Despite successful efforts to contain the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus, avian flu poses a threat to a growing number of countries, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which says the Caucasus and southern Balkans are now considered “high-risk” areas.
Israel’s continuing naval and air blockade of Lebanon should be lifted immediately to allow urgent assistance to reach the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who are returning to their homes, the United Nations deputy head of emergency relief said today, while also warning of the dangers of unexploded ordnance from the conflict.
Top government and civil society leaders have formally laid the first foundations of new homes under a housing and social integration programme for tens of thousands of war refugees and other vulnerable people in Serbia being supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today started a six-day visit to the southern Caucasus, an area that is host to over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.
In his first public comments since being named Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative in Kosovo yesterday, the new envoy said he expects to be the last person to hold that position because he believes a resolution of the province’s final political status can soon be reached.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has hailed the 150th anniversary of the Åland Islands, saying that the international community’s ability to avert a war between Finland and Sweden over the territory stands as a useful example of conflict resolution that should inspire approaches to current situations.
The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his plans to appoint Ambassador Joachim Rücker from Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), effective 1 September.
With injecting drug use accounting for up to 80 per cent of HIV infections in some regions of Russia and Eastern Europe, the United Nations agency charged with combating drugs and crime today received 20 million euros from the Netherlands to fight the deadly epidemic.
For the second time in as many days, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned the killing of a journalist, this time a Russian investigative reporter.
Top Serbian and Kosovar leaders met for the first time today to discuss plans for the future status of the United Nations-run province of Kosovo, and while both sides remain far apart politically, the UN official overseeing the discussions welcomed the start of dialogue and said the world body remained committed to further negotiations.
