viernes el Premio Nobel de la Paz. El año pasado, el PMA ayudó a 97 millones de personas en 88 países.

Según un sondeo realizado entre unos 3700 consumidores de nueve economías emergentes y desarrolladas, la pandemia de coronavirus supone un cambio irreversible en los comportamientos de compras en línea.

Muchos de ellos no saben que se han contagiado porque no tienen síntomas o son muy leves, advirtieron los expertos de la OPS, que recomendaron a todos tomar medidas de precaución. Mientras tanto, los casos siguen aumentando en la región, especialmente en el Caribe, donde se está reabriendo el espacio aéreo.

América Latina y el Caribe atraviesa su peor crisis económica en un siglo, dice la comisión económica de la ONU para la región. La recuperación requerirá de políticas macroeconómicas expansivas, que incluyan el aumento de la recaudación fiscal y la inversión en la infraestructura de la vida, como la salud.

La pandemia del coronavirus ha interrumpido o trastornado los servicios de salud críticos en el 93% de los países, revela una encuesta de la agencia sanitaria mundial, que destaca la urgencia de aumentar los presupuestos para ese rubro de la sanidad pública.

Aunque algunos Estados consideran vital la posesión de armas nucleares para su seguridad nacional y supervivencia, la eliminación de ese armamento es fundamental para algo que está más allá del destino de esas naciones: la supervivencia de la vida en el planeta.

Pese a los significativos avances de los derechos de la mujer tras la Declaración de Beijing, como la reducción de la mortalidad materna en casi un 40% desde 1995, todavía no se han cumplido sus ambiciosas metas, dice el líder de la ONU

Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de todo el mundo, entre ellos varios latinoamericanos, así como líderes de las Naciones Unidas expresaron en una cumbre de la Asamblea General su compromiso para acordar en 2021 un nuevo marco de protección de la biodiversidad. Más de un millón de especies animales y vegetales están amenazadas en el mundo y la pandemia de COVID-19 ha recalcado aún más la “relación disfuncional” de los humanos con la naturaleza.

Pese a la importancia de los planes de estímulo económico en la respuesta a la pandemia del coronavirus, los Estados no han de olvidar otras prioridades como la crisis climática o la renuncia a financiar proyectos o infraestructuras alimentadas por carbón, advirtió el relator especial de la ONU sobre derechos humanos y el medioambiente.

Con la suspensión parcial o total de los servicios de salud sexual, reproductiva y pediátrica; las dificultades de acceso por la falta de transporte público; el miedo a exponerse al coronavirus; y el aumento de la malnutrición causada por la pobreza, miles de mujeres, niños, niñas y adolescentes corren el riesgo de morir por falta de atención en salud, y no por COVID-19.

La pandemia de COVID-19 es una crisis en medio de otras amenazas globales que “ha puesto a prueba la cooperación internacional, una prueba en la que esencialmente hemos fracasado”, dice el líder de la ONU ante el Consejo de Seguridad.

El Secretario General, António Guterres, y el Primer Ministro del Reino Unido, Boris Johnson, serán coanfitriones de un evento mundial histórico que convocará a líderes mundiales el 12 de diciembre de este año para impulsar una acción y ambición climática mucho mayor.

El coronavirus es la primera pandemia en la historia en la que la tecnología y las redes sociales se utilizan a gran escala para mantener a las personas seguras, informadas, y conectadas, pero estos medios también están habilitando y amplificando una pandemia de desinformación que continúa socavando la respuesta global y poniendo en peligro las medidas para controlar la crisis, advirtieron los líderes de la ONU.

“Quienes construyeron las Naciones Unidas hace 75 años vivieron una pandemia, una depresión global, un genocidio y una guerra mundial. Conocían el costo de la discordia y el valor de la unidad”, dice el líder de la ONU al inaugurar el debate de la Asamblea General y equipara ese escenario con la emergencia que vive hoy el mundo.

El proyecto multisectorial para garantizar la compra y distribución equitativa de las vacunas contra el COVID-19 cuando éstas existan cuenta ya con 156 países, informa la agencia sanitaria mundial. También adelanta que cada persona necesitaría dos dosis de la inmunización.

On September 25th 2020, thousands of climate strikes will take place across the globe to demand urgent action to tackle the climate crisis. Actions will be both online and in the streets where COVID-19 regulations allow.

La pandemia ha puesto de relieve la labor crucial de los trabajadores sanitarios; sin embargo, uno de cada siete contagiados de COVID-19 es personal de salud y en algunos países la cifra llega a uno de cada tres. La agencia mundial de sanidad urge a proteger a estos trabajadores para que sigan adelante con su tarea.

El líder de la ONU destacó el éxito de los acuerdos globales para proteger y regenerar la capa de ozono alrededor de la Tierra. «Esos tratados son ejemplos alentadores que muestran que cuando prevalece la voluntad política hay pocos límites para lograr un beneficio común», apuntó.

El aumento global de las temperaturas mantiene un nivel alarmante y sin aparente freno. De 2015 a la fecha se han sucedido en el hemisferio norte los cinco episodios de temperaturas más calientes de junio a agosto. Los incendios en la costa oeste de Estados Unidos durante este verano han batido récords de devastación.

El uso ilícito de la fuerza policíaca contra los informadores que reportan durante las manifestaciones se ha incrementado de manera alarmante, revela un informe de la agencia de la ONU que monitorea las agresiones a los periodistas.

Pese a los 589.000 millones de dólares dedicados a protección social en 113 países, las iniciativas de protección social no impedirán el aumento de la pobreza, alerta un experto de las Naciones Unidas en derechos humanos, que indica que muchas personas han quedado excluidas de ellas e insta a un replanteamiento global.

Encontrar una vacuna segura y efectiva contra el coronavirus no es “una competencia” y aunque los científicos esperen tener los mejores resultados pronto, es normal que haya obstáculos y tome más tiempo del esperado, afirmaron los expertos de la agencia de salud de la ONU.

El mundo está muy lejos de cumplir los objetivos del Acuerdo de París. Las reducciones de emisiones de carbón en el punto máximo de las medidas de confinamiento por el coronavirus alcanzaron hasta un 17%, pero ya se acercan de nuevo a los niveles previos a la pandemia y a largo plazo no tendrán mucho impacto en las concentraciones de gases de efecto invernadero en la atmósfera, que permanecen en niveles récord. La temperatura sigue aumentando y el agua y los ecosistemas están cada vez más amenazados.

Los líderes de economía y finanzas de cada país se reunieron virtualmente este martes para buscarle salidas a la crisis causada por el COVID-19 y establecer para la recuperación una hoja de ruta que proteja al planeta y promueva la igualdad y el bienestar de todas las personas.

En todo el planeta, nueve de cada diez personas respiran aire impuro alertó este lunes el Secretario General de la ONU durante la conmemoración del primer Día Internacional del Aire Limpio por un Día Azul. El titular de la ONU recordó la necesidad de abordar la amenaza que supone el cambio climático.

Hay más de 30 vacunas candidatas, con nueve que ya se encuentran en la última etapa de ensayos clínicos y que entregarían resultados a finales de este año o a comienzos del próximo. Una vez se pruebe una vacuna segura y efectiva, el mayor reto es la producción de miles de millones de dosis y su transporte a los países.

Si la comunidad internacional no toma medidas inmediatas y ambiciosas para contrarrestar los efectos de la COVID-19 en la educación de las personas refugiadas, el potencial de millones de jóvenes refugiados que viven en algunas de las comunidades más vulnerables del mundo se verá aún más amenazado.

La Organización Panamericana de la Salud cifra en unos 570.000 el número de trabajadores sanitarios infectados. Unas tres cuartas partes de los diagnosticados con la enfermedad son mujeres. Estados Unidos y México suman casi el 85% de todas las muertes por COVID-19 de estos profesionales en la región. El costo humano de la pandemia en América continúa alto con casi 4000 muertes al día.

