What's New

The world is not only facing “a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe”, the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link.

The introduction of “green” or sustainable practices supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the “blue economy” of an Indian Ocean archipelago to thrive.

UNDP has worked with the Government of the Seychelles to create a protected zone which will cover 30 per cent of the country’s ocean territory.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated its stance on the lifting of lockdown measures aimed at protecting the public against the spread of COVID-19.

“We want to re-emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country,” agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, during his regular briefing to journalists.

The heads of major UN humanitarian agencies and offices have launched an urgent appeal for $350 million to support global aid hubs to help those most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This weekend’s One World: Together At Home event, saw many of the biggest names in music join the UN health agency and Global Citizen movement in supporting the millions of healthcare and other front line workers who are helping stave off the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The looming global recession resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could cause hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths this year, effectively reversing recent gains in reducing infant mortality, a new UN report issued on Thursday has revealed.

In a statement on the new findings, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent action to support the world’s children amid the universal crisis.

The storm clouds of COVID-19 still hang heavily over Europe, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Thursday, with reported cases in the last 10 days alone, doubling to nearly 1 million. The continent now accounts for 10 per cent of the global total. 

“Sadly, over 84,000 people in Europe have lost their lives to the virus”, said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, during a briefing from the Danish capital, Copenhagen. 

In Italy, impromptu concerts, performed from apartment balconies, have become one of the features of life under lockdown. On UNESCO World Art Day, which falls on April 15, a professional violinist told UN News how he is using his talent to help others through the crisis.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has expanded the scope of its Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP), to include far-reaching interventions that aim to mitigate the dire health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, the agency said on Wednesday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday upheld the importance of international solidarity in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic: a “dangerous enemy” to all humanity.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking to journalists one day after the United States announced that it was cutting funding to the UN health agency, pending a review of how the agency responded to the initial outbreak in China that first surfaced at the very end of December.