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The Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said today that the deaths in Ecuador and the dozens of victims in Japan spotlighted a basic fact about earthquakes; that buildings, and not the shake itself, claim most lives.

In The Hague, Netherlands, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today attended the official opening of the permanent premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he called “a milestone in global efforts to promote and defend human rights and the rule of law.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged all parties to the peace process in Yemen to “engage in good faith” with his envoy, so that talks can start without further delay.

The United Nations mission in Mali renewed its call for calm as well as its commitment to the implementation of the peace process following a demonstration yesterday morning in the Kidal region in the north of the country, in which two demonstrators were killed and four others were wounded.

The Security Council heard today from the top United Nations official in Somalia that political progress is being made in the country, but that much remains to be done in a short period, including completing the electoral process for 2016 and boosting support to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).

The United Nations today adopted a new framework putting people at the centre of global policies on drug control, which the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says can help promote the “urgent, united and concerted action we need.”

The United Nations refugee agency today expressed extreme concern over a combination of new fighting in previously peaceful areas, food insecurity and severe humanitarian funding shortages, which continue to cause a worsening of the situation in South Sudan for many civilians.

The United Nations refugee agency today welcomed a series of recent measures by the Government of Jordan that could help up to 78,000 Syrians to be able to work legally in Jordan in the short term and thousands more in the coming years.

The United Nations food relief agency has sent a convoy to assist some 8,000 people severely affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the coast of Ecuador, leaving more than 400 people dead and thousands more in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

The United Nations rights chief today welcomed the release of a second wave of 83 prisoners on Myanmar's New Year last Sunday, by Presidential amnesty.