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The number of people killed by malaria has been cut by nearly half in Africa and a slightly lower rate globally, but sustained funding is needed to lower the numbers even more, according to the United Nations health agency which today released its annual assessment report on the disease.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed the release of 44 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, hailing it as an important step towards fulfilling President Thein Sein’s pledge of freedom for all political prisoners by the end of this year.

Amid growing debate over international drug control policy in Latin America, the United Nations drug and crime agency today said that a decision by the Uruguayan parliament to legalize cannabis is a strike against international cooperation.

Voicing strong concern over widespread violence in Bangladesh that has left dozens of people dead since last month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resolve differences over upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for January through dialogue.

With peace efforts under way with the M23, the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is shifting its focus to other rebel groups and working with the Government to maintain the fragile gains in the eastern part of the country, the Security Council was told today.

It is “an understatement” to say the victims of Sudan’s Darfur conflict have lost all hope, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today, reiterating her “frustration and despair” at the United Nations Security Council's “inaction and paralysis”, and urged it to take firm action to bring those indicted for war crimes to justice.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, telling the tens of thousands gathered at the memorial service held in Johannesburg that the life and legacy of the former South African president was an inspiration not only for his country but for the world.

Honouring human rights activism, including the legacy of Nelson Mandela, senior UN officials today mark Human Rights Day calling for greater political will and resources to implement laws and standards designed to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere.

United Nations agencies are scaling up efforts to assist the scores of civilians uprooted by the surging violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), reported to number over 100,000 in the capital alone, bringing the total number of those displaced since the conflict began a year ago to over half a million.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today called for an eleventh-hour stay of execution for Abdul Quader Mollah, a Bangladeshi politician convicted of war crimes in a trial that did not meet international standards for imposition of the death penalty.