“Aprendamos y enseñemos a los demás que la política debería ser una manifestación del deseo de contribuir a la felicidad de la comunidad, y no una fórmula para engañar o ultrajar a la comunidad. Aprendamos y enseñemos a los demás que la política no tiene que ser el arte de lo posible, especialmente cuando se piensa en especulaciones, cálculos, intrigas, acuerdos secretos y maniobras pragmáticas, sino que puede ser igualmente, un arte de lo imposible, es decir, el arte de mejorar el mundo y de mejorarnos a nosotros mismos. ”
Václav Havel (1936-2011).

Ningún país puede simplemente “pretender” que la pandemia se acabó, y el regreso de los niños a la escuela y de los adultos a su lugar de trabajo debe hacerse de manera segura, aseguró la agencia de salud de la ONU. Los expertos de la agencia explicaron los pasos que deben seguir las naciones para tomar control de la transmisión del coronavirus.

El huracán Laura generó más energía ciclónica que la suma de todas las otras tormentas con nombre durante el mes de agosto en el océano Atlántico . La agencia meteorológica de la ONU alertó que aún falta el 70% de la temporada más activa en la región.

Aunque no es común, hay casos graves y muertes por coronavirus reportados en niños, recordó la agencia de la ONU para la salud, quien pidió tener en cuenta una serie de recomendaciones antes de reabrir las escuelas y examinar el contexto de transmisión local. A la OMS le preocupa la salud no solo de los pequeños, pero también de los profesores y otros trabajadores de las instituciones educativas.

Ante las consecuencias socioeconómicas de la pandemia de COVID-19, las principales agencias de la ONU pidieron este miércoles los países que aumenten los programas de protección social para ayudar a las personas en mayor riesgo.

Debido al cierre sin precedentes de los viajes y el comercio mundial, el turismo ha sido uno de los sectores más afectados por el coronavirus. La crisis no tiene precedentes en tamaño y amplitud, y ha afectado los medios de vida de millones de personas en el mundo. Un nuevo informe de políticas de António Guterres destaca la necesidad de reconstruirlo de una manera más resiliente y ecológica.

Si los países invierten y se unen a la coalición de la OMS se podrían garantizar miles de millones de dosis de vacunas para finales de próximo año, afirmaron expertos de la agencia de salud de la ONU. Durante una conferencia, los doctores también hablaron sobre tratamientos contra el COVID-19 como los anticuerpos monoclonales y el plasma de los recuperados.

Una nueva encuesta de la agencia de migraciones reveló que el COVID-19 ha hecho cambiar las intenciones de más de la mitad de los centroamericanos y mexicanos que pensaban salir de su país en busca de trabajo y mejores oportunidades. Además, la pandemia ha hecho que el 20% de los migrantes consideren regresar a sus sitios de origen.

Desarrollar plantaciones de aguacate y proyectos de electricidad a costa de las garantías fundamentales de la población chilena transgrede las leyes internacionales de derechos humanos, advierte un grupo de expertos de la ONU en esos derechos y recuerda al gobierno de Chile su obligación de garantizar el suministro de agua, destacando la importancia de cumplir con esta provisión en el marco de la pandemia de COVID-19.

La crisis provocada por la pandemia de COVID-19 ha incrementado la necesidad de trabajos de cuidado no remunerado en las familias. En América Latina y el Caribe son las mujeres quienes llevan sobre los hombros esa carga de forma desproporcionada. Dos agencias de la ONU instan a transformar este rubro de trabajo, reconociéndolo, reforzando las infraestructuras y políticas de género y los servicios de protección social.

Hassan Akkad, un galardonado cineasta sirio, huyó de la guerra en su país hace cuatro años y ahora vive como refugiado en el Reino Unido. Tras el brote de COVID-19, decidió ayudar a los afectados por la pandemia convirtiéndose en un trabajador de limpieza en un hospital de Londres.

Marie-Roseline Bélizaire, médica y epidemióloga de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), utiliza su pasión por la medicina comunitaria para ayudar a reducir la propagación del COVID-19 en la República Centroafricana.

Tras la evaluación de las necesidades de la población afectada por las explosiones en Beirut, la oficina encargada de asuntos humanitarios pidió apoyo financiero a la comunidad internacional para llevar asistencia inmediata a los siniestrados por el estallido y ayudar a la reconstrucción.

Son demasiados los gobiernos del continente americano que han relajado las salvaguardias ambientales durante su respuesta a la contingencia sanitaria. La salud humana está ligada a la de los ecosistemas, recuerdan dos expertos en derechos humanos, que llaman a fortalecer la protección al entorno natural.

En la jornada dedicada a la juventud, la ONU llama a los líderes mundiales a permitir que los jóvenes alcancen su máximo potencial. “Es la juventud la que ha alzado su voz para exigir una acción climática”, recalca el titular de la Organización y agrega que, además, muchos de ellos están en el frente de la respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19.

El presidente de Rusia anunció que su país ha desarrollado y aprobado una vacuna contra el COVID-19 aún sin completar las pruebas clínicas que marcan los protocolos. La agencia encargada de la salud recuerda que no se debe sacrificar la seguridad y eficiencia a cambio de la velocidad. La OPS afirma que no adquirirá una inmunización que no cumpla con los ensayos requeridos.

Hay dos elementos esenciales para hacer frente a la pandemia de manera eficaz: “los líderes deben redoblar sus esfuerzos para tomar decisiones y los ciudadanos deben aceptar las nuevas medidas”, dice el responsable de la agencia de la ONU que vela por la salud. En Brasil, el país con más casos de América Latina, la curva es un poco plana pero no está bajando y el sistema está sometido a una gran presión. «En una situación como esa, la hidroxicloroquina no es una solución ni una fórmula mágica”, añade el encargado de progrmas de emergencia.

A través de licitaciones internacionales en nombre de los Estados, entre ellos México y Argentina, la agencia regional de la ONU para la salud también compró millones de dólares en equipos de protección para trabajadores sanitarios, así como otras herramientas esenciales. Más de diez millones de pruebas para el coronavirus ya han sido enviadas a seis países.

Así como invierten millones para protegerse del terrorismo, los Gobiernos deben invertir más en la salud universal y garantizar el acceso a todos sus ciudadanos, señala la agencia sanitaria de la ONU. Las desigualdades y el racismo se están cobrando las vidas de los más vulnerables durante la pandemia de COVID-19, advierten los expertos, que también aconsejan contra el “nacionalismo de las vacunas”.

Las agencias de la ONU ya se encuentran en el terreno para evaluar las necesidades de respuesta y ayudar a las autoridades libanesas, especialmente en los hospitales, que ya estaban abarrotados debido a la pandemia de COVID-19.

Por primera vez en la historia de la agencia internacional del trabajo, todos sus miembros ratificaron un instrumento que otorga a la niñez protección jurídica frente a las peores formas de trabajo infantil, haciendo patente el compromiso mundial de erradicar la esclavitud, la explotación sexual y el reclutamiento de niños para fines militares. El trabajo infantil ha disminuido, pero podría volver a aumentar a causa de la pandemia de COVID-19, advierte la OIT.

El desplazamiento, el daño a la infraestructura y la interrupción de servicios a causa de las tormentas, particularmente en las zonas costeras, podrían hacer que los niños y las familias fueran más vulnerables al coronavirus y a sus impactos, advirtió la agencia de la ONU para la infancia. La pandemia también afecta la preparación para la respuesta de los países de la región a esos desastres.

Una transición justa a cero emisiones netas de carbono puede corregir los efectos económicos y sociales adversos de la crisis mundial del cambio climático y, al mismo tiempo, ofrecer una oportunidad para crear empleo, abordar la desigualdad e impulsar un crecimiento inclusivo en la región. La devastación de la crisis actual del COVID-19 ha permitido a hogares, empresas y gobiernos a replantearse cómo se conecta el entorno natural con sus economías y sociedades.

El COVID-19 causa una enfermedad inflamatoria en los pulmones, pero está demostrado que este proceso se extiende al sistema cardiovascular, a la sangre, al corazón y probablemente a otros órganos. En muchos casos, aunque la enfermedad se presente de manera leve puede tener consecuencias a largo plazo..

El plomo es una potente neurotoxina que causa daños irreparables al cerebro de los niños y es particularmente destructivo para los bebés y niños menores de cinco años. En México, por ejemplo, en 2018 se perdió el equivalente a 8,9 millones de puntos de coeficiente intelectual entre los niños por la exposición a este metal pesado. La sustancia se encuentra lo mismo en el agua que en la pintura y la cerámica.

