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The United Nations has urged Nigeria to prevent further lead poisoning in the north and to implement measures to limit lead ore processing at sensitive sites, such as water sources which can easily become contaminated with the heavy metal.

As Southern Sudan gears up for a week-long independence referendum starting on Sunday that could split Africa’s largest country in two, the United Nations is ramping up its multiple roles, from monitoring the vote to providing aid to returning southerners to preparing options for a worst-case scenario, however unlikely, of renewed warfare.

The top United Nations human rights official today condemned the recent attacks on religious groups in various countries, and urged States to show determination to combat such violence and to scrap discriminatory laws and practices affecting religious minorities.

The United Nations refugee agency today voiced concern that States trying to prevent the entry of irregular migrants into their territories are doing so without establishing guarantees to ensure the protection of those in need.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed a new law recently adopted in the Republic of Congo, calling it a “significant” step in ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples.

The Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today voiced sadness at the death of Goodwill Ambassador and patron of the arts Lily Marinho, who died on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.

One year after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, more than 1 million people – 380,000 of them children – still live in crowded camps despite extraordinary relief efforts by Haitians and the international community, according to a United Nations report issued today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is seeking over $20 million to enable the agency to respond to the humanitarian needs of people in Côte d’Ivoire and five neighbouring countries over the next three months.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today urged Chinese authorities to investigate the death of journalist Sun Hongjie, who died last week after being beaten by several men at a construction site.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community to provide urgent military and other support to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to stop “foreign fighters and other spoilers” turning the region into the next stronghold of international terrorism.