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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN-Habitat, the agency charged with ensuring adequate shelter for all, today honoured the late Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his support of Palestinian projects.

Population dynamics play an important role in advancing peace, development and respect for human dignity, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, as he congratulated this year's winners of the United Nations Population Award.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged United Nations Member States to move towards the abolition of the death penalty, and called on countries where the procedure is still practiced to increase transparency to allow a serious debate on capital punishment.

Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon has welcomed the adoption by a summit of African leaders of a regional strategy against piracy and other illegal maritime activities in West and Central Africa.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended African countries for their continuous progress over the past 50 years while stressing that many challenges remain in the continent and accelerated action is needed to tackle them.

The United Nations’ highest court has opened hearings in a case concerning charges by Australia that Japan is using a scientific research programme to mask a commercial whaling venture.

While there have been significant human rights achievements since the landmark adoption of the Vienna Declaration 20 years ago, people across the world are still being denied basic liberties, a United Nations senior official said today, calling on countries to step up their efforts to prevent gross rights violations.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the world’s poorest countries grew by 20 per cent last year to a record $26 billion, led by strong gains in Cambodia as well as five African countries, according to a new United Nations report. 

The Security Council today extended the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights for another six months, and requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to ensure that the mission – which has faced numerous threats to its safety in recent months as well as troop withdrawals – has the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate.

Welcoming progress on resolving pending issues from Iraq’s 1990 invasion of its smaller neighbour Kuwait, including finding Kuwaiti or third-country nationals, the United Nations Security Council today eased some of its sanctions against Iraq.