Week in Review

The United Nations on Friday commemorated the first-ever International Day to Combat Islamophobia with a special event in the General Assembly Hall, where speakers upheld the need for concrete action in the face of rising hatred, discrimination and violence against Muslims. 

Life-threatening hunger caused by climate shocks, violent insecurity and disease in the Horn of Africa, have left nearly 130,000 people “looking death in the eyes” and nearly 50 million facing crisis levels of food insecurity, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

On the International Day of Women Judges, three trailblazing women judges are sharing their stories and experiences on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where though they are in the minority – just four of the 15 justices are women – they see change on the horizon and say that “not for a minute” did they see gender as a disadvantage. 

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ramped up its support for vulnerable workers in the Ukrainian agricultural sector, particularly smallholder farmers.

The Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) joined the world in marking International Women’s Day, celebrating the achievements of women and girls everywhere. Strong calls for empowerment rang out in the massive convention center, with young women scientists and innovators, like the Afghan Girl’s Robotics Team, urging: “Never give up!” 

A grain of rice, a golden collar, and a three-metre-long heavy wooden brace to trap ankles and necks shape part of a unique, interactive exhibit on slavery that just opened at UN Headquarters.

Seraphine Wakana, the UN Resident Coordinator in The Gambia, is coming to the end of her mandate. In this blog, she reflects on her experience over the last five years, which have seen the country emerge from a long period of authoritarian rule.

As South Sudan prepares for elections in 2024, the world’s youngest nation sits at a “fork in the road”, facing stark choices as it progresses in its critical transitional period amid a range of challenges, according to the UN’s top official in the country.

A UN-supported ensemble is creating a “discourse of music, harmony, reconciliation, empathy, fraternity, and solidarity” in the hope of bridging historical divides between the Israeli and Arab people, according to UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Many women and girls in The Gambia are affected by “period poverty”, meaning that they are unable to afford menstrual products, which puts them at risk of infection, and discourages them from attending school.

The UN General Assembly was awash in a sea of blue on Wednesday as some 1,800 people gathered to mark International Women’s Day, which this year focused on the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education. 

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

Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the “most repressive country in the world [for] women’s rights”, the senior UN official in Kabul told the Security Council on Wednesday, while nevertheless voicing a nuanced position on the importance of continuing to engage with the group.

Draft migrant legislation proposed by the United Kingdom Government would result in a de facto “asylum ban”, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

Dozens of youth delegates, representing some 226 million young people from 46 least developed countries (LDCs), took centre stage on Tuesday at a United Nations conference under way in Doha, Qatar, to spotlight a range of development issues affecting them and their vulnerable countries. 

One third of women in Tajikistan are subjected to violence by their husbands, but very few cases are reported. Social and legal support, provided through the joint EU/UN Spotlight Initiative, is helping affected women to protect their rights.