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The United Nations Human Rights Council today voted for a mission to be sent to Syria to investigate alleged violations of international human rights law and crimes committed against civilians in the Middle East country, where hundreds of people have been killed during weeks of unrest.

Health ministers from around the world meeting under the auspices of the United Nations today adopted measures to strengthen the fight against the non-communicable diseases, including the promotion of healthy lifestyles and encouraging a multi-sectoral approach to prevention and treatment of the illnesses.

A new fund aimed at mobilizing resources to help developing countries mitigate the impact of global warming must encourage private sector financing in an effort to tackle its most devastating effects, the top United Nations climate change official said today.

Up to one billion people could die this century from smoking or being exposed to tobacco if current rates continue, a senior United Nations health official warned today, urging governments of low- and middle-income countries to adopt the same measures that many wealthier nations have already taken to deter people from smoking.

Preventive measures are central to ensuring people worldwide have safer workplaces, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) said today, stressing the need for better measures given that an estimated 337 million people are injured each year while on the job and more than 2 million others die from mishaps or occupational illnesses.

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses due to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, today made $880 million available to nine successful claimants.

Greater efforts to support girls and young women to acquire skills in information and communications technologies (ICTs) could help address projected shortages of manpower in those professions, the United Nations telecommunications agency said today, marking the first “Girls in ICT Day.”

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the death of Bolivian news agency director David Niño de Guzmán and called for an investigation into his death.

Reacting to reports of a unity deal between Hamas and Fatah, the top United Nations envoy for the Middle East today said that reconciliation between the two main Palestinian factions should take place in a manner that promotes the cause of peace.

The United Nations refugee agency has voiced concern over the plight of hundreds of people in western Colombia who have been forced to flee their homes amid an increasingly violent struggle between illegal armed groups over the control of mining and coca farming in the area.