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Hurricane Matthew disrupted education in Haiti for more than 100,000 children, affecting some 770 schools, 150 of which are still being used as shelters, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is working to restore education – one of the vital signs of recovery after a natural disaster.

Noting that three quarters of UN Member States share rivers or lake basins with their neighbours, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the value of water resources as a reason for cooperation, not conflict.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has sounded the alarm over the fact that two journalists in Gambia have been held for more than two weeks without access to lawyers or their family members.

The United Nations is extremely concerned by the continued worsening humanitarian situation in Ganfouda area in the Libyan city of Benghazi due to increased hostilities over the past week, a senior UN aid official in the North African country said today.

Expressing concern over recent violence, including killings, that targeted social leaders in several conflict-affected areas in Colombia, the United Nations Mission in the country, as well as the UN Country Team, underlined the need to protect civilians and to build communal harmony.

A new piece of Israeli legislation would enable the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land and if passed, would deal yet another severe blow to hopes of lasting peace in the region, according to a United Nations human rights expert.

The extent to which violence is embedded in society means that uprooting it is everyone’s job, senior United Nations official said today, lamenting that violence against women and girls continue to be a low priority on the international development agenda and urging more action – and more funding – to end the pandemic of such violence now, once and for all.

The United Nations warned today that while more people than ever are accessing antiretroviral treatment for HIV, girls aged 15 to 24, transitioning to womanhood, face many HIV-related challenges, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and called for a life-cycle approach to finding solutions for everyone, at all stages of life.

Emphasizing that month after month he returns to the Security Council with new reports of ever-worsening human suffering in Syria, the top United Nations humanitarian official today urged the 15-member body to act now and end the protracted conflict.

As part of a high-level United Nations forum under way in the United Arab Emirates aimed at exploring the role of space in socio-economic and sustainable development, the UN appointment of astronaut Scott Kelly as ‘United Nations Champion for Space.’