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International strategies for conflict resolution in Africa such as those put forward by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan take into account the many dimensions of the violent crises shaking the continent and could pave the way for their resolution, the President of the Republic of Congo, as chairman of the African Union (AU), told the Security Council today.

The United Nations Security Council today strongly condemned the renewed clashes in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and called for an immediate ceasefire in the Horn of Africa country for the second time this month.

With unemployment running at an estimated 85 per cent in Liberia, the creation of “jobs, jobs, jobs” is a top priority as the country struggles to rebuild economically, a senior United Nations official has said, urging rapid debt relief, international assistance and other measures to foster growth and development.

The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) for four months while reducing the authorized troop level of the operation keeping the peace on the disputed border between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.

Born in the aftermath of the atomic bomb horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and amid a proliferation of atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, a little known but vital United Nations committee that probes the effects of radiation is celebrating its 50th birthday, proud of its past achievements and eager to face the challenges of a new century.

United Nations human rights experts today called on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to suspend the scheduled execution for alleged treason of a prisoner reportedly tortured and then sentenced to death without a trial.

United Nations partnerships with the private sector aimed at speeding up relief aid for areas in crisis took a further step forward today with the inauguration of a disaster response team (DRT) to cover emergencies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

As the United Nations General Assembly today opened a special meeting on AIDS, Secretary General Kofi Annan urged participants – including a dozen heads of State and numerous ministers – to unify their efforts to fight the disease especially as it affects young women, who globally suffer double the infection rates of young men.

Nations solemnly observed the International Day of Peacekeepers in New York today amid calls for the release of seven Nepalese soldiers who are being detained following a clash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which killed one of their countrymen also serving with the world body’s operation there.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned a recent fatal attack on Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and urged the release of those detained after a confrontation with armed militias.