UN – United Nations

Spring in Washington means more than our iconic Cherry Blossoms and tourists on the Metro. It’s also the beginning of budget season for lawmakers, and that means big decisions about our international affairs priorities. If you haven’t been following the Better World Campaign’s calls to action, here’s what you need to know: The U.S. is in the red at the United Nations, with this year’s budget underfunding peacekeeping by 12 percent. Frankly, the situation is […]

Our photo of the week: A young boy smiles in South Sudan as he holds food provided by the World Food Programme (WFP). This week, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antόnio Guterres visited South Sudan to meet people affected by the conflict in the world’s newest nation and to review the response and needs of the growing humanitarian crisis. Since conflict broke out in mid-December, more than 1

Today, in honor of World Health Day, we are partnering with the Pan-American Health Organization to raise awareness about the serious and increasing threat of vector-borne diseases. Did you know that more than half the world’s population is at risk from diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis, and yellow fever, which are carried by mosquitoes, flies, ticks, water snails and other vectors? According to the World Health Organization, every year, more than

Today marks the 20th anniversary to the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. More than 800,000 people were killed and millions more were displaced during the devastating 100 days of violence. As a result, lives were changed forever, the government and many institutions collapsed, and much of the country had to be restarted from scratch. In the 20 years since the end of the genocide, Rwanda has made significant progress in many areas. Here are 5

What does success for the United Nations look like in Afghanistan? The White House put it best during a press briefing last week forecasting Saturday’s primary elections: “This election process is Afghan-owned… The Afghan security forces are in the lead country-wide. The leaders and staff of the electoral institutions are all Afghan. And the campaign period over the past two months was full of open and responsible debate among the candidates. But it will be

I’d like to invite you to explore a new resource, climatevoices.org, which is bringing together U.S. scientists and their fellow citizens for non-political conversations about climate science and the impacts of climate change. When it comes to progress with climate research, I’ve been terribly fortunate to have something of a front row seat. For more than 20 years now, I’ve worked with some of the world’s most distinguished scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric

When Americans think of the future, what do they care about? Late last year, more than 1,000 Americans gathered throughout the country to discuss the world they want in 2030. Organized by the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), these consultations answered a call from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who requested that every UN member state seek public input for the new development agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals after 2015. A website,

By Audrey Ok, Intern for UN Foundation Public Affairs The Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world’s poorest countries, has been engulfed in months of intense violence, described as “ethno-religious cleansing,” which has plunged the country into crisis. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), thousands of civilians have been killed and more than 625,000 people have fled their homes and are displaced within the country. The already

There is a lot to think about when you are in a room filled with social media pioneers, global thinkers, and experts from one of the world’s most populous countries: India. Everything you think about, in fact, starts with the reminder that 1 billion people are counting on the answers to how we tackle the big challenges: improving global health, empowering girls and women, confronting the realities of climate change, and leveraging technology and new