The United Nations refugee agency has added its voice to the chorus of support greeting yesterday's adoption of an international convention to end the manufacture, use and stockpiling of cluster bombs. Click here for full story. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti and the country's police force say they have dismantled an important criminal gang wanted for several recent kidnappings and murders after arresting four men yesterday morning. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed $1.2 billion in funding from the World Bank to help tackle the global food crisis that has emerged in recent months. Click here for full story. The United Nations health agency today called on governments to impose a ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship to deter young people around the world from taking up smoking. Click here for full story. Increasing stability across the Balkans after years of turmoil following the break-up of Yugoslavia has led to a sharp drop in crime across the region, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports. Click here for full story. The 191 countries to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed today on a set of measures to advance progress toward the internationally agreed target to reduce the rate of loss of the world's animal and plant species. Click here for full story. Iraq is making “notable progress” in the security, political and economic fields, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the annual review conference of the International Compact with Iraq today. Click here for full story. The joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) confirmed today that a Ugandan civilian police inspector serving with the operation has been “brutally and shamelessly murdered” in the north of the strife-torn region of Sudan. Click here for full story. The United Nations’ top humanitarian official today condemned the continuing targeting of civilians during fighting in Sri Lanka, saying that more than 200 civilian lives have been lost in the country since the beginning of the year. Click here for full story. From solemn wreath-laying ceremonies honouring those who died in service to a peace march, a fun run, concerts and multimedia exhibitions, United Nations offices and missions around the world are today observing the International Day of UN Peacekeepers – 60 years to the day after the first blue helmets were authorized by the Organization. Click here for full story. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Japan today announced a new $92 million initiative to help Africa adapt to global warming. Click here for full story. Top United Nations officials today expressed their disappointment over the decision by the Government of Myanmar to extend the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Click here for full story. Further sharp price hikes and continued volatility in markets for food supplies appear to be likely for the next few seasons, according to a report released today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the run-up to a summit on the global food crisis which is being held in Rome early next month. Click here for full story. Social inequality has a major impact on the kind of schooling children receive and poses a significant challenge to provide all children with equal learning opportunities, according to a report released today by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Click here for full story. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he is “much encouraged” by his discussions with Myanmar’s authorities in recent days, citing increased access for international aid workers to the Ayeyarwady delta area and an agreement to open up land, sea and air routes for relief supplies. Click here for full story. United Nations officials say they are accelerating relief efforts in the area around the disputed Sudanese town of Abyei, the scene of deadly clashes earlier this month, to help tens of thousands of displaced persons ahead of the expected rainy season and any possible renewal of fighting. Click here for full story. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he ‘regretted’ the decision by Myanmar’s Government to extend the detention of pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Click here for full story. Millions of civilians worldwide are still victims of armed conflicts – losing their lives, being forced to flee their homes and becoming victims of physical and sexual violence – despite recent progress in some countries, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his deep concern over a new report issued by the non-governmental organization Save the Children (UK) that spotlights the under-reporting of child sexual exploitation and abuse by aid workers and peacekeepers. Click here for full story. The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog today circulated his latest report regarding Iran's nuclear programme to both the Security Council and the agency's Board of Directors. Click here for full story. Responding to a request by the Chinese government for medical support in wake of the massive 12 May earthquake which struck the East Asian's south-west, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) is sending urgently needed supplies and support. Click here for full story. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has opened a new information centre at a key border crossing point to inform Colombian refugees and migrants crossing into Ecuador about their rights. Click here for full story. Congratulating Nepal's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on its 8th anniversary, a United Nations official today said that the South Asian body has significant progress in the past year. Click here for full story. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed for donations to assist victims of Myanmar's deadly Cyclone Nargis, noting that the relief effort will last at least six months. Click here for full story. United Nations Secretary-General today congratulated the Lebanese people on the election of President Michel Suleimane, ending the deadlock that has endured in the Middle Eastern nation since last November. Click here for full story. The best means to address the problems Africa faces can be found in the continent's people, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today on the occasion of Africa Day. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today visited one of the towns in China's Sichuan province hit hardest by the recent earthquake, pledging the United Nations' support for the East Asian nation and expressing his condolences to the Chinese people. Click here for full story. A surge since the start of the year in the number of attacks by armed bandits across the north of the Central African Republic (CAR) is forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and has brought economic activity to a standstill in large parts of the already impoverished and strife-torn country, the United Nations relief wing reports today. Click here for full story. