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In “a globalization of environmental problems” dust and sand storms in northeast Asia have grown vastly in frequency and intensity, leading to widespread loss of livestock and crops, disrupted communications, respiratory problems and deaths far from their source, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today.

31 March – The top United Nations official in the fight against illegal drugs today called on the international community to provide more help to tackle the growing drug problem in Afghanistan.

A week after Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced concern at the escalation of fighting in Nepal with its mounting toll of civilian casualties and human rights abuses, the senior United Nations human rights official today hailed the Government's recommitment to its international humanitarian obligations.

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today sentenced a Bosnian Serb man to 17 years in prison for the massacre of more than 200 men in August 1992.

Countries worldwide should not shrink from confronting sensitive issues of sexual and reproductive health, and all nations should provide free public primary schooling, according to two United Nations human rights reports.

An international treaty to ensure the genetic plant diversity that is vital for human survival will come into force this summer following its ratification by 12 European countries and the European Community, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.

With 60 per cent of trafficked women in a major Italian city coming from Nigeria, the United Nations justice institute said it was organizing an international meeting in Turin tomorrow, aimed at stopping the trafficking in human beings from Nigeria to Italy.

With Myanmar announcing that it will convene a national convention to draft a new constitution, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the government to lift restrictions on democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to allow the broadest participation possible.

With 1.9 million Eritreans facing starvation after four years of drought, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa arrived today in Eritrea's capital city, Asmara, to look at gaps in assistance and assess the implementation of strategies to reduce the country's vulnerability to drought.

The Security Council today gave its backing to an independent probe ordered by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into allegations of corruption within the United Nations Oil-for-Food humanitarian programme in Iraq.