News items | The United Nations Office at Geneva

Welcome to the United Nations

Ceasefire in doubt as Rwanda-backed rebels kill hundreds in eastern DR Congo

Hopes for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been shaken by a surge in brutal attacks on civilians by armed groups, including the Rwandan-backed M23 militia, in the country’s troubled eastern region…

Just 1.5 per cent of Gaza’s agricultural land remains accessible and undamaged

UN data published on Wednesday underscores the tiny amount of cultivable land that remains in the Gaza Strip, contributing to the famine-like conditions now being endured by more than two million people there. …

Syria: Ceasefire under strain as violence and aid access issues persist in Sweida

Hostilities have continued in Sweida, Syria, despite a ceasefire agreement, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update published on Wednesday. The 19 July…

‘Landlocked to landlinked’: UN summit seeks to turn geography into opportunity

For the world’s landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), geography isn’t just a challenge, it’s a costly barrier to trade. Cut off from direct access to the sea, these nations face steep transport costs, sluggish delivery times, and a maze of border procedures that slow down economic progress.…

SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Israel calls for focus on Gaza hostages’ plight

The Security Council is meeting to discuss rising concern in Israel and elsewhere over the dire conditions facing the hostages who remain in Gaza. It follows the release of recent videos by Hamas and other Palestinian militants showing emaciated captives, which the UN Secretary-General called “an…

Dozens more migrants die after boat capsizes off the coast of Yemen

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 56 people had died and 132 were missing after a vessel carrying 200 migrants capsized off the coast of Shuqrah, in Yemen’s Abyan Governorate on 3 August.…

Hunger in Gaza: Women and children face death in search of food

Obtaining food is no longer a routine journey in Gaza; it has become a race, fraught with death on all sides as women and children risk their lives to get aid. “I used to easily receive aid distributed…

Geography shouldn’t define destiny: UN summit on landlocked nations opens in Turkmenistan

Breaking down barriers and restoring fairness in global development should be the goal of the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, Secretary-General António Guterres said at its opening in Awaza, Turkmenistan, on Tuesday.…

Children are ‘skin and bones’ as Sudan marks a grim milestone

Famine was declared in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur one year ago. And since then, little has changed – no aid trucks have reached the region, the nearby city of El Fasher is still under siege and food prices are four times higher than other parts of the country. …

Gaza crisis deepens as UN warns children are ‘dying before reaching hospital’

Children in Gaza are dying not just from hunger, but from the total collapse of the systems meant to protect them, UN agencies warned on Tuesday. With 96 per cent of households lacking clean water, many…