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) has condemned the recent killings and other serious human rights violations following last month’s elections in the Asian country. Click here for full story. A Kosovo journalist and two former Bosnian Serb army officials have been granted temporary provisional release by the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, it was announced today. Click here for full story. The situation for workers in the occupied Arab territories is deteriorating, with rates of working poverty rising, genuine employment declining and individual frustration growing, according to the latest annual report on the issue from the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO). Click here for full story. The United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has partnered with the European Commission (EC) for a five-year project to help Pakistan curb abusive child labour and take 10,000 children out of hazardous workplaces. Click here for full story. A wide-ranging approach addressing inequalities and the rights of marginalized groups is essential in tackling the current global food crisis, the top United Nations human rights official said in Geneva today. Click here for full story. United Nations agencies operating in South Africa have expressed deep concern at the outbreak of violent xenophobic attacks in the province of Gauteng in the past week that has led to the deaths of several people and many others being left injured or homeless. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed today’s announcement that Syria and Israel have started holding indirect peace talks aimed at resolving their long-running conflict. Click here for full story. The United Nations is helping to train nearly two dozen newly-recruited human rights workers in Sierra Leone. Click here for full story. The top United Nations relief official met in Myanmar today with key Government officials, including the Prime Minster, and said that a major push was required to assist victims of the cyclone that has devastated large areas of the country. Click here for full story. The world has the necessary knowledge and expertise to fight the current food crisis but it needs to muster the political will and the resources to ensure there is a lasting solution for the millions of people now suffering, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said today. Click here for full story. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is deeply concerned about renewed fighting between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces in the area around the disputed town of Abyei, which lies in an oil-rich area near the boundary between north and south Sudan. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to arrive in Myanmar on Thursday to visit the areas that have been most affected by Cyclone Nargis, which swept through Myanmar early this month, and also to meet with senior Government officials. Click here for full story. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are stepping up their support to authorities in China as they deal with relief efforts in the wake of last Monday’s devastating earthquake in Sichuan province. Click here for full story. More than 2.6 million Somalis – comprising 35 per cent of the Horn of Africa nation’s population – need food assistance due because of the deteriorating humanitarian situation triggered by skyrocketing food prices, the weak currency and worsening drought, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cautioned today. Click here for full story. The global food crisis, climate change and pandemic influenza are the main threats to human health, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO). Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Myanmar this week to try to accelerate relief efforts in the wake of the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Nargis, which may have killed more than 100,000 people and uprooted the lives of 2.5 million others. Click here for full story. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is rushing to send emergency relief supplies to the centre of China's Sichuan province, the area most devastated by last Monday's catastrophic earthquake. Click here for full story. A leading United Nations body working to spread the benefits of information technology should concentrate on the four areas that most concern people around the world, the chair of that body said today. Click here for full story. United Nations agencies are preparing to bring humanitarian relief to the tens of thousands of Sudanese who fled the disputed town of Abyei last week because of deadly fighting between Government forces and the southern rebels with whom they reached a peace deal three years ago. Click here for full story. The top United Nations official in Iraq has condemned Thursday's gun attack against Iranian diplomats based in Baghdad that has left three people wounded, including two diplomats. Click here for full story. The deepening credit crisis in affluent countries triggered by the continuing housing slump, the declining value of the United States dollar, persisting global imbalances and soaring oil and commodity prices pose major threats to economic growth around the world, according to a report released today by United Nations economists. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he plans to send the United Nations’ highest-ranking aid official to Myanmar to boost efforts to tackle the crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the country at the beginning of the month. Click here for full story. The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China is in contact with the country’s authorities to offer UN tools and services to help in the rescue and recovery efforts following Monday’s deadly earthquake. Click here for full story. A former prison guard for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who was convicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal for the murder of nine detainees and the torture of another prisoner will now serve the rest if his 13-year jail sentence in France. Click here for full story. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that an ongoing humanitarian airlift for Sudan, which has been threatened with closure for lack of funds, has been given a temporary reprieve by new donations. Click here for full story. The Darfur conflict could lapse soon into another major cycle of violence and large-scale human displacement unless the parties retreat from their recent state of confrontation, the top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a much greater mobilization of resources and aid workers in Myanmar to respond to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, which has left at least 38,000 dead and more than 27,000 others missing since it swept through the country earlier this month. Click here for full story. Many countries are taking significant steps to tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS in the workplace and their new regulations could help in the fight against scourge, according to the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO). Click here for full story. Unless more access to Myanmar is granted to allow aid to flow more quickly to victims of this month’s deadly cyclone, a second catastrophe could result, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned today. Click here for full story. The United Nations is prepared to assist the Chinese Government help the victims of yesterday’s deadly earthquake in the southwest of the country. Click here for full story. The Security Council today deplored the weekend attacks by a Darfurian rebel group against the Sudanese Government on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Khartoum, but urged restraint from all sides and warned that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilians. Click here for full story. Africa has been the fastest growing market worldwide in communication technology over the past three years and will continue to emerge as an important market for the industry, according to the head of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today registered his “immense frustration” with the pace of relief efforts following the cyclone in Myanmar last week, and called on the Government to do everything it could to prevent the disaster from becoming even more serious. