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The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria ended today a three-day visit to Damascus, which took place in the framework of the current consultations aimed at operationalizing the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012.

From Mali to South Sudan and the Middle East and beyond, United Nations peacekeepers are tackling peace and security challenges of increasing intensity and broader global breadth, the top UN peacekeeping official said today as he urged the full support of the international community for the Organization’s ‘blue helmets’ as they confront the world’s manifold threats.

Humanitarian needs are at an all-time high, the top United Nations relief official declared today, stressing that while the Organization needs no less than $18.8 billion to meet the needs of nearly 80 million people, it has received only 26 per cent of that amount.

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today declared the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, outbreak that spread from the Middle East to the Republic of Korea does not constitute a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ but is nonetheless a “wake-up call” for all countries to be prepared for the unanticipated spread of serious infectious diseases.

The Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders have agreed to continue their pursuit of a comprehensive settlement for the political issues facing the Mediterranean island following their third meeting today, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, has announced.

The United Nations agriculture agency has launched an emergency airlift operation in South Sudan and has distributed to families fleeing violence in hard-to-reach areas supplies ranging from nutritional biscuits for children, mosquito nets, vegetable seeds, water purification tablets and oral rehydration salts.

Land is a renewable resource, but only if investments are made in land degradation neutrality, which has been proposed as an element of the post-2015 development agenda, today said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

The stark conditions afflicting millions of displaced Palestinians across the Middle East risk destabilizing the region and plunging it into a deeper humanitarian and security crisis, the head of the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees has warned.

Voicing concern over “a shrinking democratic space” in Azerbaijan as human rights defenders, journalists and Government critics are increasingly being deprived of their liberty, the United Nations rights office today called on the authorities to galvanize efforts to safeguard the freedoms of expression and association in the country.

Focus on the political solutions, responsive and flexible operations, stronger partnerships and field-focused and people-centered mandates; these are the essential shifts the United Nations must urgently address as it faces challenging new landscapes in peacekeeping and conflict prevention, the chair of a high-level expert panel said today, introducing a long-awaited report at the world body’s New York Headquarters.