The “protracted crisis” in Venezuela has led to an “alarming escalation of tensions”, Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s political and peacebuilding chief, told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. She said that the “grim reality” facing the country, according to available information, showed a deteriorating economy, with citizens dying of preventable causes, and 3.4 million Venezuelans so […]
Paying tribute to reporters around the world who “put their lives on the line” to tell important stories, UN chief António Guterres lamented on Monday that freedom of the press was increasingly “shrinking” worldwide, and called on decision-makers to better protect journalists and media workers. “We’ve come a long way towards realizing freedom of […]
“Staggering levels” of humanitarian need persist throughout Syria, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told Security Council members on Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of UN emergency relief chief Mark Lowcock, Reena Ghelani, OCHA’s Director for Operations and Advocacy, said that this year, an estimated 11.7 million people will require life-saving humanitarian assistance […]
Sexual violence in conflict – and the stigma that survivors often face – must be addressed urgently, UN chief António Guterres said on Monday, in a joint appeal for more funding and international action, together with the head of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer. Describing how he was “frequently horrified” by the first-hand accounts of survivors […]
People’s rights are under fire “in many parts of the globe,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Human Rights Council on Monday, before insisting that he was not “losing hope”, thanks to the progress made by powerful grassroots movements for social justice. Addressing the Geneva-based forum on the opening day of its 40th session, Mr. Guterres underlined the Council’s […]
Preparations are being finalized at the UN for conference to be held on Tuesday in support of a $4.2 billion appeal to scale up help to millions of people in Yemen, where years of war have created the world’s worst humanitarian emergency. But the situation remains “horrific” for people everywhere in the war-torn country, according to Jens […]