What's New

“The most effective way to prevent infections and save lives, is breaking the chains of transmission. And to do that, you must test and isolate”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at Monday’s COVID-19 press briefing, held at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva: “Once again, our message is: test, test, test.”

In light of the continuing spread of the coronavirus, the UN has stepped up measures to safeguard staff and all those using its offices around the world, while at the same time ensuring that the critical work of the Organization continues to deliver on key mandates, and provide lifesaving support to those in need. 

Although a fragile ceasefire agreed in northwest Syria is still holding, UN humanitarians on Friday warned of dire conditions for hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by conflict, now in its tenth year. 

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Jens Laerke from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted “the brutal truth…there is very little protection”. 

With the COVID-19 outbreak now a pandemic, countries should not let up on efforts to fight its spread, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in Geneva on Thursday. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking during his regular update on the new coronavirus disease, one day after the new designation was announced. 

UN agencies have underscored their commitment to continue supporting civilians affected by the war in Syria, which this month enters its tenth year. The Secretary-General issued a statement on Thursday, declaring that "we cannot allow the tenth year to result in the same carnage, the same flouting of human rights and international humanitarian law."

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. 

1) What’s the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?

Before Wednesday’s WHO announcement, the COVID-19 outbreak was described by the UN health agency as an epidemic, meaning that it has been spreading to many people, and many communities, at the same time.

Countries must “double-down” on their efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, after announcing that the global emergency can now be described as a pandemic. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the announcement as “a call to action – for everyone, everywhere.”

“Fish have a lot of benefits for kids, but we children are eating fish full of microplastics. What are you doing to us? Why aren’t you protecting us?” said Belicia, a seven-year-old girl, to the then-Minister of Environment in Lebanon. “Lebanon is our country and we won't allow grownups to mess with it.”

While the medical world rushes to develop an effective and safe vaccine for the deadly coronavirus which is sweeping across the planet, millions of doses of other life-saving immunizations against other diseases, continue to be delivered by the United Nations - albeit at a somewhat slower pace.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) backs vaccination programmes in over 95 countries with the support of partners and through the “sheer determination” of volunteers. 

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.

The report, The WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019, which is led by the UN weather agency (World Meteorological Organization), contains data from an extensive network of partners.