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President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, co-founder of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), today won the United Nations cultural agency's annual peace prize, chosen by an international jury presided over by former United States Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Henry Kissinger.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today held wide-ranging discussions with United States President George W. Bush at United Nations Headquarters in New York on the eve of what is expected to the largest ever summit of world leaders.

The persistent colonial legacy of relying on foreign direct investment has distorted African economic development and locked in low value-added, limited reinvested earnings and volatile inflows, yet it is being seen as an answer to today's problems, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says in a new report.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the final draft of a declaration for the World Summit opening tomorrow at United Nations Headquarters in New York as a good instrument he could work with, although he did not get everything he wanted, but he deplored the omission of non-proliferation and disarmament issues.

A high-level meeting of political and business leaders and other policy makers at United Nations Headquarters in New York today stressed the importance of using technology as a way to promote development and improve the lives of people around the world.

After intensive, down-to-the-wire negotiations, the United Nations General Assembly today concluded its 59th annual session by approving the text of the draft outcome document that will be considered by some 150 leaders attending the 2005 World Summit that opens tomorrow at UN Headquarters in New York.

One day ahead of the 2005 World Summit, and marking a major anniversary of the United Nations, the 60th session of the General Assembly opened tonight at the Assembly hall at UN Headquarters in New York.

Declaring that the “the environment is not a luxury, not a Gucci accessory bag or a fancy silk tie affordable only when all other issues have been resolved,” the head of the United Nations ecological agency today called on this week’s World Summit to give the environment its due priority as the key to human development.

With 20 countries already ratifying a treaty to protect the world’s oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, craftsmanship and knowledge of nature, the so-called Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is on track to enter into force next year, according to the latest United Nations update.

The United Nations agency that works to fight rural poverty has approved over $110 million in loans and grants to revitalize farming in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mexico, China and a range of other countries in the African Sahel Region and South America.