Month: April 2023
Top UN official urgently calls for de-escalating nuclear tensions over Belarus
“The risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the cold war,” said Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. “The war in Ukraine represents the most acute example of that risk.” The Security Council met on the heels of President Vladimir Putin’s announcement…
Read MoreFirst Person: Journeys of resilience in Ukraine
Manfred Profazi, who is based in Vienna, Austria, has been touring some of the regions in Ukraine which have been most seriously affected by over 13 months of conflict following Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has told UN News what he’s been seeing across the devastated country and how IOM has provided comfort to people forced…
Read MoreFirst Person: ‘Simple dreams’ of Syrians following earthquake
Shirin Yaseen from the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General visited northwestern Syria as part of an interagency mission to assess the situation there. “On the day we visited Jindairis in northern Syria, one of the areas most affected by the February earthquake, the weather conditions were very bad. A mobile medical clinic housed in…
Read MoreUNAIDS launches campaign to advocate for rights of transgender children
“Many of us take our gender identity for granted, but for many children it is not so easy,” said Mahesh Mahalingam, the UNAIDS Director of Communications and Global Advocacy. “It’s a matter of daily survival, a daily struggle. Children all around the world must be supported in expressing their identity freely.” Stigma, discrimination, and criminalization…
Read More‘Bring them home’: UN experts call for repatriating detained Syria children
Children in conflict zones must be protected, not punished, said the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, together with Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights while countering terrorism, in a joint statement. “It is now time to bring them home,” they said. “Many children are…
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