La ONU en Colombia, Brasil y Perú hace un llamado urgente a la “solidaridad internacional” para ayudar a los indígenas del Amazonas frente al COVID-19. El coronavirus puede hacer que 7 millones más de niños de menos de cinco años sufran malnutrición grave este año, según UNICEF. Los avances frente a la hepatitis están amenazados por la pandemia de coronavirus.

No sólo mascarillas y guantes, también empaques de plástico de comida y otros productos a domicilio están inundando calles, vertederos y océanos durante la pandemia, algo que cuesta millones de dólares a las economías y representa una grave amenaza para los ecosistemas. La conferencia de la ONU para el comercio asegura que se necesita la cooperación entre países y el desarrollo de políticas comunes para detener este problema que ya existía pero que se ha exacerbado con la emergencia.

People taking part in peaceful demonstrations across the United States, and journalists covering these protests, should not be subjected to disproportionate use of force or other violations, the UN human rights office said on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse to clamp down on fundamental freedoms, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reminded authorities in Zimbabwe on Friday.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Friday encouraged Poland to fall in line with its international obligations, and allow asylum seekers access.

COVID-19 cases worldwide have surpassed 15 million, and nearly 620,000 deaths. On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged people everywhere to play a part in preventing further spread of the disease, warning that there will be no return to “the old normal”.

The General Debate of the General Assembly, traditionally the most high-profile UN event of the year, will be a slimmed-down affair this September, with world leaders staying away from New York, and contributing set-piece speeches via video link, a UN spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

Now is the time to implement policies and commitments to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the new President of one of the UN’s main bodies said on Thursday.

Cooperation between Israelis and the Palestinians at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic is breaking down, putting human lives at risk as the economy goes into meltdown and the threat of Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank lingers, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process says.

A group of independent UN human rights experts has called for Iran to urgently release an activist who reportedly is ill with COVID-19 symptoms “before it is too late”.

Tanzania should allow peaceful gatherings to take place ahead of elections in October and step back from “draconian” laws, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Wednesday.

Independent UN human rights experts are urging the Ethiopian authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations, in a new appeal for investigations into the deaths of people protesting the recent killing of a popular singer and activist from the Oromo ethnic group.

With essential resources for women’s health being diverted to emergency COVID-19 response around the world, Governments, civil society leaders, CEOs and academic experts gathered virtually on Tuesday, to explore ways to accelerate the achievement of landmark targets set 25 years ago for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Although some 178 million hectares of forest has been lost worldwide over the past three decades, the rate of loss has declined substantially during this period, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.

A disease that may kill every pig it infects and for which there is no effective vaccine, can be eradicated if more countries continue to work together to limit its spread, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.

Thirty-five young people with innovative ideas for tackling challenges such as protecting indigenous Amazonian land through adventure travel, converting harmful emissions into valuable commodities in the United States, and generating electricity from water in Nigeria, have been named as regional finalists for one of the UN’s most prestigious environmental awards.

A series of regional workshops is set to zoom in on how best to integrate gender into national climate policies, actions and plans. The regional workshops, the first of which will be held on 22 July for the Asia and Pacific region, will enable the sharing of relevant case studies, examples and lessons learned on the results, impacts and main challenges that governments face in the integration of gender into national climate policies, plans, strategies and action.

A wholesale switch to efficient, “climate-friendly” appliances could make a huge dent in environmentally harmful emissions, says a new UN report released on Friday.

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting development gains at risk, exposing vulnerabilities and inequalities both within and among nations, the UN Secretary-General is urging governments to reexamine how they work together to solve global challenges.

The 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize, which is awarded every five years and recognizes those who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity, will go this year to Marianna Vardinoyannis, of Greece, and Doctor Morissana Kouyaté, of Guinea, it was announced on Friday.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession are set to trigger the first increase in global poverty in three decades, pushing 265 million people to the point of starvation by the end of the year, the UN’s top humanitarian official warned on Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are concerned about the growing Ebola outbreak in the northwestern province of Equateur, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as they face critical funding gaps amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN health agency said on Thursday

The dangerous legacy of nuclear weapons testing continues to affect many communities, a leading rights expert said on Thursday, on the 75th anniversary of testing in the United States, that heralded the nuclear age.

How to adapt and move forward in the new reality of a COVID-19 world was the focus of a UN webinar on Wednesday, which considered how young people can maintain good mental health and a sense of wellbeing.

Disruptions in the delivery of immunization services resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic threaten to unravel global gains in reaching more children and young people with a wider range of vaccines, two UN agencies warned on Wednesday

Tackling the global nature crisis could create 400m jobs and $10tn in business value each year by 2030, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Entitled ‘The Future of Nature and Business’, the report warns that when the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic there can be no business-as-usual, with today’s destruction of the natural world threatening over half of global GDP.

The killing of former combatants, human rights defenders and social leaders of communities devastated by decades of conflict, remains the most serious threat to peace in Colombia since the signing of a landmark peace agreement in 2016, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday, meeting in-person at UN Headquarters in New York, for the first time in four months.

A ‘business as usual’ approach is no longer an option, the head of the UN agriculture agency said on Tuesday, launching a new plan to move past the coronavirus pandemic.

Global advocates for refugees are pushing to ensure the COVID-19 pandemic does not derail efforts for displaced children and young people to continue learning and eventually return to a real classroom.

In much of the world, “hunger remains deeply entrenched and is rising”, the UN chief said on Monday, launching this year’s major UN food security update, highlighting that over the past five years, tens of millions of people have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished.

The collective impact of climate change, COVID-19 and conflict mean that well over 200 million people will likely need humanitarian assistance by 2022, the UN’s deputy rights chief said on Monday.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows how wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment but to human health, according to a new UN report issued on Friday.

As the Turkish President signed a decree on Friday converting the ancient Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque, the UN cultural agency (UNESCO) said that it «deeply regrets the decision» made «without prior discussion», having earlier in the day called on the State to abide by its “legal commitments and obligations” in accordance with it’s status as a museum, on the World Heritage List.

Twenty-five years after the Srebrenica genocide, peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains fragile, underscoring the need for true reconciliation in the region, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday in a video message marking the anniversary of the worst atrocity crime in Europe, since the Second World War.

A new mechanism launched on Thursday aims to speed up action so that people everywhere will have access to water and sanitation by the end of the decade, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Annual global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels in each of the coming five years, putting globally agreed climate change targets in jeopardy, new data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals.

With battle lines shifting, foreign interference growing, thousands fleeing their homes and COVID-19 cases on the rise, time is running out for bringing a peaceful end to the conflict in Libya, Secretary-General António Guterres says.

More than 50 Heads of State and government, alongside global employers’ and trade union leaders, have been taking part in an online discussion on Wednesday looking at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work.

Women journalists face particular dangers while going about their work, an independent UN expert told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, saying that Governments should do more to protect them.

The UN human rights chief is calling for greater investment in the human rights components of peace operations – not least to monitor the impact of efforts to contain the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to issue a brief on the modes of transmission of the new coronavirus, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The United Nations vision for a sustainable future for all “will depend on our policy choices today, and our resolve to act together in solidarity”, a senior UN official told delegates on Monday at a meeting to discuss post-pandemic recovery.

As the battle against COVID-19 rages, the world can expect to see other diseases that pass from animals to humans emerge, according to a new UN report launched on Monday, which maintains that there is still time to head off potential zoonotic pandemics.

As a major United Nations forum prepares to assess progress towards a fairer future for people and the planet, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that each of the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ahead of hoped-for peace talks between Afghan Government and Taliban negotiators, UN peacekeepers in Afghanistan have urged parties to “redouble” their efforts to keep civilians safe.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has expressed alarm at the arrest of demonstrators in Hong Kong, following China’s adoption of a national security law for the Special Administrative Region (SAR).

The COVID-19 pandemic is “profoundly affecting” peace and security across the globe, the Secretary-General told the Security Council on Thursday, pressing the 15-member body to use its collective influence to protect the millions of people either trapped in, or fleeing conflict, and already facing acute vulnerabilities.

