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Countries in Asia and the Pacific are paying heavily for a "grow now, clean up later" environmental policy, resulting in major ecological problems, including shrinking forests, widespread land degradation and an overall increase in pollution, according to a new United Nations study.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has concluded an agreement with the Government of Uganda which should pave the way for relocating 23,000 Sudanese refugees in the country who were dispersed by a rebel attack earlier this month, a spokesperson for the agency reported today.

United Nations relief officials are set to travel next week to southern Africa for a first-hand look at the looming humanitarian crisis which involves some 13 million people facing the prospect of starvation, a UN spokesman said today in New York.

Meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York, countries party to a major international treaty protecting women's rights have elected a dozen experts to serve on the committee monitoring implementation of the accord.

With some 13 million people in southern Africa in urgent need of food assistance in the coming months, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today urged the governments of the most-affected countries to carefully consider current scientific knowledge before rejecting food aid containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The United Nations today confirmed that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has accompanied out of Eritrea the remaining group of Ethiopian prisoners of war (POWs) who had been registered and regularly visited by the agency.

Continuing an official visit to Mozambique, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has hailed the country's progress as a model for others emerging from war.

Sounding the drumbeat for a stronger public commitment to fight global problems, United Nations officials today challenged governments meeting at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to invest more resources to help reduce worldwide hunger and poverty, provide clean water and ensure adequate treatment for HIV/AIDS.

Members of the Security Council today commended efforts by the Government of Sierra Leone to monitor the diamond trade through the creation of a mechanism to oversee and control domestic mining.

AIDS and drought in southern Africa topped the agenda of talks held today by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan during an official visit to Mozambique.