The combination of climate change and the El Niño weather system has created "overwhelming" conditions for many countries around the world according to the UN Special Envoy for the issue. El Niño has been associated with drought and flooding in many parts of the world and has led to severe consequences for millions of people. [...]

Alarm for 50,000 malnourished children in Nigeria's north-east Nearly 50,000 children could die from malnutrition in Nigeria's north-east unless they get help urgently, UN aid workers warned on Tuesday. The announcement by UNICEF comes as government forces push back Boko Haram extremists, re-opening access to vulnerable and displaced communities. In total, more than 240,000 youngsters [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Jocelyne Sambira and Matthew Wells. In today's programme:  The head of the International Labour Organization (ILO's) Guy Ryder compares forced labour to a virus in a debate on how to end the crime; and, UN Radio gets an exclusive interview with Stevie [...]

Forced labour is "like a virus" because of its capacity to mutate, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) has said. Guy Ryder was speaking at a UN panel discussion on partnerships to end forced labour in supply chains. Human trafficking, debt bondage, and modern day slavery are all forms of forced labour. 21 million [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Daniel Dickinson and Matthew Wells. In today's programme:  Two trillion US dollars; that's the amount that richer countries should have given in aid to the developing world. And, we hear how global deforestation is being driven by the need to grow more [...]

Global deforestation is being largely driven by the need to produce more food, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In its annual State of the World's Forests report, the UN agency reveals that forests are being cleared to grow oil palm and soya as well as for cattle farming. However, some 22 countries [...]

A series of victories against terrorists in Iraq is a "unifying factor" for the conflict-ridden country, according to the UN's most senior representative there. Areas which had been held by the ISIL terrorist group, also known as Daesh, have been retaken and show, according to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Ján Kubiš, that [...]

Developing countries could have received approximately US$2 trillion in aid over the past 14 years if their wealthier counterparts had honoured commitments on overseas development assistance. That's according to the latest report from the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD, launched on Monday in Nairobi. Funding will be critical for countries to achieve the Sustainable [...]

One of the most celebrated and revered icons of American popular music delivered a simple yet powerful message of tolerance at the United Nations this Monday. Addressing gun violence and terrorism worldwide, singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder stated that "wrong is wrong, no matter how you put it." The multiple award-winning musician and UN Messenger of Peace [...]

  Continuing violence in Aleppo threatens to trap up to 300,000 civilians Continuing violence across the Syrian city of Aleppo is threatening to trap up to 300,000 more civilians, without access to humanitarian assistance. That's according to UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, who told reporters on Monday that "hundreds of mortars and projectiles" had been [...]