A likely link between processed and fried foods containing so-called “transfats” and ovarian cancer has been identified by UN scientists, they said on Thursday.

Young entrepreneurs who want their work to have a positive impact on their communities, urgently need more help from governments if they’re to succeed and resist the COVID-19-fuelled economic downturn, UN economists said on Thursday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that some nations battling the COVID-19 pandemic who have been taking a “fragmented approach” to suppressing the deadly virus, “face a long, hard road ahead.”

The UN on Wednesday revealed the existence of an illicit trafficking scam in African cultural artefacts, which are being sold to unsuspecting buyers, thanks to the entirely fake UNESCO stamp they come with.

As countries around the world seek to adapt and build resilience to the impacts of a changing climate – a key pillar of the Paris Climate Change Agreement – an adaptation strategy rooted in protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is gaining traction. Known as ecosystem-based adaptation, (EbA), it protects vulnerable communities from extreme weather while simultaneously providing a variety of ecological benefits crucial for human well-being, such as clean water and food.

Fallen UN colleagues were honoured on Tuesday at a solemn ceremony commemorating their bravery, and having served the UN cause of saving future generations “from the scourge of war and to pursue better standards of living for all in larger freedom”, said Secretary-General António Guterres, paying tribute.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on jobs has been much worse than expected initially, the head of the UN labour agency said on Tuesday, in an appeal to Governments, workers and employers, to agree on a sustainable economic recovery plan to reduce inequalities laid bare by the pandemic.

The UN is asking people to make the same judgement calls they’ve been applying to social distancing, to social media, and take extra care before sharing.

Tens of millions more people are likely to go hungry this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday, as it announced plans for a massive boost to its global aid operation so it can reach them.

Could studying the cosmos help us to fight the climate crisis? Two astronomers at the University of Hawaii think that knowledge of the solar system may help to slow down the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Leaders of the United Nations, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and others have called on governments to align their economic recovery packages with work on national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs) due this year under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The repression of “fundamental freedoms” by the Chinese Government prompted nearly 50 UN independent experts on Friday to express their continuing alarm, urging the country to “abide by its international legal obligations”.

More than $31 billion is needed over the next 12 months to develop medicines that will be effective against COVID-19, and make them available to all people, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners said on Friday.

A massive dust storm currently blanketing many parts of the Caribbean, posing a significant threat to regional health, has revealed the importance of having effective warning systems in place, the World Meteorological Office (WMO) said on Friday.

The decision by the United States to authorize sanctions targeting staff at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is “a direct attack to the institution’s judicial independence”, UN human rights experts said on Thursday.

Since the 2019 Sudan protests, which ushered in a transitional government, and the promise of more rights, over a thousand women have felt emboldened to enter politics in a bid to enact lasting democratic change.

More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is projected to be more gradual than previously forecast, according to a report published on Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The world is on track to reach 10 million coronavirus cases within the next week, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief executive said on Wednesday, a “sober reminder” that as research continues into therapeutics and vaccines, utmost efforts are needed now to suppress transmission and save lives.

UN Member States, Observers and others, sent a strong political message this week, with the announcement that 170 signatories have now endorsed the UN’s call to silence the guns, and stand united against the global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inclusive education should be a “non-negotiable” right for all children, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a new report launched on Tuesday.

The United Nations has strongly condemned an attack believed to be carried out by rebel militia on peacekeepers serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which left one Indonesian ‘blue helmet’ dead, and another injured.

Reports that temperatures in a Russian town in the Arctic Circle likely reached a record 38C (100.4F), last weekend, have been approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) pending final verification, it said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases over the course of Sunday, registering more than 183,000 new infections in 24 hours, bringing the total to some 8.8 million cases worldwide, with more than 465,000 deaths.

Some 67 experts from 48 countries came together as part of UN Climate Change’s June Momentum initiative to take stock and brainstorm on how to improve the quality, efficiency and consistency of the reviews of countries’ climate policy and action reports.

As countries begin to reopen their economies, technology experts meeting in the context of the June Momentum for Climate Changestressed that to make green recovery a reality, the immediate post-COVID-19 period of the next 6 to 9 months needs to focus on climate policies and climate-friendly technologies that have been tried and tested and are ready to be rolled out.

A critical warning was issued by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday, declaring that it may soon have “no choice” but to suspend “most” of its critical aid flights, because of a lack of funding.

The world is entering “a new and dangerous phase” of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infection rates continue to climb, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The UN’s top rights official, Michelle Bachelet, is to spearhead efforts to address systemic racism against people of African descent by law enforcement agencies, the Human Rights Council decided on Friday. The resolution – decided unanimously without a vote – follows a rare Urgent Debate in the Council earlier in the week, requested by the African group of nations, following the death of George Floyd in the US state of Minnesota.

Living in the African mountain kingdom of Lesotho comes with its fair share of challenges, including land degradation and climate change, which are upending traditional farming practices.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reminded countries of their fundamental obligation to protect the nearly 80 million people worldwide forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and other crises.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday hailed news from the United Kingdom that a common steroid, dexamethasone, can potentially help save the lives of patients with severe cases of COVID-19, but it warned that it is by no means a cure-all.

The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday heard powerful testimony from the brother of George Floyd, whose death, captured on video, while a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes in Minneapolis, has sparked worldwide protest.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a dramatic spike in the number of Syrian refugees in need of emergency assistance in the last three months, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, in an appeal for funding to confront new challenges posed by the health emergency.

The number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean living in extreme poverty could surpass 83 million this year due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a significant rise in hunger, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.

The special UN Investigative Team probing ISIL atrocities in Iraq is making “real progress,” its chief said on Monday, as it begins to pinpoint the perpetrators of some of the worst crimes committed by the terrorist group during its years-long occupation of large swathes of the country.

Boys and girls used and abused in armed conflict have had their childhoods replaced by “pain, brutality and fear while the world watches”, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said on Monday.

After a three month long COVID-19-enforced break, the Human Rights Council resumed on Monday, giving the green light to a rare Urgent Debate on racism, alleged police brutality and violence against protesters sickened by the killing of American George Floyd in police custody.

Due to COVID-related travel restrictions, hundreds of thousands of the world’s two million seafarers have been “stranded at sea for months”, said the UN chief on Friday, calling for them to be categorized as “key workers”, during the pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate, the World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about its impact on women, children and young people.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has issued an urgent appeal for $186 million to provide lifesaving protection and assistance in the Sahel amidst fears that the conflict in the vast African region – exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic – will spread.

Managing the digital divide better, has become “a matter of life and death” for people unable to access essential healthcare information during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief has told a virtual high-level meeting on rapid technological change.

The UN Secretary-General has stressed the need for continued international commitment to Mali, as the country continues to navigate the path to political stability while confronting numerous obstacles, including terrorism, and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is accelerating in Africa, with more than 200,000 cases and more than 5,600 deaths, the regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday.

Research is ongoing to determine how the virus that causes COVID-19 can be transmitted by people who show no symptoms of the disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) told journalists on Wednesday.

An information event on agriculture and climate change held during the June Momentum on Climate Change saw countries share their experiences on how to maintain momentum to implement more resilient, sustainable and low-emissions agriculture.

“Where do we stand with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Enhancing action on climate change in 2020” was the theme of a key virtual high-level event held yesterday as part of the June Momentum initiative by UN Climate Change.

Even as countries buckle under the devastating social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, they must consider the links between gender inequality and crisis, particularly in communities affected by climate change and conflict.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic could push nearly 50 million more people into extreme poverty, this and other dire impacts of the crisis can be avoided if countries act immediately to shore up global food security, the UN Secretary-General said on Tuesday.

Help and funding are needed urgently for millions of people in Nigeria who have been hit severely by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including conflict-hit communities “on life-support” in the north-east, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Back in September, the world committed to a landmark political declaration on universal health coverage. Now, in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly has reiterated the importance of investing in health as “an investment in human capital, social and economic development and the empowerment of all people”.

The COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the global economy by 5.2 per cent this year, representing the deepest recession since World War Two, and triggering a dramatic rise in extreme poverty, the World Bank said Monday in its latest Global Economic Prospects report.

