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United Nations aid officials in Cameroon are preparing plans to deliver protection and assistance for some months to as many as 20,000 Chadian refugees who fled their homeland last week because of deadly fighting between Government forces and armed opposition groups.

Award-winning actresses Catherine Deneuve and Hillary Swank and humanitarian Sir Bob Geldof have added their names to an ever-growing list of names on a United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) online petition which aims to eliminate violence against women.

With the security situation easing after a wave of violence tore through Kenya following last December’s contested elections, the United Nations reported that large numbers of displaced are returning to their “ancestral homes,” potentially straining resources in the nation’s western region.

The Security Council must “take concrete and targeted measures” against those parties that persistently use or abuse children during armed conflicts around the world, the United Nations envoy on the issue said today, urging that well-meaning words be transformed into effective actions.

The international relief aid community is seeking nearly $89 million to help hundreds of thousands of people in flood-hit parts of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today mourned the passing of United States Congressman Tom Lantos, paying tribute to the late legislator’s courage as a champion of humanity.

Estonia today became the fourteenth European country to agree to enforce a sentence imposed by the United Nations war crimes tribunal that was set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s.

Reacting to Myanmar’s announcement of a constitutional referendum to be held this May, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on authorities to ensure that the process represents the views of all of the South-East Asian nation’s people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon heads to Washington on Thursday for talks with United States President George W. Bush and other senior officials, a United Nations spokesperson announced today.

The United Nations envoy for Western Sahara is continuing his in-depth consultations with the parties and neighbouring countries in the region ahead of the next round of scheduled talks between Morocco and the Frente Polisario.