Since the offensive began earlier this month, hundreds of people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, with more than 60,000 others displaced again, many fearing they may never return.
Civilians are reportedly trapped under rubble, while the sick and wounded lack access to life-saving care. They also face severe shortages of food and shelter, amid reports of family separations and mass detentions.
“The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable,” read a statement from the UN chief’s Spokesperson.
Mr. Guterres warned that the “widespread devastation and deprivation” caused by Israel’s military operations – particularly around Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun – have made life “untenable” for the Palestinian population there.
Despite repeated efforts to deliver essential humanitarian supplies, including food, medicine, and shelter, access continues to be denied by Israeli authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in jeopardy.
Adding to the crisis, the postponement of the final phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza has endangered thousands of children.
Little regard for international law
“This conflict continues to be waged with little regard for the requirements of international humanitarian law,” the statement noted.
Mr. Guterres emphasised that the parties to the conflict must respect and protect civilians, including humanitarian workers and first responders, whose essential work must be facilitated and protected, not impeded and jeopardized.
“In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General reiterates his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and accountability for crimes under international law,” the statement concluded.
Catastrophic situation
On Saturday, other top UN officials echoed the urgent calls for a halt to Israel’s military actions in northern Gaza.
Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned that the entire population of northern Gaza is “at risk of dying”, calling for an immediate stop to “blatant disregard for basic humanity” by Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as “catastrophic”, highlighting the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system amid ongoing attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers, calling for an immediate ceasefire to save lives.
That day was in November 2023, around a month into the war in Gaza. Ala’a is among an estimated 155,000 pregnant women and new mothers in the Gaza Strip who for the past year have been forced to give birth under fire, in tents, while fleeing bombs and often without assistance, medication or even clean water.
“The sound of the rockets and bombs was louder than my happiness, but I decided that with my little baby, we would overcome all difficulties,” she wrote in a letter thanking the tireless health staff who helped her deliver her baby in a field hospital in Khan Younis.
“We will survive whatever happens.”
UNFPA
A letter from a mother in Gaza.
Catastrophic situation
The situation for pregnant women in Gaza is catastrophic: Exhausted, weak from hunger, with health services nearly completely destroyed and none of the hospitals fully operational, they have few places to turn for care and treatment.
After hundreds of attacks on medical facilities, just 17 out of 36 hospitals are even partially functioning.
Fuel and supplies are also running dangerously short, health-care workers are being killed or forced to flee and those that remain are stretched thin at a time when Gaza’s whole population is facing a surge in injuries, illnesses and diseases, including the first case of polio in over 25 years.
Perils of displacement
More than 500,000 women in Gaza have lost access to vital services like pre- and postnatal care, family planning and treatment for infections. Among them, over 17,000 pregnant women are on the brink of famine.
“After seven months, I was forced to leave my home and live in a tent,” Ala’a continued in her letter. “I cried a lot, feeling that my brave baby would never see the walls of his room that I had always dreamed of preparing for him.”
But, her anguish didn’t end there, as she was soon evacuated yet again.
“It was a cry from the depths of my heart [that I had] to give birth out of my home,” wrote Ala’a. “After 50 days I fled under fire, running, screaming and crying because of the bombs. At that moment, I feared I might lose my baby.”
Some 1.9 million people are currently displaced in Gaza, many of whom have already been forced to move multiple times over the past year. Since the start of the war, miscarriages, obstetric complications, low birth weight and premature births are reported to have risen at alarming rates, mainly due to stress, malnutrition and a near-total lack of maternity care.
Recalling her time escaping the bombardments, Ala’a wrote, “We are here, starting from nothing – no shelter, no home, not even a destiny. We built a tent again, and we promised each other again that we must survive, whatever happens.”
A glimmer of light
“Two weeks later I felt some pain…It was labour pains! [I thought] ‘No. It’s too early, I want to give birth at home.’”
After four days of labour, Ala’a visited a field hospital in Khan Younis run by UK-Med, a humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) that has a specialised maternity unit supported by the United Kingdom and the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, UNFPA.
“I came for a check-up and everything was great,” she continued. “The midwife and nurses were kind and warm. I spoke to Dr. Helen, and she encouraged me to come and give birth there.”
When the time came, they made sure Ala’a delivered her baby safely.
“I went directly to the hospital at 2am and all the midwives were ready. But, they told me there was no way for a natural birth, it was too dangerous.”
UNFPA provides the hospital’s maternity unit with reproductive health kits and supplies and ensures staff can offer comprehensive care, including for obstetric emergencies.
Ala’a and her newborn Mohammad have recovered well, despite the ongoing war and lack of clean water, food or security.
“It was the best decision to come here to give birth,” she wrote. “I like that they smile all the time even though they are under pressure. They are a great team.”
Health care under fire
The impact of the war in Gaza on women and girls is staggering: More than 500,000 women have lost access to vital services like pre- and postnatal care, family planning and treatment for infections; over 17,000 pregnant women are in severe stages of hunger.
UNFPA and its partners are dedicated to providing reproductive health support, distributing life-saving medicines, medical equipment and supplies and deploying teams of midwives and health-care workers at both official and makeshift camps.
Six mobile maternal health units have also been set up in field hospitals to deliver emergency obstetric care to mothers and their newborns wherever they are. But it is impossible to provide continuous support without a ceasefire, full access to health services and sustained funding.
Despite all the hardships she has endured, Ala’a refuses to lose heart.
“From Mohammad, my son, thanks for everything,” she wrote, expressing gratitude to the staff at the hospital.
“We are grateful for you. I hope that we meet again in better times.”
This follows Israeli airstrikes in southern suburbs of the city that targeted the leader of the Hezbollah armed group, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed, according to media reports.
The development comes amid escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah along the UN-patrolled line of separation in southern Lebanon known as the Blue Line, against the backdrop of the nearly year-long war in Gaza.
Avert all-out war
The Secretary-General’s Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, issued a statement stressing that “this cycle of cycle of violence must stop now, and all sides must step back from the brink.”
“The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, as well as the wider region, cannot afford an all-out war,” he said.
Mr. Guterres urged the parties to recommit to the full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities.
Resolution 1701 was adopted in August 2006 and aimed to end the war that erupted in Lebanon that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It called for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the establishment of a demilitarized zone.
The Secretary-General also reiterated his longstanding appeal for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held in the enclave.
Families on the move
The attacks in Beirut have sparked a new wave of mass displacements.
In response, UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has expanded shelter operations to support families forced to move.
Emergency supplies are being distributed to more than 5,000 people, UNICEF said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, the number of people heading to Lebanon’s border with Syria is “growing rapidly”, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
The new arrivals, who include women, children and elderly persons, “are exhausted after hours of travel without food and water”, UNHCR said in a tweet.
