What's New

Some 75 countries and non-governmental organizations have  pledged  $130 million in financial commitments to the UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, UNRWA, following a  virtual conference on Tuesday,

The meeting was held to bridge a $400 million funding gap so that UNRWA can continue providing health, education and social services to more than five million people in three countries and the occupied Palestinian territory.

While warring parties agreed to more than 30 action plans, road maps, command orders and other measures to better protect children in 2019 – the highest number in any one year – rape and other forms of sexual violence remain vastly under-reported, including against boys, the leading UN advocate on the issue told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Men and boys who “turn a blind eye” to violence against women, must accept that they are “accomplices to violence” according to the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. 

During the coronavirus crisis, the UN has reported a global increase in domestic violence as more women have been forced to stay at home, trapped with abusive partners due to lockdowns.

Without urgent action, COVID-19 will continue to unravel decades of progress across South Asia, destroying the “hopes and futures of an entire generation”, warns a new report released on Tuesday by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Lives Upended, notes that the rapidly advancing coronavirus pandemic, expanding across a region that is home to a quarter of the world’s population, is particularly affecting health and educational advances for children.

The UN celebrates the sixth annual International Day of Yoga on 21 June, recognizing the ancient practice as a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, and a powerful tool for dealing with the myriad stresses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic

Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India and is now practiced in various forms around the world. The word “yoga” derives from Sanskrit and means “to join or unite”, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Lebanon at a time of instability, not only affecting physical health, but also increasing stress and anxiety. Those population with vulnerability during this pandemic today are frontline healthcare workers, older people, adolescents and young people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions and those caught up in conflict and crisis.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reminded countries of their fundamental obligation to protect the nearly 80 million people worldwide forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and other crises.

In his message to mark World Refugee Day on Saturday, the UN chief also praised those nations and communities hosting refugees and internally displaced people, often amid their own economic and security challenges.

“We owe these countries our thanks, our support and our investment,” he said.

Jobs, livelihoods and the well-being of workers, families and businesses across the globe, continue to take a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic; with micro, small and medium enterprises in particular, suffering the dire economic consequences, according to a new policy brief released by the UN on Friday.

UN-Habitat is rolling out a series of COVID-19 projects in some of the most vulnerable urban neighbourhoods in Lebanon to help communities mitigate the effects of the pandemic and the ongoing socio-economic crisis.  

Lebanon is currently easing its pandemic restrictions but people living in vulnerable and densely populated urban areas such as refugees and migrants are struggling to cope on several fronts.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday hailed news from the United Kingdom that a common steroid, dexamethasone, can potentially help save the lives of patients with severe cases of COVID-19, but it warned that it is by no means a cure-all.