Nearly all the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for persons with disabilities are off track the UN deputy chief said on Tuesday, as people from around the world gathered for the largest annual meeting on disability-related issues. 

A United Nations-backed treaty aimed at stopping the illicit trading of tobacco products, is set to enter into force on 25 September, marking a diplomatic breakthrough in efforts to protect public health and strike back against the criminal organizations profiting from such deals.    

As the eight-day High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) drew to a close on Wednesday, the United Nations chief called on everyone to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for “prosperity and peace on a healthy planet.”

Despite the improved economic growth, risks to the economic outlook are rising, the United Nations economic and social affairs chief said on Thursday, warning against “increasingly unilateral trade measures” that are challenging the multilateral trading system.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), to be held in Kenya next March, offers an opportunity for each country to present “honest” data and propose innovative solutions for environmental challenges, especially for sustainable consumption and production, the Assembly’s President has told UN News.   

Millions of small-scale farmers will be better equipped to withstand the negative impacts of climate change while at the same time improving livelihoods, thanks to a new global push by the United Nations agriculture agency announced during World Forest Week.

E-governance plays a critical role in building inclusive, resilient societies both before and in response to disasters, according to a United Nations report issued this week.

Protecting mangroves, tropical rainforests and other biodiversity hotspots, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) bumped up its World Network of Biosphere Reserves by 24 new sites on Wednesday, which means that 686 unique natural sites in total are being preserved globally.

The Sundarbans forest, a which is the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world and home to several endangered species, is being threatened by “heedless industrialization”, according to a UN rights expert, who on Tuesday, called on the Government of Bangladesh to halt the process. 

The UN Statistics Division and the World Bank launched  a new guide on Wednesday to help nations worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries, better manage data that contains geographical information – known officially as geospatial data.