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.