Mosul airstrikes "may target civilians disproportionately" Iraqi forces and their partners have been urged to take "the greatest care" possible in their campaign to liberate Mosul from ISIL militants amid reports that hundreds of civilians have been killed in airstrikes. The appeal from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) comes after [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Matthew Wells and Dianne Penn. In today's programme: life-saving aid funding is on a knife-edge in Yemen, as famine looms, the UN humanitarian coordinator there warns us. And …a leading UN economist explains why famine represents "collective failure".

  International concern over unrest in Kasaï provinces in DRC Four international organizations have expressed deep concern over what they described as the "grave situation" in the Kasaï provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The partners have condemned the recent killing of 40 police officers by a militia there, labelling it a [...]

The descent into famine represents "a collective failure" from which many child survivors will never recover. That's the stark assessment of Arif Husain, Chief Economist and Food Security Analysis Director at the World Food Programme (WFP). With pockets of famine already evident in South Sudan; and north-east Nigeria, Yemen and parts of Somalia teetering on [...]

With famine looming in Yemen, the country is "on a knife's edge" and in desperate need of cash from international donors to avert disaster, said the UN Resident Coordinator in the country on Tuesday. Jamie McGoldrick said there are seven million "who don't know where their next meal is coming from", as Yemen enters its [...]

The "need for progress" on creating a world free of nuclear weapons has "rarely been as urgent" according to the UN chief António Guterres. His message was delivered at the start of an historic conference that began at UN Headquarters on Monday in the General Assembly, to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination. [...]

  Still time to avert catastrophe in Yemen: UN humanitarian chief warns A catastrophe can still be averted in Yemen, but without immediate funding, it will be too late, the Under-Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs has warned. Stephen O'Brien, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement on Monday marking the second year [...]

Conflicts and protracted crises are blocking efforts to end hunger in the Near East and North Africa, a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said. Before 2010, the two regions were growing more food, while successfully fighting stunting, anaemia, undernourishment and poverty, the agency said. Severe food insecurity in those areas [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Matthew Wells. In today's programme: An unprecedented General Assembly conference seeking to eliminate nuclear weapons gets underway, although more than 30 states say they won't take part. And …two years on since conflict erupted in Yemen, conditions have never [...]

"Time is running out" to avoid a famine in Yemen and children will be hit the hardest, an expert from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said. Dr Sherin Varkey, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Yemen says US $236 million is needed to deliver essential life-saving aid. The conflict in Yemen enters its third year this [...]