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The United Nations refugee agency said today it has released updated guidelines on the needs of people fleeing southern and central Somalia that underscore the need for Governments to assess applications for protection on the basis of reliable, up-to-date information about the situation in Mogadishu and other areas.

Amid reports that riot police have been deployed in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to break up anti-Government protests, the United Nations labour agency today urged everyone to remain calm and reiterated its calls for a probe into police action.

Peace and security, sustainable development and human rights are on the agenda at the second summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which opens in Cuba today and where United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a wide-ranging address.

Only 1 in 10 people who need medical care to relieve the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness is currently receiving it, according to a new United Nations report, which calls on countries to include palliative care as an essential component to their health systems.

United Nations trucks in Syria are on standby to deliver urgently needed food and medicines to 500 besieged families who have been trapped in the Old City of Homs without any aid for almost two years, once the warring parties allow access, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced today.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has urged the Rwandan Government to lift undue restrictions on the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association so that the country can expand its economic achievements since the 1994 genocide to the fields of multiparty democracy and human rights.

Seriously concerned by widespread human rights violations and the “increasing cycle of violence and retaliation” in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacebuilding office in the country, authorized the use of force by European Union troops, and added travel bans and asset freezes to an arms embargo already in place.

The United Nations humanitarian chief continued her visit to South Sudan today with a stop in Malakal in Upper Nile state, where she met with communities displaced by the recent conflict and observed the efforts of aid agencies that have been assisting those affected by the violence.

Global foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to levels not seen since the start of the global economic crisis in 2008, increasing by 11 per cent in 2013 to an estimated $1.46 trillion, with the lion’s share going to developing countries, according to a United Nations report released today.

Despite Burundi's request that the United Nations mission helping it recover from decades of ethnic war end by mid-2014, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is recommending its renewal for another full year as the country moves towards crucial elections amid political violence and intra-party tensions.