News from the United Nations
- More than 50 million in West and Central Africa at risk of hunger May 9, 2025The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of people in West and Central Africa are facing record hunger as conflict, displacement, economic hardship and repeated extreme weather push the region towards a major crisis.
- Gaza: UN agencies reject Israeli plan to use aid as ‘bait’ May 9, 2025Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza would put civilian lives in danger and cause mass displacement while using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
- Haiti: Displaced families grapple with death ‘from the inside’ and out May 9, 2025Shattered by her husband’s death during the rising tide of gang violence in Haiti last year, Christiana and her six children fled 223 kilometres from their hometown to the city of Mirebalais, where her six-year-old daughter, Leineda, began treatment for malnutrition.
- Costa Rica’s refugee lifeline at breaking point amid funding crisis May 9, 2025Costa Rica’s long-standing commitment to protecting refugees is under threat as severe funding cuts cripple support for surging numbers of Nicaraguan asylum seekers, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday.
- UNFPA calls on US to reconsider ban on future funding May 9, 2025The United States’ decision to halt future funding to the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, will slash critical health services for women and girls worldwide, the agency warned on Friday.
- Port Sudan: No let-up in drone attacks as UN chief urges peace May 8, 2025Amid reports that renewed drone strikes on a key Sudanese aid hub were thwarted late Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres added his voice to increasingly urgent calls for serious peace negotiations to end more than two years of war in Sudan.
- UN rights body rules Guatemala failed displaced Mayan Peoples May 8, 2025The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Guatemala did not follow through on promises to resettle and compensate Mayan Peoples who remain forcibly displaced.
- UNRWA condemns ‘storming’ of schools in East Jerusalem May 8, 2025The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has strongly condemned the forced entry by Israeli security forces into three of its schools in occupied East Jerusalem, describing it as a violation of children’s right to education and safety.
- Guterres welcomes election of Pope Leo ‘at a time of great global challenges’ May 8, 2025UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the announcement of a new Pope on Thursday.
- World News in Brief: South Sudan urged to avoid slide to war, Türk calls on EU not to weaken landmark law, Ukraine and Mali updates May 8, 2025The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) together with the African Union mission there, and other key bodies collectively known as the Quartet, have raised the alarm over rising violence and political instability in South Sudan.