Latest News

The Government and people of Burundi should resolve the country's months-long political crisis through inclusive dialogue, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he wrapped up three days of wide-ranging meetings with African Union (AU) leaders today, warning that the deteriorating situation in Burundi is “a source of great concern, not only in the region, but in the continent and the world.”

The international community must stand with the people of Ethiopia in their time of need, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging donors gathered in Addis Ababa to step up assistance to the country, before heading to the drought-stricken region of Oromia where he witnessed first-hand efforts under way to battle the effects of one of the most powerful El Niño events in recorded history.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has met with the delegation of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) at their hotel in Geneva following their arrival last night in Geneva, where UN-mediated intra-Syrian talks began Friday after days of delays.

Hailing vital commitments the African Union (AU) has made on human rights and women's rights, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged the continent's leaders to move on from setting standards to what he called “the three I's” – Implementation, Institution-building and Investment in real change – and set a shining example for the wider world.

Alarmed by recent statements from the Hamas leadership in Gaza about the group's intention to continue building tunnels and firing rockets at Israel, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said such remarks and actions do “serious disservice” to the enclave's long-suffering people and put at risk the international community's humanitarian and development efforts.

Less than two months after 196 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Paris Agreement, the global community is already seeing signs of it being a decisive turning point, according to a senior UN official dealing with climate issues.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today, in an address to the African Union Peace and Security Council, spotlighted three topics high on the regional body's agenda – counter-terrorism, and the ongoing crises in both South Sudan and Burundi – all of which require urgent attention at the continental-level and from the wider international community.

The legacy of slavery, post-Reconstruction ‘Jim Crow’ laws and racial subordination in the United States remains a “serious challenge” as there has been no real commitment to recognition and reparations for people of African descent, a United Nations expert panel said today in Washington D.C., at the end of its second official visit.

The “cycle of misery” is continuing in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) three years after a major rebel offensive was defeated by United Nations and Government forces in North Kivu, as now, armed militia and rebel groups are again targeting the region for violence and putting thousands of civilians on the run, the UN refugee agency reported today.

Expressing strong concern regarding the indefinite postponement of the final round of elections in Haiti – scheduled for 27 December but postponed, for the second time, to January 24 – the United Nations Security Council today reiterated its condemnation of any attempt to destabilize the electoral process, and urged all parties and political actors to refrain from violence.