Countries must act quickly and robustly to contain the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic, the World Health Organization said on Friday, as it raised the global risk assessment of the infection to “very high”.

Rapidly escalating conflict in northwest Syria has created healthcare “mayhem”, amid reports of displaced people moving closer to the Turkish border in search of shelter, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as the UN Secretary-General appealed for all warring parties to «step back from the edge of further escalation.»

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is taking an unprecedented step forward in tackling climate change with the release of the first-ever science-based pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the telecoms sector.

Accounting bodies representing 2.5 million accountants and accounting students across 179 countries have demanded that sustainability and the fight against climate change be at the forefront of their work.

The Bank of England has launched a «COP26 Private Finance Agenda» to help private finance support the global economy transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The objective is that every professional financial decision will need to take climate change into account. The right framework for reporting, risk management and returns will embed these considerations and help finance a whole economy transition. To achieve net zero, every company, bank, insurer and investor will need to adjust their business models for a low carbon world.

As capacity-building experts and practitioners held key events and discussions at the Capacity-building Hub during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in December 2019 in Madrid, their message was clear: strengthening the capacity of individuals, institutions and systems can significantly boost collective climate action.

Many women running small businesses in emerging markets have to juggle their business objectives with family obligations and personal savings goals. By supporting Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series (WLB Series), a women-focused bond providing loans to microfinance institutions and impact enterprises, the UN is helping women entrepreneurs facing similar challenges, to succeed in their professional and private lives.

The United Kingdom (UK) risks losing up to 14 per cent of its exports to the European Union (EU) in a so-called “no-deal” Brexit, according to a new study by the UN Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (UNCTAD).

From road and rail networks to ports, airports and inland waterways, critical transport resources are facing unprecedented threats from climate change impacts, notably severe flooding.

For an Organization that is seen as all too ready to give advice, the United Nations welcomed a major role reversal on Tuesday: young people from all over the world were gathered in Switzerland to voice their concerns, outline their vision for a better future, and give Secretary-General António Guterres their advice on steering the world body through todays’ turbulent waters.

Hyperinflation in Venezuela means that roughly one-third of the population – more than nine million people – do not get enough to eat and are in need of assistance, according to estimates published on Tuesday by the World Food Programme (WFP).

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has warned against complacency on women’s rights at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, a landmark agenda for the empowerment of women.

While a sudden increase in new cases of COVID-19 is of concern, the spread of coronavirus is not yet a pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Because the production of everything we eat transforms the environment, the United Nations agriculture chief told a high-level UN meeting on biodiversity that careful discussions are needed to decide on the scale of acceptable transformations.

People’s basic human rights – their birth-right – are “under assault”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, as he launched a Call to Action aimed at boosting equality and reducing suffering everywhere.

With 17 non-self-governing territories remaining worldwide, the United Nations must continue to be the place where their concerns can be heard, the Secretary-General said in New York on Friday.

Deadly attacks on villages in Burkina Faso have forced 150,000 people to flee in just the last three weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday, warning of a displacement emergency in the wider Sahel region.

Reduce inequality around the world, the United Nations labour agency urged on Thursday, World Social Justice Day.

As the already dire situation in north-west Syria dramatically continues to worsen in Idlib province, the head of the United Nations refugee agency called on Thursday for an end to the hostilities and appealed for urgent action to allow the people trapped there to move to places of safety.

Young Welsh table tennis phenom, Anna Hursey, has accepted an invitation to put her determination and growing prominence to work to help save the planet as a Young Champion of the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework.

Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz – the High-Level Champions for Climate Action of the COP26 and COP25 Presidencies respectively – have confirmed their participation for Africa Climate Week, taking place April 20-24 in Kampala, Uganda.

With progress stalled on both the peace and political fronts in Syria, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen urged ambassadors in the Security Council on Wednesday to “put their weight” into finding a solution to end nearly nine years of conflict.