News headlines
UN rights office raises alarm over relentless Israeli attacks in north Gaza
- UN News
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has expressed growing alarm over Israel’s military operations in northern Gaza, warning that the combination of relentless attacks, forced displacement and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid could amount to the wholesale “destruction” of the Palestinian population in the region.
A ‘people’s COP’ to heal the planet: UN biodiversity summit opens in Colombia
- UN News
Secretary-General António Guterres urged delegations from some 190 countries to “make peace with nature” and shore up a plan to stop habitat loss, save endangered species, and preserve our planet’s precious ecosystems as the latest UN biodiversity summit got under way in Cali, Colombia on Sunday night.
Israeli army ‘deliberately demolished’ watchtower, fence at UN peacekeeping site in southern Lebanon
- UN News
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said that an Israeli army bulldozer demolished an observation tower and the perimeter fence of a UN position earlier on Sunday in Marwahin, in the southern part of the country.
Overlapping Crises Hinder Global Social Development and Poverty Reduction
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19 (IPS) - Social development in a global context shows the risk of trending downwards and not recovering if countries do not minimize the long-term impacts of multiple crises and work towards building up their resilience. As much as this will require national political will, it will also need global cooperation for it to be possible.
A Pact for the World’s Poorest
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (IPS) - Last month, world leaders gathered at the time of the UN General Assembly in New York and agreed on a pioneering Pact for the Future. This global accord has implications across a broad range of issues that affect every country. It offers much hope for the poorest and most vulnerable countries on the planet, known as Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Attacks on Aid Personnel in Lebanon Impede Relief Efforts
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (IPS) - In the midst of Israel's ground incursion of southern Lebanon, frequent airstrikes have demolished civilian infrastructure, which is only contributing to the increasing rates of civilian casualties and displacement. Humanitarian organizations fear that conditions in Lebanon will soon resemble those of Gaza if a ceasefire isn't reached soon.
Honduras: Environmental Defenders Still under Siege
- Inter Press Service
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Oct 18 (IPS) - Juan López was gunned down on 14 September. An environmental activist, community leader and member of the Municipal Committee in Defence of the Commons and Public Goods of Tocoa, he was the latest victim of extractive greed in Honduras. Communities protecting the rivers that flow through the Bajo Aguán region have seen several of their leaders assassinated.
Transparency and Inclusion: The Keys to Successful 30x30 Conservation
- Inter Press Service
SANTA FE, New Mexico USA, Oct 18 (IPS) - Two years ago world leaders from nearly 200 countries made a landmark commitment to protect and conserve at least 30% of the planet's land, ocean, and freshwater by 2030 - an initiative known as "30x30".
What is the World’s Most “Demanding and Impossible Job”?
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (IPS) - When Dr Gamani Corea, a former Secretary-General of the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was holding court in the delegate's lounge, I asked him what he thought of the bitter dispute between then Secretary-General (SG) Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-1996) and the United States over the Egyptian's determination to win re-election for a second term.
First Person: Football dream alive in Gaza despite ‘constant fire’
- UN News
A young Gazan footballer who says he feels like he is “dying every day,” is trying to keep his dream alive of one day playing the game professionally, despite living “under constant fire.’