The Santiago Network website on addressing loss and damage resulting from climate change impacts was launched today. The Network will catalyze and channel reliable technical assistance to support efforts to address loss and damage by connecting organizations and experts active in providing such assistance.

On this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the UN is drawing links between the health of the planet, and human health, and highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.

Over 400 viewers tuned in to the special virtual event on “Finance and Investments for a Sustainable Recovery” as part of the opening day of the June Momentum for Climate Change on 1 June 2020. Moderated by Mr. Amar Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings Institution, the event offered an opportunity to highlight actions government, public and private financial institutions can take to integrate climate considerations in response to the current health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The military chiefs at three UN missions in Africa and the Middle East have shared how they are protecting peacekeepers from COVID-19 while also fulfilling their mandates in rapidly changing environments.

At an event organized under the 2020 June Momentum for Climate Change, participants addressed the critically important question of how to improve the delivery of support to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to effectively address the impacts of climate change, including in the context of emerging challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crucial topic of delivering climate finance in 2020 and beyond was the focus of an event held on day 4 of June Momentum for Climate Change – one of a series of events that demonstrate the commitment to deliver climate action and ambition in 2020.

Voices calling for an end to “the endemic and structural racism that blights US society” must be heard and understood, for the country to move past its “tragic history of racism and violence”, the UN Human Rights chief said on Wednesday.

Renewable power is increasingly cheaper than any new electricity capacity based on fossil fuels, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds. Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019 shows that more than half of the renewable capacity added in 2019 achieved lower power costs than the cheapest new coal plants.

All developed countries have submitted their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories on time despite the ongoing pandemic. This is encouraging testimony to the fact that countries remain committed to taking climate action.

The nations of the world must put human rights at the heart of their ongoing response to COVID-19 and ensure that everyone can enjoy “justice and peace” wherever they may be, the President of the General Assembly said on Tuesday.

With a euro here and a dollar there, remittances – the money that migrant workers send home to their families – have been adding up in a big way to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and lift tens of millions out of extreme poverty.

As part of the 250th anniversary celebrations of the birth of classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven, a major culture and sustainability event will take place virtually on 5 June, World Environment Day, in his home town of Bonn.

Responding to on-going protests that have spawned violence on all sides across dozens of US cities, the UN Spokesperson on Monday reiterated the Secretary-General’s appeal for grievances to be heard in “peaceful ways”, met with restraint by police and security forces.

Greater solidarity must be shown to Central and South American countries which have become “the intense zones” for COVID-19 transmission, a top official with the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

June Momentum for Climate Change, a series of virtual events, kicked off today, designed to take crucial work on climate action forward despite the COVID-19 crisis. The events, which run till 10 June, are being conducted under the guidance of the Chairs of the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies SBSTA and SBI with the support of the UNFCCC secretariat. A key focus of the opening event was on making recovery packages as sustainable as possible to respond to the climate crisis.

A plane chartered by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) landed at Sana’a airport on Saturday with lifesaving supplies to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in conflict-torn Yemen.

Thirty countries and numerous international partners have underlined the need to make tests, treatments and other technologies to fight COVID-19, available to people everywhere.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has welcomed steps taken by social media companies to prevent their platforms from being used to promote hatred, violence and misinformation, Spokesperson Rupert Colville said on Friday.

In countries suffering from conflict, readjusting to life in a peaceful society is a challenge, both for former fighters and the wider community. Since the spread of the COVID-19 crisis, the UN is having to refocus many of its programmes, aimed at reducing violence in communities, and rehabilitating combatants.

To honour the more than 3,900 women and men who have lost their lives under the UN flag since 1948, Secretary-General António Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers’ memorial on Friday, International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

At a virtual meeting today, the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC committed to take forward crucial work to tackle climate change under the umbrella of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), despite the COVID-19 crisis.

Despite efforts to stop the harmful promotion of breast-milk substitutes, countries are still falling short in protecting parents from misleading information, according to a new UN report released Wednesday.

In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, on Friday, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948.

A series of virtual training sessions has been launched to help developing countries better prepare and submit new or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2020.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in East Africa, the UN Human Rights regional office, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been contributing to the COVID-19 response of UN country teams in the region, by ensuring that human rights protection for vulnerable people is included in their plans. The head of the office, Nwanneakolam Vwede-Obahor, shared some of the challenges she and her colleagues are facing.

In Malawi, where children with albinism face attacks, and even ritual killings, going to school can expose them to life-threatening dangers. The UN is helping to make schools safer for these vulnerable students.

Doctors and medical professionals from around the globe have called on world leaders to “recover better” from the economic decline caused by the COVID-19 crisis by investing in a low-carbon and resilient economy that would bring substantial health as well as environmental benefits.

For the first time, the UN Military Gender Advocate award has been awarded to two UN peacekeepers: Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer, and Major Suman Gawani, of the Indian Army.

A master practitioner of the Hawaiian hula dance has told UN News that he is “nothing without my culture.”

School children in Mozambique are facing what a senior United Nations and World Bank official in the southern African country are calling “catastrophic outcomes” from the COVID-19 pandemic. By the UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Myrta Kaulard, and Mark Lundell, World Bank Country Director.

Global experts in health and child welfare have again highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting access to routine immunization services worldwide, putting millions of young lives at risk of killer diseases such as diphtheria, measles and pneumonia.

There is a lot of talk about getting back to normal after the Covid-19 crisis is over. And yet normal – business as usual – is what has made our planet and our societies vulnerable to crises in the first place.

UN Climate Change has launched a Russian language version of its website and social media channels as part of its efforts to expand the geographical reach of communications on climate change and respond to the rising demand for information.

UN humanitarians and partners are working hard to assist the people of Bangladesh and India suffering from the impact of Cyclone Amphan, which made landfall on Wednesday, wreaking havoc, causing high tidal surges, flooding and embankments to collapse.

Gathering together at the top UN intergovernmental body in Asia and the Pacific on Thursday, countries of the vast region of more than four billion people, urged greater measures that reinforce global solidarity in ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

Art, culture, heritage, and a source of livelihood for millions. Because tea is so much more than just a drink, on Thursday, at a virtual event commemorating the first-ever International Tea Day, the president of the UN General Assembly lauded the plant for its role in pursuing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Negotiations remain the only way to overcome the ongoing political deadlock in Venezuela, especially given the potentially far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

With “unprecedented solidarity”, the World Health Assembly adopted a “landmark resolution” on Tuesday, which sets out a “clear roadmap” of the actions needed to sustain and accelerate the COVID-19 response at both national and international levels, the UN health agency chief told a press briefing on Wednesday, the day after the meeting concluded.

Tens of millions of people in Africa could become destitute as a result of COVID-19 and its catastrophic impact on fragile economies and health systems across the continent, human rights chiefs from the United Nations and the African Commission warned on Wednesday.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc globally, museums have not been spared, the UN cultural agency said on Monday, International Museum Day, revealing that nearly 90 per cent of the treasured cultural institutions have had to close their doors, while almost 13 per cent are under serious threat of never reopening.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on the world’s indigenous peoples that stretches well beyond the immediate threat to their health, the new UN independent expert on the rights of indigenous peoples said on Monday.

155 companies — with a combined market capitalization of over US$ 2.4 trillion and representing over 5 million employees — have signed a statement urging governments around the world to align their COVID-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with the latest climate science.

As the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis continues to wreak havoc across the world – with the most vulnerable suffering the most – the UN chief said on Tuesday that the task of eradicating poverty and achieving the development goals “has never been more challenging, more urgent and more necessary”.

Transforming the transport sector to be more environmentally-friendly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, could create up to 15 million new jobs worldwide and help countries move to greener, healthier economies, according to a UN-backed report published on Tuesday.

A Brazilian filmmaker is hoping that the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic will generate more empathy and solidarity towards others, including refugees, an optimistic position also held by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the South American country.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘crucial role’ of the UN and its agencies, according to the veteran Turkish diplomat and parliamentarian who, as the only candidate for the top job, is slated to lead the historic 75th session of the General Assembly which begins in September.

