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Arriving in Sudan, a delegation from the Security Council today held meetings with top government officials, the senior United Nations envoy there and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of its bid to explore how best to help the people of Africa’s largest country.

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General today called for greater United States engagement with the UN, warning that Washington cannot “go it alone” in approaching diverse problems ranging from the threat of bird flu to the situation in violence-wracked Darfur, Sudan, while the world body needs its host country’s leadership to tackle these pressing challenges.

The United Nations today marked World Environment Day by shining the spotlight on the world’s deserts, from appeals to curb the desertification of dry-lands to a major report on the dramatic impact of climate change to a list of do’s and don’ts for tourists and a children’s painting competition.

Global uranium resources are more than adequate to meet projected requirements for nuclear electricity generation, according to the latest edition of a United Nations-backed world reference guide.

The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo is calling on donors to fund the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), a vital step in ensuring stability in the Albanian-majority Serbian province that the UN has run ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in ethnic fighting.

Although the Somali capital of Mogadishu is torn by some of the worst fighting in a decade with 300 people dead, 1,500 injured and 17,000 displaced, and though conflict and drought are wracking the south of the country, the United Nations faces a huge shortfall in the $326 million dollars it is seeking to cover urgent humanitarian needs there.

The top United Nations peacekeeping official will lead the world body’s team on a joint mission with the African Union (AU) to Sudan this week to hold wide-ranging discussions with Sudanese leaders aimed at strengthening the AU monitoring force in the country’s strife-torn Darfur region and preparing for its possible transition to a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation.

More investment by governments in agriculture and the right farm policies will help keep rural populations on the land, reduce migration, alleviate poverty and ease the pressure on urban centres by cutting pollution, crime and other social ills, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The senior United Nations envoy to Liberia has urged traditional leaders from across the country to continue their support for its recovery and development efforts.

Expressing sympathy to the law-abiding people who were affected by last week’s rioting in Kabul, the United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today said the traffic accident which led to the unrest was no excuse for the looting and destruction which followed.