UN

March 14, 2025 3:58 PM

UN’s food agency WFP to cut aid for about a million people in Myanmar

More than a million people in Myanmar will be cut off from lifesaving food assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) from next month because of critical shortfalls in funding, the United Nations' food agency said on Friday. "These cuts come just as increased conflict, displacement and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs," the WFP said in a statement. Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021 when its powerful military ousted an elected civilian gove...

March 10, 2025 4:34 PM

Bangladesh Army had no direct communication with UN during July Uprising: ISPR

The Bangladesh Army has said that it did not have any direct communication or request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the comments made by UN High Commissioner Volker Turk in his interview with BBC HARDtalk, according to the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR). In a press release issued on Monday, ISPR said Bangladesh Army finds it necessary to clarify certain aspects of Turk’s statement to ensure accuracy and transparency. In an interview ...

March 4, 2025 5:16 PM

UN appeals for funds to help contain Uganda Ebola outbreak

The United Nations has launched an emergency appeal to raise $11.2 million to help fund Uganda's response to an Ebola outbreak that has killed two people, after the country's health budget was strained by U.S. cuts to foreign aid. Uganda declared the outbreak of the highly infectious and often fatal haemorrhagic disease in January in the capital Kampala after the death of a male nurse at the East African country's sole national referral hospital. A second Ebola patient, a four-year-old child, ...

January 11, 2025 5:32 PM

India joins UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics

In a significant milestone, India has joined the prestigious UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD), created to further investigate the benefits and challenges of Big Data, including the potential for monitoring and reporting on sustainable development goals. "The inclusion in this expert committee comes at a pivotal time, as India recently assumed membership of the United Nations Statistical Council after a significant gap," according to a statem...

January 10, 2025 12:24 PM

India retains title of world’s fastest-growing large economy with growth projected at 6.6%: UN

India would again be the fastest growing large economy in the world with a projected annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent, according to Hamid Rashid, the UN head of Global Economic Monitoring. He was speaking at the release of the UN's flagship report- ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025, (WESP)’ on Thursday, which projected the gross domestic product (GDP) to grow slightly faster at 6.8 per cent next year. WESP said that India's economy would be bolstered by "strong export growth in...

December 31, 2024 9:43 AM

Israel, at UN, warns Houthis risk sharing same fate as Hamas, Hezbollah

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations issued on Monday what he called a final warning to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants to halt their missile attacks on Israel, saying they risked the same "miserable fate" as Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria's Bashar al-Assad if they persisted. The ambassador, Danny Danon, also warned Tehran that Israel has the ability to strike any target in the Middle East, including in Iran. He added that Israel would not tolerate attacks by Iranian proxies. But hours l...

December 4, 2024 10:56 AM

UN seeks $47 billion in aid as donor appetite shrinks while crises multiply

The United Nations on Wednesday sought $47 billion in aid for 2025 to help around 190 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation, at a time when this year's appeal is not even half-funded and officials fear cuts from Western states including the top donor, the U.S. Facing what the new U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher describes as "an unprecedented level of suffering", the U.N. hopes to reach people in 32 countries next year, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza and Ukraine. "...

October 29, 2024 10:52 AM

US warns Iran at UN of ‘severe consequences’ in case of new attacks

The United States warned Iran at the United Nations Security Council on Monday of "severe consequences" if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or U.S. personnel in the Middle East. "We will not hesitate to act in self defense. Let there be no confusion. The United States does not want to see further escalation. We believe this should be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the 15-member cou...

October 18, 2024 5:22 PM

UN denounces Israel’s use of ‘war-like’ tactics in West Bank

The United Nations humanitarian office on Friday denounced Israel's use of what it described as "war-like" tactics against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, saying nine Palestinians had been killed there in a week. OCHA also voiced concern about Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and olive trees during the annual October-November harvest, saying it was affecting the economic lifeline of tens of thousands of Palestinian families. "Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like ...

October 17, 2024 12:06 PM

WHO says Western Pacific to miss UN goal to cut early deaths from lifestyle diseases

Western Pacific nations are unlikely to meet the United Nations target of reducing premature deaths from lifestyle-related diseases including cancer and diabetes, due to the slow decline in alcohol and tobacco consumption, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday. Chronic lifestyle diseases, such as heart attacks, stroke, asthma and lung diseases, have been blamed for more than 80% of deaths among the 1.9 billion people in the Western Pacific. The U.N. goal is to reduce early deaths by a...