Fewer children are getting vaccinated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the COVID-19 pandemic is almost certainly going to make matters worse, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says. If the trend continues, it could trigger a resurgence in deadly childhood diseases such as polio, chickenpox, measles, yellow fever, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and meningitis.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched an urgent $7 million appeal on Thursday, to ease the impact of COVID-19 on migrant communities in five Central Asian countries and the Russian Federation, where the pandemic is pushing a growing number of migrant workers into poverty.

UNAIDS, the UN agency fighting against the deadly HIV/AIDS virus, has initiated a petition from global leaders requesting that when a successful COVID-19 vaccine is developed, it be made available free of charge to all.

Joint op-ed by Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change & Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), first published by Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The UN Climate Change secretariat is supporting a key project to improve the regional technical understanding of financial flows, actions and strategies to mobilize climate finance.

Against the backdrop of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy in 2020 is projected to shrink by 3.2 per cent, racking up some $8.5 trillion in overall losses – wiping out nearly four years of output gains, according to a mid-year economic analysis by the United Nations.

While more people are living longer and healthier lives, the rate of progress is too slow to realize global efforts to stamp out poverty and inequality by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Scaled-up capacity-building for climate action plays a key role in achieving a successful green economic recovery post COVID-19. UN Climate Change and the Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB) are determined to contribute their share to this by continuing capacity-building work virtually and by encouraging all climate actors to join this endeavor.

As the coronavirus outbreak enters its fifth month, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the health crisis is “quickly becoming a child rights crisis”, requesting $1.6 billion to support its humanitarian response for children impacted by the pandemic. And without urgent action, a further 6,000 under-fives could die each day.

A new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) unveiled on Tuesday, proposes that governments ensure immediate temporary cash transfers to help millions of people struggling to meet basic needs, as the massive fallout from COVID-19 ripples across the region’s economies.

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been taking forward important work to prepare key reports on climate finance, as well as a Forum on the topic “Finance for nature-based solutions.”

Three senior United Nations officials in the Middle East are calling for the release of Palestinian children from Israeli-run prisons and detentions centres, saying they are at particular risk of COVID-19 infection.

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus, decades of advances made in the battle against HIV are under threat, noted two UN agencies on Monday, point out that disruptions to treatment could cause hundreds of thousands of HIV-related deaths.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, significant gains have been made against Desert Locust encroachment in East Africa and Yemen, with an estimated 720,000 tonnes of cereal saved from the swarms of migratory pests across 10 countries: enough to feed five million people a year, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.

On 8 and 9 May, the UN commemorates the millions who lost their lives during the Second World War, the tragic conflict that led to the birth of the United Nations. In a video message released late on Friday, UN chief António Guterres warned that divisions still exist, and called for a world based on peace and unity.

As the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, the 40th anniversary of the historic eradication of smallpox was marked on Friday, with the head of the UN health agency calling it “a reminder of what is possible when nations come together to fight a common health threat”.

Work in support of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – set up to drive investment to climate-friendly projects – continues despite challenges poised by COVID-19, with the CDM Executive Board set to meet virtually for the first time, from five continents, on 11-13 and 27-29 May 2020. Given the nature of the CDM Board meetings this is a big challenge not only for the secretariat to organize the virtual meeting but also for the Board members in different time zones spread over 14 hours.

Thousands of migrants have been stranded “all over the world” where they face a heightened risk of COVID-19 infection, the head of UN migration agency, IOM, said on Thursday.

Humanitarians are seeking nearly $7 billion to protect millions of lives and halt the spread of COVID-19 in more than 60 of the world’s most fragile countries.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 116 million babies have been born since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Thursday called for governments to maintain lifesaving services for pregnant women and newborns that are under increasing threat from strained health services and supply chains.

Since the start of the month, an average of 80,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported each day to the World Health Organization (WHO), the agency’s chief told journalists listening in to his virtual press conference on Wednesday.

United Nations independent experts demanded on Wednesday that the Venezuelan Government take concrete actions to tackle the devastating impact on basic human rights of the country’s economic crisis.

The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), mandated to provide technical support and advice to developing countries on measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) greenhouse gas emissions, has planned its work for the next six years. Moreover, the CGE has underlined its commitment to deliver its mandate and work despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the way in which we work, keep in touch, go to school and shop for essentials – across the world – it has never been more important to bridge the digital divide for the 3.6 billion people who remain off-line.

Handwashing with soap and water has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an extremely important way to reduce the spread of COVID-19 but, in many countries, even basic facilities are hard to come by. On Hand Hygiene Day, marked on Tuesday, we look in-depth at the work that one US-based NGO is doing, providing soap in shelters supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), in Mexico.

Determined to continue crucial mandated work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Climate Change secretariat has conducted a virtual review of the climate policy and climate action reporting by 16 developed country Parties in March and April.

A new UN report finds that some 19 million children were displaced within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019, more than in any other year, making them among the most vulnerable to the global spread of COVID-19.

World leaders on Monday pledged 7.4 billion Euros to support research and development for medicines to fight COVID-19 which the top UN health official has hailed as “a powerful and inspiring demonstration of global solidarity”.

As governments respond to the economic fallout from COVID-19, there is a growing chorus of demands to “recover better”, ensuring that the trillions of dollars spent by governments on recovery packages are used to invest in a low-carbon and resilient economy. And there are some encouraging signals that leading governments and businesses are prepared to invest in sustainable plans.

International experts have advised the World Health Organization (WHO) to work to identify the animal origins of the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic and its transmission to humans, the UN agency said on Friday.

In normal times, the world’s airlines would be carrying nearly 2 billion international passengers this year. That’s 5.7 million a day. But with the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the planet, these are not normal times. In its latest analysis of the economic impact of novel coronavirus on global commercial aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) warns of a potential overall reduction of 872 million to just over 1.3 billion international passengers – if signs of recovery emerge in late May.

The UN Secretary-General is calling for greater protection of journalists who are providing the “antidote” to what he has characterized as a pandemic of misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 crisis.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg along with Danish NGO Human Act, on Thursday launched a child rights-driven campaign to support the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in protecting young lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As countries grapple with severe disruptions to education caused by COVID-19, several UN agencies – as part of the Global Education Coalition – issued new guidelines on Thursday to help Governments make decisions on safely reopening schools for the world’s 1.3 billion students affected by ongoing closures.

Starting today, organizations, cities, industries, universities, governments, and others taking bold leadership on climate change can nominate their work for a UN Global Climate Action award.

International health experts will convene on Thursday to evaluate the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and advise on updated recommendations, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday during his latest virtual press conference from Geneva.

A third of all nations lack laws to protect their citizen’s online data and privacy, despite an 11 per cent uptick in the global adoption of data protection and privacy legislation since 2015, the United Nations’ trade, investment and development body (UNCTAD) said on Wednesday.

With classrooms closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two UN agencies are urging governments to act now to shore up the futures of the 370 million children worldwide who depend on school meals.

A major UN-led initiative is under way to secure supplies of key medical equipment for 135 low to medium-income countries facing down the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

To combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the “looming existential threat of climate disruption”, the only credible response is “brave, visionary and collaborative leadership” anchored in mutilateralism, the UN Secretary General António Guterres, said on Tuesday, during an international discussion focused on climate change.

The 11th Petersberg Climate Dialogue concluded with a commitment to a green recovery built on solidarity. At the invitation of Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma, around 30 climate ministers from all over the globe participated in the Climate Dialogue via video conference. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary-General António Guterres also took part in the meeting.

Against the backdrop of the unprecedented global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the deputy UN chief briefed journalists on Monday about a new women-led initiative that mobilizes support to save lives and protect livelihoods.

UN agencies in Greece have expressed concern at the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the education of refugee children in the country, as a charity partner warns that funding for educational programmes is on the verge of running out.

This year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue from 27 to 28 April will focus on how to pave the way for the international community to emerge from the acute coronavirus pandemic in a more resilient and climate-friendly way. The meeting will take place for the first time in virtual mode, which will also allow broader participation via social networks.

The senior UN official in Kosovo is stressing that strong leadership and political unity are needed now more than ever, as local leaders and their international partners wage war on the “enormous challenge” posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Informal workers who live day to day urgently need cash support from their governments to survive the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the UN labour agency said on Friday.

