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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today expressed concern over the deteriorating health of a 35-year-old Palestinian man who has been on a hunger strike against his administrative detention since 15 June, after having already completed his 14-and-a-half years prison sentence.

Noting today’s meeting of the national dialogue preparatory committee in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated a call for an inclusive political dialogue to overcome an impasse in the electoral process.

As part of this year’s commemoration of World Humanitarian Day (WHD), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched a photography exhibition in New York entitled “When I Grow Up.” By photographing African children aged six to 18 – whose young lives have already been beleaguered with hardships – photographer Vincent Tremeau documented their aspirations by capturing each dressed in the clothing of the adult they aspire to be.

Recalling that eliminating weapons of mass destruction was one of the founding principles of the United Nations and was in fact the subject of the first resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need to seriously refocus attention on nuclear disarmament.

The number of people in need of food assistance in north-eastern Nigeria has nearly doubled to 4.5 million from March, according to a mid-August analysis by various agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP).

With military action turning towards retaking Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, the United Nations refugee agency warns that displacement may worsen “dramatically,” and announced preparations to ramp up operations and set up additional camps.

When he was 19, Mubin Shaikh, believed that “you could change the world overnight, and you could do it through violence.”

The flow of refugee and migrant children – seeking refuge from brutal gangs and stifling poverty in Central America and making their way to the United States – shows no sign of letting up, despite the risks of being kidnapped, trafficked, raped, or killed on the journey, a report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) found.

The courage of the men and women who in August 1791 revolted against slavery in Haiti “has created obligations for us,” the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on the day set aside for remembrance of that rebellion, noting that “all of humanity is part of this story” and efforts to teach the history of the slave trade will help build a better world.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed deep dismay at the execution of 36 people in Iraq in relation to a 2014 massacre during which hundreds of military cadets were killed.