States which commit "the most egregious violations" should be excluded from the Human Rights Council, while violence in Myanmar may be "textbook…ethnic cleansing", the UN's top rights official said on Monday. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein made the comments at the start of a new session of the Council, whose 47 country delegations meet in Geneva [...]

Conditions for Syrian and Iraqi refugees are deteriorating on the Greek islands where there's been a surge in arrivals in recent weeks. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, issued the warning after announcing a more than 30 per cent rise in numbers of people crossing the sea from Turkey to Greece in August compared with July. [...]

Listen to our special daily programme, featuring an in-depth interview with the UN Secretary General António Guterres. The programme is presented by Matt Wells, and Reem Abaza. You can find an extended version of the interview by visiting our podcast page, The Lid Is On, or the UN Radio Soundcloud platform.

Bangladesh camps for "desperate" Myanmar refugees are full to capacity Bangladeshi camps and facilities for Myanmar refugees fleeing violence are "full to capacity", but there has been no let-up in the number of arrivals, the UN said on Friday. IOM, the International Organization for Migration, is coordinating the international response by UN agencies and partners, [...]

In his first interview for UN News, Secretary-General António Guterres tells us there needs to be a “surge in diplomacy for peace”, and that global problems need global solutions beyond the capacity of any superpower. He tells Reem Abaza that climate change is “undeniable” and inextricably linked to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. For this special [...]

  SDGs are "taking hold" across the world: UN Deputy chief The Sustainable Development Goals are "taking hold" across the world and capturing public imagination, two years after they were agreed by 193 countries. That's the view of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, addressing an informal meeting on implementing the 17 global goals in the [...]

Venezuela and Qatar to address Human Rights Council's upcoming session Senior representatives from Venezuela and Qatar are to address the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where it begins a new session on Monday. The planned speech by Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza Monteserrat, on the opening day of the three-week session, comes after [...]

ISIL or Daesh fighters in two key Syrian towns are nearing defeat and when that happens it could be the "moment of truth" for the future of the country, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday. Speaking in Geneva, the veteran negotiator said that Deir-ez-Zour was essentially liberated from the extremists. Raqqa, Mr [...]

Listen to our daily bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, presented by Matt Wells. In today's programme: as Hurricane Irma leaves a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, a senior UN official in Haiti tells us people need to prepare for the worst. And – Syria's "moment of truth" is fast approaching [...]

  "Nearly zero progress" in reducing global out-of-school rate: UNICEF The percentage of 6-15-year-olds missing out on school has barely decreased over the past decade, the UN Children's Fund UNICEF  said on Wednesday. "Pervasive levels of poverty", protracted conflicts, and complex humanitarian emergencies have led to stagnation, UNICEF said. The agency called for more investment [...]