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More than a year since the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015, through the combined work of the United Nations cultural agency and its partners, some of the country’s notable museums and institutions, including the National Museum, and the National Art Gallery are once again open and visitors are coming back to enjoy their rich collections.

Just head of International Youth Day, two United Nations human rights experts are drawing attention to the impact of commercial advertising directed at young children that instils, at an early age, over-consumption and indebtedness, and have urged the Governments to redefine those child-directed advertisements.

Denouncing a new law in Maldives as a “direct attack” on free speech, a United Nations human rights expert warned today that elements of the bill, such as the vague use of religion, social norms and defamation as reasons for punishing expression, contradict not only international norms, but also obligations set out in the country’s own Constitution.

An estimated 60 per cent of Colombia’s alluvial gold exploitation – through mining streams or riverbeds, often dredged with heavy machinery – is not established within existing normative frameworks and in many cases finances and strengthens organized criminal groups, according to a joint United Nations and Colombian Government study.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has denounced the recent terrorist attack that killed at least 70 people, including two journalists, in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province.

The United Nations health agency and its partners are continuing their programmes against yellow fever outbreaks even though the epidemic, first reported in January 2016, appears to be declining, with no new cases confirmed in the last six weeks.

Welcoming the signing by Sudanese opposition groups of an African Union-brokered roadmap for ending conflicts in the country, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called the parties to “maintain this positive momentum” and work towards agreement on cessation of hostilities.

Young people are at the heart of many of today’s challenges, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in Buenos Aires, urging a gathering of youth and civil society delegates to claim the new UN Sustainable Development Agenda as their own and to hold their leaders accountable for its implementation.

Mourning those who perished in the 1945 atomic bombing and suffered through its horrendous after-effects, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today conveyed his solidarity to a peace memorial ceremony in Nagasaki, Japan, and urged all to “recommit to building a safer and more secure future.”

Welcoming today the announcement by Somalia of a timetable for the 2016 electoral process, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that process for the upcoming polls, which sets October for presidential elections, is an important milestone in the country’s journey towards democracy.