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The United Nations refugee agency today launched a global campaign aimed at ending within a decade the problem of statelessness – a legal limbo for the more than 10 million people worldwide who lack a nationality and the human rights protections that go with it.

The war in Syria must be “frozen locally” on the ground so that the growing threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) may be fully confronted, a United Nations envoy said today, suggesting that a peace introduced in increments would also provide all stakeholders with a better understanding of how to bring the three-year conflict to a definitive conclusion.

As part of a visit to mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Vienna International Centre today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among those treated to a performance by Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, calling her win earlier this year an “electrifying moment of human rights education.”

As the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today that it plans to boost its staff in countries on the frontlines of the Ebola outbreak the head of the UN World Health Organization attributed the lack of research into cures and vaccines for Ebola to the fact that the disease has historically been confined to poor African nations.

The United Nations mission in Darfur expressed concern today over the Government of Sudan’s alleged intentions to conduct a security search operation in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP), cautioning that such an act might increase tensions among the camp’s civilian population.

The future of Iraq hinges on the education of its youth and the preservation of its cultural heritage, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) affirmed during an official trip to the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

As the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of an international legal framework to prevent torture and other types of inhumane treatment or punishment approaches, a United Nations rights expert urged the committee charged with monitoring its implementation to use the momentum garnered in the celebrations to accelerate efforts to move towards universal ratification of the treaty.

Strongly condemning the terrorist attack that took place yesterday on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border with India, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Today urged the authorities in Pakistan to bring those responsible to justice.

The international community must aid the world’s landlocked developing countries (LLDC) in pursuing their goals for greater economic development to transition from being landlocked to “landlinked,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon advised today, noting that only through comprehensive improvements in trade would such nations be best prepared to tackle the post-2015 agenda.

Protecting the safety of journalists and ensuring that crimes committed against them don't go unpunished is ever-more important in today's changing times in order to build transparent societies and keep citizens around the world informed, the United Nations said today marking the first-ever International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.