According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this sort of large-scale life-saving is possible, if midwifery care is universally accessible and consistent with international standards. “Expanding and investing in midwifery models of care is one of the most effective strategies to improve maternal and newborn health globally,” said Dr. Anshu...
The plane – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – crashed into a medical college about a mile from the city’s main airport reportedly killing five students and injuring around 50 who have been hospitalised. The full extent of deaths and injuries on the ground has yet to be established but one...
Since the end of May, aid distribution in Gaza has been carried out by a mechanism backed by Israel and the United States bypassing UN agencies and their established partners, which has been plagued by deadly incidents and chaos. On Monday, UN partner the International Committee of the Red Cross...
We’re live as the Security Council convenes for its annual open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with the UN relief chief and the head of UN Women calling for urgent action to safeguard lives – especially those of women and girls caught in the crossfire. Non-combatants in...
But despite their critical role, UN support for midwifery is under serious threat due to severe funding cuts. Each year, three-quarters of all maternal deaths occur in just 25 countries, the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA. Midwives...
“We’re pushed to our limits,” said Ayaki Ito, Director for Emergencies for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. One mother was so desperate to reach safety she crossed the 100-metre wide Rusizi river separating DRC and Burundi with her three small children and their belongings, Mr. Ito told journalists in Geneva:...
The analysis underscores the devastating impact of toxic air on young lives, with air pollution now linked to nearly one in four deaths of under fives in the region. Exposure begins in the womb, increasing risks of premature birth and low birth weight, and continues throughout childhood, impairing lung development,...
“I’m devastated by the ongoing attacks hitting heavily populated areas and killing and injuring many people, including children,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine, in a statement on Saturday. In Poltava, a missile strike on a residential building reportedly injured three children, while at least four others were reportedly...
Following the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the UN Security Council is meeting in New York to hear from the Secretary-General and foreign ministers from the Middle East and beyond. UN chief António Guterres told the meeting there must be “irreversible action” to realise the two-State...
Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, was speaking during a press briefing on emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon, but also in war-ravaged Sudan and beyond. She also upheld the critical role of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA in Gaza, and appealed for peace....
The report details how this debt crisis is jeopardising progress aimed at ending AIDS in Sub-Saharan African countries, which account for a significant majority of people living with HIV globally – 25.9 million people of the nearly 40 million total. If debt payments and stifled budgets are unaddressed in the...
Addressing the Security Council, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, told ambassadors that UN operations “can only ever be as strong” as the collective support of nations. “As geopolitical tensions have mounted, including here in this Council, and amid shifting global and regional dynamics, peacekeeping operations are increasingly unable to...