Airstrikes displace thousands
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have forced thousands to flee their homes, including Palestine refugees living in the country.
Cross-border incidents have displaced 211,319 people since October 2023, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Teams from the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, are responding, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday in a tweet.
Trauma, uncertainty and fear
UNRWA has opened seven emergency shelters across the country which are currently hosting 1,600 people, including Lebanese citizens and Palestinian and Syrian refugees.
“Many are traumatized due to the ongoing bombardment, uncertainty and fears,” Mr. Lazzarini said. “For some, it is trauma re-lived given repeated cycles of conflict over the decades.”
He warned that a further expansion of the war will only bring more suffering for civilians.
Mr. Lazzarini ended the tweet by stressing that civilians must be protected, while civilian infrastructure must not be targeted.
The sun beats down on the fertile fields of Bolívar, Colombia, where lush green valleys stretch towards the distant Andes mountains. It’s a picture of idyllic rural life, but beneath the surface lies a complex and painful past. For decades, this region was ravaged by armed conflict, leaving communities shattered and livelihoods destroyed.
Saray Zúñiga, a proud Palenquera woman, knows the cost of conflict all too well. Palenqueras are women from the San Basilio de Palenque communities, descendants of African slaves who fought for their freedom and established a unique cultural haven. They are known for their vibrant attire and their tradition of selling fruit, preserving a rich heritage that is recognized by UNESCO.
“I was displaced five times; my children grew up in displacement,” she says, her voice heavy with the weight of memory. “We in Palenque never thought this could happen, that there would be massacres and rapes. We were persecuted, and many of my friends at the time are not alive today.”
Saray’s story is echoed by countless others in Bolívar. Farmers were forced from their homes, their fields trampled, their harvests stolen. The once-thriving agricultural communities were reduced to ghost towns, their inhabitants scattered across the country.
But in 2016, a glimmer of hope emerged. The Colombian government signed a peace agreement with the FARC rebel group, marking the end of over 50 years of conflict. As part of the deal, the government committed to enhancing rural development and partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to help implement this goal.
A key turning point was the implementation of the FAO-Sweden joint project, Territorial Transformation, Resilience and Sustainability. This initiative focused on improving rural livelihoods by strengthening agricultural production, promoting sustainable land use, and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders. It also empowered women through skill development and leadership opportunities.
With FAO’s support, farmers like Saray began the long and arduous process of rebuilding their lives. They reclaimed their land, re-established their farms, and formed cooperatives to gain better access to markets. It wasn’t easy. The scars of conflict ran deep, and trust was hard to come by. But slowly, with patience and perseverance, the communities began to heal.
Today, Bolívar is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Farmers are not only growing crops but also cultivating peace. They’re working together to protect the environment, promote sustainable agriculture, and build a brighter future for their children.
Saray, once a victim of conflict, is now a beacon of hope. She stands proudly in the Toro Sonrisa Ecological and Artisanal shop & restaurant, a bustling hub of activity where farmers sell their produce and traditional Palenque sweets. “This is happiness,” she says, her eyes sparkling with joy. “We have recovered our tranquility.”
But the journey towards lasting peace and prosperity is far from over. The farmers of Bolívar, with their resilience and determination, are writing a new chapter in their history.
Discover the full extent of the Bolivar community’s inspiring journey and the transformative power of agriculture on the FAO website.
Under shelling and gunfire, Esraa cradled her newborn son. As the war in Sudan broke out in April 2023, she was trying to reach a health clinic for treatment for her baby, who had been struggling with infections and breathing difficulties. But with the roads blocked by fighting, the young mother never made it to the clinic; her son died in her arms.
When she became pregnant again in August last year, she was haunted by the fear of losing another child. “There’s only one functioning maternal hospital left in Khartoum,” said Esraa. “It’s incredibly dangerous to move around the city – one of our neighbours died on her way to the hospital.”
Throughout the war, Esraa and her family have been forced to move repeatedly as areas that were safe one day became lethal the next. They eventually found refuge in a crowded shelter with other displaced people from Khartoum.
‘It was like moving from one grave to another’
Once the largest city in Sudan, Khartoum now has vast areas that resemble ghost towns. In shelters set up for people forced from their homes, conditions are dire: Overcrowding is rampant and basic hygiene essentials mostly missing. Food is also increasingly scarce, leaving many battling severe hunger as Sudan faces the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded in the country.
As the crisis deepens and diseases like polio and cholera spread, accessing health care has become one of the most critical challenges for the people of Khartoum. Most medical facilities have been forced out of service due to destruction and a severe lack of supplies.
“I was five months pregnant when I arrived at the shelter,” said Esraa. “For me, it was like moving from one grave to another. We were constantly expecting something bad to happen. Hope had no place in our hearts.”
Midwives and other health professionals at the Khartoum Maternity Hospital, Sudan..
Roving responders
Amid these dire conditions, a mobile health team supported by UNFPA arrived at the shelter to provide reproductive health and protection services to the women and girls living there. “The mobile health teams play a crucial role in preventing maternal deaths, offering a comprehensive range of medical services in war-affected areas of Sudan,” explained Mohamed Hasan Nahat, coordinator of the team.
Esraa received antenatal care and micronutrients from the team, who made regular visits to care for her and the other women and girls in the shelter. “They not only helped me with medical care but also gave me a sense of safety and hope that I hadn’t felt in months,” she said.
Four months later, Esraa gave birth to a healthy baby boy, assisted by the mobile team. “I gave birth in the shelter. They took care of me and the baby – I even named him Mohamed after the doctor who helped me.”
UNFPA has deployed 56 mobile health teams across 11 states in Sudan, which provide sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence protection and response. Since the war began, the teams – including doctors, pharmacists, lab technicians, psychologists and midwives – have conducted over 150,000 medical consultations.
Midwives and other health professionals at the Khartoum Maternity Hospital, Sudan..
Although they are saving lives and providing the only medical assistance many have received, humanitarians like social worker Nisreen Kamal Abdulla felt there was still more they wanted to do for these communities.
“The time available at the clinic was not enough to treat everyone – we should visit every community more frequently to reach more people and provide consistent care,” she told UNFPA. “Most of the women we met who have psychological issues have stopped their treatment because they can’t afford the medicine.”
Reaching remote communities
The mobility of the teams is crucial for increasing access to vital services in remote areas, preventing maternal deaths due to unsafe childbirth and high-risk pregnancies. Too often a lack of transportation means many simply cannot get to a health centre in time – or at all.
On average, a team will cover three different locations per week, spending one to two days in each, based on the community’s size and needs.
“Even though I did not leave Khartoum during the war and continued working in its hospitals, this experience was different,” explained Dr. Nahat.
