Italy has taken command of the United Nations maritime task force (MTF), which was deployed off the Lebanese coast in 2006 to curtail arms smuggling following that year’s Israel-Hizbollah war.
The United Nations said today that the number of people displaced by the conflict in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province has risen above 2.5 million, and a shortage of funds could cut relief services there.
United Nations agencies are continuing to assist the growing number of Somalis – now estimated to be at least 70,000 – who have been uprooted by the recent surge in fighting in and around the capital, the world body’s humanitarian wing said today.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today presented the United Nations Population Award to an Egyptian doctor and a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization (NGO), in recognition of their contributions to public health and efforts to reduce maternal deaths.