News headlines in 2022, page 62

The door for a diplomatic solution to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine must be kept open, and any threat to use nuclear weapons, “universally condemned”, said the President of the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Heatwaves already kill thousands of people every year and they risk overwhelming the world’s aid response, unless action is taken to mitigate climate change, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Monday.

For her political courage, compassion and decisive action in protecting people forced to flee, the head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, presented the former Chancellor of Germany with the prestigious Nansen Award, on Monday.

In marking the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child on Tuesday, the UN chief called the commemoration a celebration of the “lives and achievements of girls across the world”.

The UN chief António Guterres said that large-scale strikes by the Russian military on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other locations on Monday, were deeply shocking and represented “another unacceptable escalation” of the war.

Marking the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty, two UN-appointed independent human rights experts on Monday issued a statement recalling that under international law, capital punishment is permitted only “in very limited circumstances”.

Nearly one billion people live with a mental health condition across the globe, but despite that staggering number, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted on Monday, that it remains one of “the most neglected aspects of healthcare”.

Amid a deteriorating security situation in Haiti, UN Security-General António Guterres called on Sunday for the Security Council to consider deploying armed forces to help the country address immense humanitarian concerns.

State members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a long-term goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, following two weeks of intensive diplomacy at the UN agency’s 41st Assembly, on Friday.

Surfers have an intimate knowledge of the ocean, but have not been seen as leading figures amongst groups leading on climate change solutions. Thanks to groups such as Surfers for Climate in Australia, that perception is starting to change.