Progress is being made in the fight against leprosy, but millions are still affected by the disease, and many sufferers have to contend with social exclusion.

Sonia Gardner:  First, finance can play an important role in facilitating economic growth in the world’s poorest countries and that, in turn, can improve the investment climate and living standards for underserved women in those communities.

Reducing inequality is one of the UN’s flagship goals, but the gulf between rich and poor worldwide, remains persistently high.

The European Union’s failure to lift 20 million people out of poverty by 2020, is “a defeat for social rights”, an independent UN human rights expert said on Friday, urging the bloc to boldly rethink its whole socio-economic approach.

With COVID-19 vaccines currently in scarce supply, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday pressed governments to prioritize inoculation of health workers and older persons, and to share excess doses with other nations.

Funders responsible for more than $100 million of annual global research investments joined the deputy UN chief Amina Mohammed on Friday to discuss how to unify research efforts, and use science to recover effectively from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Tweet, Mr. Guterres expressed his gratitude and good fortune at receiving the jab, and urged the international community to ensure that vaccines becomes available to everyone, on an equitable basis.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) vowed on Wednesday to “end the scourge of neglected tropical diseases”, which affect more than a billion mainly poor people, and thrive where there is little access to quality health services, clean water, and sanitation.

The Forum brings together more than 1 500 business, government and civil society leaders from more than 70 countries to discuss the economic, environmental, social and technological challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Almost two-thirds of over 1.2 million people surveyed worldwide say that climate change is a global emergency, urging greater action to address the crisis, results from a new UN climate survey revealed on Wednesday.