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Some two decades after a shaky political transition, Iraq today is a country “at peace, with increased security and a clear determination to win the battle of development,” says the UN resident coordinator for Iraq on Wednesday.

A sweeping UN human rights report released on Wednesday concludes that in the occupied West Bank, Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid, warning that the discriminatory practices have accelerated dramatically since late 2022 amid growing violence, repression and impunity.

Almost four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, aid teams continue to adapt to the lethal reality of working in a modern war zone. 

Thousands of displaced people in northern Syria are struggling to cope with freezing conditions after a severe snowstorm struck dozens of displacement sites, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

Thirteen more lives – including children – were reportedly lost on Tuesday in another drone attack on Sudan’s North Kordofan region.

Some 65,000 households in the Gaza Strip were affected by the severe winter storms that whipped through the enclave last month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday. 

Ukraine’s agricultural sector remains under intense pressure as the war continues to disrupt food production and endanger civilians, the UN food security agency warned on Tuesday, as it unveiled a new three-year plan to help farmers survive and protect their livelihoods.

Venezuela’s political shock has sharpened global attention on a country already facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises. For the United Nations, the priority remains unchanged: protecting lives, sustaining basic services and supporting Venezuelans at home and across the region.

Responding to the seizure of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday reiterated deep concerns that the military operation undermined fundamental protections for sovereign countries.

The UN Security Council met on Monday against a sharply altered diplomatic backdrop, following US strikes on the Venezuelan capital and seizure of President Nicolás Maduro.

As protests in the Iranian capital, Tehran – sparked by increasing economic hardship and a cost-of-living crisis – continued for a ninth day, the UN Secretary-General said he was “deeply saddened by the reported loss of life and injuries,” resulting from clashes between security forces and protesters.

For the first time since 2023, humanitarian assistance will provide Gazans with enough food to fulfil minimum nutritional needs.

In Sudan, civilians continue to bear the brunt of escalating violence, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. 

Invoking the bedrock principle prohibiting the use of force against the territory and independence of any State, the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Monday there must be “full respect” for the UN Charter, in the face of the United States military intervention in Venezuela and seizure of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Security Council met in emergency session in New York to address the US rendition of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas, a move that has sent shockwaves through the region and beyond. The UN chief António Guterres told ambassadors there must be respect for national sovereignty, “political independence and territorial integrity,” after warning on Saturday that the US had set a “dangerous precedent” for the world order. Follow the historic meeting live below from the UN Meetings Coverage team, and UN News app users can click here.

Yemen’s already fragile humanitarian response is being pushed to breaking point by deep funding shortfalls, the UN warned in an update Sunday highlighting mounting risks for millions across the country. 

A teenage Haitian girl who was forced to flee her home in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, due to gang violence has urged adults not to “give up on children.”  

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said he is “deeply alarmed” over the standoff between the United States and Venezuela in recent months, which culminated on Saturday morning in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by US special forces.

From deploying peacekeepers to conducting quiet – but at times heated – diplomacy, the UN Security Council sits at the heart of global decision-making on war and peace. As of January, five new countries will have a seat around the iconic horseshoe table.

A flood of questions drowned Jeanette in thought after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Would she be unable to conceive a child? Would she have to enter menopause at the early age of 31? 

Humanitarian partners in the Gaza Strip are struggling to reach hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people as winter storms batter damaged homes and temporary shelters.

The UN’s top human rights official on Friday called on Israeli authorities to abandon plans for new legislation that would impose mandatory death sentences exclusively on Palestinians, warning the proposals violate international law and fundamental human rights standards.

As 2026 begins, residents of the Gaza Strip are confronting life in displacement camps and among the ruins of destroyed neighbourhoods – facing deep uncertainty after months of war and devastation.

The UN Secretary-General has condemned amendments adopted by Israel’s Knesset to a law aimed at ceasing the operations of the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA), saying the measures must be immediately repealed.

From eliminating deadly infections to expanding access to lifesaving vaccines, 2025 delivered meaningful progress for global health, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), offering cautious optimism at the close of a year marked by both breakthroughs and strain.

Up-to-date vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent severe COVID-19 illness, new research from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows, even as the pandemic has officially ended.

Voting proceeded largely as planned in the Central African Republic’s first-ever combined presidential, legislative, regional and municipal elections, and ballot counting is now complete, the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) said on Wednesday, with results expected to be announced on 5 January.

Recent attacks across Ukraine have killed civilians, damaged critical infrastructure and cut heating and power supplies for millions, UN humanitarians report, as temperatures drop below freezing.

A sixth child has died in Gaza this month as the enclave’s people continue to endure dire living conditions linked to freezing rains and the Israel-Hamas war, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced. The development comes as aid agencies urged Israeli authorities to reconsider revoking the licences of dozens of humanitarian partners that provide assistance across the devastated enclave from 1 January.

The General Assembly has approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for the United Nations for 2026, following weeks of intensive negotiations and one of the Organization’s most important reform initiatives, UN80.