“I reached far-away areas and connected with people I had not been able to reach before. It was a great morale boost for them to know there are organizations that care about them and are not leaving them behind.”
This year’s International Day for Clean air and Blue Skies, celebrated annually on 7 September, is focused on the theme ‘Invest in #CleanAirNow’ and highlights the economic, environmental and health benefits of investing in clean air.
The Day was established in 2019 after the UN General Assembly noted how detrimental air pollutants are and recognised the importance of clean air for people’s lives.
Mr. Guterres highlighted how harmful pollution can be, noting that 99 per cent of humanity breathes polluted air which leads to millions of global premature deaths.
“Pollution is also choking economies and heating up our planet, adding fuel to the fire of the climate crisis,” the UN chief said. “And it disproportionally affects those most vulnerable in society, including women, children, and older persons.”
The Secretary-General said investing in clean air will take action from governments, businesses, development organizations and more at a regional and global level.
Mr. Guterres is encouraging the relevant stakeholders to decrease their use of fossil fuels, transition to clean cooking and increase air quality monitoring.
“Investing in clean air saves lives, combats climate change, strengthens economies, builds fairer societies, and advances the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said. “…let’s invest now so we can breathe easy knowing we are securing a healthier planet for all.”
Air quality and climate
Mr. Guterres’ message marking the international day highlights some of the challenges outlined in a new report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which details the impacts of climate change, wildfires and air pollution on human health.
The report noted that both the northern and southern hemispheres experienced “hyper-active wildfire seasons” in 2023 which caused numerous deaths and damaged livestock.
“The 2023 wildfire season set a multi-decade record in Canada in terms of total area burned, with seven times more hectares burned than the 1990–2013 average, according to the Canadian National Fire Database,” the report said.
The wildfires also worsened air quality in eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States.
For that reason, the WMO Deputy-Secretary-General Ko Barrett said climate change and air quality cannot be treated separately.
“They go hand-in-hand and must be tackled together,” Ms. Barrett said. “It would be a win-win situation for the health of our planet, its people and our economies, to recognise the inter-relationship and act accordingly.”
‘It knows no borders’
Also recognising the need for global change as the international day for clear air approaches is the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which described air pollution as the “biggest environmental health risk of our time” noting that it worsens climate change, reduces agricultural productivity and causes economic loss.
Inger Andersen, UNEP’s Executive Director, said, “Every person on this planet has a right to breathe clean air, yet almost every person is having this right violated.”
Ms. Andersen echoed the UN chief’s call for there to be a global investment in clean air.
“We are asking nations and regions and cities to establish robust air quality standards,” she said.
“We are asking them to back renewable energy and sustainable transport to hold industry to account with strict emission standards, and to integrate air quality into climate action,” Ms. Andersen continued.
UNEP says if air pollution is tackled proactively, transformative change and healthy air can be achieved.
Hundreds of Gazan families have been queueing to await the turn of their child to receive a polio vaccination since early Sunday morning, in a campaign designed to stop the resurgence of a virus whose re-emergence has been blamed on insanitary conditions.
Speaking to international media on Sunday, Sam Rose, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said that over 200 teams are administering the vaccine in 25 locations in the middle areas of Gaza.
Mr. Rose said that the teams, which are going “tent to tent”, need to reach all children in Gaza under the age of 10 in order for the campaign to be successful.
The operation – organized by UNRWA, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health –will continue in the coming days, if the temporary pause in fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces holds.
As foreign troops suddenly withdrew, life for millions of Afghans, especially women and girls descended into chaos.
“If I had left, a mother or a baby could have died,” Ms. Ahmadi said. “I was worried, but I couldn’t leave because people needed our services. I stayed because people, especially pregnant women, needed my support.”
Clinics shuttered
Public health workers were severely affected by the takeover, as hospitals and clinics were either forced to close or rendered non-functional and their staff could no longer make it to work safely.
Pregnant women were worried about where to deliver as health facilities were closing, Ms. Ahmadi told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency that is supporting efforts throughout Afghanistan.
“So, I didn’t close the family health house,” she said.
Seeking skilled healthcare
One of the women who sought help at the Ahangaran clinic was 29-year-old Sughra, who was nine months pregnant.
“A few days earlier, I had gone to the provincial hospital in Bamyan City, but staff told me they weren’t sure whether they would remain open in the following days,” Sughra said.
Uncertain about the availability of skilled care she would find in the city and stressed by the unfolding security situation, she decided to go to her father’s home, as soon as she felt some early, pre-labour contractions.
Humanitarians at work
With her husband and sister-in-law, Sughra endured a three-hour trip in the back of a truck on rough roads to reach her father’s village.
“I was afraid I would give birth on the truck,” she recalled.
A few days later, Sughra started having labour pains and asked to be taken to the family health house, which is supported by UNFPA and is the only available facility in the area.
“We arrived very early in the morning, but my labour lasted throughout the day,” she said.
She delivered a healthy baby boy without any complications at 2pm on 19 August 2021 – on World Humanitarian Day.
“The labour was agonising, but I was happy that we managed everything from the family health house,” Sughra recalled. “If the clinic hadn’t existed during those days, who knows what could have happened to me.”
Mariza Ahmadi has worked as a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Ahangaran family health house in Bamyan Province for four years.
Commitment to her country
Behind the safe delivery is the bravery of the midwife.
“That was a tough situation, but this clinic did not close for a single day during those times,” Ms. Ahmadi said.
“I was also scared, but if I left, all our efforts to prevent maternal and newborn deaths would have gone to waste.”
Against the odds
Afghanistan has long had one of the highest rates of maternal deaths in the world, with one woman dying every hour due to pregnancy and childbirth complications – deaths that could be largely preventable with adequate skilled midwifery care.
Now, as the de facto authorities have drastically reduced women’s ability to work and travel without being accompanied by a male guardian, the situation is only looking more perilous for the women and girls – and future generations – of Afghanistan.
Ms. Ahmadi assisted with three other deliveries that week, serving women who had been displaced from other districts in Bamyan province.
“For the four years I have been working here, there have been no maternal deaths in this clinic.”
Midwifery emergency
Currently funded by the United States and previously by Italy, the Ahangaran family health house provides people living in the surrounding isolated communities with lifesaving health services, despite its location in a remote area of Bamyan province.
Midwives can meet about 90 per cent of the need for essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health needs, yet there is a global shortage of some 900,000 trained midwives.
Afghanistan urgently needs an additional 18,000 to meet the demand for skilled birth attendance, a lack that otherwise endangers lives and undermines women’s and girls’ bodily autonomy on a vast scale.
Sughra endured a three-hour trip in the back of a truck on rough roads to reach the village health centre and deliver her baby boy.
