Latest News

In spite of the “unprecedented” effort launched last year to respond to the food crisis, greater efforts are needed to feed the hungry as the world faces an economic slowdown, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

The United Nations peacekeeping chief is on a five-day field visit to Haiti, discussing with national and local leaders the Organization’s mission in the impoverished Caribbean country where it has been seeking to promote stability and development since an insurgency in 2004.

Farmers in Tajikistan’s poorest region will receive a $12 million boost from the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help curb poverty, boost incomes and improve the lives of farmers in 250 villages.

The current global economic slowdown brought the growth of international tourism to a standstill in 2008 and threatens to reverse the historic four-year gains made by the industry in foreign travel, according to a report published today by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

A team from the human rights unit of the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today visited Garoosh in the eastern province of Laghman, after a dispute arose over whether or not civilians had been killed in an attack there over the weekend involving United States forces.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the people of Bolivia for taking part at the weekend in a peaceful national referendum approving the amendment of the country’s Constitution.

Aerial bombing and artillery fire continued for a second day on the outskirts of the city of El Fasher, North Darfur, where the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has its headquarters, the mission reported today.

The resumption of United States funding after a seven-year lull will augment efforts by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to improve the health and human rights of women, the agency’s head said today.

The top United Nations humanitarian official today called on Israel to immediately open up crossing points into Gaza for full access for massive relief aid and reconstruction supplies following its devastating three-week offensive against Hamas militants.

The Security Council today urged all political actors in Côte d’Ivoire to agree without delay on a “realistic” time frame for the long-postponed elections in the West African country, as it extended the United Nations mission there for another six months.