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Secretary-General Kofi Annan today underscored the “vital importance” of enacting management reforms in the United Nations after the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) into the Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme delivered its final report to the Security Council, finding both misadministration and evidence of corruption.

The United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa has called on research scientists to become advocates for a vaccine against HIV, even though "the science is supernaturally complex and difficult, the exploratory investments are huge, the monetary risks are great and, undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to urgency of all, the market lies overwhelmingly in the poorest countries of the world."

As the international community looks for ways to put Sri Lanka's peace process back on track in the aftermath of the assassination of the foreign minister, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy has just ended a four-day visit to the Asian country's capital, Colombo, the UN spokesman said today.

With migrants worldwide numbering more than 175 million – more than the population of any other country except for the biggest four, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is proposing that United Nations Member States open a free-flowing dialogue ahead of next year’s General Assembly debate to tackle issues from human trafficking to money remittances.

Norway maintained its top ranking in development indicators, while Niger, beset by drought and locusts, displaced Sierra Leone at the bottom of countries analyzed in the annual United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), released today.

With massive growth in tourism predicted in the coming years, two United Nations agencies have teamed up to produce a set of guidelines to help governments around the world to promote a sustainable tourism that spreads prosperity while avoiding harm to the environment and local communities.

The United Nations system continues to rush aid to the Central African Republic (CAR), following devastating August floods that swept the capital, Bangui, ruining over 2,500 homes and affecting nearly 20,000 people.

After several instances of armed men looting humanitarian assistance in the troubled Darfur region of western Sudan, the African Union (AU) has agreed that its peacekeeping forces will increase security in designated areas, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.

With Secretary-General Kofi Annan warning today that talks to produce an outcome document for next week's United Nations World Summit are going down to the wire, Member States are conducting direct, inter-governmental negotiations on all the outstanding issues related to development.

In yet another United Nations grassroots effort to raise people out of extreme poverty, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) today said it has been running a project to help poor Gambians make a decent income from selling such forest products as honey, fuelwood, mahogany posts and other handicrafts.