Society
UNRWA work and mandate in ‘jeopardy’, Guterres warns
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) continues to operate under “extraordinary pressure”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.
Source: UNRead →
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Health
UN health agency calls for investment boost to save young lives from cancer
More children and young people are beating cancer, but progress remains uneven across regions and age groups, highlighting the need for increased investment to boost survival rates.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
Source: UNRead →
Society
As freshwater reserves shrink, countries must prepare for a new water reality
The world is entering a period in which abnormal water supplies are becoming the norm, with river flows, groundwater and glaciers all showing signs of sustained disruption, the UN weather agency warned on Thursday.
Source: UNRead →
Society
World News in Brief: Shipping alert from IMO, democracy vanishing in Nicaragua, alert over political ‘denialism’
Amid a rising number of attacks on shipping in key waterways in the Middle East linked to the US-Iran war, the head of UN maritime agency, Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, has insisted that the conflict is not a “pretext” to target “innocent seafarers”.
Source: UNRead →
Education
Back to school in Haiti: ‘Madame, can you stop what the gangs are doing to us?’
When UNICEF’s Representative in Haiti Geetanjali Narayan stepped into a classroom in Port-au-Prince at the start of the new school year, she asked the children a simple question: What did they most need from the UN children’s agency?
Source: UNRead →
Education
Six UN staff killed in Gaza school strike; Lebanon violations mount
Israeli strikes killed six UN workers and civilians at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza as needs grow, according to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
Source: UNRead →
Health
Tobacco use can undermine fertility, UN health agency warns
Smoking very likely makes it harder to have a baby, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned in a new publication issued on Tuesday, highlighting that women who smoke have a 40 per cent higher risk of infertility compared to non-smokers.
Source: UNRead →
Health
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine: WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ukraine to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the UN agency said on Friday.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Four children killed as separate attacks in Gaza destroy aid supplies
Israeli attacks killed four children and destroyed humanitarian aid supplies in what turned out to be a deadly week in war-ravaged Gaza, the UN emergency relief agency, OCHA, said on Friday.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Meth trafficking across Middle East becoming more advanced, UNODC warns
Authorities in Iran intercepted 3,663 kilogrammes of methamphetamines headed for Europe and the Persian Gulf in the first quarter of 2026, according to the UN’s drugs and crime fighting agency (UNODC).
Source: UNRead →
Health
Cholera spreads across borders in West and Central Africa
Cholera is spreading rapidly across West and Central Africa, with active outbreaks now in six countries and millions of children at growing risk, UN children’s agency UNICEF has said.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Ebola virus reaches displacement camps in DR Congo
Agencies are on high alert amid reports that the rapidly spreading Ebola Bundibugyo virus species in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has infected 19 internally displaced people, killed five of them, according to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR).
Source: UNRead →
Environment
Strong El Niño ahead, UN weather agency warns
As much of the world faces grapples with above normal temperatures and major rainfall changes, the UN Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Friday that El Niño, a powerful climate pattern shaping global weather, will intensify starting next month.
Source: UNRead →
Health
Hunger hampers Ebola response as cases top 3,200 in DR Congo
The UN emergency food agency appealed for immediate funding on Wednesday, warning that deepening hunger is undermining the response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that has now infected more than 3,200 people.
Source: UNRead →
Society
75 years later, the promise to protect refugees faces its greatest test
As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has launched a global campaign urging governments, organizations and individuals to renew their commitment to protecting people forced to flee war, violence and persecution.
Source: UNRead →
Health
‘Women do not stop giving birth in an emergency’ – one month after Venezuela quakes
One month after twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, thousands of women and girls continue to face difficulty in accessing essential healthcare and protection services, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
Source: UNRead →
Society
UN refugee agency reports 144 migrants dead or missing off Mauritanian coast
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that 144 migrants attempting to reach Europe are dead or missing due to a series of “tragic maritime incidents” off the coast of Mauritania last week.
Source: UNRead →
Society
‘Cycle of escalation must end’: UN condemns deadly Strait of Hormuz attacks
The UN maritime agency, IMO, condemned overnight attacks on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz that killed at least two seafarers as fresh strikes were reported early Tuesday in the escalating US-Iran war.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Aid cuts leave at least one million women and girls without vital support
At least one million women and girls have lost access to critical humanitarian support since January 2025 as unprecedented aid cuts push women's organizations in crisis zones to the brink of collapse, the UN’s gender equality agency, UN Women, said on Friday.
Source: UNRead →
Economy
US-Iran war: Renewed attacks in Strait of Hormuz prompts another global energy alert
Renewed attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz unsettled energy markets on Wednesday and prompted calls from the UN maritime agency, IMO, for “maximum restraint and de-escalation”.
Source: UNRead →
Society
UN maritime agency seeks release of 44 detained seafarers as food runs low
The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) appealed on Monday for the urgent release of 44 seafarers held captive in Somali waters by pirates and armed robbers.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Despite record $100 million shortfall, Palestine relief agency still ‘a critical platform’ for Gaza recovery
The UN agency serving 5.9 million Palestine refugees, UNRWA, continues to strive to deliver on its mandate while facing an unprecedented $100 million budget shortfall, a gap it hopes to narrow during Tuesday’s pledging conference at UN Headquarters.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Venezuela earthquakes leave 680,000 children in need of assistance: UNICEF
Some 680,000 children are among the 1.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance following the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June, the UN child rights agency UNICEF reported on Sunday as rescue efforts continue.
Source: UNRead →
Society
Strait of Hormuz: UN evacuates 2,500 seafarers before attack freezes rescue operation
The United Nations’ maritime agency said on Friday that it had successfully evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending the operation, after an attack on a commercial vessel exposed uncertainty over who can guarantee safe passage through the…
Source: UNRead →
Society
World News in Brief: Violence displaces thousands in Haiti and Lebanon, Gaza updates, UN food agency delivers in Ebola-stricken DR Congo
More than 2,600 people were displaced in the Artibonite department of Haiti following clashes between armed groups last week as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).
Source: UNRead →
Society
World News in Brief: UN launches Hormuz evacuation plan, UNICEF youth champion killed in Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire ‘largely holding’
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will begin implementing an evacuation plan for more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN agency announced on Tuesday.
Source: UNRead →
Education
UNESCO launches consultation on fair payment for news in the digital age
UN cultural agency UNESCO has launched a global consultation process to inform its Draft Guidance on Fair Compensation for News, particularly as online platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly rely on journalistic content.
Source: UNRead →
Environment
US-Iran deal: technical work can begin, says atomic energy agency
The head of the UN-affiliated atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-US memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing “to sit down” with both parties to assist with concrete measures such as verification of Iran’s nuclear programme, a…
Source: UNRead →
Society
Resettlement remains out of reach for millions of refugees
As millions of people continue to flee their countries due to war or persecution, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, called on Tuesday for an urgent expansion of refugee resettlement programmes, warning that available places continue to fall short of global needs.
Source: UNRead →
Health
Message by the WHO Director-General to the people of Tenerife regarding the hantavirus response
To the people of Tenerife, My name is Tedros, and I serve as the Director-General of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it…
Source: WHORead →