Latest News

Foreign aid to Africa should be directed in part to helping women suffering the after-effects of prolonged or severely obstructed labour, a senior United Nations official today told a gathering in Johannesburg convened to address the condition, which is known as obstetric fistula and affects more than 2 million mothers worldwide.

Declaring a free and professional press essential for democracy, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the murder of yet one more journalist in Iraq – a condemnation that comes barely a month after repeating his call to all sides to give greater priority to improving reporters’ safety.

Warning that the serious deterioration of the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea could lead to "another round of devastating hostilities," Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the Security Council to ensure that recent Eritrean restrictions on United Nations peacekeepers in the area are lifted.

Institutional investors have a great opportunity – and in some cases a legal obligation – to take into account environmental, social and governance issues when they choose how to spend their resources, a new study backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and released today concludes.

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has urged Christian and Muslim religious leaders to continue to support the elections in the West African country as they move into the run-off phase.

The phasing out of international textile and garment quotas has created tremendous uncertainty among millions of people in the industry, including many who lost their jobs as a result, the head of the United Nations labour agency said in Geneva, calling on governments, workers and employers to come up with new ways to ease the impact.

In a follow-up to a report on the inability of the United Nations to waive the immunity of peacekeepers accountable only to their own governments, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed five experts to recommend the best ways for the international community to hold to account those who commit crimes, especially sexual abuse and exploitation.

Addressing the General Assembly's powerful budget committee, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today issued a strong appeal for management reform and pledged a series of measures – including the appointment of a new advisor on the issue – to improve the efficiency of the United Nations.

From its Headquarters in New York to its far-flung outposts on the front line in Afghanistan and other crisis points around the world, the United Nations today celebrated its 60th birthday with wreath layings for fallen colleagues, the ringing of the Harmony Bell and appeals to rise to the new challenges that lie ahead.

Taking note of the sentencing of an Afghan journalist to two years in prison for publishing an article considered offensive to Islam, the United Nations mission in the country said today the right to freedom of expression applies to everyone, including journalists, and should be strongly defended.