Millions of people are reliant on humanitarian supplies to survive, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making it even more difficult for aid workers to reach them. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is having to rethink the way it operates in some of the most vulnerable places in the world.

Secretary-General António Guterres issued a three-point global “Call to Action” on Thursday to cushion the colossal fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, pressing Governments to unify around a defining moment in history, as the new session of the UN’s Financing for Development Forum got underway.

In Libya, ongoing heavy fighting has raised concerns yet further, about the likely devastating impact of the new coronavirus on people there, particularly those repeatedly forced to flee violence.

The world faces an unprecedented threat from COVID-19. It is a global crisis unlike any in recent history — one that is spreading human suffering, destabilizing the global economy and upending the lives of billions of people around the globe.

The latest generation of fast broadband, commonly known as 5G, is in no way responsible for the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) –the UN’s agency for information and communication technologies – confirmed on Wednesday.

An expected drop in greenhouse gas emissions linked to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is only “short-term good news”, the head of the UN weather agency said on Wednesday.

In a video address to mark Earth Day, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, UN Climate Chief Patricia Espinosa urged the international community to remain focused on Earth Day 2020’s overarching theme of climate change, despite the covid-19 crisis, and on an economic recovery that is sustainable.

With most of the world’s students now at home due to COVID-19, the pandemic is revealing startling divides in digitally-based distance learning, data from the UN education and cultural agency, UNESCO, and partners has revealed.

Aid is being rushed to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where deadly flooding has swept away people and homes and affected tens of thousands more, including many displaced by violence, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday

A new study on food insecurity by an alliance of UN, governmental, and non-governmental agencies analyzes what is fueling global food crises and examines how, among other emergencies, the COVID-19 pandemic is perpetuating downward cycle for millions.

Two UN agency chiefs are pledging to accelerate work to expand refugee children’s access to protection, education, clean water and sanitation, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated its stance on the lifting of lockdown measures aimed at protecting the public against the spread of COVID-19.

Economists and finance experts are warning that countries with “high” or “distressed” public debt levels are at risk of severe economic shocks amid the COVID-19 pandemic and calling for restructuring plans based on the principle of solidarity.

The United States must take urgent additional steps to prevent tens of millions of middle-class Americans hit by the COVID-19 pandemic from being “plunged into poverty”, according to an independent UN human rights expert.

The head of the UN children’s fund UNICEF warned on Friday that 250 million children around the world living in the “waking nightmare” of conflict desperately need warring parties to stop fighting as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.

A psychosocial counsellor in Jordan’s Azraq refugee camp informed the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday that during the first four days of the COVID-19 lockdown she called beneficiaries to let them know that “virtual support» was available.

The looming global recession resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could cause hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths this year, effectively reversing recent gains in reducing infant mortality, a new UN report issued on Thursday has revealed.

Health professionals working with the World Health Organization (WHO) in eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC), have been dealing with the deadly Ebola epidemic since August 2018. This experience is helping them to prepare for the latest disease to arrive: COVID-19.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has expanded the scope of its Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP), to include far-reaching interventions that aim to mitigate the dire health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, the agency said on Wednesday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday upheld the importance of international solidarity in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic: a “dangerous enemy” to all humanity.

With billions of people either in lockdown or on the front lines battling the COVID-19 pandemic, this first celebration of World Art Day is a timely reminder that “art has the power to unite and connect in times of crisis”, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Wednesday.

Klaus Schawb, fundador del World Economic Forum, cuya sede está en Ginebra, Suiza, indica que “la Primera Revolución Industrial utilizó el poder del vapor para mecanizar la producción. La Segunda usó la potencia eléctrica para hacer posible la producción en masa. La Tercera Revolución por su parte se valió de la electrónica y la tecnología de la información (TI) para automatizar dicha producción. Ahora, una Cuarta Revolución Industrial está surgiendo, caracterizada por una fusión de la tecnología que cruza los límites digitales, físicos y biológicos.”

While political actors in Colombia are uniting to confront COVID-19, they must also work together to fight “the epidemic of violence” against civil society leaders, human rights defenders and former combatants, the head of the UN mission in the country said on Tuesday during a Security Council meeting held by videoconference.

The United Nations and its partners are doing their utmost to support a comprehensive, multi-pronged effort to stem the impact of COVID-19 in Syria, where the viral disease has claimed the lives of two people, sickened 23 others and presented epic challenges for ensuring the smooth delivery of life-saving assistance.

Forecasting the “worst economic downturn since the Great Depression”, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that growth for the year was likely to end up at minus three per cent, with a dramatic change evident since the last World Economic Outlook report in January.

The United Nations stands ready to support four Pacific island nations devastated by the passing of Tropical Cyclone Harold last week.

Unreliable and false information is spreading around the world to such an extent, that some commentators are now referring to the new avalanche of misinformation that’s accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘disinfodemic’.

Hundreds of thousands of children in detention around the world are at “grave risk” of contracting COVID-19, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, calling for their urgent release.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are more far-reaching and could threaten global peace and security, the UN Secretary-General told members of the Security Council in a closed video-conference held on Thursday.

As governments struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, billions of people living in countries teetering on the brink of economic collapse are being threatened further by a looming debt crisis, according to a new UN report released on Thursday.

With Thursday marking 100 days since the World Health Organization (WHO) was first notified about what is now officially known as COVID-19, the agency’s chief said the virus has already infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide, and without action now, poor countries could suffer massive devastation.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the UN’s health agency, has played a crucial role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, ever since the first cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. At a press conference on Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlined five ways the agency is leading the global response.

Sustained efforts to contain East Africa’s worst invasion of desert locusts in decades are forging ahead, despite limits on the flow of personnel and equipment stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UN food agency said Friday.

Limited gains in gender equality and women’s rights made over the decades are in danger of being rolled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) must be supported across the world, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday, describing the UN health agency, which has led the multilateral response since the beginning, as “absolutely critical” in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global trade in goods could fall by as much as a third this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but a swift rebound in 2021 is possible if the world’s economic policymakers – working together – act immediately, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Wednesday.

The rapidly intensifying economic effects of COVID-19 on the world of work are proving to be far worse than the 2008-9 financial crisis, with cutbacks equivalent to nearly 200 million full-time workers expected in the next three months alone, the UN labour agency said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic plagues the world, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali told the Security Council on Tuesday that the mission continues to fulfill its mandate while doing whatever it can to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from overrunning the country.

Nurses are on the frontline fighting COVID-19 but “an alarming failure” in the global supply of protective clothing and new coronavirus tests – together with “unprecedented” overwork linked to global staff shortages – have highlighted how vulnerable they are, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The development coincides with an impassioned personal message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the world’s medical professionals for World Health Day, marked on Tuesday 7 April.

Climate technology experts representing developed and developing countries met virtually last week and discussed how governments can more effectively green their economies and prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is inviting young innovators, data scientists and designers throughout the world – especially those whose schools have closed due to COVID-19 – to join a month-long hackathon to come up with digital solutions to the global pandemic.

Fearing a needless increase in COVID-19 deaths due to discrimination, UN independent human rights experts on Monday called for Governments to commit to racial equity and equality in their response to the pandemic.

The UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) is holding two webinars for contributors and experts for an informal exchange on the development of two reports the committee is producing, as mandated by governments. The webinars will take place on 7 April 2020, from 13:00-16:00 CEST and can be followed by the public on YouTube.

There should be only one fight in our world today, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Friday, issuing a loud clarion call to join “our shared battle against COVID-19”.

The decision by many Governments to release prisoners to slow the transmission of new coronavirus, was welcomed on Friday by the UN’s top rights official, Michelle Bachelet.

Migrants and refugees hosted at UN-run reception centres in Bosnia-Herzegovina, are learning to cope with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With 23 migrants at an open accommodation site in central Greece testing positive for COVID-19, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) sounded the alarm on Thursday over conditions in crowded reception centres on five Greek islands where the virus risks taking hold.

The rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 coronavirus: “a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes”, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.

The United Nations is stepping up efforts to address climate-related security risks amid growing recognition of the role of climate change in exacerbating the risk of conflicts.

Two United Nations agencies came together Tuesday to urge the international community not to overlook the on-going plight of millions of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world.

