Week in Review

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to call for China to be ‘transparent’ in sharing COVID-19 data in efforts to determine the disease’s origins, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated on Friday in Geneva. 

The Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Friday, in connection with alleged war crimes concerning the deportation and “illegal transfer” of children from occupied Ukraine, the head of the ICC said.

Women in The Gambia face high levels of female genital mutilation (FGM), period poverty (an inability to afford menstrual hygiene products), and domestic violence. In an interview with UN News, Ndeye Rose Sarr, the head of the UN reproductive and sexual health agency (UNFPA) in the country, underlines the challenges they face, and the efforts the UN is making to address the issues.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres this week announced the names of seven young climate leaders selected to serve on his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.

Children are increasingly caught up in armed conflict in the climate-affected, food insecure central Sahel region, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

When it comes to climate action, The Gambia can proudly lay claim to being the first country to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements.

But, like all developing countries, its people are suffering disproportionately from the effects of the climate crisis, particularly more unpredictable rainfall, and flooding.

In episode three of our mini-series recorded in The Gambia, Conor Lennon heads to the Central River Region, to find out how, with the support of the UN, rural communities are adapting to the changing environment and, at the same time, learning to becomes more self-sufficient.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Routed through new hubs and expanded criminal networks, cocaine trafficking has made a dramatic comeback following an initial slowdown caused by the emergence of COVID-19, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday in a hard-hitting new report.

Despite suffering more than 100 bone fractures stemming from a life-long illness, 29-year-old Nicole Mesén Sojo has always persisted in fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities, and now her story is part of a new online book published by the UN.

Nepal is due to graduate from its current status, as one of the world’s least developed countries, in 2026. Subhash Nepali, an economist in the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Nepal, has seen the economic progress made in the country, where he was born and raised.

São Tomé and Príncipe is due to graduate from its current status as one of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs), a journey that is testament to its economic successes, but is not without challenges, as Eric Overvest, the senior UN official in the country, tells UN News.

No less than 55 countries are struggling with serious health worker shortages as they continue to seek better paid opportunities in wealthier nations that have stepped up efforts to recruit them amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

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. 

Russian forces in Ukraine faced fresh accusations of war crimes on Thursday as UN-appointed independent human rights investigators released the latest findings of their ongoing probe.

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 UN and partners are ramping up support to Malawi in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which killed 190 people this week and injured dozens more, prompting the Government to declare a state of disaster. 

Three senior UN officials underscored the need for a political solution to end the war in Syria, in statements marking the 12th anniversary of the conflict on Wednesday.