Health houses help, one baby at a time
In 2021, UNFPA was supporting just over 70 family health houses in Afghanistan, a figure that – despite the extremely challenging operating environment – has swelled more than sixfold to 477 today.
Since 2021, these clinics have helped more than five million Afghans access critical health services, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
Back at home, Sughra’s son, Farhad, just celebrated his third birthday.
“When he grows up,” Sughra said, “I hope he can study so he can build a good future for himself and other people around him.”
More than 80 people, including at least 13 police personnel, are said to have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters, according to media reports. Authorities have imposed a curfew and restricted internet access.
A police station in Sirajganj district, about 100 kilometres (62.5 miles) northwest of the capital, Dhaka, was also attacked.
The renewed violence follows massive protests in July by students against the Government, demanding an end to a “quota system” for government jobs amid rising unemployment, in which more than 200 people were reportedly killed.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced deep concern over the situation, including a planned mass march on Dhaka on Monday, and the youth wing of the ruling Awami League party called up against the protesters.
“I am deeply worried that there will be further loss of life and wider destruction. I appeal urgently to the political leadership and to the security forces to abide by their obligations to protect the right to life, and the freedom of peaceful assembly and expression,” he said in a statement.
He underscored the importance of accountability for human rights violations, including for those with superior and command responsibility.
“The international community must make it clear that at this pivotal time, there will be no impunity.”
Cease suppression of discontent
High Commissioner Türk also called on the Government to cease targeting those participating peacefully in the protest movement, as well as immediately release those arbitrarily detained.
Alongside, full Internet access must be restored and conditions created for meaningful dialogue.
“The continuing effort to suppress popular discontent, including through the excessive use of force, and the deliberate spread of misinformation and incitement to violence, must immediately cease,” Mr. Türk said.
The Special Event entitled Keeping the SDG Promise: Pathways for Acceleration is taking place on the sidelines of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) now underway, aimed at getting the SDGs back on track and leaving no country behind.
It will give a boost to the so-called “High Impact Initiatives” championed by the whole UN development system and key investment strategies, while also highlighting countries.
Speaking exclusively to UN News’s Mayra Lopes, the UN deputy chief emphasized six key transition areas for accelerating the SDGs which are essential to success: food systems, energy access and affordability; digital connectivity, education, jobs and social protection; and climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
UN News: The global community is meeting this week at the High-Level Political Forum. We still have six years left until the 2030 deadline for the SDGs. What is your message to leaders?
Amina Mohammed: Be leaders. Be leaders for people and what they need and the promises that are made in the SDG agenda. Be leaders for the planet and the things that we need to have put in place for a 1.5-degree world.
Be leaders and inspire, that are accountable to the UN Charter. And come away from the UN knowing that this is the place where you will hear those voices and their expectations and aspirations. And that should give you the energy and the inspiration to go back and do the right thing.
UN News: The United Nations system unites around these six key transitions or pathways to acceleration. Can you tell us more about these areas and why it is so important to leave no one behind?
Amina Mohammed: We had very clear marching orders from Member States when they really did get the wake-up call of how badly off-track we were with the SDGs last year. 15 per cent, 17 per cent in some places. Not a pass mark. And for that, we had to think if this is an acceleration to 2030, what is it that would get resources in to get behind investments that would deliver on the SDGs? All 17 of them. And you’re not going to go out there talking about 17 ideas.
These are signposts for getting us to where we need to get to. So, we sort of clarified what those investments could be. Where business would come, the public sector is already there, where we could scale up, where the UN could reposition itself to help accompany countries to that. And so, those transitions made sense because we were talking about food systems.
Why were we talking about food systems? We had felt the impact of COVID and what that did to disrupt the world. We felt the impact of Ukraine on the food systems directly. We, of course, responded with the Black Sea Grain Initiative and that saved many lives.
But I think it was apparent that we could do more. And dependency on others was not always the best way to go. That is also a system that takes away from us getting to a 1.5-degree world.
The second was the transitions on energy. How do we make sure that energy gets to everyone? Access – whether it was for cooking or to small-scale industries such as education and health – and to really look at it off-grid. Not everything has to be on the grid. We can find mini-grids that power up whole communities – and especially if we were trying to link that to food systems as well.
The third was connectivity. Of course, the new technologies are here now. How do we connect people? And in this particular instance, for what? Well, for financial services for women for one. We want to make sure that you can join the world without leaving your village, on e-commerce. That needs to be powered, to be connected.
And then we also thought that, well, education is not in a good place. So, that was a fourth transition. It’s not the transformation of education we want to achieve overnight. That’s the end game of what you want to put into it. But what is the first thing that perhaps needs attention? Young people are out of work. They’ve not had the education they ought to.
You want to connect them to markets. And to do that, if you’re transforming food systems skills, how could you do that with technology and do it better and make it more equitable? Close the divides that there are today. Create jobs that people feel they are losing or have lost.
And then, to put this in context, I think of two important things: the resilience of people that needs to be supported by, I would say, a social protection floor that takes from the country’s GDP. Then, you’ve got some resilience, and you can ensure that when you have these big knocks like COVID-19, that people are not knocked off track.
Last but not least, the enabling environment will become more difficult if we don’t take cognizance of what we would call the triple crisis: climate, biodiversity, and pollution.
UN News: I want to refer to the digital innovation part. I wanted to hear if you feel hopeful and how you think we can leverage this new technology?
Amina Mohammed: There was a gentleman who I met recently in Barbados. And he was the one who designed the search engine, the very first one we had called Archie. I said to him, so you tell me, what do you think about this new era of technology that you’re obviously very familiar with? And he said, “It’s very exciting, it’s very scary, and we’re not ready”. And I thought, well, that probably captured the reality.
The Secretary-General has put in place his offer to the Summit of the Future of how to put the guardrails around the potentials. There is a dark side to it, but there are so many opportunities, and I think that structure will help us to be safer.
It will help us to go further in a world that’s connected and we must do things about governance, about the way in which technology is used, whether it’s algorithms that are designed, have a bias against women.
But I think what is more important is when I said to him: “Is this like going from the horse and cart to the combustion engine when we industrialized?”. And he said, “No, it’s much more than that – because you’re talking about changing societies and the way we do things”. We will never be the same again because we will be so much more connected.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed addresses the opening of the High-level Political Forum 2024.
UN News: We are talking a lot about the SDG acceleration, but we have a very challenging landscape right now with wars and global tensions. How do you think we can still push for SDG acceleration in this scenario?
Amina Mohammed: Well, back to your first question. We need leadership. We need leadership at all levels. That’s not just the president of a country, but in all constituencies, business, civil society, young people.
That will be a key part of what should make us hopeful. Rebirthing the United Nations [as] a stronger town hall for a global village, so that voices here are not only heard but acted upon.
