The top United Nations human rights official has hailed the adoption of a new legal instrument which will enable people to submit complaints on violations of their economic, social and cultural rights to an international human rights body.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced today that Ljubljana has been chosen as the 2010 World Book Capital as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to promote literature and reading.
The top United Nations political official says he is optimistic that the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities are making real progress in their discussions on possible reunification and could soon move into substantive talks on resolving the issue.
The current violence, intimidation and arrest of opposition leaders in Zimbabwe are not conducive to credible elections, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for an immediate halt to hostilities ahead of the presidential run-off round set for next week.
A staff member serving with the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was today abducted by armed Arab militiamen, assaulted and stripped of his belongings before being eventually released.
The writings of Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Mohammad Rudaki, the poet considered to have laid the foundations of Persian classical literature, should serve as an inspiration to international efforts to combat extremism and attempts to divide peoples and cultures, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
The head of the Security Council’s recent mission to Sudan today urged the 15-member body to press the parties to the 2005 peace accord which ended the country’s long-running north-south civil war to fulfil their commitments, stressing that the landmark deal is vital to ensuring stability throughout the vast African nation.
The United Nations Human Rights Council today condemned “ongoing systematic violations of human rights” in Myanmar and called on the Government to stop making politically motivated arrests and to release all political prisoners immediately.
Government troops, national police, foreign groups and local militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to contribute to deteriorating human rights conditions, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the country (MONUC) said in a report released today.