A pivotal round of global climate talks scheduled for November in Scotland has been postponed because of the coronavirus. The delay deals a blow to efforts to tackle climate change and raises questions about unanticipated obstacles to international cooperation created by the pandemic.

The COP26 UN climate change conference set to take place in Glasgow in November has been postponed due to COVID-19.

With the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, political parties in Afghanistan are being urged to prioritize national interests and come together for peace talks with the Taliban, the UN Deputy Special Representative for the country told a videoconference meeting with Security Council members on Tuesday.

The UN chief launched on Tuesday a new plan to counter the potentially devasting socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on everyone to “act together to lessen the blow to people”.

The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it’s anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living or studying aspects of the goals in their everyday work.

The economic fallout from COVID-19 is likely to get “much worse” before it gets better for some six billion people living in developing economies, the UN said on Monday, in an appeal for a $2.5 trillion rescue package to boost their resilience to further hardship.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for stepped-up production of medical equipment and supplies as health facilities and health workers in many countries struggle with increasing and urgent demands brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An international panel of human rights experts called today for the immediate release of political prisoners and detainees in war-ravaged Yemen to help avert a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19.

UN Peacekeeping radio stations have in recent decades helped build support for peace process in a dozen countries around the world including Cambodia, Croatia, Namibia and Timor-Leste.

States and business leaders must step up efforts to ensure that the selfless doctors, nurses, first-responders and other medical professionals working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic receive adequate protective equipment, a UN rights expert said on Friday.

Migrants are playing an increasingly important role in the provision of health care around the world. The number of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who move from developing countries to take up posts in developed countries is expected to rise as the global population of older persons and children continues to grow.

Foreign direct investment flows are liable to drop by 30 to 40 per cent during 2020, into next year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a far more severe economic blow that initially projected, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Thursday in its latest Investment Trends Monitor report.

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is overstretching health services, medical goods are in short supply, and transport disruptions have left supply chains facing “historic strain”, according to the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Dozens of independent UN human rights experts stressed on Thursday that in addition to public health and emergency measures, battling the COVID-19 pandemic, must respect the fundamental human rights of every individual.

La 4ª Revolución Industrial no es el futuro, sino el presente, porque vivimos en un mundo globalizado y con interdependencia.

The top United Nations official in Somalia congratulated the Horn of Africa nation on Wednesday for achieving the benchmark set by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), confirming its eligibility for debt relief.

COVID-19 has begun to strike in prisons, jails and immigration detention centres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned on Wednesday, as she urged Governments “not to forget hose behind bars” and to protect those working in closed facilities in their overall efforts to contain the pandemic

To confront the unprecedented worldwide challenge posed by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, top UN officials on Wednesday, launched a massive humanitarian appeal to mitigate its impact, particularly on fragile countries with weak health systems.

The COVID-19 crisis presents an «extraordinary opportunity» for the world’s leading economic forum to respond to the numerous threats the disease poses to people everywhere, the UN Secretary-General has said.

As countries across the world grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Health agency reminded everyone on Tuesday, World Tuberculosis Day 2020, that TB remains the world’s most deadly infectious disease.

India’s decision to impose a 21-day lockdown, which was announced on Tuesday, comes after a call from the UN health agency, WHO, for the country to take “aggressive action”.

Floods, extreme rainfall, droughts and melting glaciers…many of the major signs of climate change involve water. On this year’s World Meteorological Day, the UN weather agency (WMO) is reinforcing the message of World Water Day, by focusing on the links between climate and water, and calling for better water-related data.

On World Water Day, the United Nations launched a flagship report which says that reducing both the impacts and drivers of climate change will require major shifts in the way we use and reuse the Earth’s limited water resources.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Climate Change secretariat is embracing telecommuting and teleconferencing options in order to carry on with its work, as demonstrated by the upcoming 17th Meeting of the Adaptation Committee (AC 17), which will take place virtually on the originally scheduled dates, 24-27 March 2020.

The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it’s anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living aspects of the goals in their everyday work.

It took three months to reach the first 100,000 cases of COVID-19 but only 12 days to double that, to reach over 200,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

As the global humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues at breakneck speed, UN assistance remains critical for some 100 hundred million people living in emergency situations, and life-saving food aid is essential for 87 million people across the world.

The United Nations is working closely with the Kenyan Government to help prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus or COVID-19. By Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya.

Unless Governments and communities take action, discrimination against people with disabilities could increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, an expert with the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

For the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak began last December, China has reported no domestic cases of the disease, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday, calling it “an amazing achievement”.

Just 60 days after the genetic sequence of COVID-19 was shared by China, the first vaccine trial has begun, the UN health chief said on Wednesday, calling it “an incredible achievement” and urging the world to maintain “the same spirit of solidarity” that has helped fight Ebola.

Italy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, with nearly 28,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 2,503 deaths, according to latest statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO). While a national quarantine has the country in lockdown, it has not halted the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in the capital, Rome.

A blueprint for how countries can keep carbon in fragile land-based carbon sinks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been unveiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, is expressing increasing concern about the women and girls trapped in Syria’s dire and escalating humanitarian crisis, especially in the north-west, where hostilities have caused mass displacement, human suffering and damage to civilian facilities.

UN humanitarian agency issues reminded that millions need humanitarian aid, WHO Europe want countries to take “bold steps” to stop coronavirus, and a UN-backed narcotics body calls for sufficient stocks of medicine to be maintained.

As all eyes, hearts and minds focus on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) garnered attention on Tuesday when a new UN report revealed that only ten countries in the European region have levels of air pollution below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limit.

Many of the people who lost everything when Cyclone Idai swept through central Mozambique a year ago, continue to face devastating hardship, the UN food relief agency said on Friday.

In a video message recorded on Friday afternoon, UN chief António Guterres assured the world that the COVID-19 virus will peak, and the global economy will recover but, until then, “we must act together to slow the spread of the virus and look after each other”.

The world’s meat industry must adapt to the challenges posed by climate change and growing demand for plant-based alternatives or face ruin, according to FAIRR, a group of investors managing $20 trillion in assets.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the COVID-19 outbreak from epidemic to pandemic. Here are five important pieces of information on what this means for you and your community.

Yemen is at a “critical juncture”, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday. Speaking via video-link, Martin Griffiths said that the combatants will either move towards de-escalation or greater violence, which would make “the path to the negotiating table more arduous”.

Around two dozen new signatories, from a variety of sectors including energy, finance, education, architecture, events and technology, have recently joined the Climate Neutral Now initiative of UN Climate Change, eager to play their part in decarbonizing the economy and helping the world to reach zero net greenhouse emissions.

Children from linguistic minorities should be taught in their own mother tongue, said the UN independent expert on minority issues, presenting his latest report on Wednesday to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Farmers who gather flowers from the Espinhaço Mountain Range in Brazil received well-deserved recognition on Wednesday for their crucial role in enhancing biodiversity and preserving traditional knowledge.

Daily fighting in Myanmar, widespread internet blackouts and reporting restrictions, indicate that the shift to more democratic rule is “sliding away”, a senior UN-appointed independent rights investigator said on Wednesday.

There can be no sustainable peace in Afghanistan if women are not at the negotiating table, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told ambassadors and activists at UN Headquarters on Tuesday.

Two months ahead of Burundi’s planned local and presidential elections, senior UN-appointed independent rights investigators have urged the Government to reopen the “democratic, civil and political space” there.

The number of young people around the world who are neither employed, studying or in some kind of training, is on the rise, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Millions of girls have been able to avoid “an unwanted marriage and an unwelcome end to their childhood”, since the launch four years ago, of a joint UN agency programme, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on Tuesday, shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.

In a briefing last Friday to Member States about the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, taking place in Glasgow in November, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called 2020 “a pivotal year for how we address climate change”, adding that success in Glasgow depends on countries, the private sector and civil society demonstrating that they are taking significant steps to raise ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience to climate and financing both.

The benefits of gender equality are not just for women and girls, but “for everyone whose lives will be changed by a fairer world”, the chief of UN Women said in her message for International Women’s Day (IWD) at UN Headquarters on Friday, being celebrated in New York, ahead of the official day.