Western nations gave out more than $185 billion in grants and cheap loans in 2021, according to the OECD. Official development assistance is one of the pillars of the international financial system. But the 46 Least Developed Nations holding their own UN-organized summit in Doha this week feel short-changed.

Doha, Qatar - Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani announced Sunday a $60 million financial contribution to Doha Program of Action (DPoA). He was speaking at the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha. Local media reports said that $10 million will be allocated...

Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Programme, said that 25 of the 52 were spending more than a fifth of government revenues servicing external debt. "The situation right now for developing countries when it comes to national debt is indeed very, very serious," Steiner said.

The deal described by many as historic is seen as key to conserving 30 percent of the world's land and ocean by 2030, as agreed by world governments in a historic accord signed in Montreal in December. Eventually, following two weeks of intense talks, delegates finalized a text that now...

"Many refugees who fled to Turkey in search of safety and protection have now faced the trauma of loss and displacement once again -- losing their homes and livelihoods," the UN's International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a joint statement. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake on...

“And we need much bolder actions now to cut emissions, accelerate renewables, and build climate resilience,” he adds. “Throughout, we need to place the voices of local communities and indigenous people – our world’s most effective guardians of biodiversity – front and centre.”

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is expected in Tehran for discussions with officials after International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in Iran found uranium particles enriched to just under weapons-grade level. The visit by the head of IAEA comes with the Vienna-based organization seeking to get Iran to increase cooperation...

In February, Economy Minister Amin Salaam announced that supermarkets would be able to start pricing items in dollars, while customers could pay in dollars or Lebanese pounds at the volatile market rate. Domestically produced fruit and vegetables were still priced in the local currency. Some restaurants and clothing shops had...

In a show of solidarity with Iraq, UN head Antonio Guterres arrived in the country for the first time in six years, after a prolonged political crisis there. On arrival he said that he wanted to show solidarity with the people and the democratic institutions of Iraq, pledging support for...

The UN says more than 21.7 million people - two-thirds of Yemen's population -- need humanitarian assistance this year. Its appeal aims to reach the 17.3 million most vulnerable among them. Erin Hutchinson, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Yemen chief, said the world had "abandoned Yemen at this crucial crossroads" by...

Elections were originally scheduled for December 2021, but were postponed indefinitely because of differences over controversial candidates and rules on participation. Since March last year, an administration in Libya's east backed by military leader Khalifa Haftar has challenged the UN-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, arguing it has outlived...

NASIRIYAH, IRAQ - Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers have witnessed a sharp decrease in their levels in the south of the country, officials said Sunday, pledging to take urgent measures to ease water shortages. In Nasiriyah, capital of the southern province of Dhi Qar, an AFP photographer saw the river bed...

Globally, around 14 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, while an estimated 17 percent of total global food production is wasted, UN says.

The Israeli army said the raid targeted militant suspects "in a hideout apartment" accused of shootings in the West Bank. It added troops came under fire but suffered no casualties. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is at its most combustible in years",...

Youssef Akiki believes he may be the last commercial maker of the sheep wool "labbadeh", a waterproof and warm cap colored off-white, grey, brown or black.

But on the eve of the talks, set to run through March 3, cautious optimism appears to be taking hold, encouraged by a historic agreement reached in Montreal in December during the UN's COP15 conference on biodiversity. Countries then committed themselves to protecting 30 percent of the world's lands and...

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for Africa to take "action for peace" to combat rising violence as the continent's leaders held their annual summit in Addis Ababa. Africa is reeling deadly violence in the Sahel region and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with the African Union meeting aiming to...

In one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the IS this year, some 53 people were killed on Friday in an ambush in central Syria. According to the director of Palmyra hospital, those killed were 46 civilians and seven soldiers. State television said that the slain were truffle hunting...

Another two weeks of negotiations ended with no agreement in August last year, but advocates and officials have expressed cautious optimism ahead of the coming session. "There are a lot of negotiations and discussions happening between delegations trying to find middle ground on some of the key sticky issues... at...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that the funds would provide humanitarian relief for three months to 5.2 million people. The money would "allow aid organizations to rapidly scale up vital support," including in the areas of food security, protection, education, water and shelter, he added.

The 15-member council is likely to vote on Monday on the text, drafted by the United Arab Emirates in coordination with the Palestinians.

Last week's quake has affected more than seven million children, including 2.5 million in Syria alone, according to James Elder of UNICEF.

United Nations, US--The United Nations launched an appeal for $397 million on Tuesday to help earthquake victims in Syria, where the disaster has killed thousands of people and left millions more in desperate need of aid. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, announcing the appeal at the UN headquarters in New York, said the...

The first UN delegation to visit rebel-held northwestern Syria since last week's earthquake crossed over from Turkey, AFP reported, as anger simmers at the world body's slow response. Over 35,000 people were killed when the quake devastated swathes of Syria and neighboring Turkey on February 6, at least 3,600 of...

