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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on young people under 25 to submit a one-minute video highlighting such issues as protecting children against abuse and promoting healthy lives, for its “Media Magic Make a Difference!” video contest, which will see the winning entry made available to broadcasters worldwide.

Only 7 per cent of the total funds needed to allow millions to recover from destructive typhoons that have struck the Philippines since last September have been received, the United Nations and its partners announced today.

The United Nations mission monitoring the ceasefire that ended the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 should be extended for another six months as the stalemate in the peace process shows no sign of ending, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his latest report on the mission’s operations.

The United Nations refugee agency today called on the international community to aid Palestinians living in Iraq after 90 panic-stricken men, women and children fled Baghdad, reportedly headed on two rented buses towards the Syrian border, following an increasing spate of attacks and harassment.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told the Sudanese Government he is deeply concerned about its recent wave of aerial bombardments inside Darfur and that he expects a swift inquiry into last Friday’s incident in which 20 people, including five United Nations staff, taking part in a social gathering in the war-torn region were arrested and assaulted.

United Nations officials travelled to Somalia’s war-ravaged capital of Mogadishu today to discuss aid and other issues with representatives from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which ousted Islamist groups with Ethiopian help.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres underscored the importance of collaboration between the UN and the private sector by highlighting a new joint initiative during an address at the World Economic Forum today.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed the Academy Award nominations for the actors Djimon Hounsou and Penelope Cruz, who have recorded public service announcements and undertaken other work to champion the cause of the United Nations humanitarian agency.

Lebanon needs urgent international support to clean up widespread pollution caused by last summer’s war between Israel and Hizbollah, including a variety of toxic and health-hazardous substances as well as unexploded cluster bombs, the United Nations environmental agency warned today on the eve of a major donors’ conference.

The top United Nations envoy to Iraq today called on its political and religious leaders to do all in their power to “save the country from sliding further into the abyss of sectarianism” after yesterday’s bombings in Baghdad which killed or injured more than 200 innocent civilians.