UN News - Top Stories

More than 2,600 people were displaced in the Artibonite department of Haiti following clashes between armed groups last week as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).

A senior United Nations official warned on Friday that the opportunity to prevent a major escalation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid is “rapidly narrowing” as fighting intensifies in and around the North Kordofan state capital.

Secretary-General António Guterres and General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock reaffirmed the principles outlined in the UN Charter and called for a renewed commitment to multilateralism at a General Assembly meeting on Friday marking the Charter’s 81st anniversary. 

The United Nations’ maritime agency said on Friday that it had successfully evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending the operation, after an attack on a commercial vessel exposed uncertainty over who can guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

More people are using drugs than ever before, while synthetic substances are reshaping illicit markets and exposing vulnerable communities to greater health risks, according to the UN World Drug Report 2026, released on Friday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for stronger independent oversight of the United States immigration detention system and investigations into all deaths in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

Nearly seven million Venezuelans could be affected by this week’s double earthquakes as the death toll rises to at least 235 people amid massive, growing needs and ongoing emergency search and rescue efforts, UN agencies reported on Friday. UN News app users can follow here.

Aid agencies on Friday highlighted massive needs across Venezuela caused by a double earthquake disaster that has killed at least 235 people so far, with search and rescue for people trapped under the rubble still the top priority.

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Thursday renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

The UN's top humanitarian official has allocated $8 million in funding to help Burundi and South Sudan prepare for the potential spread of Ebola. 

Since Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers have detected no airstrikes or new missile fire in southern Lebanon. The lull remains fragile, however, as Israeli drones continue to fly over the area and military operations continue on the ground.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan voiced alarm on Wednesday over escalating violence in and around the city of El Obeid, warning that further military escalation could put thousands of civilians at risk and deepen Sudan’s already devastating humanitarian crisis.

As wars persist in different parts of the world, it’s perhaps easy to lose sight of the many countries that have managed to recover from past violence, sustain peace and prevent conflict. The UN Peacebuilding Fund, which is marking its 20th year of operation in 2026, has contributed to many of these success stories. UN News app users click here.

Thousands of civilians trapped in frontline communities in southern Ukraine are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as access to food, medical care and evacuation routes continues to shrink, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HMRRU, warned on Wednesday.

As a record-breaking heatwave grips large parts of Europe, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), national weather services and partners are mobilising heat-health action plans for millions of people facing dangerous temperatures. 

Two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela less than a minute apart on Wednesday, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, causing at least 164 deaths and widespread destruction in and around the capital, Caracas as international assistance begins to arrive early Thursday, with UN agencies rapidly deploying aid, support and rescue teams. UN News app users can follow here.

UN teams scrambled on Thursday in support of the international response to the devastating double earthquake disaster in Venezuela, where buildings lie flattened and people are likely still trapped in the capital, Caracas, and beyond. 

Ongoing fighting in the Sudanese city of El Obeid continues to endanger civilians and damage infrastructure, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Young people working on promoting peace in some of the world’s most fragile and polarized places say financial support remains essential, but money alone will not sustain their efforts to organize youth to participate in peacebuilding.

Amid efforts to cool global warming, the battle hinges on targeting such super-pollutants as methane, which emits one third of the world’s greenhouse gases and “is a fight we can win”, the UN chief on Wednesday.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread faster than aid efforts can keep pace, despite significant gains in treatment capacity and growing community engagement, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

The way societies talk about ageing can shape everything from public policy to people's own expectations of later life, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said on Wednesday in a new report that calls  for shifting away from narratives that portray older persons as a burden. 

A UN vehicle standards forum has approved the first global regulations for fully autonomous driving systems (ADS), marking a major step towards the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles. 

The UN Security Council held on open debate on Thursday focused on strengthening protections for children caught in armed conflict. The Secretary-General's latest report reveals that in 2025, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups, marking a first in 30 years of UN monitoring.  The report verified 38,558 grave violations such as killing, recruitment and abduction, affecting 24,174 children, many of whom suffered multiple violations.

As the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) released more details of its plan to evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, one mariner caught up in the emergency has described the ever-present fear of coming under attack.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will begin implementing an evacuation plan for more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN agency announced on Tuesday.

A new UN human rights report issued on Tuesday details the brutality and scale of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since war erupted in April 2023 and its profound, long-term impacts on victims, families and communities. 

The Central African Republic (CAR) “has made remarkable and tangible progress towards lasting peace and security” in recent years, but security remains fragile in border areas, including with war-torn Sudan, UN Special Representative Valentine Rugwabiza told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, a UN independent commission of inquiry said in its latest report released on Tuesday.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday that calls for accountability for crimes committed against UN peacekeepers.