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The heart breaking photograph of Omran Daqneesh, the little boy sitting alone in an ambulance with his face and body covered in blood and dirt after being pulled from a destroyed building has reminded the world, yet again, of the unimaginable horrors that Syrian children face every day, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today.

With at least eight human rights defenders killed in Honduras this year, United Nations and international rights experts today said the country is one of the most hostile and dangerous for rights defenders and urged the Government to take urgent steps to ensure their protection.

Voicing concern over serious human rights violations in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia earlier this month, the United Nations human rights chief today urged the Government to ensure access for independent observers to affected areas and to work towards opening up political and democratic reforms.

Earlier today, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke about how the UN system is actively working to develop a package that would provide material assistance and support to those Haitians most directly affected by the outbreak of cholera in the Caribbean nation.

The United Nations Security Council today expressed regret over a postponed timeline for this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections in Somalia, calling on all stakeholders to follow the revised 2016 electoral calendar “without further delay.”

Noting that a United States federal appeals court has upheld the United Nations’ immunity from a damage claim filed on behalf cholera victims in Haiti, the Organization today said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deeply regrets the “terrible suffering” of the Haitian people and that the UN has a moral responsibility to the support the victims and the country in overcoming the epidemic.

United Nations human rights experts today urged Turkey to uphold its obligations under international human rights law despite the attempted mid-July coup and during the subsequent state of emergency.

New findings by the economic and social development arm of the United Nations in the Asia-Pacific have revealed that nearly 75 per cent of the region's broadband capabilities and access are concentrated in countries in East and North-East Asia while the Pacific subregion accounts for a mere 1.93 per cent.

The United Nations refugee agency said today that it is increasingly alarmed at the unfolding situation in north-east Nigeria where the advancing military campaign against Boko Haram has exposed “catastrophic” levels of suffering among a population outside humanitarian reach over months or years.

With a record 130 million people worldwide dependent on humanitarian assistance, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that while solutions to complex crises may not be simple or quick, “there are things we can all do – we can show compassion, raise our voices against injustice, and work for change.”