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Agroforestry, diversification of crops with legumes and other practical measures must be scaled up to end hunger while meeting the challenge of climate change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a global conference on the issue today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed his profound sadness at the passing of Nelson Mandela, extolling the life of the late human rights lawyer, prisoner of conscience, international peacemaker and first democratically-elected President of post-apartheid South Africa as an inspiration for all.

As the United Nations tribunals set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s and the 1994 Rwandan genocide prepare to conclude their work, there are lessons to be learned in terms of building the national capacity of States to deliver justice, officials from the courts told the Security Council today.

As preparations continue for next year’s presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan, the United Nations mission there today welcomed the appointment of the Media Commission as another important step towards holding credible polls.

A team from the United Nations nuclear watchdog today praised Japan for its efforts to decommission the damaged Fukushima power station, while noting that several complex challenges have to be addressed to ensure the plant’s stability.

A senior United Nations relief official said today that while there has been improvement in the situation in strife-torn South Sudan, the UN will adjust its humanitarian strategy in the coming year to ensure that the world’s youngest nation is better able to fortify itself against the impacts of crises, both man-made and natural.

Despite significant progress in meeting international development goals for women’s empowerment, gaps in key areas remain, which require a renewed effort from all partners to better integrate gender issues into the overall quest for sustainable development, a United Nations gender equality official said today.

The United Nations today called on all political parties and actors in Burundi to show restraint as the country carries out its constitutional review process.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the recent attacks in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan and Faryab provinces resulting in the deaths of nine development workers, bringing to 237 the number of attacks against humanitarian personnel, facilities and assets in Afghanistan so far this year.

Hailing a new facility that enables greater participation of persons with disabilities in intergovernmental processes at Headquarters as “a model of the digital United Nations we are are trying to create,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today the initiative showed the Organization is making strides towards creating a disability-inclusive world.