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Despite recent progress in the fields of public finance and cooperation with international finance institutions, the consolidation of democracy in Guinea-Bissau is being impeded by numerous challenges, particularly drug trafficking, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report made public today.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has a decisive role to play in promoting development as a central United Nations organ, the Foreign Minister of Niger told the General Assembly today.

The Security Council should condemn a recent Israeli “act of aggression” against Syria, the country’s Foreign Minister told the General Assembly in a speech that also urged greater assistance to help Iraqi refugees and non-intervention in Lebanon’s upcoming presidential elections.

Warning that the humanitarian crisis in South Asia could worsen, the United Nations and leading relief agencies are calling for increased resources and attention to the plight of the millions in need of assistance after this summer’s devastating floods.

The right to religious freedom continues to be ignored and even violated in many countries, the Holy See told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate today, warning that such behaviour is often the pretext for other forms of discrimination.

Nearly 600 Somali police recruits – including 50 women officers – have graduated from a training programme sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aimed at creating a professional civilian police force to work towards restoring peace, gain the community’s trust and champion human rights.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy to Myanmar has been told by authorities that he will be able to meet the South-East Asian nation’s top general on Tuesday, the United Nations announced today.

A senior official from the Central African Republic (CAR) today welcomed the recent establishment of a United Nations-mandated, multidimensional presence in the country but said it must be accompanied by assistance to bolster national capacity there.

The system of using United Nations special rapporteurs and independent experts to investigate the human rights situation around the world gives “voice to the voiceless,” Hungary’s Foreign Minister told the General Assembly today as she called for the network of monitors to be allowed to continue their work.

Warning that peace talks “cannot go on forever,” Uganda’s Foreign Minister told the General Assembly today that the international community must step up the pressure on the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to meet its commitments under an agreement aimed at ending hostilities in the long-running civil war in the country’s north.