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The number of boys born in Viet Nam has spiked in recent years compared to girls, a new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study reported, warning of the risky consequences if the trend continues.

The United Nations continues to be extremely concerned with the case of two staff members arrested by Sri Lankan authorities in June, being particularly troubled over suggestions that they were mistreated during the early days of their detention.

A high-level United Nations commission on the world financial crisis today called for a new global reserve system that does not rely on a single currency like the dollar, a new global credit facility to complement the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a new global coordination council that would be more inclusive than the current G20 bloc of countries.

The leading causes of death of young people, including road accidents, suicide and reproductive complications, are preventable and treatable, according to a new study by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Noting that global military spending is now well over $1 trillion and rising every day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today once again called for ridding the world of nuclear weapons, exhorting civil society groups in particular to continue to speak out against the scourge.

The death of an Afghan interpreter who was killed during a rescue operation to free him and New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell from Taliban captivity highlights the dangers faced by media professionals working in the country, the top United Nations envoy there said.

With two new United Nations reports detailing human rights abuses – including possible war crimes – carried out by both Government forces and rebels in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world body’s top rights official today stressed the urgent need for reforming the country’s security and judicial systems.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom today condemned the killing of a Franco-Spanish journalist and documentary film-maker in El Salvador.

The scourge of violence against women has worsened as a result of the global financial downturn over the past year, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today as she urged some of the world’s richest countries to lead the way in turning the many international pledges to support women and girls into concrete results.

The head of the United Nations mission in Iraq has welcomed what he described as growing confidence in the electoral process there, and given his backing to the voter registration process, in preparation for parliamentary polls early next year.