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Despite progress in advancing child rights over the past 25 years, including a marked reduction in the number of children dying before the age of five and increased access to education and clean water, urgent action is needed to prevent millions of children from missing out on the benefits of innovation, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a new report.

The head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today marked the twelfth edition of World Philosophy Day with a widespread appeal for dialogue in diversity, adding that only by embracing the intellectual pluralism of our global society can the foundations of a truly global community be laid.

Africa needs a green, clean industrialization that leapfrogs outdated, polluting processes and platforms and benefits from new technologies, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as the world body marked Africa Industrialization Day.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned yesterday’s “despicable terrorist attack” in a synagogue in Jerusalem, resulting in the murder of four innocent civilians worshipping there and a police officer, as well as the injury of many more.

As the global human rights community readies to celebrate tomorrow the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations committee charged monitoring with its implementation highlighted the right of children to actively participate – and not just be heard – in discussions that affect their lives and communities.

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today that the number of Ebola cases is “no longer increasing nationally in Guinea and Liberia, but is still increasing in Sierra Leone”, and that preparedness teams have been sent this week to Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Senegal.

Insecurity is on the march again in the countries of Africa’s Sahel belt, where extremists have displaced 1.5 million people in Nigeria and the threat of Ebola is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis, the United Nations humanitarian regional coordinator said today.

Echoing calls from the wider United Nations community, the Security Council today expressed concern at allegations over the mass rape in late October of 200 women and girls in Tabit, North Darfur, calling on the Government of Sudan to conduct a thorough investigation.

The head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced today that all parties to the conflict in Benghazi have agreed to an unconditional humanitarian truce to evacuate civilians and retrieve the bodies of the dead.

More than 700 representatives from governments, inter-governmental organizations, UN bodies and civil society in Asia and the Pacific began meeting today to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment with the keynote speaker highlighting the urgency of eliminating violence against women and girls.