Daily Wrap

The Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) concluded on Thursday with countries adopting concrete measures to implement the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) – which aims to renew and strengthen commitments between LDCs and their development partners – marking a transformative turning point for the world’s most vulnerable countries. 

The UN on Thursday launched new policy initiatives to ensure the international community delivers on its promises today, for future generations, and that the world is ready to properly respond to “complex shocks” like the COVID-19 pandemic.

UN-led efforts to prevent a catastrophic oil spill in the Red Sea took a major step forward on Thursday with the announcement of a deal to purchase a vessel that will remove more than a million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker that has threatened the region for years. 

The least developed countries (LDCS) are facing a pathway to graduation from the category that will be “riddled with added crises,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Thursday, and urged the international community to work together so those countries can build resilience to recover from current and future shocks and sustain progress. 

Amid the biggest reported missile attack on Ukraine in weeks, the UN’s atomic energy agency, IAEA, said on Thursday that Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant had to switch to backup generators once again, after losing all power.

A UN independent human rights expert criticized the United States for using extraterritorial jurisdiction to impose sanctions on foreign individuals, in a statement issued on Thursday. 

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate disasters and ongoing conflict have deepened inequalities among children in Europe and Central Asia, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a report published on Thursday, calling for more robust support for boys and girls at risk of poverty and social exclusion. 

UN humanitarian coordinators have deployed to Vanuatu to help with the aid response, a week since back-to-back tropical cyclones and a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific island nation.

Moves by a small number of governments to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis have led to increased consumption without explaining the potentially serious health dangers that users face from the drug, a UN narcotics watchdog said on Thursday.

Implementing sodium reduction policies could save an estimated seven million lives globally by 2030, WHO said in a new report launched on Thursday.