We don’t all have the same muscle on that floor, but we do have a voice, and we can take that out and we must remember every day that the representation of our people is so diverse, and the needs are so complex.
Perhaps more important to me is how we find the resources for the development agenda, for peace, for security. But not security in the way in which we pay for war; but security in which we invest in the prevention – which is development.
We find ourselves in a system which was designed for a 1945 recovery from World War Two. “May we never know the scourge of war again”. But we have. And the same principles we applied then, which was to say people have to have access to resources to rebuild their lives, are exactly the same principles we need to have today to say you need to have long term financing for your development, wherever you are in the world.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (2nd right) visits an Ecological Living Module, a demonstration of eco-friendly and affordable housing exhibited at UN Headquarters in New York. (file)
My hope is that acceleration happens because we all understand there’s an existential threat with a 1.5-degree world hanging in the balance, that people will no longer sit on the sidelines.
And how they react depends on how much injustice they think they’re being meted out by their local leadership, national leadership, and international leadership. So, this is a globe very much connected. Young people are full of energy. They are anxious because they don’t see a future.
If I go back to the creation of many terrorists, they’re not born. It’s an environment that excludes, an environment of injustice, an environment of no hope.
And therefore, a young person finds themselves easy fodder for those who would like to disrupt, in a way that is unfortunate.
So, I have hope that we have never been more equipped in a world with resources to do the right thing. We have an amazing framework and path to this through the SDGs. And I think that we should just get up and race this last mile and then deliver the promise of the SDGs.
According to Government figures, the number of inmates are four times over the planned capacity, making the Philippines one of the most overcrowded penal systems in the world alongside countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Uganda.
But now the Government, with the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is trying to ease congestion by prioritizing, amongst other things, the release of elderly prisoners.
Toto Aquino, who is 70 years old, spoke to UN News’ Daniel Dickinson at his home in the Pandacan neighbourhood of the capital Manila.
“I was released two weeks ago and I feel good. I was incarcerated for eight years, four years in pre-trial detention at Manila City Jail and, four years after I was convicted, in Bilibid prison.
It was very crowded and I slept on a piece of cardboard in a corridor in Bilibid during those four years. I was housed in a maximum-security wing, 4C-2, alongside members of a gang, but I was not a gang member myself. There is a hierarchy in gangs and this is why I did not have a good place to sleep.
We had to go to our sleeping quarters at 6pm every day and wake up at 4am. Every day I ate porridge, coffee, bread and rice and sometimes hotdogs. This is rancho food, the food that prisoners receive from the prison kitchen. You can buy other food, but I didn’t have the money, so I survived off rancho.
UNODC/Laura Gil
Detention facilities in the Philippines are amongst the most crowded in the world.
It feels good to be free! I am living with my younger brother in the house that I grew up in with my five siblings. Life is very different now as I can eat and sleep when I want. I have a comfortable bed and my own room and my brother cooks good food.
In prison, I dreamt of chicken adobo [Filipino chicken stew] and a soft mattress and today I have both of these things; sleeping and eating is now my joy.
UN News/Daniel Dickinson
Since I was released from prison I have stayed at home. I am comfortable here. I sit on a stool on my doorstep and watch the neighbourhood go by.
I grew up here, so I know my neighbours. I sometimes sweep the yard and burn the rubbish and I also continue to do 15 press-ups several times a day, which I started in prison to keep fit.
I have not seen my daughter for ten years. She lives in another part of the country and I hope to see her soon as she is pregnant with her second child.
I think it is important for convicted people to serve their sentences, but I also think the release of old people like me should be prioritized. I was released with other elderly prisoners, but I know men who are 75 years old and who are still being held.”
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists the Al-Ahli and Patient Friendly Hospitals in northern Gaza are the latest facilities unable to function due to fighting nearby.
He said patients from Al-Ahli have been evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital which is now operating at three times its capacity.
Thousands awaiting evacuation
“Over 10,000 patients still need medical evacuation for treatment that cannot be provided in Gaza,” he said, stressing that “multiple evacuation corridors are needed urgently to the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan.”
Tedros noted that almost the entire population of Gaza is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with nearly one in four at risk of starvation.
Meanwhile, very few supplies are entering the enclave, and only five WHO trucks were allowed in last week.
Aid stuck at the border
Tedros said more than 34 trucks are waiting at the El Arish crossing with Egypt, 850 pallets of supplies are awaiting collection, and a further 40 trucks are standing at Ismailiya, also in Egypt.
He called for restrictions on supplies entering Gaza to be lifted immediately, saying “the people of Gaza who have nothing to do with this conflict must not be the ones who pay the price for it.”
United Nations
People survey the damage after a school was bombarded in central Gaza.
‘Perfect breeding ground for diseases’
The WHO Director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, also briefed reporters on her 11-day visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, describing the situation in Gaza as “very concerning on both a human and humanitarian level.”
Lack of fuel is compromising all health and humanitarian operations there, she said, with running sewage and garbage in the demolished streets and the smell of fermented waste permeating the air.
“This situation is providing the perfect breeding ground for diseases to spread, leading to an increase in cases of acute watery diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections among many others,” she said.
Breakdown in law and order
“Ongoing violence and the breakdown of law and order are devastating an already crippled city and creating an extremely high-risk environment – not just for aid workers, but for everyone in Gaza,” she added.
The breakdown of law and order also makes it nearly impossible to manage gender-based violence, exposing displaced Palestinians to additional life- threatening risks.
Although WHO has expanded its medical supply chain for Gaza to respond to the increasing hostilities and soaring needs, much of this aid remains “stuck on the wrong side of the borders”, she said, echoing Tedros.
“And even when supplies do enter the breakdown – again, I repeat – of law and order makes it challenging for our teams to deliver them to hospitals that urgently need them,” she added.
Open the borders
Dr. Balkhy also spoke about her visit to the IMC Field Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, which has been relocated twice and tripled its capacity over the past few months.
She met a severely malnourished seven-year-old girl who had been evacuated from the north three months ago and is among the 10,000 patients awaiting further evacuation outside Gaza so they can receive specialized care for conditions such as trauma injuries and chronic diseases.
While in the region, the senior WHO official also held meetings with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, and UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland, and they all agreed on the need to address the suffering in Gaza.
“We need Member States to swiftly fulfill their global diplomacy mandate and expedite an immediate truce,” she said, speaking from Cairo, Egypt.
“We need all borders, including Rafah border, to open and allow fuel, medical supplies and other essential humanitarian aid to flow in, and we need those who require medical care to be able to exit.”
West Bank attacks continue
Dr. Balkhy also travelled to the West Bank and witnessed the rapidly worsening health situation there.
