UN refugee agency concerned at detention of Ethiopian boat people in Yemen
The United Nations refugee agency has voiced concern at the detention in Yemen of 126 Ethiopians now threatened with deportation after crossing by boat from Somalia.
UN-backed strategy seeks to develop powerful malaria vaccine by 2025
With two people dying from malaria every minute and up to 1,000 others becoming infected, a new United Nations-backed global strategy was launched today to develop a highly effective vaccine within the next 20 years.
Lebanon: UN Rights Council report condemns flagrant Israeli violations in summer war
Israel’s use of weapons such as cluster bombs during this summer’s war with Hizbollah in Lebanon was a flagrant violation of the right to life and property, excessive, not justified by military necessity and went beyond the arguments of proportionality, according to a report mandated by the Human Rights Council.
Three young athletes run the Sahara in UN-backed bid to focus on global water crisis
Running over endless sands and camel tracks, past towering dunes, stark rock mountains and mud-brick mosques, through oases and nomad settlements, three young athletes are pounding their way across the Sahara Desert, covering the equivalent of two marathons a day in some of the harshest conditions on Earth in a United Nations-backed bid to raise awareness of the burgeoning global water crisis.
UN office to support national reconciliation in volatile Central African Republic
Responding to the volatile situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) – an impoverished country bordering Chad and Sudan – the United Nations office there plans to support national reconciliation, strengthen democracy and promote good governance, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a letter released today.
Annan names Special Envoy to help resolve northern Ugandan conflict
In an effort to bring a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in northern Uganda while addressing its wider regional ramifications, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano his Special Envoy to help deal with the issue of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and its brutal 20-year-long rebellion.
UNESCO chief pays tribute to Iraqi journalists after murder of two more media workers
Following the murder of yet two more Iraqi media workers, the head of the United Nations body mandated to protect freedom of expression today paid tribute to the courage of journalists willing to face such dangers in the war-torn country.
Security situation improving in troubled southern Sudanese town, says UN mission
The security situation inside the southern Sudanese provincial capital of Malakal is steadily returning to normal, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the country has reported, after last week’s outbreak of deadly violence in the town.
General Assembly backs Kimberley Process to prevent diamonds from funding conflict
The General Assembly today passed a resolution backing the Kimberley Process, a global initiative involving governments, the international diamond industry and civil society aimed at preventing so-called “conflict diamonds” from funding warfare and civil unrest.
Sudan: UN warns Darfur remains volatile, despite relatively few incidents this week
The situation in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur remains volatile, although there were fewer incidents than usual reported over the past week, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.