Latest News

An independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights defenders today urged the Government of Honduras “to take immediate and concrete actions, or risk turning the country into a lawless killing zone for human rights defenders.”

Fifteen years after a landmark document to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia was adopted in Durban, South Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he is concerned that the political will that existed then is under threat.

The United Nations relief wing today reported that humanitarian partners are rushing to provide emergency assistance to an estimated 35,000 people who have been newly displaced in hard-to-reach areas west of Ramadi.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today said it is deeply troubled by the arrest on Monday in Bahrain of the social media activist and human rights defender, Zainab Al Khawaja, who was detained along with her one-and-a-half year old son.

Dubbed by the press as “the man who mends women,” Dr. Mukwege has gained international recognition for his work and earned many prestigious distinctions, including the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2008 and the Sakharov prize in 2014. At 59, he has also been shortlisted several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The United Nations health agency has dispatched a team of specialists to Guinea after 2 new cases of Ebola were confirmed yesterday, the first re-emergence of the deadly virus in the Western African country since its original outbreak was declared over on 29 December 2015.

Expressing 'grave concern,' the United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the ballistic missile launches conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) earlier today and on 10 March, pledging to closely monitor the situation and 'act as appropriate

Speaking with senior United Nations officials who are preparing to be deployed to field missions, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he holds them all responsible for helping to address sexual exploitation or abuse, and for helping to create a 'zero-tolerance' culture.

The United Nations human rights chief today condemned the repeated failure of the Coalition to effectively prevent civilian casualties in airstrikes and to publish transparent, independent investigations into those that have already occurred in Yemen.

The advisor to the UN envoy on Syria today stressed the need to obtain Government permits to dispatch aid convoys to the remaining six of the 18 besieged locations and stressed that “the issue of medical relief continues to be the single most difficult issue in humanitarian access work,” with medical items and personnel are being taken off the relief vehicles.