UN News - Top Stories

Scolded for wanting to go to school as a girl and dismissed or ignored as an adult, Awrelia from Wau in South Sudan has learnt to advocate for herself, her children and for the women in her community.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General voiced deep alarm on Saturday over the latest mass abduction from a school in Nigeria, calling for the immediate release of those taken.

Ministers and leaders from across the world’s 44 least developed countries have pledged to accelerate industrialisation that benefits all, and strengthen resilience in the face of global challenges, at an international UN conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The United Nations outlined how it intends to advance one of its most comprehensive system-wide reform efforts in decades, as Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder presented the UN80 Initiative Action Plan. The plan brings the Secretary-General’s major UN80 reform proposals into a single, coherent structure to streamline efforts that will make the UN system deliver better.

Seventeen civilians, including women in labour and patients receiving care, were slaughtered inside a Catholic Church-run health centre in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last week.

On the scheduled final day of COP30 in Belém, tense negotiations are stretching into Friday afternoon as divisions persist. Amid the ongoing talks, one message is cutting through the noise: there is no climate justice without gender equality.

A South African flag-coloured King Protea flower – symbolising hope and regeneration – is the chosen logo for this year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit, taking place on African soil for the first time.

Do higher living standards in developing countries have to mean more polluting, fossil-fuel dependent industries? Or is a low-carbon alternative possible? As the world grapples with climate change, economic inequality, and rapid technological shifts, next week’s Global Industry Summit will tackle these questions, bringing together governments, business leaders, and innovators to shape solutions that balance prosperity with sustainability. 

Ongoing attacks and airstrikes attributed to Israeli forces in Gaza continue to kill and maim people of all ages in the shattered enclave despite an agreed ceasefire, UN agencies said on Friday.

Millions in Ukraine have been left without heating, water or basic public services as winter temperatures plunge – and civilian deaths this year have already surpassed the total for 2024, the UN Security Council heard on Thursday.

Between January and September, over 7,400 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported in Haiti – an average of about 27 per day, according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

With the clock ticking on climate negotiations in Belém, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking separately, delivered a united message: the world is watching, and compromise cannot wait.

The Security Council is holding a rare open briefing on Ukraine following days of deadly attacks by Russia on civilian areas and amid a renewed US mission to Kyiv in search of a peace deal. With attacks on energy infrastructure soaring and civilian casualties climbing, Council members have demanded answers and action. Can the Council increase pressure on veto-wielding Moscow, secure better protection and aid for civilians, and push toward an elusive ceasefire? Follow live below, find full UN meetings coverage here; UN News app users can click here. 

General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock warned on Thursday that repeated deadlock in the Security Council has become the “poster child” for wider global gridlock, undermining trust in multilateral institutions.

Talks at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, were suspended on Thursday after a fire broke out in the venue, triggering evacuations that halted negotiations between more than 190 delegations. The summit was set to conclude Friday, and the disruption came at a critical moment as countries were locked in tense debates over fossil fuels and climate finance. The outcome of these talks is widely seen as a litmus test for turning decades of climate pledges into concrete action.

More than 19 per cent of children worldwide live in extreme poverty, surviving on under $3 a day, according to a new UNICEF report.

What was once hailed as a vehicle for empowerment has, for millions of women and girls, become a source of fear.

The lives of people living in Ukraine on the frontline of the war with Russia are becoming more tenuous and support is being provided for those who want to leave as well as those who want to stay in their homes.

The boat ride from Belém to Barcarena is a journey through shimmering waterways and emerald forest, where the Amazon meets the Atlantic in a sweep of beauty. But beneath the postcard-perfect scene, climate change is quietly rewriting the rules of life.

When Salma* was just 15, she was forced to get married, even though she wanted to stay in school and become a doctor someday. 

Living conditions for Gazans – particularly children – are still dire as temperatures drop and families return to bombed-out homes as the fragile ceasefire holds, UN aid workers said on Wednesday.

Sport has always been more than a contest of strength or skill. At its best, it becomes a rare space where people meet as equals – a reminder, as the President of the UN General Assembly put it on Wednesday, that “even in times of division, humanity can find common ground through sport – and an enduring hope.”

Nearly a year on from the fall of Assad, Syrians still lack many basic necessities as the transitional government works to shore up the economy and build social cohesion.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens more injured in a new wave of overnight strikes across several regions of Ukraine, the United Nations said on Wednesday. 

Use of artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating in healthcare – but basic legal safety nets that protect patients and health workers are lacking.

A page feels like it’s turning. After years of debate, the long-awaited roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels may finally be written into the official decisions of COP30.

The UN is prepared to play “any role” needed to advance the breakthrough Security Council resolution endorsing the United States-led Gaza peace plan.

Ending hunger by 2030 would cost just $93 billion a year — well under one per cent of the $21.9 trillion spent on military budgets over the past decade, according to UN estimates. 

Expanding terrorist networks, mass displacement and the collapse of essential services in West Africa and the Sahel are a growing concern worldwide.

Forty-five per cent of the 8.2 billion people on the planet live in cities, which is only going to increase as the world becomes increasingly urban.