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Stressing the need to end the suffering in conflict-torn Northern Uganda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the latest pledges by the parties to hold their fire and voiced hope that formal peace negotiations will soon resume.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the Government of Zimbabwe to release opposition leaders being held by police, and condemned the reported beatings they suffered while in custody.

The Human Rights Council opened its fourth session in Geneva today, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressing that the “world is watching” to see if the new body, which was set up last year to replace the much-criticized Human Rights Commission, will live up to expectations.

Sudan’s Government should fully cooperate with the immediate deployment of a United Nations-African Union (AU) hybrid force for Darfur and end the targeting of civilians, while all armed rebel movements must also strictly observe human rights laws, the UN Human Rights Council’s high-level mission to the region said in its report published today.

Drug use is too often associated in the media with celebrities rather than consequences, a senior United Nations official said today, calling for a greater press spotlight on the dangers of illicit drug consumption.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Guterres will pay a week-long visit next week to Ecuador and Colombia, the country with the largest population of concern to his agency, with some 3 million people uprooted by more than 40 years of fighting between the Government, leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries.

The security situation in eastern Chad has deteriorated during the past week, hampering efforts by United Nations humanitarian agencies to help up to 105,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and more that 230,000 refugees who have fled the fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The United Nations refugee agency is set to open two new repatriation corridors from western Ethiopia to south Sudan to pave the way home for thousands of Sudanese who fled two decades of civil war that uprooted some 4.5 million people overall.

With an estimated 2 million Iraqis now seeking shelter in nearby countries and another 1.9 million internally displaced, the United Nations refugee agency is sending a senior official for a week-long mission to the region to strengthen its protection and assistance programmes.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the European Union (EU) decision to establish targets for energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in the battle against global warming, saying the moves can help put the world’s energy systems on more sustainable footing.