What's New

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), signed a two-year agreement to rehabilitate and revitalize the public space area of Mar Mikhael railway station in Beirut and restore damaged housing units within the blast-affected area.

After three days of deadly fighting, the Security Council held an emergency meeting on Monday to assess a fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza.

Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, called on all sides to abide by the agreement while delegates denounced the deliberate targeting of civilians, notably children.

It is totally unacceptable for states in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of a nuclear war, António Guterres underscored early on Saturday in Japan at a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, skyrocketing energy prices are compounding an existential cost-of-living crisis for hundreds of millions of people, the UN chief said on Wednesday, introducing the third is a series of briefings from the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance.

Marking the World Day against Trafficking in Persons (TiP) 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Lebanon organized awareness raising sessions on trafficking in persons for more than 150 migrants from various communities.

The UN chief on Monday welcomed the departure of the first ship from the Ukrainian port of Odesa, carrying grain under the landmark deal signed by Ukraine, Russia and Türkiye, overseen by the UN.

With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions*, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right.

The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organisations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all. 

We are happy to inform you that Episode #4 of #TheUrbanAthletePodcast, produced by a group of young professional athletes in collaboration with UNIC Beirut, is out. It features Shadi Kabbani, a Syrian athlete and influencer who is a refugee in Lebanon and who has 2.3 Million followers on Tiktok, and Adel Abdel Razziq, a Jordanian champion with disability.

Millions of refugees and migrants face poorer health outcomes than their host communities, which could jeopardize reaching the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for these populations. 

The warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) comes in its first ever report on the health of refugees and migrants, published on Wednesday. 

It calls for urgent action to ensure people on the move can access healthcare services that are sensitive to their needs. 

"I enjoy teaching other women food processing techniques and helping my neighbors find income generating opportunities. A lot of women across Lebanon are doing the same thing," says Samira Zoughaib Akiki, 58, the chair of Al Atayeb cooperative located in Kfardebian town, north of Beirut, Lebanon. In 2004, Samira and some other women established Al Atayeb (The Delicacies) cooperative to support their local community.

Samira’s Early Days in Food Processing