UN – United Nations

My first encounter with the ocean was on the Jersey Shore when I was 3 years old and I got knocked over by a wave. It wasn’t frightening; it was more exhilarating than anything else. Life in the ocean captured my imagination and has held it ever since. When my family moved to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico became my backyard, I spent hours just searching through the giant piles of seaweed that washed ashore, picking […]

Bold. Unconventional. Generous. This is how Bill Gates has described Ted Turner, the United Nations Foundation’s Founder and Chairman, who was honored yesterday with the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Philanthropy. This award could not be more deserved. Ted is a big thinker and has long understood that in our increasingly connected world, filled with “problems without passports,” we need planetary philanthropy. Ted’s commitment to global problem-solving led him to create the UN Foundation in 1998

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing global health threat that has been receiving increased attention from everyone from journalists to world leaders. Read more to learn about AMR, and why it’s important that we act to defeat it. What is antimicrobial resistance, and why is it a problem?Microbes are living things that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Some microbes, such as certain kinds of bacteria and fungi, are harmful, and we have

While the world is closer than ever to eradicating polio, a final push of funding is needed to get over the finish line. Why should donors and advocates support this cause? Polio is a devastating disease that can paralyze and even kill children. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – a partnership led by national governments, with five core partners, including the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

“Refugees are people like anyone else, like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again. On this World Refugee Day, let us recall our common humanity, celebrate tolerance and diversity, and open our hearts to refugees everywhere.”– United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on June 20, 2015 June 20 is World Refugee Day, and as the global community faces the highest level of displacement

Objects in motion will stay in motion, observed Sir Isaac Newton, unless compelled to change by an external force. Today’s most pernicious problems – extreme poverty, violence, gender inequity, climate change – will continue shuttling our world toward an unsustainable future, unless we create external forces that compel change. The December 2015 Paris climate conference demonstrates that multinational agreement on a dedicated course of action is indeed possible. The Paris Agreement is but one branch in an

The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 23-24 was about people – people who have been forgotten and who are often neglected on the global agenda. Attending the summit inspired hope that the world is committed to doing more. One important takeaway from the summit was that world leaders acknowledged the importance of engaging every sector, including the private sector, to meet today’s humanitarian needs. Our problems are too big for any one sector, and we

June 20 is World Refugee Day, a day to show support for refugees – the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters who by a tragic twist of fate have had to leave their lives and homes behind because of conflict, violence, or disaster. With more than 60 million people displaced – the highest level since World War II – now is the time for all of us, from every country and every

My name is Halima. Three years ago I was forced to flee from my home in Somalia. I could no longer cope with the bombings and destruction that were being caused by Al-Shabaab. Everyone around me was dying. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. We knew it wouldn’t be long until something happened to us too if we stayed. I found safety in Uganda, who gave me asylum and settled me in Nakivale refugee settlement where more than 100,000