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An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged the Kenyan Government to protect the rights of the Sengwer indigenous people who have lived in the Embobut Forest for centuries and are now facing eviction.

Voicing concern about the deteriorating security in parts of Iraq, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged all political leaders to unite against terrorism and work together to stabilize the country and stop the “senseless deaths of Iraqi women, children and men.”

The voice of Syrian women must be heard in all efforts to resolve the civil war that is tearing their country apart, a United Nations-sponsored conference declared today, stressing that women’s participation is vital in shaping a peaceful future for the strife-wracked Middle Eastern nation.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today denounced the murder of television journalist Zakir Ali in Pakistan’s Sindh province and urged the authorities to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Efforts to attain peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are at an important juncture, senior United Nations officials said today, calling on all parties in the region to fulfil their commitments to achieve lasting peace.

United Nations food agencies are ramping up their relief efforts in South Sudan, warning that the fighting there threatens to increase hunger and unravel the modest gains made in food security in the two years since the country seceded from Sudan and became the world’s youngest nation.

The speedy election of a new transition leader is crucial to the stability of the Central African Republic, a senior United Nations official said today, stressing also the importance of starting reconciliation between Christian and Muslim communities in the country after thousands of people have been killed in weeks of sectarian violence.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said today that as it continues to gain access to besieged areas, the number of people killed in the current round of fighting in the world's youngest country “must be much higher” than the 1,000 figure given earlier in the conflict, which erupted nearly a month ago and continues to grind on.

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos sounded the alarm today on behalf of more than 9 million desperate Syrians – particularly people trapped in areas cut off from aid by months of fighting between Government and rebel forces – and called on the world to also do more for those that have been displaced by violence or otherwise impacted by the ongoing crisis.

United Nations officials are calling on the international community to increase aid to Haiti on the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck the impoverished country, as well as pledging the Organization's ongoing solidarity with the Haitian people and Government.