NEW YORK, September 30 (IPS) - Last week, the United Nations (UN) marked its 80th anniversary against the backdrop of an unprecedented global crisis. With the highest number of active conflicts since 1946, trust in multilateralism is faltering.

For George Stroumboulopoulos, the only way to get to an inaccessible destination near the border of Chad in 2004 was to fly on an UN Humanitarian Air Service plane: it was the first time he’d ever heard of UNHAS.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the Kenyan-led security support mission, amid escalating gang violence, widespread rights abuses and a humanitarian emergency affecting all aspects of life in the island nation.

“Houses burned. Neighbours killed. Hope vanishing.” With those stark words, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock opened a high-level UN conference on Tuesday, as alarm rises over the impact of Myanmar’s deepening crisis which threatens to destabilise the wider region.

The UN Security Council has backed a resolution authorising the transition of the Kenyan-led support mission for Haiti into a new Gang Suppression Force, in close cooperation with Haitian authorities. US Ambassador Michael Waltz said it offered new hope for the country's future as “a key first step” to address the humanitarian and security crisis there. Follow the meeting live below; UN News app users need to click here for coverage.

Lifesaving relief efforts to help remote Afghan communities devastated by last month’s deadly earthquake have already been hit by the de facto authorities’ decision to cut internet access nationwide, UN aid agencies said on Tuesday.

Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is still mostly a promise”, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Doctors in Gaza are warning of a surge in respiratory illnesses as families – cut off from basic supplies – burn plastic and cardboard to cook and keep warm. They say the outbreak will worsen unless life-saving medicines, fuel and food are allowed into the devastated territory.

Faced with a deadly outbreak of cholera and a lack of sanitation infrastructure, one Haitian mother sparked a community movement that has transformed her neighbourhood – and saved multiple lives.

UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.