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim have voiced their sorrow and sympathy for the victims of the earthquake that struck south-western China today, killing thousands of people, and pledged the support of the United Nations in any humanitarian efforts following the disaster. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today convened the inaugural meeting of a high-level task force of senior United Nations officials aimed at addressing the food crisis, noting that there was an urgent need to help the millions of people already suffering. Click here for full story. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced that its food aid has reached more than 27,000 people in the areas of the Irrawaddy delta hit hardest by Cyclone Nargis, which left a path of death and destruction after striking Myanmar last week. Click here for full story. A delegation from the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) – established to help countries recovering from war avoid sliding back into conflict – began a six-day mission to Burundi to assess how to help the small Central African nation rebuild. Click here for full story. The FishInfoNetwork (FIN), a United Nations-organized network linking fisheries in developing countries, has reached its 25-year mark. Click here for full story. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced grave concern over the fighting spurred by attacks by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) forces that has broken out on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Click here for full story. Djibouti has become the first country to launch a joint programme by United Nations agencies to move more quickly to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM). Click here for full story. While lauding Denmark's efforts to combat torture, an independent United Nations human rights expert who just visited the country said the country still has room for progress. Click here for full story. The United Nations refugee said today that it could soon be forced to reduce or even halt assistance to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees unless donors provide more funds. Click here for full story. Viewing original papers written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta – the city he called home – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid tribute to the renowned United States civil rights leader, saying the values he lived and died for are shared by the United Nations. Click here for full story. Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have agreed to step up cross-border controls to stop the flow of illegal drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced today in Vienna. Click here for full story. The stalled political process in Lebanon, combined with the current violence on the streets and the “defiant manoeuvres of militias,” is leaving the country struggling to function as a sovereign, democratic State, United Nations Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told the Security Council today. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the top United Nations humanitarian official today urged Myanmar authorities to facilitate the delivery of aid in the wake of the deadly cyclone that wreaked death and destruction in the country several days ago. Click here for full story. Art can be a catalyst for environmental action – that’s the message today from a United Nations seminar and exhibit which are bringing together artists from around the world. Click here for full story. A lack of investment in agriculture over a long period, as well as the use of precious natural resources for biofuel production, have contributed to the current global food crisis, according to two United Nations experts. Click here for full story. The number of people requiring humanitarian assistance following the deadly cyclone which struck Myanmar a few days ago could number in the hundreds of thousands, according to the United Nations which is mobilizing aid in the wake of the disaster. Click here for full story.
The United Nations has offered its assistance to Myanmar authorities in responding to the deadly cyclone which struck the South-East Asian nation on Friday, leaving death and widespread devastation in its wake. Click here for full story. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he will get the international Task Force on the global food crisis “moving at full speed,” since an urgent response is required for the worldwide emergency. Click here for full story. Indigenous peoples have an important role to play in the global response to climate change, given their knowledge and experience with impacts of the phenomenon, and should be included in the international debate on the issue, a United Nations gathering on indigenous affairs concluded. Click here for full story. The United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation has evacuated North Darfur villagers wounded in recent attacks by Sudanese forces that have left three dead and at least eight injured. Click here for full story. The Human Rights Council should convene to discuss the current global food crisis because it is important to view the problem of soaring prices as “a massive violation of the right to adequate food,” a United Nations expert on the subject said today. Click here for full story. A new report from the United Nations says that pneumonia kills more children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined, and calls for greater coverage of vulnerable populations. Click here for full story. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) should send a strong message that efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could be reversed if climate change is not addressed, its President Léo Mérorès told Council members today. Click here for full story. Indigenous peoples are “most directly affected by environmental degradation caused by climate change,” and are “the stewards of some of the most precious biologically diverse regions of the world,” the President of the General Assembly said today. Click here for full story. |
