Latest News

While focused on current peacekeeping operations around the world, the United Nations must also prepare for potential future peacekeeping roles ranging from Mali to Syria to the Horn of Africa, the heads of the UN peacekeeping and field support departments today told a special review committee.

The United Nations and the Liberian Government today appealed for $36.7 million to meet the pressing humanitarian needs of more than half a million people who are at risk for hunger and illness, including some 117,000 children.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the terrorist attack carried out on Saturday in Quetta, Pakistan, targeting the Shia Muslim Hazara community which resulted in more than 80 deaths and the wounding of nearly 200, many of them women and children.

A United Nations independent panel investigating human rights violations in Syria today called for urgent action to ensure justice for the crimes committed, adding that it will submit a list of names next month of those believed to be most responsible for the atrocities.

The United Nations today welcomed the release of 24 children by Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, and called for the acceleration of discharges in line with the commitment made last year by the Government to end child rights violations.

The melting of sea ice and the resulting rush for resources require effective measures to avoid damage in the Arctic, according to an annual United Nations study of emerging environmental issues that also highlight risks from chemicals and the recent spike in illegal wildlife trade.

International experts and decision-makers meeting at a United Nations forum in Paris today adopted an action plan to rehabilitate and safeguard Mali's cultural heritage, which has been the target of attacks by Islamic extremists in recent months.

The top United Nations envoy in Iraq has strongly condemned the series of bombings that struck several neighbourhoods in Baghdad on Sunday, killing and injuring dozens of people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his concern about the political situation in the Maldives, where former President Mohamed Nasheed has sought refuge in the Indian High Commission, and is urging all parties to work towards conditions conducive for the upcoming elections in line with the country’s Constitution.

The United Nations food relief agency today said it will fly in 20 metric tons of emergency food supplies to recently displaced persons in the town of Punia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the hardest areas to reach in the eastern part of the country.