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Seeking to prevent a return to “the bloody nightmare” of civil war that has torn apart the countries of central Africa, the heads of three of the largest United Nation humanitarian agencies today appealed to the international community for substantial additional funding for the transition to peace and democracy.

The United Nations has strongly condemned the continuing violent attacks in Iraq which are taking an ever-increasing number of civilian lives, particularly those of innocent children, and appealed to the country’s leaders to step back from the brink.

In one week’s time, the United Nations will formally launch a landmark $500-million fund to jump-start relief operations in future natural and man-made disasters and save thousands of lives that would otherwise be lost to delay under the current under-funded mechanism.

Expanding their existing cooperation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed to join forces in fighting illicit drugs, money-laundering and corruption.

Warning that the proposed Human Rights Council could “unravel” if Member States made the wrong moves in the ongoing negotiations over the body, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the Council was of utmost importance to all nations and the stakes in the ongoing debate were “very high.”

Welcoming Wednesday’s meeting between the main leaders in Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged them to continue their constructive dialogue and pledged the world body’s support in realizing their goals.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the national dialogue officially initiated today by the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament on issues critical for the country, expressing hope that it will contribute to political stability there.

The United Nations Security Council will this month focus on the situations in Haiti, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Sudan and – possibly – Iran, the Ambassador of Argentina and incoming president of the 15-member body’s said today.

High officials of the United Nations expressed alarm over a raid on the offices of the Standard newspaper in Nairobi and its sister television station, KTN, during which several editions of the paper were burnt, the offices of KTN vandalized, and the station temporarily silenced.

The United Nations today strongly condemned two explosions at the premises of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the east of strife-torn Nepal, caused when “socket bombs” were thrown over the fence surrounding the office.