UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday welcomed important commitments made towards climate action by the world’s two largest economies, as the 76th High Level Debate began in New York.

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last month, they have made some commitments to uphold human rights. However, their subsequent actions have “sadly contradicted” those promises, the UN rights chief told a side event of the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Top politicians joined award-winning African performers and others on Tuesday, in New York, to take part in a special event organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to discuss how COVID-19 vaccines can be fairly distributed worldwide, as a key priority for development. 

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and migration agency IOM, called on Tuesday for an immediate investigation into the deaths of four people near the border between Poland and Belarus, due to causes yet to be determined.  

The international community must continue to support Afghanistan, the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, warning against potential boycott in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

The President of Colombia on Tuesday warned that many developing countries have increased their fiscal deficit to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, putting at risk their financial capacity to act on other priorities, such as climate change.

In his inaugural address to the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN, United States President Joseph Biden on Tuesday called for a new era of global unity against the compounding crises of COVID-19, climate change and insecurity.

MELBOURNE, Sep 21 (IPS) - COVID-19 has exposed serious vulnerabilities in how people around the world access and consume food.

One of the more alarming trends is the significant increase in the consumption of foods that may be tasty and convenient, but harm our heath. These ultra-processed products include sugary drinks, snack foods, frozen meals, packaged breads and frozen desserts.

LETHBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 21 (IPS) - Why is the UN holding a Food Systems Summit? Two issues that need discussion at the international leadership level are: Long before the Covid crisis was upon us, the number of hungry people in the world was increasing. Why? What is the cause of this disturbing trend? And, can a country really claim to be food secure, unless it produces or can buy enough food to feed its population and its people can access sufficient quantities to keep themselves fit and healthy? Disquietening questions as extreme weather begins to show the destructive power that climate change will have on the planet and its people.

This year’s International Day of Peace has been marked by the release of new stamps featuring music icon and peace campaigner, John Lennon, by the UN Postal Administration (UNPA), as the UN General Assembly High Level Week gets underway.