People need to be much kinder to the planet and to each other, the head of the UN Environment Programme has urged. Erik Stolheim made the remarks on the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly debate. People should stop throwing garbage into the ocean; stop conflicts that damage the environment; and protect all [...]

  The European Union is hoping that international solidarity will lead to a scale-up in support for refugees. European Council President Donald Tusk expressed this wish in his address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. Worldwide, more than 65 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution, according [...]

"What once seemed impossible" in terms of bringing a global climate change agreement into force, "is now inevitable" according to the UN Secretary General. Ban Ki-moon was speaking at a High Level event on the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, which was agreed to by more than 190 states last December. Countries have [...]

The warring parties in Syria and the international community have been urged by the UN Secretary-General to negotiate "a way out of hell" for the people of the war-torn country. Over 300,000 Syrians have been killed and half the population uprooted during the more than five-year long civil conflict. A cessation of hostilities which was [...]

Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, or so-called atrocity crimes, have become a global emergency. That's according to Simon Adams, the Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, who is due to address a meeting on the issue at UN Headquarters on Tuesday. Experts and faith leaders from around the [...]

There would be "less refugees" and less environmental damage throughout the world if UN Member States properly respected the historic land rights of indigenous peoples. That's according to Raja Devasish Roy, a hereditary chief from Bangladesh, and also a Vice-Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The forum is pressing governments to scale [...]

Aid deliveries to Syria halted after deadly aid convoy attack An attack on an aid convoy in Syria which killed at least one humanitarian worker and an unknown number of civilians has been condemned by the UN, which has now suspended deliveries of supplies throughout the war-torn country. Jens Laerke from UN humanitarian coordinating agency, OCHA, [...]

Nigeria aims to become the first country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs within a period of 14 years, according to the head of a Nigeria-based power and energy corporation. Food security is a critical issue in the West African nation, where smallholder farming accounts for the majority of food production and up [...]

Nagoya University in Japan is accelerating the hiring of female faculty members as well as researchers and scientists, its president has confirmed. Seiichi Matsuo was in New York for the launch of the first-ever "University parity" report which charts the progress of 10 global universities towards achieving gender equality. Impact 10x10x10 is the brainchild of [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Matthew Wells and Dianne Penn. In today’s programme….first day of General Debate, which has been dominated by concern for the suffering of Syria, as the UN temporarily suspends aid following Monday's bombing of a humanitarian convoy. And, faith leaders from around the [...]