She visited the Jenin General Hospital and the clinic run by UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, and learned about health workers who were killed or injured in repeated attacks. She also saw extensive damage to infrastructure and medical equipment.
In the face of damaged roads and access restrictions, WHO and partners, including the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, have set up mobile medical services to reach people at the point of injury, she said.
The UN agency has also supported mass casualty management training and response planning at the Jenin General Hospital and six other hospitals in the West Bank.
“Our goal is seamless and effective trauma care across all levels, based on lessons from Gaza,” she said.
Support regional health systems
Dr. Balkhy also stressed the need to strengthen the already fragile health systems in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
She voiced extreme concern over the escalation of violence along the border between Lebanon and Israel, which has resulted in increased deaths and injuries amongst civilians and health workers, as well as displacement and damage to health infrastructure.
“In our region entire generations have grown up knowing nothing but conflict and deprivation,” she said. “Addressing the root political causes of these emergencies is not just a humanitarian necessity, but a strategic investment in regional stability and security.”
Food rations reduced
The UN and aid partners continue their response efforts as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza wears on.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has assisted about a quarter of a million people so far this month and provided rations to over a million people in June, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, speaking in New York.
“However, limited food stocks in central and southern Gaza forced WFP to reduce rations last month, with some areas only receiving wheat flour,” he said.
Supplies running short
WFP has also worked with dozens of community kitchens to provide roughly 1.8 million hot meals to people in central and southern Gaza, as well as Gaza City, since the start of July.
“But the agency warns that the supplies needed for this assistance will be depleted in just days unless additional stocks are received,” Mr. Dujarric said.
Meanwhile, humanitarians are providing critical support to displaced people crossing from northern to southern Gaza in the wake of the latest Israeli order for people to leave Gaza city.
This includes water, hot meals, food parcels, and health and nutrition support.
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation to Turkmenistan for hosting the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in Ashgabat, and commended Turkmenistan’s generosity in granting citizenship to stateless people.
He also thanked the President for providing the UN Country Team with a new building.
Regional challenges
Later at a press encounter, Mr. Guterres told journalists that “Turkmenistan is playing a very important role in international relations”, particularly in cooperation with the UN.
“In these troubled times, I commend Turkmenistan’s policy of neutrality,” he said.
The Secretary-General is on an official visit to Central Asia, which covers Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Mr. Guterres last visited the region seven years ago. Since then it has been affected by numerous global challenges, he said, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions and the intensifying climate crisis.
He was encouraged that relations between Central Asian countries have improved in the face of these challenges, and regional cooperation has deepened, again highlighting the important role played by Turkmenistan.
He said the region continues to face many obstacles to development, including water shortages, land degradation, natural hazards, and a lack of adequate connectivity.
“The solutions are interlinked and can be found through dialogue and cooperation, and Turkmenistan plays a central role in that cooperation,” he said.
UN commitment
The Secretary-General noted that the establishment of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy demonstrates the Organization’s commitment to Central Asia.
“With the engagement of all five Central Asian countries, the Regional Centre will continue to provide a forum for coming together around common solutions, especially on the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia and the management of natural resources to the benefit of all,” he said.
Climate action and sustainable development
The Secretary-General also used the opportunity to highlight how like other countries across Central Asia, Turkmenistan is suffering the impacts of the intensifying climate crisis.
He stressed the need for “far more ambitious climate action and cuts in emissions if the world is to stay within 1.5 degrees of global heating.”
Mr. Guterres further noted that Turkmenistan has made “important strides” towards achieving a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that the UN Country Team is engaged with the Government in identifying gaps and risks.
“Sustainable, inclusive development can be enormously enhanced by respect for the full spectrum of human rights – economic, social, political, cultural and civic,” he added.
In this regard, the Secretary-General encouraged Turkmenistan to continue engaging with UN human rights mechanisms and recommendations.
Displacements in this Caribbean country have reached record levels, with nearly 600,000 people forced to leave their homes this year – double the number from last year. This makes Haiti the country with the highest number of displacements due to violence.
Support from the NGO TOYA
Louise and Chantal* both received support from the Haitian NGO TOYA, a partner of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional branch of the World Health Organization (WHO).
People continue to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince due to gang-related violence.
Louise, 47, is a single mother of five children. Currently, only one of her children, an 11-year-old, is with her, while the other four are scattered elsewhere in the country. “We were driven out by bandits; they burned our homes,” she recounts in a testimony collected by a PAHO official.
Her mother recently died due to hypertension and the stress resulting from repeated forced displacements. “My mother had to be forcibly displaced twice in a short time,” she laments.
‘I took a big step back in my life’
Chantal, 56, and a single mother of six children, shares Louise’s sufferings. Her house was also burned. “The bandits raped me and my daughter. I contracted HIV as a result. They beat me, and I lost four teeth. The father of my children is no longer able to care for them. I am now destitute. I took a big step back in my life and don’t know how to recover,” she explains.
A funeral procession passes through the Grand Cemetery in downtown Port-au-Prince.
“The insecurity took everything from me; I was half-crazy. I even thought about drinking bleach to commit suicide after the events,” she testifies.
Louise was at another displacement site before getting to Carl Brouard Square in Port-au-Prince. During this time, the TOYA Foundation helped her by providing kits with essential items and funds that allowed her to start a small business.
However, this respite was short-lived. One day, “the bandits” invaded the site at Carl Brouard Square, and once again, she lost everything. “My business, my belongings, I couldn’t take anything during the attack,” she says.
The insecurity took everything from me; I was half-crazy. I even thought about drinking bleach to commit suicide after the events. — Chantal
Chantal went to the TOYA Foundation’s premises, where she received psychosocial support, training sessions, and funds.
‘Life is not over’
“In the training sessions, TOYA’s psychologists taught me what life is and its importance. They showed me that life is not over for me, that I can become what I want, and that I still have value. I received considerable support from everyone at TOYA”, she emphasizes.
Currently, she lives with a relative and some of her children. Some of her offspring are in the provinces, including her teenage daughter, who was raped along with her.
“Thank God she was not infected with HIV. But she has been traumatized since. She doesn’t want to return to Port-au-Prince. She was supposed to graduate this year but stopped everything because of this incident,” Chantal recounts.
She says she has faced a lot of discrimination from her family due to her HIV-positive status. “They think I can infect them because I live under the same roof,” she states, noting that she continues to take her medication without issue.
Despite this difficult situation, she focuses on her life and how she can earn money to send to her children scattered in various places.
‘I want to see my children grow up’
For her part, Louise currently has no support because she lost her only source of income, which was her business.
“All I want is to live in peace,” she says. “Life in the sites is really difficult. The classrooms where we sleep flood every time it rains. We have to wait for the rain to stop to clean up and find a small space to rest and try to sleep.”
