United Nations

Around one in seven children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 are affected by mental health conditions – with anxiety, depression and behavioural disorders among the most common, according to a new World Health Organization and UN Children’s Fund report released on Wednesday. 

Five trailblazing women – a nun, an activist, a social entrepreneur, a volunteer aid worker, and an advocate for ending statelessness – have been named the winners of this year’s UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.

As turmoil roils the Middle East, senior UN officials provided humanitarian updates on the impact of continued fighting in Lebanon and Gaza, while many ambassadors in the Security Council offered strong support for the "indispensable" role of the Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, which has come under increasing attack in the Israeli parliament. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said attempts to "dismantle" the agency would compromise humanitarian work and human rights worldwide. Full coverage for app users, here.

The prospect of all-out war in Lebanon appeared undiminished on Wednesday as the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that there was “no end to hell” in northern Gaza, where lifesaving relief has shut down.

Our “collective amnesia” about how bad the COVID-19 pandemic was should not prevent us from protecting ourselves and our loved ones from the ongoing spread of respiratory diseases as the northern hemisphere prepares for winter, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches its 1,000-day mark, the UN’s top human rights official reiterated his call for Russia to cease its attack immediately and comply with its international obligations to protect civilians.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has concluded an urgent visit to Syria, highlighting the plight of 250,000 people who have crossed into the country fleeing airstrikes in Lebanon.  

The situation in Africa’s Great Lakes Region, in particular the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has remained “alarming” amid ongoing violence in the restive country’s east, said the UN Special Envoy to the Region in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. 

The UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has been operating along the “Blue Line” which separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and its mandate was just renewed for another year by the UN Security Council. But what is UNIFIL and what is it doing amid the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel Defense Forces (IDF)?

Two bills before the Israeli parliament could put a halt to the lifesaving operations of UN Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, which has been indispensable and irreplaceable “more than ever” over the past year of war in Gaza, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday. 

As online tools using various forms of artificial intelligence become increasingly common, calls are growing for more action to ensure that they do not create or perpetuate stereotypes and gender bias.

UN humanitarians in Lebanon on Tuesday described the massive challenge of trying to reach some 1.2 million people who have fled heavy Israeli bombardment and evacuation orders, driven by the fear that what happened in Gaza may befall them, too.

A Palestinian man living in a refugee camp in northern Gaza has talked of the ‘indescribable’ pain he has experienced over the past year as the conflict in the beleaguered enclave continues.

UN humanitarians have warned that conditions in northern Gaza are deteriorating rapidly, with over 400,000 people facing Israeli evacuation orders amid ongoing airstrikes and ground operations.

The number of people in Africa living with hearing loss could rise to 54 million by 2030, up from 40 million today, unless urgent measures are taken, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report published on Monday. 

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, voiced deep concern on Monday over the siege of El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur, where continued clashes are putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the region at risk.

As the world remembers the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel exactly one year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) is highlighting how the tragedy triggered a mental health crisis among frontline workers. 

Senior officials from across the UN system underscored the need for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and across the wider region, in statements marking one year since the brutal 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. 

The year 2023 marked the driest year in over three decades for rivers around the world, according to a new report coordinated by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on Sunday for greater international support to stem the “humanitarian catastrophe” now engulfing Lebanon following a massive escalation in Israeli airstrikes and a “limited” ground invasion there targeting Hezbollah militants.