Migrants and refugees being held on the Pacific island of Nauru are "completely without hope" according to the regional head of the UN human rights office, OHCHR. Nauru has been operating an off-shore processing centre for the Australian government despite calls from the UN and other organizations to shut it down. A vast majority of [...]

Visitors to UN Headquarters recently had the chance to travel back in time to help create a better future for children worldwide. By using a "time machine," they demonstrated their support for The UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF) call for investment in better data on young people. The agency says without adequate child-related data, such as [...]

"We've got to stop" the criminals who have turned endangered rosewood into the world's most trafficked wild product. That's the urgent alarm being raised by John Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which is part of the UN's environmental conservation effort. The convention is holding its largest ever conference [...]

Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends "in large part" on making the world's cities "inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". That's according to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, in a message for World Habitat Day, marked on 3 October. The Secretary-General urged governments, city planners and communities everywhere, to keep "housing at the centre" of policymaking. [...]

More than 11 tonnes of medical supplies have been airlifted to Al-Qamishli in northern Syria for the first time since last December, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization has said. Speaking on the line from Damascus, Tarik Jasarevic said the aid was "really helpful" for this part of Syria where accessibility to health services [...]

The Syria crisis is a "perfect storm" which only a politically negotiated settlement can resolve, Ban Ki-moon insisted Monday. Speaking at the United Nations in Geneva, the UN chief condemned the "carnage" that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left the country in ruins. In what could be Mr Ban's last visit to [...]

The "innovative" use of technology is helping to boost rural education in Bangladesh according to the founder of a school who has been nominated as a UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. Shougat Nazbin Khan set up H A Digital School & College in the north of the Asian country in [...]

India has formally joined the Paris climate change agreement, the country's permanent representative to the UN, has confirmed. Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin submitted India’s instrument of ratification on Sunday to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and the International Day of Non-Violence. The Asian nation, which produces more than four per cent of global emissions, became the 62nd [...]

A culture of non-violence begins with respect for one another, but it also implies respect for nature and life on Earth, the UN deputy chief has said. Jan Eliasson made the remarks on the International Day of Non-Violence observed by the UN every year on 2 October. It's also the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi who helped [...]

The "innovative" use of technology is helping to boost rural education in Bangladesh according to the founder of a school who has been nominated as a UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. Shougat Nazbin Khan set up H A Digital School & College in the north of the Asian country in [...]