What's New

Senior UN officials have condemned Israeli air strikes on Sunday that hit a camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza, reportedly claiming over 35 Palestinian lives, including women and children.

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced his horror at further loss of civilian lives in the war-ravaged enclave.

After the outstanding success in encouraging more than 250 young people and women to establish small agri-businesses that contribute to the improvement of agriculture towards a better production, and create employment opportunities for a better living, FAO in the Syrian Arab Republic is re-launching its agri-preneurship programme ‘Nabta’ to assist those with bright ideas engage in effective businesses.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis are on the rise in most regions of the world, UN health agency WHO said in a new report on Tuesday. 

HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections continue as significant public health challenges globally and cause 2.5 million deaths each year:

New syphilis cases among adults aged 15-49 increased by over one million in 2022, reaching eight million, and there were 230,000 syphilis-related deaths.

The highest increases occurred in the Americas and Africa. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres repeated his longstanding call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held in the enclave, and unimpeded access for aid delivery, in remarks to the Summit of the League of Arab States in Bahrain on Thursday. 

“The war in Gaza is an open wound that threatens to infect the entire region,” he said. 

Roughly 800,000 people have been forced to flee Rafah since Israel launched a military operation in the area on 6 May, the head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA said on Saturday in a renewed appeal for greater protection of civilians in Gaza, safe humanitarian access and, ultimately, a ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is appalled by the escalation of Israeli military activity in and around Rafah in southern Gaza, his spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“These developments are further impeding humanitarian access and worsening an already dire situation. At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately,” the statement said.

Money sent home by migrants abroad has surpassed foreign direct investment in boosting the gross domestic product (GDP) of developing countries, UN migration agency IOM said in the latest edition of its flagship report, released on Tuesday. 

World Migration Report 2024 reveals a significant shift in global migration patterns, including a record number of people displaced due to conflict, violence, natural and other disasters.  

A staff member of the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) died and another was injured when their UN vehicle was struck as they travelled to the European Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on Monday.

Condemning all attacks on UN personnel, Secretary-General António Guterres called for a full investigation, his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, told journalists in New York. 

Amid ongoing uncertainty about a ceasefire in Gaza, UN humanitarians have issued new data confirming the war’s deeply damaging impact on women and girls sheltering in Rafah.

An Israeli military operation in Rafah “could lead to a slaughter” and cripple lifesaving humanitarian work throughout Gaza, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday.

“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the Strip’s southernmost city, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists in Geneva.