Page 21 - United Nations

Israel approves two bills that may halt UNRWA's aid delivery to Gaza

Israel's parliament has passed two laws that could prevent the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, a main provider of aid to Gaza, from being able to continue its work. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from operating in Israel, designate it a terror organisation, and cut all ties between the agency and the Israeli government. It's the culmination of a long-running campaign against the agency, which Israel contends has been infiltrated by Hamas. But supporters say Israel's real aim is to sideline the issue of Palestinian refugees. The agency is the major distributor of aid in Gaza and provides education, health and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The head of the agency, Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, called the move unprecedented on X following the vote and said the bills will only deepen the suffering Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year

Sudan's forces escalating attacks, outsiders fuelling fire: UN chief

Sudan's warring military and paramilitary forces are escalating attacks with outside powers fuelling the fire, which is intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions, the United Nations chief said on Monday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council that the 18-month war faces the serious possibility of igniting regional instability from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to the Red Sea. In a grim report, Guterres said the Sudanese people are living through numerous nightmares from killings and unspeakable atrocities including widespread rapes to fast-spreading diseases, mass ethnic violence, and 750,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity and famine conditions in North Darfur displacement sites. He singled out shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence in villages in east-central Gezira province in recent days. The UN and a doctors' group said paramilitary fighters ran riot in the region in a multi-day attack that killed more

S Africa submits legal claim to UN court which accuses Israel of genocide

The South African legal team delivered a nearly 5,000-page document to the United Nations' top court on Monday, the latest step in a case the country brought accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The document, which the International Court of Justice will not make public until a later stage in the proceedings, puts forth the main case that Israel has a special intent to commit genocide, according to a statement from South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa. Israel has fiercely denied the allegations. The government called the case blood libel when South Africa launched the complaint in Dec. 2023. On Monday a court official at the ICJ confirmed that they had received the document. The filing takes place as the Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza, where it has been waging a large offensive for more than three weeks. The U.N. said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are still in northern Gaza and hunger is rampant

Slight progress in biodiversity protection but some species decline: Report

Global efforts to protect the world's plants and animals have made slight progress and some species remain in serious decline, according to two reports released Monday at a major United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia. A report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluated global progress since its biodiversity report in 2020. Two years ago, 196 countries signed a historic treaty to protect biodiversity on 30% of the planet by 2030. The biodiversity summit underway in Cali, Colombia is a follow-up to the 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to halt and reverse nature loss. One calls for putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal. The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within ...

India's gender equality advancing; social norms, safety concerns remain: UN

India's progress towards gender equality has accelerated in recent years, with increased investments and focus on women's leadership at the grassroots but social norms, limited workforce participation and gaps in safety measures hinder full gender parity, UN Women officials said. In an interview, Daniel Seymour, UN Women's Director of Strategic Partnerships and Susan Jane Ferguson, Country Representative for UN Women in India, shared insights on the country's strides and the challenges that remain. The conversation highlighted India's increased investments in women's empowerment and gender-responsive policies, yet stressed that deep-rooted social norms and limited financing continue to hamper full progress. "India's progress is significant, but closing the remaining gaps requires targeted efforts across both public and private sectors," Ferguson said. India has seen substantial growth in recent years, especially in gender-responsive budgeting, which has increased to 6.8 per cent, .

Despicable yet predictable: India slams Pak at UN for raking Kashmir issue

Remarks came after Pakistan's representative in his remarks during the UNSC debate made references to Jammu and Kashmir

Gangs in Haiti open fire, hit UN helicopter mid-air as violence rises

Gangs on Thursday opened fire and hit a UN helicopter as it prepared to land in Port-au-Prince, marking the latest attack in Haiti's capital as violence surges once again. No one was injured as several rounds of gunfire hit the helicopter that was carrying three crew members and 15 passengers, according to a UN source who was not authorised to confirm the incident. The helicopter landed safely. The attack comes five months after Haiti's main international airport reopened following coordinated gang attacks that forced it to close for nearly three months. The violence has spilled to nearby areas including Arcahaie, where some 50 suspected gang members died this week after attacking the coastal town located just northwest of the capital. Among the dead are at least a dozen gunmen who drowned after their boat capsized, a government official said Thursday. While the majority were killed by police, a group of gunmen drowned on Wednesday after their boat hit the reef as they ferried ...

World may warm up to 3.1 degrees celsius on lack of climate action: UN

Continuing with current policies means world will be on course for temperature rise of 3.1C before the end of the century, while implementing promised reforms would at best lead to an increase of 2.6C

United Nations Day 2024: History, significance, theme, celebrations, more

The United Nations has become a symbol of hope, inspiring dreams of a better future and a united world for the last 70 years and hence UN Day is observed every year on Oct 24

WHO approves Zydus Lifesciences' typhoid vaccine for UN procurement

Typhoid affects an estimated 11 to 21 million people annually, leading to between 117,000 and 161,000 deaths

UN nature talks explore rules for digital genetic data use and compensation

Species-rich countries, including tropical giants like Brazil and India, are on guard against corporations and researchers capitalizing on their biodiversity without offering compensation or royalties

UK warns Russian strikes on Black Sea delay food supplies to Palestinians

After the collapse last year of a U.N.-backed Black Sea grain export initiative that involved Russia and had ensured safe passage of grain ships

It could take 350 years for Gaza to rebuild if blockade remains: UN report

UN agencies have long warned that it could take decades to rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II. Now, more than a year into the war, a new report speaks in terms of centuries. The UN Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released on Monday that if the war ends tomorrow and Gaza returns to the status quo before Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, it could take 350 years for its battered economy to return to its precarious prewar level. Before the war, Gaza was under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007. Four previous wars and divisions between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also took a toll on Gaza's economy. The current war has caused staggering destruction across the territory, with entire neighbourhoods obliterated and roads and critical infrastructure in ruins. Mountains of rubble laced with

Ukraine blasts UN's Guterres over invitation to Brics summit in Russia

"The U.N. Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland," the ministry said in a post on the X social media platform

UN failure reason for 600 aid trucks just sitting at Gaza border: Israel

COGAT also said that it has coordinated pick-up at various hours, expanded routes to improve traffic to the crossings, set up a tactical pause along the route

What's on agenda at COP16 nature summit in Colombia: All you need to know

COP16 host country Colombia has put the inclusion of Indigenous and traditional communities at the center of its agenda in Cali

UN climate secy gives call to 'step up' climate finance ahead of COP29

At COP29 in Baku, all governments must agree on a new goal for international climate finance

India among 5 nations with largest number of people living in poverty: UN

India is among the five countries globally with the largest number of people living in poverty, according to the UN report that said 1.1 billion people, over half of them minors, live in acute poverty worldwide. The latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was released on Thursday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) based at the University of Oxford. It said that 1.1 billion people live in acute poverty worldwide, with 40 per cent living in countries experiencing war, fragility and/or low peacefulness, according to at least one of the three widely used datasets of conflict settings. India has 234 million people living in poverty, which is medium Human Development Index, placing the country among five globally with the largest number of people living in poverty. The other four countries are Pakistan (93 million), Ethiopia (86 million), Nigeria (74 million) and the Democratic Republi

Lifted 250 mn people out of poverty, devoted to food security: India at UN

The First Secretary added that India remains committed to ensuring food security for its vast population

Kashmir is ours and will remain ours: MEA spokesperson on Pak statement

This came in response to the joint statement issued by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, where they called for a resolution on the ongoing Kashmir issue