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Following a spate of deadly violence at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) today voiced concern about the security situation in the overcrowded settlement, urging a return to calm for all the communities sheltered there.

Political action on the part of the international community is urgently required to tackle the fundamental issues that would determine the fate and plight of more than 5.1 million Palestinian refugees, the head of the United Nations relief agency tasked with their assistance said today.

Reiterating his great concern for the current crisis in Burkina Faso and its impact on national and regional stability, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said the joint United Nations and African diplomatic mission sent to the conflict-ridden country last week has returned to the capital city of Ouagadougou to continue its engagements with all parties, with the objective of reaching an agreement that restores constitutional order through democratic elections.

The United Nations-backed mechanism designed to provide war-ravaged Gaza with reconstruction materials for urgent shelter repairs has commenced its operations, a senior UN official in the region has announced.

The UN envoy coordinating the global response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa said in the Liberian capital today that when national governments, partners and communities work together, “dramatic improvement” can be achieved, but cautioned against “even for a second [thinking] that everything is okay.”

Advancing inclusive and sustainable industrial development, both on its own and as part of a broader campaign to protect the planet and all people in the future, is the moral and political responsibility of all governments, the private sector and financial institutions, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared today.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has called on the world body’s Member States and international sports federations “to harness the unique potential of sports” in the global fight against racism, urging them to promote an overall message of equality.

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) released new guidelines today aimed at reducing the number deaths related to opioid overdose covering a range of drugs – from morphine and heroin to painkillers such as oxycodone – that claim nearly 70,000 lives each year.

As civil conflicts, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, a rise in divisive politics, and health crises such as Ebola continued to transcend borders and threaten millions of people worldwide, United Nations partnerships with regional organizations were ever more vital to deal with and adapt to such challenges, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he addressed the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria.

As temperatures plummet across Iraq amid a steadily advancing cold season, humanitarian resources are urgently required in order to satisfy the needs of over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) scattered across the country, a senior United Nations official in Iraq warned today.