Myanmar: Middle class ‘disappearing’ amid uptick in brutal fighting
In a new report published on Thursday UNDP said that the middle class has shrunk by half, compared with before the 2021 military coup, and that three quarters of the country’s population is either living in poverty or “perilously close”…
UN continues to face aid access denials in Gaza
Israeli authorities have not given a clear reason why, said OCHA Spokesperson Jens Laerke, speaking during the regular briefing by UN humanitarian agencies in Geneva. “They very often deny and that is it, and it ends there. We do not…
‘Fear and loss’ multiplies in Sudan exodus
At least 1.8 million among them fled across the border into neighbouring, South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt and Ethiopia; as well as Uganda. Thousands more are arriving by the day, agency spokesperson Olga Sarrado told journalists at…
Colombia serves as ‘a model’ for countries using dialogue to forge peace
“However difficult and demanding of patience, Colombia’s decision to prioritise dialogue as a principal means to resolve conflict sets the country apart as a model that is more relevant than ever in today’s world,” said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN…
Palestinian request for UN membership moves on to specialized committee
The proposal for the referral, made by Ambassador Vanessa Frazier of Malta, Security Council President for April, received no objections from the body’s 15 members. “Unless I hear a proposal to the contrary, I shall refer to the Committee of…
Security Council urged to ‘end the bloodshed’ in Gaza
Dennis Francis convened the UN’s most representative body, comprising all 193 Member States, following the Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution put forward by the United States last month. The debate was triggered by a 2022 Assembly resolution that…
Attacks on Ukrainian nuclear facilities ‘must cease immediately’: UN atomic watchdog
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the targeting marked a “major escalation” in the level of danger facing the power plant. It was the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February…
Hope grows for UN mission to ‘flood’ Gaza with food, despite fears of imminent Rafah invasion
That’s according to the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, speaking in-depth to UN News exactly six months since hostilities began with the Hamas-led terror attack. He underlined that the entire UN aid effort is about saving…
Ecuador-Mexico: ‘Cardinal principle’ of diplomatic inviolability must be upheld says UN chief
In a statement released on Saturday night, António Guterres said he was alarmed by the raid on the embassy in the capital Quito which led to the arrest of Jorge Glas. The Secretary-General “reaffirms the cardinal principle of the inviolability…
Getting children back to school in deadly gang-ravaged Haiti
Students in the capital Port-au-Prince have missed hundreds of hours of class time over the past year and now, now, more than one million Haitians are facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity, according to a new UN-backed report. As deadly…