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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the head of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have strongly endorsed a summit to be held later this year aiming to boost information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in Africa to advance development on the continent.

The top United Nations humanitarian official today called for international assistance to help Lesotho which is facing its worst food crisis, with 400,000 people – or a fifth of the population of the small southern African nation – in need of emergency food aid.

The United Nations is entering an era when it can prosper because the world’s major challenges have become so complex that individual countries cannot resolve them on their own, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

The Security Council today welcomed news that United Nations-sponsored talks on Western Sahara between Morocco and the Frente Polisario, along with neighbours Algeria and Mauritania, are set to resume next month, voicing hope that “substantial negotiations” will take place.

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today called for greater international support to Guinea-Bissau and other African nations emerging from conflict, following a visit to the small West African nation last week.

An inspection team from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will travel to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the next few days to implement agreements to monitor the shutdown and eventual abandonment of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities.

Africa’s pastoralists deserve year-round attention from Governments and policymakers, and not just in the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster, a United Nations official told a workshop convened in Kenya to help preserve the nomadic herders’ distinctive lifestyle on the continent.

United Nations officials say the global treaty to protect the rights of the world’s estimated 650 million people with disabilities could take effect by early next year after Qatar this week became the 100th country to sign the landmark pact.

The United Nations refugee agency, which has shipped thousands of relief supplies to areas in Pakistan devastated by floods in late June, today reported that conditions are improving there but serious challenges remain.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today spoke out against the reported stoning last week of a man in Iran and urged the country not to execute his companion or any other person in the same unlawful manner.