"In Turkey, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the two earthquakes was 4.6 million children. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected," James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency Unicef, told reporters in Geneva.

After more than a decade of war, Assad's government remains a pariah in the West, complicating international efforts to assist those affected by the quake. Martin Griffiths also met Monday with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Damascus after visiting government-controlled Aleppo, where more than 200,000 people have been left...

To house millions of people who lost homes in the devastating earthquake, Qatar will send some 10,000 cabins and caravans used during the World Cup to Turkey and Syria. The UN estimates that many millions may be in need of help after the 7.8-magnitude quake killed some 33,000 and flattened...

A UN convoy with supplies for northwest Syria arrived via Turkey, but the agency's relief chief Martin Griffiths said much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed. "We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn't arrived,"...

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said the death toll from the massive earthquake will "double or more" from its current level of 28,000. Tens of thousands of rescue workers are scouring flattened neighborhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid.

The call came as rescue workers continued their search for survivors in the rubble of the 7.8 magnitude quake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, with the death toll approaching 24,000. The UN security council will meet on Syria -- likely early next week -- according to Swiss envoy...

The earthquake is estimated to have made some 5.3 million people in Syria homeless, which rocked the region this week, according to a United Nations official. The homeless people, according to the official, will need shelter assistance across the country. Quake survivors have flocked to camps set up for people...

In the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, one of those hit hardest, the stench of death clung to the air. But as crews entered a fifth day of peeling back flattened buildings, Turkish media reported rescues of young children, long after the expiration of the 72-hour window when survivors are considered...

Bitter cold has hampered the four-day search of thousands of flattened buildings and threatened the lives of many quake victims who are without shelter and drinking water. Relatives were left scouring body bags laid out in a hospital car park in Turkey's southern city of Antakya to search for missing...

Cairo, Egypt-- Senior Libyan officials from both rival administrations on Wednesday endorsed a coordination mechanism to clear the war-torn country of foreign troops and mercenaries, the United Nations announced. The UN mission in the North African country hailed "an important step toward achieving sustainable stability and peace in Libya" after a...

Damascus denies the use of chemical weapons and insists it has handed over its stockpiles under a 2013 agreement, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack that killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. But the Council members said Syria is "still in breach of its obligations" under the...

The Iranian criticism of Grossi comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general said he plans to visit Tehran in February for talks on getting it to increase cooperation over its activities, amid stalled negotiations to revive a landmark deal over Iran's nuclear program.

NEW YORK, US - On the occasion of the International Day of Human Fraternity, the UN chief Saturday called for renewed commitment to forge an "alliance of peace" amid a surge in hate speech, sectarianism and strife. The International Day of Human Fraternity celebrates values that "are the glue that...

The Paris gathering is to be attended by representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired at the...

Geneva, Switzerland---Eight humanoid robots will be the star attractions when the United Nations hosts its first summit since the start of the pandemic on the benefits of artificial intelligence, it said Wednesday. The AI for Good Global Summit, first held in 2017, will return to Geneva on July 6 and 7...

The relief of rainfall early this month was welcomed by the UN agency, which noted in a statement that in the Chibayish region "salinity levels decreased" to the point that people and animals could again drink the water.

The UAE is pushing the merits of carbon capture -- removing carbon dioxide as fuel is burned, or from the air.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Meloni and her host Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who heads the UN-brokered Government of National Unity which is contested by a rival administration in the east.

Hunger rates in Syria have escalated to record highs after more than ten years of brutal conflict, according to the World Food Program. The UN agency believes that years of economic crisis and damage to vital infrastructure from war have put some 2.9 million at risk of sliding into hunger.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli for talks on energy and migration, Libyan state media said. Meloni's trip - her second to a North African country this week - is the first by a European leader to war-battered Libya since her predecessor Mario Draghi's visit...

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, in what the army described as a "stabbing attack". The ministry said that Arref Abdel Nasser Arref Lahlouh, 22, was killed "by Israeli gunfire," near the city of Qalqilya. Lahlou is the 19th Palestinian killed...

The agency warned that most Palestinian refugees now live below the poverty line and a growing number are dependent on UNRWA for assistance, sometimes for their "sheer survival".

The children returned to France on Tuesday were at the Roj camp in northeast Syria under Kurdish administration, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Iraqi and Turkish borders. They were placed with social services and the mothers will be brought before judicial authorities, the foreign ministry said, thanking "the...

The UN drugs agency noted that an increase in cases of human trafficking had been observed in Bangladesh and the Philippines after devastating cyclones and typhoons displaced millions.

The WEF president concluded the first major international gathering of the year on a positive note saying progress has been made to tackle world's grave issues. This despite many economists forecasting recessionary risks in 2023 and geopolitical tensions continuing to shape the global economy.

The EU will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations over the crackdown on protests, but is still debating listing the Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist" group, diplomats said. Foreign ministers from the bloc are to agree to adopt the fourth package of sanctions on Tehran over its...