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A full-scale battle for Idlib must be avoided at all costs, the United Nations Secretary-General has stressed, warning that failure to do so would unleash “a humanitarian nightmare unlike any seen in the blood-soaked Syrian conflict” so far.

Every year, close to 800,000 people commit suicide, the second leading cause of death amongst people aged 15-29 in 2016.

Ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday 10 September, a toolkit to help communities to prevent suicides has been released by the World Health Organisation, WHO, and the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

With the ingredients for a “perfect storm” brewing in the Syrian province of Idlib, the international community cannot allow civilians there to succumb to such a fate, the UN Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday.

Speaking from Geneva, where he is based, Staffan de Mistura briefed the 15 ambassadors on the intensified military presence and increased airstrikes in the northwestern region, which have prompted fears of a potential humanitarian catastrophe in the last rebel stronghold in the country.

Experts continue to gather information related to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria, earlier this year, the UN’s nuclear disarmament chief told the Security Council on Thursday. 

Izumi Nakamitsu updated ambassadors on these developments and the implementation of a five-year-old Council resolution calling for the destruction of the country’s chemical weapons programme.

Around 150 million school children aged 13-15 are the victims of violence from their peers, says a new report from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

The study published on Thursday, measures the number of students who report having been bullied over the period of a month, or involved in a physical fight during the previous year, and shows that for many young people, the school environment is not a safe place, but a danger zone where they have to learn in fear.

Acting UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Pernille Dahler Kardel today visited Tripoli, in north Lebanon. She met with political and religious authorities and visited MARCH, a non-government organization that is active in promoting reconciliation and empowerment among youth and former fighters.

Under the theme of charting “A Credible Pathway to Sustaining Peace,” Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd General Assembly, convened this year’s one-day High-level Forum for Member States and others on Wednesday, to further promote a global culture of peace.  

From deforestation to soil degradation and pollution, tobacco production and its use by consumers, is “tremendously destructive” for the environment, although control measures can help curb its negative environmental effects, including the damaging impact of climate change, the head of the UN tobacco control treaty watchdog – formally known as the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC - has told UN News.

All countries with influence over the grinding conflict in Syria should use all the “moral pressure” they can to avoid a full-scale military attack on Idlib, particularly Russia and Turkey, the United Nations top negotiator Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday.

A massive military escalation by the Government of Syria to retake Idlib risks a “worst case scenario”,  United Nations negotiator Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, the UN Special Envoy for Syria offered to personally escort residents of Idlib to safety ahead of any attack on the last main opposition-held area in the country, echoing an offer to do the same in Aleppo in 2016.