Latest News

Voicing concern about stepped up violence in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has repeated his call on all parties to respect international law and ensure the protection of civilians.

In a strongly worded statement aimed at quelling violence in Iraq, the senior United Nations envoy to that country today decried recent sectarian attacks and urged a united front against those who are instigating them.

Reacting to the furor spawned by the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed widely considered to be offensive, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Doha, Qatar, today joined his voice with key Arab and Muslim leaders to urge restraint and to pledge action to foster tolerance.

The head of the United Nations organization entrusted with preserving the world’s historical, spiritual and cultural heritage has condemned the destruction of a Shiite shrine and other mosques and churches in Iraq as “an outrage for all of humanity.”

Updating the biblical injunction to “turn swords into ploughshares,” the United Nations mission in Liberia is training former combatants as blacksmiths as part of its reintegration and rehabilitation programme to help the West African country recover from almost 15 years of vicious civil war.

A United Nations emergency mission is being deployed to Sulawesi, Indonesia, to assess the situation on the ground there in collaboration with Government and non-governmental institutions following flash floods earlier this week which sent thousands fleeing from their homes and killed at least 33 people.

Some 73,000 Sudanese refugees, who fled civil war in their country and are currently in Ethiopia, will be allowed to return home under the terms of an agreement expected to be signed on Monday between the United Nations refugee agency, and the Governments of Ethiopia and Sudan.

Extremely concerned over the fate of 11 Uzbek asylum-seekers deported to their homeland last week from Ukraine, the United Nations refugee agency today again appealed for humane treatment in full accordance with international standards.

With new refugees arriving in Chad everyday fleeing violence in the Central African Republic, the United Nations refugee agency’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations will begin a six-day visit to Chad on Sunday, where she will also review operations in camps housing more than 200,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur.

Saying that Turkey has shown “remarkable commitment” to reform over the past years, a United Nations rights expert today called on the country to further reduce tensions in its terror-racked southeast region, affirming that counterterrorism must be pursued with full respect for human rights.