UN – United Nations

Below are five important stories on global challenges and solutions that are on my radar as part of our work supporting United Nations causes. And stay tuned: More news is sure to come this week as we mark World Health Day and continue to grapple with “problems without passports” that demand global attention, from the refugee crisis to peace and security issues around the world.  “Obama and President Xi of China Vow to Sign Paris […]

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. This post originally appeared on Gavi’s blog, Vaccineswork.  Her name was Nusarat. She was young and petite with gleaming, hopeful eyes – the only thing I could see from behind her veil. She had

Did you know that there are currently an estimated 442 million people living with diabetes in the world? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2012 and higher-than-optimal blood glucose caused an additional 2.2 million deaths by increasing the risks of cardiovascular and other diseases. Those numbers will continue to increase unless we make some drastic changes. That is why on World Health Day on April 7, WHO is

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. In 2007, Plan launched the Because I am Girl campaign at a time when the international development community began to unite around adolescent girls. Over the past nine years, adolescent girls have been

With just under 50 days until the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, it’s an important time to look at the global response to humanitarian issues. Roughly 125 million people in the world today are in need of humanitarian assistance – if this were a country, it would be the 11th most populous country in the world, and the fastest growing. We are facing the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II. As

On April 22 – Earth Day – representatives from more than 100 countries will gather at the United Nations in New York to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change. It is expected to be the largest single-day signing in the history of international accords.  The terminology behind international agreements can be complicated, convoluted, and downright unappealing. But this could also be one of our generation’s most important international agreements, so it’s time to break

Cherry blossoms at UNHQ. Update: On Tuesday, June 7, the President of the General Assembly is holding additional informal dialogues with new candidates for UN Secretary-General. Tune in at webtv.un.org starting at 11am ET. The U.S. election is dominating the news cycle these days, but there is another race that may not be on your radar, but should be: the next United Nations Secretary-General. This year, Ban Ki-moon’s second term at the helm of the

The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa decimated health systems in affected countries, including routine immunization activities. Now Sierra Leone is grappling with a measles outbreak that started last year and has continued to grow, with more than 1,000 suspected cases of measles in the country.  Working with the Measles & Rubella Initiative, a global partnership to stop measles and rubella (of which the UN Foundation is a founding partner), and with financial support from

Dadam Ben tries to light the fire in the conventional cookstove in Ganeshpura village in District Mehsana in Indian State of Gujarat. Across the developing world, people cook over open fires or simple stoves that burn solid fuels like wood, animal dung, and coal. Cooking this way emits small particles, carbon monoxide, and other noxious fumes at levels up to 100 times higher than recommended health limits. As a result, the simple act of cooking