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Hundreds of millions of children suffer from severe exploitation, becoming virtually invisible to the world – millions of them victims of trafficking and domestic servitude – and governments must step up remedial measures with legislation and funding, according to a new United Nations report released today.

While majorities of citizens generally support the continued use of existing nuclear reactors, most people do not favour building new nuclear power plants, according to a new 18-country opinion survey sponsored by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and released today.

At the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Hong Kong today, a United Nations environment expert urged adjustment to the over $15 billion in annual fisheries subsidies worldwide which amount to roughly one fifth of fishing industry revenue and contribute to the dangerous depletion of global fish stocks.

In a bid to raise funds to provide shelter for Zimbabweans who have been evicted from their homes and Pakistanis who have been displaced by the massive earthquake that struck in October, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) met with donors today in Nairobi, Kenya.

Reacting to friction in Liberia, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged supporters of George Weah, who lost a run-off presidential election to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in November, to use legal channels – not violence – to state their case.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has closely followed developments in Bolivia ever since street protests led to the resignation of President Carlos Mesa earlier this year, is sending a senior envoy to the Andean country to express his support for peaceful and democratic elections this weekend.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Alvaro de Soto, today attended a meeting of key donors in London to discuss the humanitarian, social and economic situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as Palestinian reform.

Following an upsurge of violence in western Darfur that has limited access to humanitarian relief, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today announced plans to re-open two roads east of the regional capital, Geneina, and immediately begin assessing humanitarian needs in the area.

The United Nations today launched a $174 million appeal to address the critical humanitarian needs of Somalia, the strife-torn Horn of Africa country where an estimated 1 million people are in need of urgent assistance, including 345,000 in a state of “acute food and livelihood crisis.”

The countries of the Middle East and North Africa have an unprecedented opportunity to help the international community in securing resources for the global fight against AIDS, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in a message to ministers gathered in Morocco.