Less than 4 years from development goals deadline, progress shows what's possible
18 September 2026 - For Benin, making progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has meant finding new ways to finance development. The West African country has increased domestic revenue by 0.5 per cent of GDP each year for the past decade, issued Africa’s first SDG bond in 2021 and used the resulting funding to expand access to education and drinking water, Aristide Medenou, Benin’s minister of economic cooperation, said on Friday.
New UN system platform puts millions of data points at users’ fingertips, says Guterres
18 September 2026 - The United Nations system is hoping to make that task much easier with the launch of the UN System Data Commons, a new online platform that brings together data and statistics from across the Organization into a single gateway. Speaking at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, Secretary-General António Guterres unveiled the new platform, which allows users to search, explore and access trusted publicly available data from 26 UN entities in one website.
Gender equality woefully off track, new UN report reveals
18 September 2026 - At the current rate of progress, gender equality would take 171 years to achieve, a new UN report finds as institutions built to advance gains are being defunded and demobilised. Strikingly, not a single indicator on the Sustainable Development Goal for gender equality (SDG 5) is on track to be met by 2030, the initial deadline, according to Gender Snapshot 2026.
One in three institutions built to advance gender equality stripped of power in just two years, new UN report reveals
17 September 2026 – The Gender Snapshot 2026 report, released today by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), shows that where women hold real power, outcomes improve across every dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - from peace to education, and from poverty to climate action.
AI, climate and conflicts top Guterres' agenda ahead of General Assembly
16 September 2026 - Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, Secretary-General António Guterres said the world had entered “an era of deep uncertainty” and urged governments to embrace international cooperation to address global threats.
The world comes to New York: What's at stake at UN General Assembly high-level week
16 September 2026 - At a time of mounting geopolitical tensions and overlapping global crises, leaders will tackle a packed agenda that includes conflicts and international security, climate change, pandemic preparedness, sea-level rise, the fight against racism and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Guterres: Old global order must change as power shifts to emerging economies
14 September 2026 - UN Secretary-General António Guterres told leaders of a bloc of major emerging economies in New Delhi on Sunday that a more balanced global order requires an overhaul of the institutions built after the Second World War, including the UN Security Council. This year's summit, hosted by India, has drawn heads of state alongside the leaders of the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.
UN Comtrade just crossed 1 billion data downloads. Here's why that matters.
14 September 2026 - UN Comtrade is the UN's flagship trade database and the world's most trusted official source of goods and services trade statistics. In mid-2026, UN Comtrade hit a milestone: one billion data requests served. Today, around 50,000 users and 1.5 million requests arrive every single day. In 2025 alone, 18.6 million users submitted 202.8 million requests.
Flood-ravaged Nepal calls for climate justice
11 September 2026 - Nepal’s call for financial compensation following recent deadly floods underlines the need to help countries that contribute the least to climate change – but are increasingly grappling with its most lethal consequences, the top UN official in the country said on Wednesday.
UN climate chief warns political division is undermining fight against 'economic security emergency'
11 September 2026 - The head of the UN's climate body has warned that treating global warming as a partisan issue is dangerously out of step with reality, as he set out a stark account of the economic toll climate change is already inflicting on Europe.
Transformation through technology: Young people bring new ideas to decision-making
11 September 2026 - On 13 August, UN DESA brought together young leaders, practitioners and policymakers for the 10th Youth Forum on SDG Implementation. Taking place online after the International Youth Day on 12 August, the Forum was organized under the theme “Advancing Youth Engagement in the Public Decision-Making Process through Digital Transformation and Innovative Governance”.
Making the invisible visible: Why the world needs national inclusion accounts
10 September 2026 - As populations around the world grow older, understanding who benefits from economic growth and public policies across the lifecycle is becoming increasingly important. Nicole Mun Sim Lai of the UN DESA Population Division explains how National Inclusion Accounts (NTA-I) can reveal inequalities that conventional statistics often overlook, why this new framework matters for policymaking and how it can help countries build more inclusive and age-ready societies.
‘This is not 1945’: General Assembly president gavels open new session aimed at restoring global trust
9 September 2026 - The UN General Assembly gavelled open its 81st session on Tuesday at UN Headquarters as the incoming president pledged to restore public trust in the institution during a time of war, humanitarian crises and intensifying climate change.
Coordinated action on clean air and climate change can net $15 for every dollar spent
9 September 2026 - Tackling air pollution and climate change together can save millions of lives, reduce global warming and generate roughly $15 in economic benefits for every $1 spent, a new UN-backed report has revealed.
3 reasons everyone should care about the upcoming UN Water Conference
8 September 2026 - Later this year, water will take center stage at the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in Abu Dhabi. World leaders will then come together to tackle the global water crisis. Ahead of this major Conference on 8-10 December, here are 3 reasons everyone should care.