Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compels Member States of the United Nations to unite in “cooperation and solidarity” to support all those impacted “and to overcome this violation of international law” said Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday, addressing the General Assembly in New York.

The business model of the news media is ‘broken’ and with it, our fundamental right to information is at risk, a new UNESCO report examining global trends in freedom of expression warns. 

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent, UN-backed body, is calling on governments to do more to regulate social media platforms that glamourize drug-related negative behaviour and boost sales of controlled substances.

At least two-thirds of households with children have lost income since the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, according to a joint report published on Wednesday by the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) and World Bank.

New guidelines on abortion are now available from the World Health Organization (WHO), in a bid to prevent more than 25 million unsafe terminations that happen each year.

Almost 500 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since March 2020 and new variants are still a threat. This Friday marks two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) characterised the global spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic. 

The exodus of millions of Ukrainians from their country following the Russian invasion could overwhelm neighbouring countries, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday, as the head of the UN Children’s Fund, expressed her horror over the reported destruction of a maternity hospital in the stricken coastal city of Mariupol, which has been under heavy bombardment for days.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has said that it is taking measures as best it can, to try and protect some of Ukraine’s priceless heritage from destruction in the face of the Russian invasion, noting that the international community also has a duty to help protect and preserve the country’s historic buildings, and other treasures.

Top UN-appointed rights investigators on Wednesday urged renewed efforts for a political solution to Syria’s devastating war, which has been marked by an uptick of violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis in recent months.

The Belarusian Government’s continuing crackdown on political opponents, civil society, journalists and lawyers has seen the fundamental human rights of tens of thousands violated, with no sign of any of the perpetrators being held accountable, the UN rights office, OHCHR, reported on Wednesday.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the “deteriorating security situation” this week in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where daily violence has claimed the lives of six Palestinians, including a child.

Investing in women’s economic empowerment yields enormous dividends for peace and prosperity, the head of UN Women told the Security Council on Tuesday, stressing that countries where women are economically marginalized and shut out of the workforce are much more likely to go to war.  

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has praised European countries welcoming people fleeing the war in Ukraine, whose numbers now surpass two million. 

On day 13 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and amid rising numbers of civilian casualties, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday repeated her ceasefire call, with humanitarians on the ground describing conditions as increasingly “apocalyptic”.

‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’ is the theme for the UN’s commemoration of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, celebrating the work of women and girls in fighting climate change and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mariia Shostak, a 25-year-old woman living in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, started having contractions on 24 February, the day the Russian Federation launched a military offensive in Ukraine, and gave birth amid the sounds of air raid sirens.

Allowing civilians to safely leave areas under fire in Ukraine, and delivering desperately needed aid to these locations, are among immediate priorities for humanitarians, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Monday. 

South Sudan’s unity government marked its two-year anniversary against a backdrop of stalled constitutional progress and ongoing cycles of community violence – often fuelled by political groups and armed militias – the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.

A convoy from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti on Monday, killing at least two ‘blue helmets’, and wounding four others.

Greater investment in care services could create nearly 300 million jobs by 2035, the UN’s labour agency, ILO, said in a report published on Monday ahead of International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on 8 May. 

Unaccompanied and separated children fleeing the conflict in Ukraine must be protected, two senior UN officials said in a joint statement on Monday. 

Ahead of International Women’s Day, celebrated on 08 March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has insisted that the world “cannot emerge from the pandemic with the clock spinning backwards on gender equality”.

Reports that Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, largest nuclear power plant is under the control of Russian forces is a cause for grave concern, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Sunday.

UN chief António Guterres called on Sunday for a pause in fighting to allow civilians to escape conflict zones in Ukraine, as the UN rights body (OHCHR) announced it had recorded 1,123 civilian casualties since the beginning of Russia’s armed attack on the country.

Reports that Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, largest nuclear power plant is under the control of Russian forces is a cause for grave concern, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Ana left a trail of destruction in its wake in Malawi, particularly in hardest-hit southern districts, after it struck the country in late January. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has been at the forefront of efforts to help pregnant women and mothers by providing medical supplies, and reproductive services.

Amin Awad, the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, called on Saturday for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as UN aid supplies arrive in the country.

“Slave” tattoos, electric shock devices, and plastic bracelets. These are examples of the kinds of objects and physical abuses deployed by human traffickers to control, torture, and brand their victims, and which are crucial to securing a conviction.

UN humanitarians on Friday described as “unprecedented,” the continuing outflow of children and families fleeing the “relentless shelling” of Russian military action in Ukraine – as they await assurances for the safe passage of relief teams to provide urgently needed assistance.

Amid reports of dwindling food supplies in embattled areas in Ukraine, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday began ramping up operations, warning that the conflict could have consequences beyond the country.

In a resolution adopted on Friday, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva agreed to establish a commission to investigate violations committed during Russia’s military attack on Ukraine. 

On World Obesity Day, marked on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries to do more to reverse what is a preventable health crisis.

Global food prices reached an all-time high in February, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on Friday.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) called on Thursday, for Canada to fully address long-standing gender-based discrimination in its Indian Act, which continues to affect tens of thousands of descendants of indigenous women today.

Ending the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and building resilience against the next outbreak will be critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in remarks to a UN conference that opened in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday.