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Enforced disappearances are being committed throughout Syria as part of a campaign of intimidation and as a tactic of war, says a report published today by the United Nations panel investigating human rights violations in the country.

A locust control programme launched in Madagascar is making progress against an invasion of the voracious insects that is threatening rice and maize crops but requires an additional $17 million for the next two phases, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today urged all parties in the Central African Republic (CAR), where armed clashes have escalated in recent weeks leading to deaths and population displacement, to step back from the brink of all-out sectarian conflict.

The President of the General Assembly today encouraged the United Nations to honour Nelson Mandela “by letting his legacy live on” in the world body’s continued struggle against poverty, injustice and the destruction of the human person and human spirit.

Developing Asia-Pacific countries will face another year of subpar growth in 2014 due to slow recovery, policy uncertainty and protectionism in developed countries, marking the first time in two decades that their economies have grown at less than 6 per cent annually over a three-year period, according to a United Nations forecast released today.

Two days after presenting a new United Nations strategy to prevent genocide and human rights abuses to Member States, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the response has been ‘solidly positive.’

Unknown assailants attacked a United Nations base in South Sudan today, possibly killing or injuring civilians who had sought refuge inside during violent clashes between Government forces and rebels, with the number of people fleeing to UN installations now reaching 35,000.

Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea has been appointed to rally commitments from Member States, the private sector and civil society to support the United Nations’ work on water related disaster risk reduction, it was announced today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Lenín Voltaire Moreno Garces of Ecuador as his Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility.

To mark International Migrants Day, the United Nations family is calling on people and Governments everywhere to reject xenophobia and embrace migration as a key enabler for equitable, inclusive and sustainable social and economic development.