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With 2007 declared the “Year of the Dolphin,” the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has teamed up with TUI, Europe’s leading travel group, to launch a major public awareness campaign on various threats to the marine mammal’s survival such as entanglement in fishing nets and the degradation of their habitats.

Although there has been a steady decline in the number of conflicts in the past 15 years, violent attacks against civilians have surged over the same period, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today.

DNA samples, new international pacts and assistance to victims were among the measures discussed today at a conference on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations and non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel, where Secretary-General Kofi Annan set a strict tone by declaring that no one should be above the law.

Making Internet sites accessible to persons with disabilities is not just a moral issue but also a business opportunity to tap into a larger share of the global market, according to business executives speaking at events marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the United Nations today.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) today expressed satisfaction with the conduct of elections in the country while voicing concern at isolated outbreaks of violence.

Marking the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for stepped-up measures to end the practice and to address the entrenched poverty which leaves people vulnerable to enslavement.

Medical staff and supplies are urgently needed to step-up treatment to those wounded by the fighting in Malakal, South Sudan, where several hundred soldiers and civilians were injured during two days of fighting late last month, the United Nations reported today.

The United Nations refugee agency has airlifted 110 tonnes of emergency supplies into Chad to ensure a vital lifeline for more than 300,000 refugees and displaced people after mobs looted warehouses containing nearly 500 tonnes of food and other items in the eastern part of the country bordering Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today signed an agreement with the international Islamic aid organization, Islamic Relief Worldwide, to increase cooperation on vital feeding programmes for the poor regardless of colour or creed, both for immediate emergency relief and longer-term initiatives.

United Nations-backed efforts to promote eco-friendly sports scored another goal for the environment today with a report showing that this year’s World Cup football in Germany more than compensated for the greenhouse gases it emitted through clean energy schemes both at home and abroad.