What's New

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and after a long shift to digital meetings, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) convened the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2022 (AFSD-2022) at the UN House in Beirut

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, 31 attacks on health care have been documented by the World Health Organization. These incidents have killed and injured civilians, as well as destroyed facilities and ambulances, disrupting access to essential health services.

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.

In its annual report, released on Thursday, the INCB notes increasing evidence of a link between exposure to social media and drug use, which disproportionately affects young people, the main users of social media platforms, and an age group with relatively high rates of drug abuse.

‘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. 

Senior UN officials joined women activists, artists, politicians and others from around the world, for an online event to mark the day, observed annually on 8 March. 

Today on March 8, International Women’s Day, the United Nations celebrates the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all. We are not only celebrating their efforts to alleviate the severe and lasting impacts of climate change on our environmental, economic, and social development, but also their integral role in sustaining viable communities.

On March 3, 2022, UN-Habitat and CatalyticAction inaugurated a number of innovatively rehabilitated sidewalks in the neighbourhood of Karantina, close to the Beirut Governmental Hospital, the National HIV and TB Centre and Karantina Public Park. The project was implemented in close collaboration with the Municipality of Beirut.

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. 

The World Health Organization (WHO), for the first time, included an oral antiviral drug in its COVID-19 treatment guidance.

The updated “living guidelines” on related therapeutics now include conditional recommendations on the medication, molnupiravir, the UN agency announced on Thursday.

Alerting that over one billion people aged 12 to 35, risking losing their hearing due to prolonged and excessive exposure to loud music and other high volume recreational noise, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new international safety advice on Wednesday to tackle the rising threat of hearing loss. 

The KfW Development Bank and UNOPS signed an agreement to rehabilitate damaged municipal infrastructure and assets in the areas affected by the Beirut Port explosion in the next 3 years.