At 75, U.N. health agency is lightning rod for equity and cooperation
As WHO celebrated its 75th anniversary – commemorating World Health Day and the day its constitution took effect – the COVID-19 pandemic's lessons were inescapable.
Global Issues
Global issues are complex challenges that require international cooperation, from mitigating climate change to addressing global poverty and geopolitical conflicts. Of the U.N.'s 169 targets for sustainable development, only 35% are on track or making moderate progress toward their 2030 deadline.
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Slower trade growth projected in 2023 mainly due to war in Ukraine
Trade growth is expected to slow to 1.7% due to Russia's war in Ukraine, high inflation, tight monetary policy and uncertainty.
Red Cross finds around half of all armed groups are state-supported
New ICRC guidelines are meant to protect innocent civilians and detainees against violence by non-state armed groups.
Putin, charged with war crimes, takes over U.N.'s most powerful arm
Russia's status as U.N. Security Council president is bound up in a frozen-in-time power structure dating to World War II.
Stockpiles of nuclear weapons available for use increased in 2022
Nuclear warheads available to nations for deployment reached 9,576 at the start of 2023, up from 9,440 a year earlier.
Nations back ambitious clean water and sanitation goals this decade
The voluntary commitments fall far short of a legally binding agreement like the 2015 Paris Agreement for climate change.
New IPCC report urges 'hope' and climate justice for most vulnerable
Almost half the world’s population lives in regions highly vulnerable to climate change, where deaths were 15 times higher in the past decade.
Study says bottled water industry undercuts safe drinking water for all
The bottled water industry is expected to grow to $500 billion a year in sales but isn't aligned with the U.N.'s Global Goals.
WHO chief calls 3-year pandemic 'a chaotic patchwork of responses'
WHO's chief offered three lessons the world must learn to be able to effectively cope with future global health crises.
U.N. panel prepares last report of series to shape climate policy
The head of the U.N. panel of climate experts called for quick action because 'inaction and delays are not listed as options.'
U.N. raises concerns about human rights records in over 40 nations
A quarter of all humanity lives today in places that are affected by conflict and usually it's the civilians 'who suffer the most.'
U.N.'s early warning climate plan for extreme weather picks up support
A third of the world, mainly in least developed countries and small island developing states, isn't covered by early warning systems.
Negotiators clinch historic deal for high seas biodiversity
The treaty is intended to strengthen marine protections on international waters beyond the 200 nautical mile jurisdiction of coastal nations.
Male-only parliaments are no longer as gender parity slowly advances
Six nations have gender parity or a women's majority: Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, New Zealand and U.A.E.
Nations work to update draft of WHO's proposed pandemic treaty
The treaty takes aim at the huge inequalities in health care and access to products that the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus.
Researchers find 1.77B children worldwide lack basic safety net
The number of children without basic social protections is increasing worldwide, UNICEF and ILO say in a new study.