Songs of hope rise from Gaza’s ruins
Among them is Ahmed Abu Amsha, a music teacher who has become something of a humanitarian troubadour. Fleeting moments of joy Living in a worn tent with his family, he…
UN’s lifesaving programmes under threat as budget crisis hits hard
Member States had paid just $1.8 billion towards the UN’s $3.7 billion regular budget for 2025, as of 9 May. Including unpaid contributions from previous years, total unpaid assessments stand…
Gaza is the ‘hungriest place on earth’, as Israel continues stranglehold on aid
“Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, stressing that it is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population…
Flavoured nicotine products driving youth addiction, WHO warns
This is especially true among youth users: it’s one of the main reasons young people experiment with tobacco or nicotine products in the first place, according to the UN World…
‘We are the present’: Tajik climate activist urges leaders to include youth voices in dialogue
At the end of April, Fariza Dzhobirova attended a Model United Nations Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, where she represented Switzerland. For Ms. Dzhobirova, it was a…
UN searches for solutions to global housing crisis
This includes more than 1.12 billion people living in slums or informal settlements. An additional 300 million face absolute homelessness, lacking any form of stable shelter, UN-Habitat estimates. Living without…
UN honours peacekeepers’ service and sacrifice
The first UN peacekeeping operation was established in 1948 and today more than 68,000 civilian, military, and police personnel are posted at 11 missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the…
UN aid teams plead for access amid reports Gazans shot collecting food
Unverified footage from Rafah where the privately-run but Israeli military-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is based showed scenes of panic with crowds of people rushing in different directions, while others carried…
Exponential rise in synthetic drug production and trafficking in the Golden Triangle
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the production and trafficking of methamphetamine – an illegal synthetic stimulant – have risen sharply since 2021, particularly in Myanmar’s…
‘We are women like you’: UN honours peacekeepers for work in gender empowerment
There, alongside civilian gender units, Ms. Syme met a group of local community members – both men and women. Partway through, she realised something was different. “The women were not…