New York, 26 April 2023 – With countries hammered by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, a weak global economy, and amplified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres sounded the alarm yesterday as he briefed Member States on the ‘Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet’ report.

(Stockholm, 24 April 2023) Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7 per cent in real terms in 2022, to reach a new high of $2240 billion. Military expenditure in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years.

Right now, far too many children across the world are not getting the vaccines they need to protect them against death and serious disease. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted childhood immunization, with 67 million children missing out entirely or partially on routine immunization between 2019 and 2021, leaving them vulnerable to a range of preventable diseases.

UK based charity Lloyd's Register Foundation is calling for widespread ratification of ILO Convention 190 - regarding the elimination of violence and harassment at work - following findings from the charity's World Risk Poll that, globally, migrant workers were more likely to experience violence and harassment at work than nationals though there were regional variations.