News in Brief 25 January 2021
COVID pandemic impact ‘four times worse’ on jobs than 2008 financial crisis Sri Lanka: ‘Forced’ cremation of COVID victims’ bodies must stop …
Category: UN
Amidst surging COVID numbers, WHO chief urges: ‘take heart and take action’
The sheer scale of the numbers involved in the COVID-19 pandemic can “make us numb to…
Sri Lanka: ‘Forced’ cremation of COVID victims’ bodies must stop – UN rights experts
The Sri Lankan Government should end its policy of compulsorily cremating victims of COVID-19, independent UN human…
Shining a light on sexually exploited women and girls forced into crime
Trafficked and sexually exploited woman and girls can find themselves facing prosecution and conviction for…
Pandemic disruption to learning is an opportunity to reimagine, revitalize education
To mark the third International Day of Education on Sunday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres paid…
News in Brief 22 January 2021
Guterres hails entry into force of treaty seeking nuclear weapons ban Darfur’s health centres ‘unable to cope’ with intercommunal violence Migrants need fair…
Podcast: UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva – episode 6
In addition to the week’s main news headlines focusing on President Biden’s potentially massive boost to global cooperation, we’ll be…
Healthier world means ‘safer America’ Tedros stresses, as UN-led vaccine initiative announces deal for 40 million doses
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced the signing of an advance purchase agreement securing up to 40…
Pandemic will not end for anyone, ‘until it ends for everyone’
The COVID-19 pandemic “will not end for anyone, until it ends for everyone”, an independent…
News in Brief 21 January 2021
US commitment to rejoin key climate deal welcomed by UN’s Guterres US plans to re-engage…
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COVID ‘vaccine hoarding’ putting Africa at risk: WHO
Africa is in danger of being left behind in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines as…
Top US medical adviser announces intention to resume major role in global health
The United States’ top medical official said on Thursday that the US will now join…
Guterres urges world to ‘work together in solidarity’ as US moves to re-join WHO
The United Nations Secretary-General on Wednesday welcomed the announcement by President Joe Biden that the…
News in Brief 20 January 2021
Central Mediterranean: 43 die in first shipwreck for the year, IOM and UNHCR report Violence disrupting…
Healthy diets ‘nearly impossible’ for 1.9 billion in Asia-Pacific: UN report
The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and surging food prices have made it “nearly…
News in Brief 19 January 2021
UN health agency underlines dangers of ‘vaccinationalism’ over COVID-19 Mass protest calls in Haiti, raise spectre of fresh rights violations …
Independent panel finds critical early failings in COVID-19 response
The global system for pandemic alert and response is “not fit for purpose”, highlighting the…
Israel: ‘Halt and reverse’ new settlement construction – UN chief
Israel’s decision to advance plans for some 800 new settlement units, most of which are…
Spectre of unrest, violent repression looming over Haiti, warns UN rights office
Increasing political tensions in Haiti coupled with insecurity and structural inequalities could result in protests…
UN agencies supporting mammoth India COVID-19 vaccine rollout
India has begun what is the world’s biggest COVID vaccination campaign so far, deploying hundreds…
Migration chief calls for all displaced to be included in national COVID-19 vaccination plans
The head of the UN migration agency, IOM, is strongly advocating for governments everywhere to…
Many Tigray refugees entering Sudan with nothing but their clothes: UNHCR
Nearly 60,000 people from Ethiopia’s volatile Tigray region have now crossed the border to remote southeastern Sudan, after more than two months of fighting, many with just…
News in Brief 18 January 2021
UN chief urges restoration of law and order after Darfur killings Libya talks in Geneva break…
UN rights office ‘deeply troubled’ by Russian activist Aleksei Navalny’s arrest
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) have raised alarm over the arrest of Russian opposition…
WHO chief warns against ‘catastrophic moral failure’ in COVID-19 vaccine access
A “me-first approach” to COVID-19 vaccines on the part of some countries and manufacturers is…
State of the Planet: Pandemic slows efforts to adapt to climate crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to hamper the efforts of developing countries to adapt to…
FROM THE FIELD: The Myanmar child workers risking their lives for stones
Thirteen-year-old Min Min scavenges day and night for precious stones in a quarry in Hpakant,…
Migration will continue to rise, despite pandemic, says UN official
Migration is part of the modern world, and it is not going away despite a…
Podcast: UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva – episode 5
This week’s show features the week’s news headlines, an interview with the World Food Programme…
News in Brief 15 January 2021
Indonesia quake: eight confirmed dead, hundreds injured in Sulawesi emergency Child labour scourge still affects one…
COVID-19 committee stresses need for equitable vaccine access, more data sharing
As COVID-19 cases spike in parts of Europe, Africa and the Americas, and new variants…
Child labour ‘robs children of their future’, scourge must end urges UN
Although child labour has decreased significantly over the last decade, one-in-ten children are still caught…
As COVID deaths pass two million worlwide, Guterres warns against self-defeating ‘vaccinationalism’
With more than two million lives now lost worlwide to COVID-19, the UN Secretary-General appealed…
News in Brief 14 January 2021
UN emergency relief chief warns over fallout of U.S. Yemen Houthi terror label Four UN…
World in ‘much better place’ to fight desert locust scourge – UN’s FAO
Compared to last year, everything is in place to successfully fight the devastating desert locust…
State of the Planet: Natural ways to cope with climate change
What progress is the world making in adapting to the changing climate? And can nature…
Health experts arrive in Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins
Members of an international team studying the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 arrived…
Israel: Ensure equal COVID-19 vaccine access to Palestinians – UN Independent experts
Israel’s “impressive” vaccination programme against the COVID-19 pandemic must include Palestinians under occupation, UN independent…
News in Brief 13 January 2021
Health agency calls for greater cooperation to identify COVID mutations Lower wages and higher health…
After drought and failed harvests, people of Madagascar reduced to eating mud
After years of drought, and with what little the people of Madagascar have managed to grow, destroyed by flashflooding, more than 1.3 million are in…
‘Not one country has the homeworking policies we would like to see’: ILO official
Homeworking has necessarily exploded since the COVID-19 pandemic took a grip on the world, from…
Step up vigilance for emerging coronavirus variants, WHO urges
Efforts should be stepped up to quickly identify and study emerging variants of the COVID-19-causing…
News in Brief 12 January 2021
Health agency chief urges COVID-19 vaccinations for ‘high-risk’ populations UN rights chief: Peru law enforcement used excessive…
Peru: UN rights office decries excessive use of force in November protests
Police in Peru used unnecessary and excessive force during protests in the capital last November…
UNICEF chief: Closing schools should be ‘measure of last resort’
The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) underscored on Tuesday that “no effort should…
UN agencies, partners establish global Ebola vaccine stockpile
In a major milestone in the fight against deadly diseases, United Nations agencies and humanitarian…
News in Brief 11 January 2021
WHO’s Tedros welcomes China announcement on COVID-19 team visit UNAIDS unveils new targets on HIV prevention amid rise in…
Get COVID-19 vaccinations for ‘high-risk’ populations underway within 100 days worldwide, Tedros urges
There needs to be a “collective commitment” to get vaccinations underway worldwide for health workers…
Close ‘disgraceful’ Guantánamo camp – UN experts urge incoming US administration
Exactly 19 years after the Guantánamo Bay detention centre first opened, UN independent human rights…
Podcast: UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva – Episode 4
This week’s show features the week’s news headlines, an interview on the first post-COVID global…