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The United Nations envoy in Côte d’Ivoire has condemned the armed attacks carried out by unidentified individuals against national security forces in and around the commercial capital, Abidjan, this morning.

Newly documented human rights violations in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) include cases of arbitrary executions and rape – among other atrocities – by the 23 March Movement (M23) armed group, the United Nations human rights agency said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the shooting down today of a United Nations helicopter in South Sudan – killing all four crew members onboard – by the country’s armed forces and called for those responsible to be held to account, his spokesperson said today.

World governments today “upgraded” the global status of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by opening its governing body to all 193 UN Member States.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed today the passing of an “historic” United Nations resolution calling on countries to eliminate female genital mutilation, adding that the move was an important step towards a world free from violence against women.

A United Nations envoy, Vijay Nambiar, has wrapped up a visit to Myanmar during which he was able to meet with people displaced by the inter-communal violence this year in Rakhine state, as well as discuss with the Government how to address the problems facing the communities there.

The United Nations refugee agency spoke out today against public statements in Kenya linking the presence of refugees in that country to recent violence – which the agency equally condemned.

The United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan reports that the situation in the town of Wau remains tense, following the arrival of some 5,000 people seeking safety at a UN base there yesterday, a spokesperson for the world body said today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, today announced the appointment of Mohamed Ibn Chambas of Ghana as their Joint Special Representative for Darfur, and head of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in the west Sudanese region, known by the acronym UNAMID.

A trial chamber of the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda today sentenced a former government minister, Augustin Ngirabatware, to 35 years imprisonment for genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.