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Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a Polish veteran of United Nations military operations in the Middle East as the new commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has been monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Syria along the Golan Heights for nearly 30 years.

The top United Nations envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has deplored a shooting attack on an International Organization for Migration (IOM) convoy, after which one of the vehicles collided with a bus, killing the driver, a national staff member, and injuring an international staff member.

The new chief of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), Jong-Wook Lee, took office today with a pledge to focus the agency on achieving results in countries, helping to tackle the widespread human resources crisis in the health sector and prioritizing HIV/AIDS.

The day when Iraqis govern themselves must come quickly, and a clear timetable for the restoration of sovereignty with specific steps for the end of United States military occupation is essential if the growing impatience in the country is to be stemmed, according to a new report by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, as his Special Adviser for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which aims to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor.

The final round of negotiations on a United Nations treaty aimed at fighting the proliferation of corruption began this morning in Vienna, with more than 110 Member States expected to discuss remaining areas of divergence in order to reach consensus.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan “has been informed of the communication of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and considers it to be positive,” a spokesman for the United Nations said today.

The United Nations body set up to monitor the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction today mourned the death of David Kelly, a key former staff member involved in the arms probe.

Cesária Évora, one of Africa's greatest singers, who for years has refused to associate her name with any humanitarian agency, was today named a United Nations ambassador to fight hunger through school feeding programmes, particularly on her own continent where 40 million people need life-saving emergency food aid.

More than 5,300 Angolan refugees have gone home from neighbouring countries in the past month as repatriation efforts gain momentum among the 400,000 Angolans who fled their country’s decades-long civil war, the United Nations refugee agency said today.