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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Bhutan today agreed to manage a protected "green corridor" through the Himalayan kingdom - where forest and mountain ecosystems will be preserved and the endangered Bengal tiger will be protected.

The value of priority supplies that can be shipped to Iraq from the United Nations Oil-for-Food pipeline has surged nearly $100 million, to $548.6 million thanks to a three-week extension granted the already adjusted programme, on which 60 per cent of Iraqis depend as their sole source of sustenance.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he hoped the world body would play an "effective role" in the process of establishing a new Iraqi Government.

In Abidjan today, the United Nations launched a system-wide appeal to help stave off a humanitarian catastrophe for 3 million people in and around Côte d'Ivoire still reeling after months of civil unrest and ethnic violence that swept the country and threatened to engulf nearly all of West Africa.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) - the United Nations forum that coordinates the work of specialized agencies, functional and regional commissions - today held elections to fill vacancies in its various subsidiary bodies, including the choice of 24 countries for its key human rights commission.

The United Nations and the European Union (EU) signed a framework agreement today on financial and administrative matters, which Secretary-General Kofi Annan said would "improve considerably our operational relationship" in humanitarian and other matters.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today commended President George W. Bush of the United States for his leadership in endorsing a $15 billion emergency bill to tackle AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, and urged for substantial investment in prevention among young people.

With important steps finally underway to secure durable peace in Côte d'Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to the Security Council for the urgent, necessary financial and logistical support needed for the West African peacekeeping force to continue playing its essential role in promoting regional reconciliation.

The United Nations health agency announced today that it was lifting its precautionary advisory against non-essential travel to Toronto, Canada, effective tomorrow, in view of positive changes there with regard to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The United Nations Security Council today forwarded to the General Assembly for final approval a list of 35 judges nominated for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).