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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called a crisis meeting of his top advisers on the deteriorating situation in South Sudan today and proposed reinforcing the United Nations peacekeeping force there in a bid to stem a conflict increasingly marked by ethnically targeted killings.

Thirty-six Asia-Pacific nations unanimously adopted a landmark declaration at a United Nations forum of ministers in Thailand, outlining the road map towards a regional economic community.

The United Nations is highlighting the intrinsic values and contributions of wild animals and plants, particularly endangered and protected species, by devoting 3 of March as ‘World Wildlife Day.’

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the international community to scale up support for the massive typhoon recovery plan under way in the Philippines, where the Government-led effort that is helping millions of people rebuild their lives must be underpinned by measures to improve the country's preparedness and resilience to natural disasters.

Amid escalating tensions and deadly clashes between military factions in South Sudan, the United Nations Mission in the country today announced that it has begun relocating staff from the capital, Juba, while Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has demanded that South Sudanese political and military leaders end all hostilities and targeted attacks against civilians.

Visiting the storm-ravaged Philippine city of Tacloban, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the resilience of the people and pledged the commitment of the United Nations to keep working with the Government to “build back better and safer” all the communities devastated by super Typhoon Haiyan, which ripped through the archipelago a little over a month ago.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) held a memorial ceremony in Juba, the capital, today for two Indian battalion peacekeepers who died in the 19 December in a brazen attack on its base in the town of Akobo in restive Jonglei state.

The top United Nations official in Somalia congratulated Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, who was appointed today following a vote in the Federal Parliament, calling the process a key step heading into 2014, which will be “pivotal year” for the country.

United Nations officials are marking Human Solidarity Day today by calling for joint action to reach the globally agreed goals of reducing extreme poverty, hunger, disease and other social and environmental ills by 2015, and to create a more sustainable future for all.

The United Nations human rights office today called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release all individuals detained in relation to their work as human rights defenders, noting a “worrying escalation” in the harassment and intimidation of civil society in the country.