A report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners is offering solutions to decarbonize the building and construction sector. The report says that the construction sector is currently responsible for 37 per cent of global emissions.

A report released over the weekend by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries is surging.

With students around the world returning to school, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization published its first global Guidance on Generative AI in Education and Research, calling on Governments to implement regulations and teacher training towards a human-centred approach.

All efforts by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to organize the next round of consultations with Syria remain unsuccessful, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, calling for Syria’s full cooperation to close all outstanding issues.

In Liberia, the United Nations team there is boosting its response to national efforts to address food insecurity. This follows a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showing that over half a million people are currently facing acute food insecurity in the country.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on 28 August signed an agreement with health authorities to provide midwifery and nursing skill-based education to Afghan women and girls who are currently in Iran.

In Niger, the United Nations, along with its partners, continues to deliver assistance across the country. In Tahoua, in the country’s south-west, humanitarians have provided medical care, reproductive health services and nutrition to over 1,000 people through mobile clinics.

The worsening security, economic and humanitarian situation in Syria requires urgent concerted efforts from all parties to the conflict to resume a Syrian-led political process, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the country stressed, as the Security Council today took up that file once again this month.

In Lebanon, after a week-long suspension of services in Ein el Hilweh camp due to armed clashes, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has resumed operations. Health Centre II reopened today. UNRWA is also preparing to assess and clear remnants of war from affected zones.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres: