UN Member States on Wednesday pledged to prevent a repeat of the devastating health and socioeconomic crises caused by COVID-19 and shore up the world’s ability to head off another pandemic.

President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, emphasized the need for the UN to live up to its founding principles to ensure respect for the sovereignty of all States, and discussed steps to tackle the climate crisis during his address to the annual General Assembly debate in New York.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called for expanding the UN Security Council and reforming the right of veto granted to its permanent members, in his first in-person address around the iconic horseshoe table.

Civilians continuing paying a heavy price as the “senseless violence” between rival militaries continues in Sudan, the UN’s political affairs chief said on Wednesday.

Taking urgent steps to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, world leaders launched a high level dialogue on Financing for Development on Wednesday.

At the heart of global diplomacy within the iconic UN Headquarters in New York, another significant yet often less featured deliberation is unfolding this week: the Treaty Event.

In his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Rwandan President Paul Kagame discussed the lack of progress toward achieving Sustainable Deveopment Goals (SDGs), reducing conflict around the globe, and finding wasy to boost international cooperation.

“Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects”, the UN chief declared on Wednesday, as a broad global coalition of “movers and doers” politicians, business and civil society gathered in New York for the first ever Climate Ambition Summit.

Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have been using torture as a tool to extract confessions from prisoners, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Wednesday.

Some 4.5 billion people, more than half the global population, do not have enough access to essential health services, an issue that world leaders and ministers will tackle at a series of high-level meetings at the UN this week.