Latest News

Haiti and the Dominican Republic have joined forces with the support of the United Nations to tackle environmental degradation resulting from rising water levels in lakes near their common border.

The United Nations’ top political official arrived in Sri Lanka today to discuss resettlement, political reconciliation and accountability for alleged human rights violations in the island nation where Government forces defeated Tamil separatists in May after a decades-long conflict.

The top United Nations relief official today appealed to donors to fill the $5 billion funding gap the world body and its partner agencies face to provide emergency aid to people enduring the most severe humanitarian crises around the world.

Top United Nations officials have urged Member States to sign, ratify or accede to treaties with global reach in areas ranging from climate change to terrorism and the use of nuclear weapons as the world body begins its annual campaign to promote such conventions.

Serbia will send its nuclear waste for reprocessing and disposal to Russia as part of a new agreement which will pave the way for economic and social development, the head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today welcomed the creation of a new single UN body to promote women’s rights, noting that more than 60 per cent of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female, as are three out of four young people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today spotlighted the growing trend for emerging democracies to seek help from the United Nations, in a message marking the International Day of Democracy.

Discrimination remains a “scourge” that affects every country, the United Nations human rights chief said today, adding that combating it has become one of her office’s top priorities, along with tackling impunity for various rights violations.

Faith has a key role in addressing current global challenges, ranging from disarmament to climate change to the economic crisis, and in bringing people together to promote peace and progress, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

The United Nations refugee agency today expressed its concern over the temporary detention and alleged mistreatment of Uzbek refugees and asylum-seekers that took place last week in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty.