Unsafe food kills an estimated 420,000 people every year, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, just ahead of the first-ever UN World Food Safety Day. Children under-five are the most at risk, carrying 40 per cent of the foodborne disease burden, amounting to 125,000 deaths every year. “These deaths […]
New firsthand reporting by UN staff in Syria reveals “increasingly horrific brutality” by all parties in the de-escalation area of the country’s northwest, causing “significant civilian causalities” and hundreds of thousands displaced, a senior humanitarian official said on Thursday. “Three million people in Idlib need protection”, Najat Rochdi, Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the UN Special […]
The World Bank has lowered its expectations of global economic growth for this year in a new report. It says that, although the picture for poorer countries is expected to stabilize in 2020, economic momentum remains weak. The risks to emerging and developing economies include rising trade barriers, slow investment, and economic slowdowns in richer […]
Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed in Syria’s Idlib and north Hama provinces amid ongoing deadly violence, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in a call to the warring parties to stop using food security to hold people “hostage”. In a briefing to journalists in Geneva, WFP Spokesperson Hervé Verhoosel expressed alarm at […]
The simple, affordable, and environmentally friendly bicycle is not just a means of transportation, but also “a tool for development”, the United Nations said in a message on Monday commemorating World Bicycle Day. Taking to two wheels fosters “sustainable consumption and production”, and has a “positive impact on climate”, according to the UN. Moreover, biking […]
The global reach of the United Nations makes it “the world’s best hope for peace and security, sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights and social progress”, said the top Nigerian diplomat who will be the next President of the General Assembly. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria’s current UN Permanent Representative, was elected to […]