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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged action on two fronts ahead of next week’s United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen as he marked the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty and commended European ministers for their work with the UN.

The United Nations human rights chief spoke out today against the Swiss ban on the building of new minarets, calling it a discriminatory and deeply divisive step which risks putting the county on a “collision course” with its international rights obligations.

The United Nations refugee agency today began distributing relief items in Kabul as part of a nationwide programme to help some 200,000 vulnerable Afghans survive the upcoming winter.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed the adoption of a bill by the Parliament of the Maldives to decriminalize defamation, and urged other States to take similar action.

The new chief of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began his four-year term today, voicing his commitment to tackling the many challenges facing the nuclear watchdog, including non-proliferation and nuclear security.

Increased banditry, kidnappings of relief workers and attacks on humanitarian compounds in eastern Chad are threatening crucial aid for nearly 100,000 people, many of them refugees or internally displaced persons (IDP), the United Nations reported today.

Just hours before President Barack Obama formally announces the United States’ strategy for Afghanistan, the top United Nations envoy there today underscored the need for a long-term commitment from the international community for the country, stressing that now is not the time to talk about an exit strategy.

As temperatures plummet below zero degrees Celsius in southern Tajikistan, the United Nations humanitarian wing today called for $6 million to help victims whose homes were destroyed during spring flooding and mudflows earlier this year.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today led senior United Nations officials in marking World AIDS Day by calling for an urgent end to discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS to help combat the spread of the disease.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for a six-month extension for the 35-year-old United Nations mission observing the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights, terming its presence “essential” due to overlying regional tensions despite calm on that particular front.