Focus On
UN Geneva Press Briefing: UN WOMEN, UNHCR, UNEP, UNIS - 17.04.26
🎥 Lebanon-Israel ceasefire; 🎥 Impact of the Gaza war on women and girls; 🎥 2025 – the deadliest year for maritime movements of Rohingya refugees; 🎥 Announcements.
MIDDLE EAST LIVE 17 April: Israel-Lebanon ceasefire begins
A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight in Beirut, offering a pause in hostilities after weeks of fighting. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement and urged all parties to respect it, expressing hope it could open the way for further negotiations.
UN Geneva Press Briefing: ICRC, IFRC, IOM, OCHA, UN WOMEN, UNECE, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP - 14.04.26
🎥 Three years of war in Sudan; 🎥 The impact of Lebanon's escalating crisis on women and girls; 🎥 Conflict in Iran and supply routes; 🎥 Returns of Venezuelans; 🎥 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development; 🎥 Announcements.
Lebanon: “New mothers cradle newborns, uncertain if safety will ever return” – UN humanitarians - 14.04.26
"Across Lebanon, grief, fear and exhaustion hang heavy in the air. Families are still desperately looking for loved ones. New mothers cradle newborns, uncertain if safety will ever return, " Anandita Philipose, the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) representative in Lebanon told reporters in Geneva. "Healthcare workers already exhausted are working through their own trauma to save others. The loss is immense."
Happening at UN Geneva
5th Forum on People of African Descent
The fifth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 14 to 17 April 2026, under the theme: Expanding the human rights of people of African descent under the Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
This year's discussions will examine reparatory justice, through the return of cultural artefacts; the human rights situation of youth of African descent; and the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as a moment to reflect on turning existing human rights commitments into concrete action.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its States parties.
Racial discrimination remains a barrier to the full realization of human rights. Despite progress in some areas, exclusions and restrictions based on race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin continue to cause conflict, suffering and loss of life. CERD works to take action against the injustice of racial discrimination, and the dangers it represents.
Committee against Torture (CAT)
The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its States parties.
The Committee against Torture works to hold States accountable for human rights violations, systematically investigating reports of torture in order to stop and prevent this crime.
