What's New

The conflict in Yemen forced Asia El-Sayeed Ali and her family from her home in Aden’s Al Tawahi district, where there was active fighting, in 2015. Today, she works at a health clinic supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), where she cares for children, and their mothers, suffering from malnutrition.

The UN Secretary-General said he was "gravely concerned" at escalating violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Tuesday, while the UN rights office, OHCHR, appealed for “a redoubling of efforts to restore calm”, after airstrikes and days of clashes between protesters and Israeli police.

Although the outlook for global growth has improved, the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as inadequate progress on vaccination in poorer countries, are putting recovery at risk, according to the latest UN economic forecast, published on Tuesday. 

Amidst an “unacceptably high plateau” in COVID-19 cases and deaths globally, the UN health agency chief on Monday shone a light on last week’s death toll that totalled almost 90 thousand people and 5.4 million reported cases. 

Despite decreased instances in most regions, including the two worst-affected – the Americas and Europe – World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at a regular press briefing, “any decline is welcome, but we have been here before”. 

Is this the year we overcome the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic? Are our jobs in danger? Who has lost the most in the crisis and what can be done to recover? As the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA) prepares to launch the mid-year update of the 2021 World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report, here are five things you need to know about the state of the global economy.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and senior UN officials have expressed their deep concern over confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, particularly those which began on Friday evening, and continued into Sunday night. Several Palestinian children are among the wounded.

A COVID-19 vaccine produced in China has been given the green light for global rollout, potentially paving the way for its use in underserved countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday. 

The UN agency has approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, which is a prerequisite for inclusion in the global vaccine solidarity initiative, COVAX.  

The world is currently facing a shortage of 900,000 midwives, with COVID-19 further exacerbating the situation as many midwives have been deployed to other health services, according to a new United Nations report.

Harnessing the full potential of science and technology for the benefit of all people, everywhere, is the focus of a two-day virtual meeting convened by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which opened on Tuesday. 

Young people are taking a leading role in shaping fair and equitable food systems around the world, senior UN officials affirmed on Tuesday during a global youth dialogue on the theme of “Good Food for All”.