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Two-thirds of the largely medieval roof of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris have “gone” after the devastating fire in Paris on Monday evening, but UN cultural experts are standing by to offer help where it is needed in rebuilding the iconic structure.

That’s what UNESCO World Heritage Centre Director Mechtild Rössler told UN News after visiting the site on Tuesday.

She described seeing people praying outside the stricken symbol of the city and the nation, still trying to take in the scale of the disaster:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has been “a trusted voice” to “ensure social justice in every corner of our world”, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday, at a high-level meeting to commemorate the centenary of what was the first ever United Nations agency.

Unless the world faces its “social, economic and environmental challenges head-on”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will not be met.

Average life-expectancy globally has increased by five-and-a-half years since the turn of the century, and women outlive men “everywhere”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

“Whether it’s homicide, road accidents, suicide, cardiovascular disease - time and time again, men are doing worse than women”, said Dr. Richard Cibulskis, main author of WHO’s World Health Statistics Overview 2019.

The United Nations is highlighting the important role that population trends play in promoting sustainable development, during the annual Commission on Population and Development, which began at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday.

Attending the Summit of the League of Arab States in Tunis, Tunisia, on Sunday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, recognized the critical importance of the region on the international stage and called for even stronger cooperation between the UN and the Arab States.

Eight years ago this month, the Syria conflict began, leading to a humanitarian crisis that remains “far from over”, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. 11.7 million need humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 5.6 million Syrians are living as refugees across the region.

Although fighting in the country has diminished, a growing number of civilians have been killed or injured in recent weeks.

The UN body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment wrapped up its annual session on Friday evening with agreement on ways to safeguard  and improve women’s and girls’ access to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure.

A lack of safe water, is far deadlier for children than war in more than a dozen conflict-affected countries, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday, in a report launched to coincide with World Water Day, marked on 22 March.

I am very glad that his Excellency received me before my travel to New York for my first meeting with the Security Council in my current capacity as the Special Coordinator.