The Smurfs are back – and this time they are smurfing up a global storm. Teaming up with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Paramount Pictures, the iconic blue characters are leading a campaign that encourages children and grownups everywhere to “Speak Up” for a...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday warned that the environment is being attacked on all fronts and called on the international community to urgently tackle the intersection of health and climate issues.

A United Nations volunteer from Japan has said as a teenager he was motivated by the “passion” of young people he met on an exchange programme to contribute to peace and development initiatives.

Civil society organisations have welcomed the consensus reached at the landmark sustainable development conference concluding this Thursday in Seville, while cautioning that real progress will depend on sustained action.

The landmark Financing for Development conference in Sevilla has concluded with a renewed sense of resolve and a focus on action that can change lives worldwide, according to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.

Space technologies are no longer a distant frontier but a critical foundation for daily life and global development, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said on Wednesday.

A senior UN official has told UN News that the global development challenge is not lack of money, but how to align public and private capital flows. The Sevilla Agreement adopted this week, sets out a roadmap for all UN Member States — except the US which pulled out...

A new mechanism offering debt-distressed countries a way to coordinate action and amplify their voice in the global financial system, has been launched at the UN’s pivotal sustainable development conference in Sevilla. 

Spain and Brazil have launched a joint initiative to promote a higher tax take from the super-rich worldwide, aiming to tackle soaring inequality by ensuring those with the most, pay their fair share.

“We’re here in Sevilla to change course,” the UN chief told world leaders on Monday, calling on them to grasp a once-in-a-decade opportunity to close a $4 trillion financing gap facing developing countries to meet sustainable development goals – and build a better...

Now the big promises have been formally adopted in the Spanish city of Seville to turbocharge financing for sustainable development, how are the ambitious goals going to be met – and how quickly?

Funding cuts to international development have cast a pall over a major UN-led international conference set to address the huge challenges faced by countries in the Global South. Despite this sobering backdrop, Eva Granados, Spanish Secretary of State for...

From rising debt and shrinking investment, to the aid funding crisis and struggles to meet ambitious development goals, the global financial system is failing the people it's supposed to serve: that's the challenge facing world leaders gathered in Spain's sweltering...

A decade after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), development is facing serious headwinds – including what UN officials describe as a “silent crisis” of surging debt service payments in low-income countries.

It wasn’t an average Thursday morning in Manhattan. In the early hours, UN diplomats (and UN News) hit the streets in their sneakers – from Times Square to East River – following a route that traced the shape of “UN@80”.

More than a decade after Asian and Pacific nations launched a campaign to ensure every life is counted, millions across the region still remain “invisible” – born, living, and dying without formal recognition.

Although nearly 92 per cent of the global population now has basic access to electricity, more than 666 million people still live without it, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to urge greater financial support for renewable energy. 

Helping those with less isn’t charity – it’s a shared investment in a better future. Yet global development financing is under strain. An upcoming UN conference in Sevilla, Spain, aims to change that by mobilizing large-scale investment for a more just and sustainable...

It’s been 10 years since the Addis Ababa Action Agenda was established to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

A story of grassroots persistence in Somalia could serve as a powerful reminder of the impact of innovative financing mechanisms as the international community meets in Spain to discuss how to fund global sustainable development.

Telling the time on the Moon is more complicated than you might think, but answering the question is becoming more important amid a resurgent interest in lunar exploration. The UN is helping to ensure the Moon is governed in a coordinated and peaceful way, and...

Visitors to Expo 2025, a world fair currently being held in Osaka, Japan, appreciate the “positive vison” of a shared global future promoted by the United Nations; that’s according to Naomi Ichikawa, Director of the UN Pavilion.

According to the United Nations, the world needs an extra $4 trillion every year to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges – ending poverty and hunger, fighting climate change, and reducing inequality. 

Once the exclusive domain of a handful of technologically advanced countries, outer space is now within the reach of emerging nations from the Global South, as costs fall and technology becomes more widely available.

Of the 700 million people worldwide living in extreme poverty, 40 per cent live in conflict-affected or fragile settings and this is on track to worsen, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.