The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is leading a push for the world to scale up efforts to restore landscapes and forests over the next decade, with eyes on a target to salvage 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested lands, an area bigger than India in total.  The world…

More action must be taken to protect mass graves, which provide proof of “heinous events” that must never be forgotten, an independent UN human rights expert has said, in an appeal to the international community.  Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, called for…

The Republic of Korea’s pledge towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 has been hailed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as “a very positive step in the right direction”.  The UN chief was “very encouraged” by President Moon Jae-in’s announcement on Wednesday of South Korea’s…

A group of UN independent human rights experts have denounced a court ruling in Poland that bans abortions on the grounds of fatal or severe foetal impairment, effectively “slamming the door shut” on safe and legal pregnancy terminations.   In a statement on Tuesday, the rights experts…

The UN’s special envoy for war-torn Syria is hoping that a fourth round of talks on a new constitution will take place in November in Geneva, after Government and opposition negotiators failed to agree on the agenda. The so-called Small Body of the Constitutional Committee was supposed to…

In a year that has cast darkness upon many, the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards, announced on Tuesday, shone a light on the positive action that many across the globe are taking, to combat climate change. While COVID-19 is the world’s most clear and present danger, climate change is a…

The heads of three UN agencies joined forces on Tuesday to appeal for a global push towards “open science”, citing the value of cooperation in the response to COVID-19 and the dangers of treating evidence-based knowledge as an exclusive asset, or simple matter of opinion.  Audrey Azoulay,…

A deadly bombing that killed at least seven people at a religious school in Pakistan on Tuesday, has been strongly condemned by the Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Education is the fundamental right of every girl and boy, everywhere”, stressed Aida Girma, UNICEF’s Representative in the country…

Yemeni children are suffering acute malnutrition at unprecedented rates as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis grinds on and funding falls far short of what is needed to offset the effects of conflict and  economic collapse, UN agencies said in a statement on Tuesday.   New analysis from…

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) voiced “serious concerns” on Tuesday over the situation in Myanmar – including rights violations and proliferation of hateful speech against minority communities – as the country prepares for general elections next month.  Minority groups, including the…