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The United Nations human rights chief today urged the African Union to quickly establish the hybrid court for South Sudan to investigate and prosecute those bearing criminal responsibility for the atrocities.

Following are brief summaries of some of today’s news stories from around the UN system. Click on the links provided for more detailed coverage.

Following the recent global commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a United Nations human rights expert today issued a warning that some of the most basic components of the convention have yet to be realized and that urgent steps are necessary to level inequalities.

During the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund's (CERF) High-Level pledging conference for 2017, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requested, an unprecedented $1 billion by 2018 – a stark increase since its 2005 establishment.

A joint report launched today by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) citied “unimaginable” human rights violations and abuses of migrants in Libya as a result of the breakdown in the crisis-riven country’s justice system.

Celebrities and advocates came together last night to honour UNICEF’s 70 years of advocacy for children around the world at an event in New York that included conversations with Goodwill Ambassadors and musical performances.

The United Nations announced today at a meeting of the world’s top agricultural scientists, that in order to achieve world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of defeating hunger and poverty by 2030, governments and the private sector must increase commitment to agricultural science and technology research.

Despite major progress in the fight against malaria, the mosquito-borne disease remains an acute public health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, home to 90 per cent of the world’s malaria cases, according to an annual flagship report by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Aleppo should represent the end of the quest for military victory, not the start of a broader military campaign in a country already ravaged beyond all recognition by five years of war, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an emergency meeting of the Security Council today, calling on the 15-member body to “do all we can to stop the carnage” and ensure that all the parties in the “wretched” conflict seek an inclusive political resolution.

Condemning acts of terrorism and their impact on innocent civilians and on peace and stability, the United Nations Security Council emphasized the need for establishing wilful violation of prohibition on financing of terrorist organizations or individual terrorists as serious criminal offenses in national laws and regulations.