Editor’s Note: Miss the town hall with candidates for next UN Secretary-General? You can watch it on YouTube here. As election season heats up in the United States, another important race is also happening: the selection of a new United Nations Secretary-General to take helm on January 1, 2017, following the end of Ban Ki-moon’s second term. On Tuesday, July 12, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, in partnership with Al Jazeera Media […]

Earlier this week, we celebrated the annual World Population Day. It may not be a day on most people’s calendars, but it serves an important purpose: to remind us all that sexual and reproductive health and rights begin with one person, but matter to everyone. We are at a tipping point: 40% of the world’s population (more than 1.8 billion people) are between the ages of 10 and 24, and 90% of these young people

Next week from July 18-22, thousands of scientists, policymakers, world leaders, and people living with HIV/AIDS will come together in Durban, South Africa for the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) to share learnings and call for action in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Under the theme “Access Equity Rights Now,” next week’s conference will focus on breaking down barriers in accessing treatment and ensuring that everyone –no matter who they are or where they live – can

Editor’s Note: In honor of Nelson Mandela International Day, we’re re-sharing this blog post from 2013. Every July 18, the United Nations and the world celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day – a day to recognize Mandela’s contributions to freedom, equality, and human rights and to follow his example of service to build a better world. To get inspired, here is a list of 12 amazing quotes from Madiba.  While there are so many words of

Since its establishment by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, the UN Central Emergency Fund (CERF) has been a vital element of the UN’s efforts to provide rapid humanitarian aid for people devastated by crisis. Through voluntary financial contributions from governments, corporations, and individuals, CERF provides a pool of money that can be quickly deployed at the onset of a crisis, where it is needed most, to support humanitarian organizations working on the ground. But the work

Earlier this week, the United Nations released the “Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016” to provide an accounting of where we are on the global goals, a set of 17 interconnected, universal, and transformative goals adopted by world leaders at the UN last year. The goals provide a framework to end poverty and fight inequality, promote inclusive economic growth, and tackle climate change and environmental destruction. The report comes as ministers from around the world gathered this week at

Last year, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals and embraced a shared aspiration: A world without poverty and with opportunity and dignity for all by 2030. So how does the international community achieve the global sustainable development agenda? First we need to know where we stand. And we need ideas on how to reach this better world in the next 15 years. The past two weeks, government ministers, UN leaders, experts and academics, civil society

“The real reason we haven’t beaten the epidemic boils down to one simple fact: We value some lives more than others. …I know this because AIDS does not discriminate on its own. It has no biological preference for black bodies, for women’s bodies, for gay bodies, for youth or for the poor. It doesn’t single out the vulnerable, the oppressed, or the abused. …Yes, we have to all play our parts. We have to work

Eight months after the historic Paris Agreement on climate change was finalized, international activities to address this looming danger no longer command the media’s attention – even as the world has experienced 14 consecutive months of record heat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On July 14, the temperature reached an unprecedented 85° F – not in New York or Texas, but on the North Slope of Alaska, on the shores of the