The Security Council has a joint responsibility to help Yemen take the “necessary and decisive steps towards peace,” the country’s UN Special Envoy told the ambassadors on Monday.

A year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has led to a deterioration in the lives of women and girls, affecting all aspects of their human rights, three UN agencies reported on Monday.  

PESHAWAR, Aug 15 (IPS) - Afghan refugees living in Pakistan face a host of problems, ranging from seeking medical treatment to shelter, business, police harassment and violence. Many of those affected have been there for four decades.

NEW YORK, Aug 15 (IPS) - In the year that has passed since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan we have seen daily and continuous deterioration in the situation of Afghan women and girls. This has spanned every aspect of their human rights, from living standards to social and political status.

SAN SALVADOR, Aug 15 (IPS) - Practicing journalism in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of the persecution of independent media outlets by neo-populist rulers of different stripes, intolerant of criticism.

A year on from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the senior UN official in the country, Resident Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov, describes his fears for girls’ lives, and calls for women to play a full role in reviving the Afghan economy.

One year on from a devastating earthquake which struck Haiti, communities are rebuilding their lives, and aiming to be better prepared when future disasters strike.

On 14 August 2021 a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, destroying, or rendering uninhabitable tens of thousands of houses across three departments in the south of Haiti, including Plaisimond Milaure’s home. For the last year, she’s been living in a tent outside the city of Les Cayes, supported by UN agencies. One year on, she is ready to return.

UN-appointed independent human rights experts commended the United States on Friday for adopting the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, but asked about measures being taken to address gun violence in the country.

A UN-chartered vessel should soon arrive at the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny, also known as Pivdennyi, to collect wheat that will help feed millions of hungry people in the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday.