NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 05 (IPS) - When a continent with 65% of the world’s arable land struggles to feed its 1.4 billion people, we know something is wrong. The African and global food systems need a rethink. The urgent and pressing need to address a more productive, transparent, equitable food system, poverty and the far-reaching effects of climate change requires us to forge alliances among diverse stakeholders and sectors.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 05 (IPS) - When 150+ world leaders, including Presidents and Prime Ministers, arrive in New York to address the high-level segment of the General Assembly beginning September 19, the UN neighborhood will be turned into a veritable war zone.

The streets will be littered with scores of police officers, US secret service personnel, UN security officers, bomb-sniffing dogs, road closures — and a stand-by ambulance in the UN campus ready to cope with any medical emergencies.

Startling findings from a new UN data platform reveal that the marine dredging industry is extracting a staggering six billion tons of sand and sediment annually.

Members of the African diaspora continue to face immense challenges participating in public life in many countries, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said in a new report on Tuesday.

An unprecedented number of migrants and refugees continue to cross the dense tropical jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap, risking their lives and facing horrific human rights abuses, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths released $125 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Tuesday to assist underfunded humanitarian operations in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of civilians killed by cluster munitions, according to new data released on Tuesday by the UN-partnered Cluster Munition Monitor (CMC) civil society group.

A new session of the UN General Assembly began on Tuesday with both the outgoing and incoming leaders of the world body underscoring the importance of multilateral cooperation.

Food assistance to two million people in Afghanistan will have to be cut later this month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

The flame of injustice is “scorching hopes and possibilities” across Africa as the world grapples with the climate crisis, with the continent suffering some of the worst impacts of global warming said the UN chief on Tuesday.