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Expressing deep concern over deadly violence in the south-eastern Terai region of Nepal, the top United Nations human rights official today said it was “imperative” for all sides to stop the clashes, which have claimed at least 23 lives, caused countless injuries and destroyed property.

In its latest moves to help the Liberian Government fulfil its pledge of free and compulsory primary education as well as providing young adults with work skills, the United Nations mission has handed over a three-classroom complex built by its Nigerian contingent and a vocational training centre constructed by Bangladeshi peacekeepers.

The only way for the status of women in the Arab world to improve is for the governments there to invest in “quality education,” the United Nations General Assembly President said today, pointing out that simply passing laws on gender equality is not enough because deeply ingrained attitudes have to change.

Welcoming yesterday’s formation of the Government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council today urged it to work immediately with the opposition to resolve the unrest in the far west of the country that led to the deaths of dozens of people last week.

Four armed gunmen raided the compound of a non-governmental organization (NGO) at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the war-torn Darfur region, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.

In the first of two annual instalments, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will provide almost $85 million to help 15 countries cope with underfunded emergencies, the Organization’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced today.

Several United Nations agencies have rushed logistical assistance and humanitarian support to Bolivia, which has been battered by heavy rains killing almost 30 people and affecting about 135,000 others.

The United Nations Commission for Social Development opened its annual session today in New York with a call for the adoption of policies that will ensure that economic growth generates employment to help fight poverty.

The deadly smuggling of people across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen is picking up steam, with 15 people including a pregnant woman reported to have drowned while disembarking in deep water, and up to 9,000 others, according to some estimates, waiting to cross over, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

The orangutan, one of the world’s few great apes, is making its last stand in the jungles of Indonesia as illegal logging accelerates at a far faster rate than previously thought, and emergency action is needed now to ensure their survival, including international initiatives to curb demand for the lumber, a new United Nations report warned today.