Twenty years ago this month, I arrived in Rwanda just days after about 800,000 people were slaughtered in a genocide.

A disease damaging banana crops in Southeast Asia has spread to the Middle East and Africa, posing risks to world supply and trade totalling $8.9b.

Businesses across Syria have been devastated by the destruction inflicted by the three-year civil war, and the economy could take 30 years to recover to its pre-conflict level, a United Nations survey warns.

Are we doing enough? As another report lays out the benefits of a green economy science reporter Jamie Morton looks at what we're doing to achieve it.

As the world prepares to celebrate the International Day of Happiness today, Nasa bursts our bubble with a study which suggests we are on the brink of global collapse, writes Dana Wensley.

A disturbing video put out by Save The Children has shown what Syria's civil war and refugee crisis would look like if it was set in the West.

Former prime minister Helen Clark, whose Labour government froze relations with Israel in 2004, now hopes to strengthen United Nations-Israel ties.

The European Union has imposed its first sanctions against Ukraine, joining the United States in a two-pronged campaign of public pressure and backroom diplomacy.

New Zealand has agreed to take 100 refugees from Syria after the United Nations called on the international community for help.

Kiwis, regardless of political leanings, can applaud the fact that Helen Clark has been touted internationally as the next Secretary-General of the UN.

John Key says the Govt would throw its weight behind any bid by Helen Clark for the top job at the UN in 2016, but said it would be a tough ask for her to secure the post.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has been tipped as a possible candidate for the United Nations' top job, the UK's Guardian reports.

A young New Zealander is about to get a taste of her dream of working for the United Nations in a whirlwind multi-nation experience.

The United Nations has launched the biggest aid appeal in its history, calling for more than $7.9 billion to be dedicated to the crisis in Syria.

The UN Handbook - which the Govt calls a "valuable reference guide that helps all states to navigate the UN system" - has been turned from a 400-page tome into a mobile app by a Wellington tech firm.

An old rift between rich and poor has reopened in UN climate talks as developing countries look for ways to make developed countries accept responsibility for global warming - and pay for it.

An al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group has claimed responsibility for twin suicide attacks on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged governments to put forth more ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions, saying "current pledges are simply inadequate".

In the last of a three-part series, Young New Zealander of the Year and CEO of the Sustainable Coastlines Charitable Trust ,Sam Judd, discusses the United Nations Environment Programs’ Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage, industrial and agricultural waste enters the world's waterways, writes Sam Judd.

Former Labour MP Chris Carter says he was lucky to escape possible death after a suicide car bomb exploded metres away from his Afghanistan home.

Sam Judd writes that perhaps the biggest environmental problem we currently face is the contamination of our waterways by nutrients.

Prime Minister John Key spoke with US President Barack Obama last night about the Trans Pacific Partnership meeting on Tuesday.

Environmental columnist Sam Judd reflects on the challenges and opportunities that the United Nations Environment Program faces with regard to oceans.