Latest News

The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago today is a reminder of the difference that ordinary people can make for the greater good, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the world to salute those fighting to enhance human rights and freedoms.

Poor countries, already hit hard by the global financial and economic crisis in their efforts to fund social and health programmes, are facing a double blow this year with debt servicing increasing by over 17 per cent as a proportion of government revenue, a top United Nations trade official warned today.

The United Nations crime tsar today blamed shady trading for the financial crisis that rocked most of the world last year, urging governments to use an international anti-corruption treaty to outline measures to restore trust in the financial system.

The United Nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have launched a fund to help the vast country recover from years of devastating civil war that ended earlier this decade, and continuing strife in its eastern provinces that has displaced more than a million people.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that global military spending now tops $1 trillion per year while funding for development remains woefully low by comparison, in a message urging leaders to harness the growing political will to reduce stockpiles of weapons and redirect expenditure towards peaceful goals.

The United Nations and its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners today called yet again on Israel to immediately open crossings into the Gaza Strip to give Palestinians access to desperately needed materials, especially in view of the coming winter and rainy season.

While the crisis that plagued eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last year and threatened to engulf the entire region has eased, some of the factors that led to the fierce fighting and the displacement of hundred of thousands must still be dealt with, a senior United Nations envoy said today.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners have provided assistance to almost 100,000 people displaced in northern Yemen by the latest round of fighting between Government forces and Al Houthi rebels, the agency reported today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced confidence for an agreement next month on fighting global warming even as key issues remain unresolved, a day before he travels to Washington D.C. to discuss with senior officials and congressional leaders what world governments expect in terms of the United States’ role.

The head of the United Nations food agency today welcomed the declaration by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation underlining the critical role that investment in food security, agriculture and infrastructure plays in feeding people on the continent.