The UN food agency, WFP, says it is "extremely concerned" about the welfare of more than half a million people trapped in western Mosul in Iraq. Iraqi forces and their allies are fighting to liberate the area from the extremist group ISIL, also known as Daesh. The agency is calling on all parties to facilitate [...]

Action must be taken "soon" to mitigate climate change: WMO Governments need to “act soon” to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and keep global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius, according to the World Meteorological Organization , WMO. New figures from the UN agency show that 2016 made history with a record global [...]

  "We are failing the children of Syria," says UNICEF director The fact that a dozen children were among the 53 killed in an attack on a school on Wednesday is a reminder that the world is "failing the children of Syria." That's the view of the UN Children's Fund's Regional Director, Geert Cappelaere, speaking [...]

The only way of stemming the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is through political negotiation between government and opposition groups, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General said after briefing the Security Council on Tuesday. Maman Sidikou, who is also the head of the UN Mission in the country (MONUSCO), urged [...]

"Invisible" impact of Syrian civil war destroying family life: UNFPA The dignity and hopes of Syrian women and girls are disintegrating after six years of brutal civil war, along with the whole fabric of family life. That's according to Henia Dakkak, technical adviser with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), who has worked with refugees and [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Matthew Wells. In today's programme: Somalia is experiencing a moment of hope and tragedy, the UN special envoy to the country told members of the Security Council today. And governments are being urged by the UN to "act soon" [...]

  Heavy fighting in south eastern CAR: UN mission Heavy fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) has broken out between two rival armed groups, the UN mission in the country, MINUSCA, reported on Thursday. The FPRC, the Popular Front for the Renaissance in the Central African Republic, and the UPC, the Union for Peace [...]

"Somalia is experiencing a moment of both tragedy and hope", the UN special envoy for the Horn of Africa country said during a briefing to the Security Council on Thursday. The meeting on security and famine was chaired by the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson. The Council members began by observing a moment of [...]

It's important for Ukrainian women to be an empowered voice in politics and represent vulnerable groups such as those displaced by conflict in the east. That's according to Hanna Hopko, a leading member of the Ukrainian parliament who was at UN Headquarters last week to attend meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. On Wednesday, the UN [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Matthew Wells. In today’s programme: a new approach to wastewater can help save the lives of children who die from illnesses linked to poor sanitation; and we'll hear how people with Down syndrome are working and engaging in their [...]