UN team assessing peace and security in the Gambia A United Nations mission is in the Gambia this week to assess the peace and security situation. The West African country experienced a peaceful handover of power in January with the installation of President Adama Barrow following more than two decades of rule by former [...]

The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is "determined" to protect civilians against armed groups even if it means using force. That's what UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, told members of the Security Council on Wednesday as he briefed them on the situation in the country. Clashes between the mainly Muslim [...]

Small-scale fisheries account for 90 per cent of all jobs in the industry worldwide and their so-called "blue growth" is essential to make fishing more sustainable. That's the view of Nicole Franz, a Fishery Planning Analyst with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who is taking part in a preparatory meeting at UN Headquarters for [...]

Journalists need to have more understanding of the complexities of poverty and the best way to do this is to talk to those affected by it. That was the conclusion of an international panel of journalists and innovation experts, who met for a discussion at UN Headquarters, organized by the UN Department of Economic and [...]

Fostering economic opportunities for young people in the Gambia is the goal of a new initiative launched this month by the country, together with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust for Africa. The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project also aims to reduce the number of young people risking their lives [...]

DRC soldiers "opened fire on militia armed with spears" At least 100 people are believed to have been killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in clashes between government troops and tribal militia. The UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR, says that the militia fighters were shot in Kasai Central Province by government FARDC [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Dianne Penn. In today’s programme: Drought in East Africa is pushing food prices up sharply, the UN food agency reports; And… Yemen’s health system is “on the brink of collapse” the World Health Organization warns

Yemen's entire health system is "on the brink of collapse" according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is deploying medical teams to help thousands of newly displaced civilians. WHO Spokesperson in the country, Tarik Jašarević, said that after nearly two years of escalating conflict between government forces and Houthi rebels, 17 per cent of [...]

Food prices in some East African markets have almost doubled in the past 12 months because of an ongoing drought, an economist with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. In FAO's latest Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Bulletin, the agency reports that local prices for maize, sorghum and other cereals are "near [...]

Temporary reduction in aid operations in eastern Mosul There has been a temporary reduction in humanitarian operations in eastern Mosul in Iraq due to security incidents, the UN reported on Tuesday. They include the use of drones by the terrorist group ISIL, also known as Daesh, which caused light injuries to several aid workers, as [...]