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Since mistakes made in health care affect one out of every 10 patients in the world, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a new programme called “Nine patient safety solutions” to reduce the harm done to people during medical treatments.

On the final leg of her four-country Central Asian tour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour will arrive in Turkmenistan tomorrow to meetings with Government authorities and representatives from various groups.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued its first warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s conflict-wracked Darfur region, giving the country’s Government responsibility for the arrest of a Sudanese minister and a militia commander.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) today launched a joint handbook for lawmakers to help them devise the necessary strategies, from introducing legislation to allocating public funds, to protect children from violence.

For the first time in its 17-year history, the United Nations Population Award is being bestowed upon four laureates, two individuals and two institutions, for their contributions to work in population, health and welfare.

Amid mounting international concern about climate change, the top United Nations official dealing with the issue today warned that a successful mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol that encourages investment in sustainable development should not be confused with a host of private schemes for trading carbon-emission credits.

Ahead of tomorrow’s formal launch of the International Compact with Iraq, a five-year peace and development plan for the war-ravaged country, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is meeting today with officials from the United States, Iraq and the League of Arab States in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Lebanon’s key political forces have made no progress in ending their deadlock over the ratification of a planned special tribunal to try the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the United Nations Legal Counsel said today after briefing the Security Council on his recent visit to the country.

In a new report made public today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern for the stalemate in the dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea, calling for a comprehensive implementation of the Algiers Agreements in 2000 which ended the bloody war between the two East African countries.

Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian and Serbian communities continue to lead largely separate existences and have very different outlooks on the future, which means creating an integrated, multi-ethnic society in the province will require “substantial effort,” the head of a Security Council fact-finding mission said today.