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Although the proportion of people suffering from hunger in developing countries has gone down as the overall population has gone up, there are now more hungry people – 820 million – than there were 10 years ago when the World Food Summit (WFS) pledged to cut the number in half by 2015, the United Nations warned today.

Emissions by industrialized countries of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming showed a “worrying” upward trend in the 2000–2004 period and state policies must be intensified to achieve further cuts, according to a United Nations report released today.

Scientists, researchers, and policy makers in 108 developing countries will soon receive access to one of the world’s largest collections of scholarly environmental science journals, thanks to a United Nations-backed on-line initiative launched today.

With fighting flaring in southern Afghanistan the United Nations, along with the Government and international donors, is assisting some 15,000 families displaced in three southern provinces.

The global number of unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 rose by nearly 15 per cent over the past decade, more than 300 million others, about 25 per cent of the youth population, were living below the $2 per day poverty line, and at least 400 million jobs are needed to solve the problem, according to a new report by the UN labour agency.

Asian and Pacific countries with low rates of HIV infection, far from being lulled into complacency, must improve surveillance and adequately fund national AIDS action plans, a United Nations-backed conference has concluded.

Highlighting the staff of the United Nations as its “principal asset,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for more resources from Member States to improve recruiting practices and streamline contracts so as to attract good candidates and keep them with the organization.

With provisional results in yesterday’s presidential poll in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) not expected for another 10 days, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the two candidates and their supporters to avoid acts of violence at all cost after the largest and most complex elections the United Nations has ever helped organize.

Expressing concern at election-related violence in Bangladesh, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to the country’s major political forces “to work together to find a common ground for the elections acting in the interest of democracy and the welfare of the entire nation.”

The international community must stay engaged in Burundi where the “overall situation remains fragile,” helping to reduce crime and ensure reintegration of a swelling numbers of refugees returning to the country emerging from 12 years of civil war, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today.