Latest News

The United Nations human rights office today voiced deep concern about the revised penal code in Brunei Darussalam which stipulates the death penalty for numerous offences, including robbery, adultery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Mohammed, and introduces stoning to death as the specific method of execution for crimes of a sexual nature.

The United Nations today called on the Government of Burundi to address ongoing political violence and restrictions on human rights, saying it is receiving “troubling” information about recent developments in the country.

Racing against time and bad weather, prodding fickle donors and an indifferent general public, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working on all fronts to support millions of desperate people in the Central African Republic (CAR) and to keep international attention focused on the escalating crisis.

The top United Nations official in Myanmar welcomed the Government’s condemnation of the recent attacks against UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) premises in Sittwe, and its commitment to see perpetrators brought to justice through a newly established investigation commission.

Together with Ministries of Health and other partners across seven countries in West Africa, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is using culturally-sensitive communication strategies to disseminate life-saving information in order to contain the often-fatal Ebola virus, through text-messaging, radio shows, TV programmes and door-to-door campaigns.

The independent United Nations experts dealing with the rights of minorities and of indigenous peoples today voiced their concern about the eviction and demolition of houses of the Mbororo pastoralist community in Cameroon, and urged a solution to their plight.

Almost half a million people across the world lost their lives in 2012 as a result of intentional homicide, with the highest murder rates logged in the Americas and Africa, and the lowest in Europe, Asia and Oceania, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today joined a prominent roster of global leaders, campaigners and celebrities in Washington, D.C. to help launch a new worldwide campaign that aims to get 57 million children into school.

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced alarm at the denial of medical care to two political prisoners in Iran who are at risk of dying in detention due to worsening health conditions, and urged the authorities to provide them with treatment.

Deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation and ongoing human rights abuses in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Security Council today approved the establishment of a nearly 12,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping operation to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access in the war-torn country.