Latest News

Spotlighting the worsening of the already horrifying war in Syria, “which continues to bleed beyond its borders,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today delivered a strong rebuke to the world's indifference to the bloodshed and rejected the notion that a military solution is the only way to end it, offering instead a “principled and integrated” approach to help sow the seeds of a better future for the Syrian people.

The United Nations today voiced concern as the health of a number of Palestinian hunger strikers protesting Israel’s ongoing use of administrative detention is reportedly worsening, and more than 200 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank since 12 June when three Israeli teenagers went missing.

The United Nations refugee agency is helping authorities in the eastern Afghan province of Khost to register and assist thousands of people fleeing the current Pakistani military offensive against Taliban militants in that country’s tribal regions.

A group of United Nations human rights experts on the African diaspora today called on the Government of the Dominican Republic to adopt the necessary legal measures to restore Dominican citizenship for all those born in the country, but not registered at birth.

World Refugee Day is being marked by yet another sombre milestone in a year that has seen crisis after crisis force desperate people to flee their homes ahead of bullets and bombs: a new UN report reveals that the number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people has, for the first time in the post-World War II era, exceeded 50 million people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the continued heavy shelling, aerial attacks and use of barrel bombs by the Syrian Government, and renewed his appeal to all parties to the conflict to end violence and seek a political solution.

As part of an ongoing plan to expand the reach of its humanitarian efforts in Syria, the United Nations refugee agency has opened a field office and warehouse in the southern city of Sweida and stocked it with aid items for onward delivery to thousands of internally displaced civilians.

A senior United Nations relief official today highlighted the need for “courageous leadership” by the authorities in Mali to tackle the country’s political issues, warning that the already grave humanitarian situation is likely to deteriorate unless peace and stability are restored.

Two special advisors to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned today what could amount to war crimes committed in Iraq by terrorist and armed groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and raised special concern about the impacts of the deteriorating security situation on religious and other minorities.

The countries of Africa’s Sahel region – struggling to cope with terrorism, weak governance and recurrent droughts ¬– need assistance to lay the foundations for stability and sustainable development, a United Nations special envoy told the Security Council today, urging greater cooperation between the region’s Governments, neighbours and international partners.