It’s been a long time since Louise has been able to visit some of her children whom she sent to the provinces. “I can’t go there due to the cost of living and the bandits who extort passengers on the roads,” she explains. “I’m tired of having to flee under the sound of gunfire. We are always at risk of being attacked at any moment.”
In this difficult context, Louise’s greatest goal “is to live.”
“All I want is to live,” Chantal echoes. She still suffers from hypertension “because the stress of the situation in Haiti is really unbearable.”
“But I still have to go about my business because I have mouths to feed. I want “to see my children grow up; I want to see them succeed in life,” she says.
*The names have been changed to protect their identities.
“The security, prosperity and health of billions of people rely on thriving lands supporting lives, livelihoods and ecosystems, but we’re vandalising the Earth that sustains us.”
Desertification, land degradation and drought are currently among the most pressing environmental challenges.
United for land
The Day’s theme is United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future, spotlighting the future of land stewardship, which is the planet’s most precious resource to ensure the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world.
Healthy land not only provides us with almost 95 per cent of food eaten around the world, but so much more. It clothes and shelters people, provides jobs and livelihoods and protects communities from the worsening droughts, floods and wildfires.
“As the focus of this year’s World Day reminds us, we must be ‘United for Land’,” he said. “Governments, businesses, academics, communities and more must come together and act.”
‘We know what we need to do’
Growing populations coupled with unsustainable production and consumption patterns fuel demand for natural resources, putting excessive pressure on land to the point of degradation.
At the same time, desertification and drought are driving forced migration, putting tens of millions of people each year at risk of displacement.
Of the world’s eight billion inhabitants, over one billion of young people under the age of 25 years live in developing countries, particularly in regions directly dependent on land and natural resources for sustenance. Creating job prospects for rural populations is a viable solution that gives young people access to eco-entrepreneurship opportunities and at the same time to scale up best practices.
“We know what we need to do,” the UN chief said. “It’s set out clearly in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). As we mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention, the world must dramatically pick up the pace of implementation.”
To do this, he pointed to building momentum towards UNCCD Conference of States Parties (COP16) in Riyadh and ensuring young people are heard in the negotiations.
“Together, let’s sow the seeds for a thriving future for nature and humanity,” he said.
Fast facts
NOOR for FAO/Benedicte Kurzen
Women in Senegal work in tree nurseries created as part of the Great Green Wall initiative to improve living conditions, biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the land in the Sahel region.
Every second, an equivalent of four football fields of healthy land becomes degraded, adding up to a total of 100 million hectares each year
Each dollar invested in land restoration can yield up to $30 in return
In many countries affected by desertification, land degradation and drought, agriculture represents a high share of economic revenue
Under UNCCD, over 130 countries have already pledged to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 towards a world where human activity has a neutral, or even positive, impact on the land
The UN supports innovative efforts worldwide, including the newly launched Great Green Wall Observatory, which tracks progress of Africa’s largest land restoration initiative to combat land degradation, desertification and the negative impacts of climate change in the Sahel region
The UN Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established a growing national and global networks of “Geoparks” combining conservation and sustainable development, with 213 UNESCO Global Geoparks operating in 48 countries and counting
Welcome to our live coverage of one of the most important speeches on climate change that António Guterres has made since becoming Secretary-General. We’re reporting live from the event in Manhattan, providing all the background information you need on the speech itself – and reaction to it inside the hall and around the world.
Member countries of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), on the final day of the seventy-seventh World Health Assembly, adopted important amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), including defining a “pandemic emergency” as well as pledging improved access to medical products and financing.
These steps will help ensure comprehensive, robust systems are in place in all countries to protect everyone everywhere from the risk of future outbreaks and pandemics, WHO said in a news release.
“The historic decisions taken today demonstrate a common desire by member States to protect their own people, and the world’s, from the shared risk of public health emergencies and future pandemics,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
He highlighted that the amendments to the IHR will bolster countries’ ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks, strengthen national capacities and improve coordination between nations on disease surveillance, information sharing and response.
“This is built on a commitment to equity, an understanding that health threats do not recognize national borders and that preparedness is a collective endeavour,” Tedros added.
IHR amendments
The new amendments to the IHR include the introduction of a definition of a pandemic emergency to trigger more effective international collaboration for events at risk of becoming pandemics. This definition raises the alarm level by building on existing IHR mechanisms, such as the determination of a public health emergency of international concern.
A pandemic emergency is identified as a communicable disease that risks widespread geographical spread, overwhelms health systems, causes substantial social or economic disruption, and necessitates rapid, equitable, and coordinated international action through comprehensive government and societal approaches.
Additionally, the amendments emphasize solidarity and equity in accessing medical products and financing by establishing a Coordinating Financial Mechanism. This mechanism aims to support developing countries in identifying and obtaining the necessary financing to address their needs and priorities in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The amendments also establish a States Parties Committee to promote and support cooperation for effective IHR implementation and create National IHR Authorities to improve coordination of the Regulations within and among countries.
Finalizing the pandemic agreement
Countries also agreed to continue negotiating the proposed pandemic agreement to improve international coordination, collaboration and equity to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.
WHO’s member States decided to extend the mandate of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), established in December 2021, to finish its work negotiating a pandemic agreement within a year, by the World Health Assembly in 2025, or earlier if possible.
Speaking at the closing of the World Health Assembly, Tedros applauded the delegates for their hard work.
“You have agreed on a path forward for the Pandemic Agreement, and I remain confident that you will bring it to conclusion,” he said.
The tradition started long before the UN’s inception in 1945, but it didn’t take long for the Organization and its growing membership to embrace designated days as a powerful advocacy tool.
One of the first designations came from the UN General Assembly’s declaration in 1947 that 24 October should be celebrated as United Nations Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the UN Charter that founded the Organization.
Since then, UN Member States have proposed more than 200 designations, presenting draft resolutions to the General Assembly so the entire membership, representing 193 nations, can vote.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías
UN Member States celebrate the first World Football Day at UN Headquarters in New York.
Other UN specialised agencies have also made designations, like World AIDS Day, declared by World Health Organization (WHO) members and marked annually on 1 December to bring people together around the world to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
The Assembly has created the majority of global observances, declaring them with a two-thirds majority vote in favour of resolutions outlining the reasoning behind each day.
What are the newest days?
The world body declared its latest global day just last month. It unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming 25 May World Football Day, as 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions as part of the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, held in Paris.
Celebrations kicked off at UN Headquarters, where UN Member States held a special meeting on the occasion.
That took place a day after another new designation marked its first observance on 24 May 2024. International Day of the Markhor celebrates the iconic and ecologically significant species found across mountain ranges from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan.
