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Dozens of nations and organizations today pledged almost $10 billion in immediate and long-term aid to help Haiti recover from the recent devastating earthquake, just hours after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened a day-long donors’ conference by calling for the wholesale rebuilding of the country.

The United Nations human rights office is urging that Afghanistan’s poor be at the centre of decision-making processes that affect their lives, after a new report found that rights abuses are exacerbating poverty in the country.

Haiti’s human capital will play a crucial role in the country’s recovery following January’s catastrophic earthquake through food-for-work projects to stimulate the agricultural sector, as part of a new plan unveiled by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the progress achieved by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders in their United Nations-backed reunification talks and encouraged them to continue working towards a solution that takes into account the legitimate rights and concerns of both sides.

The El Niño weather pattern – blamed for this year’s heavy snows in the United States and a long-running drought in Australia – has peaked, but is expected to influence climate patterns worldwide until mid-year before dying out, the United Nations weather agency said today.

A new United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) scheme seeks to enhance literacy and empower marginalized people in rural areas of Nepal, where less than half of the population can read.

The presentation of the report of the independent United Nations probe looking into the facts and circumstances of the December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, which had been scheduled for today, has been delayed until 15 April at the request of the country’s President.

This week’s international donors’ conference for Haiti topped the agenda during talks between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in New York.

The United Nations Mission in Sudan is taking to the airwaves with a new radio drama series aimed at raising public awareness on various issues, including measures related to the ongoing process of implementing the peace accord that ended two decades of civil war in Africa’s largest country.

Nine orphan gorillas will start new lives in a nature reserve in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), thanks to assistance from peacekeepers serving with the United Nations mission in the country, known as MONUC.