Unsplash/Andrey Sokolov
On 24 May 2024, the world observed the first ever International Day of the Markhor.
There was also room on the calendar on 21 March for World Poetry Day, declared so by the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) membership.
Watch this epic UN Video episode from its Stories from the UN Archivecollection, when United States poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou read The Human Family at the UN in 1996:
Spotlighting global issues
International days can mobilise political will and resources to address global problems while celebrating and reinforcing human achievement.
By creating special observances, the UN promotes global awareness and action on these issues.
Most importantly, governments, civil society, the public and private sectors, schools, universities and citizens can make an international day a springboard for awareness raising.
‘Make every day Mandela Day’
The UN sees international days as occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern or mark a significant day or figure in history.
That was the case with Nelson Mandela International Day. Celebrated annually on 18 July, the birthday of the late first democratically elected President of South Africa, who fought against apartheid and won after being jailed for 27 years for championing civil rights.
Watch the UN’s message on the first ever Mandela Day in 2010:
What year is this?
The UN also observes designated weeks, years and decades, each with a theme or topic.
We are now half way into the Year of the Camelids, those dependable dromedaries that the UN has counted on for decades to bring lifesaving assistance to remote communities and peacekeepers to their missions.
The UN General Assembly declared 2024 the year of these heroes of the deserts and highlands.
Why? From alpacas to Bactrian camels, dromedaries, guanacos, llamas, and vicuñas, camelids contribute to food security, nutrition and economic growth as well as holding strong cultural and social significance for communities across the world.
Camelids also play a key role in the culture, economy, food security and livelihoods of communities in Andean highlands and in the arid and semi-arid lands in Africa and Asia, including Indigenous peoples.
Plus, they are just simply adorable.
What’s the world commemorating this week?
Find out all the UN’s days and weeks observed through the year here.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Tracey Jen
A school of Trevally fish in the Solomon Islands.
Click on the links below to find out about each day’s origin and activities happening around the world this week and stay tuned to UN News:
“Humanitarian facilities in Rafah are forced to close one after another…The flow of humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has dropped by 67 per cent since 7 May,” reported the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, amid reports that kitchens, clinics and hospitals are shutting down.
Until Israeli troops seized and closed the Rafah border crossing in the very south of the Strip, it had been the key entry point for food, water, fuel and medicine into Gaza as well as the route for sick and wounded people to leave for treatment.
Powerless to help against famine threat
Echoing those concerns, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that there was little the agency “can currently do in Rafah, with stocks very low and mobility severely restricted”.
According to WFP, the West Erez crossing in northern Gaza “is functional, but not reliable”. Gate 96 further south and the Erez crossing are also “inaccessible” and access is so “constrained” to southern parts of Gaza that it risks causing the same catastrophic levels of hunger witnessed in the north.
Tactical gain
The development comes as the Israeli military said that it had secured “tactical control” of a narrow 13 kilometre (eight mile) stretch of land between Gaza and Egypt.
In a statement on Wednesday, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson reportedly claimed that rocket launchers had been used to attack Israel from the Philadelphi Corridor.
A senior Israeli official also reportedly told national radio Wednesday that fighting in Gaza could be expected to last until the end of the year, at least.
Dire humanitarian situation
After nearly eight months of war, the entire population of Gaza of 2.2 million people is almost exclusively dependent on humanitarian assistance, including food.
Although desperately needed supplies have been delivered on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Abu Salem, or Kerem Shalom, crossing located close to Rafah, UN humanitarians have repeatedly stressed that it is not safe to fetch them amid ongoing hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded weapons, fuel shortages and delays at checkpoints.
“Adults and children are beyond exhausted from constant displacement, hunger, and fear,” WFP said in its latest situation update. “They are desperate for the war to end, as are humanitarian workers on the ground, who are largely displaced and dispersed along with the people they are meant to serve.”
The UN food agency meanwhile confirmed that lifesaving aid relief and fuel from Egypt had crossed into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“This is an important step, but we need sustained access. We need all border crossings and crossing points within Gaza to be open,” it said, adding that although some commercial goods had reached the enclave, “people cannot afford the high prices”.
“We need more aid to enter through the south because people need dietary diversity, access to healthcare and water.”
In its latest update, the UN food agency said that in the north, aid teams are distributing food parcels, wheat flour, hot meals and supporting bakeries.
In central areas, WFP is prioritising hot meals to reach more people with fewer resources. It noted that faster assistance is now possible thanks to a recently introduced self-registration tool that allows people to update their location.
Just four bakeries now operate in Gaza City, and one recently opened in Jabalia, providing bread in the north. Out of the 17 bakeries WFP operates in Gaza, only 11 are functioning owing to the lack of fuel and other essentials.
In Rafah the healthcare situation remains perilous, with only one hospital still functional, the World Health Organization said, referring to Al Emirati Maternity Hospital. This compares with three partially functional hospitals earlier this month. “An Najjar Hospital was evacuated on 7 May and Al Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah ceased operations on 27 May,” WHO said, following reports quoting the hospital’s director that this happened after two medical staff were killed when the hospital’s gate was hit.
Other aid operations that have closed this week in Rafah reportedly include a field hospital and kitchen run by UN partners the Palestinian Red Crescent and World Central Kitchen.
Al Mawasi strike
To date, at least 36,171 Palestinians have been killed and 81,420 injured in Gaza, OCHA said, citing Gazan health authorities, since Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on 7 October prompted intense Israeli bombardment across the enclave.
“Mass casualties” were also reported on Tuesday after an unconfirmed airstrike on a site for forcibly displaced people in the coastal Al Mawasi area, southwest of Rafah. The UN aid office cited the Gazan ministry of health, which reported 21 fatalities and 21 injuries.
“I am appalled and shocked by the terrifying news arriving from Kharkiv”, said Ms. Brown in a statement. “This afternoon, in broad daylight as people – despite all the horrors they endure every day in this city – were trying to go about their day, their lives were shattered by yet another attack by the Russian Armed Forces. The strike hit a busy shopping centre with scores of civilian casualties and massive damage to civilian facilities”.
The senior UN official added that attacks by Russian forces hitting civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop, and noted that intentionally directing an attack against civilian infrastructure is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
The strike is reported to have hit the Epicentr K home improvement store in the north of the city. In a social media post, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, described it as “pure terrorism”. According to UN sources, a second attack on Saturday is believed to have caused some 12 casualties.
Following Russian advances, the northeastern Kharkiv region is now on the frontline of the war in Ukraine. According to a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, about 35 civilians in the region have been killed and 137 injured since Russian armed forces launched cross-border attacks on 10 May; more than half of those killed and injured were over 60 years old and were unable or unwilling to leave their homes.
