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An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on authorities in Guinea-Bissau to address the critical needs of the poorest and most marginalized members of society as she wrapped up her first official visit to the West African nation.

The United Nations human rights chief today condemned the recent violence in Venezuela, and urged the Government to ensure respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The United Nations health agency is calling on Governments to invest in hearing care, as a new survey finds that many countries lack the capacity to prevent and care for hearing loss, which affects 360 million people worldwide.

Sixty-six countries have legislation governing climate mitigation and adaptation plans, revealed a newly released United Nations-supported study that aims to boost progress towards a new universal agreement on climate change.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that a major funding gap is forcing the agency to scale back geographical coverage of its work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and to instead focus on what it describes as “acutely-insecure, conflict-affected areas” in the vast country.

Good governance is essential for Nigeria – with its rich ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity – to ensure minority rights, equality and peaceful coexistence for all its citizens, an independent United Nations human rights expert stressed today.

Amid reports of retaliatory killings between armed Christian and Muslim factions the Central African Republic (CAR), a senior United Nations official today warned that “ethno-religious cleansing” is being carried out in the country, and now it is “most important” for mediation among the communities, and for more international forces to be deployed to protect civilians.

Calling on the United Nations and the wider international community to help the Government of Mali strengthen its judicial system, the UN independent expert on human rights in the country expressed concern today at the difficulties facing Malian justice in the prosecution of serious crimes committed in during the violence that engulfed the north in 2012.

The United Nations Security Council held this afternoon what its President described as an “urgent” meeting on the situation in Ukraine, with the body's members noting that it is important for all political actors in the strife-torn country to exercise maximum restraint and pursue inclusive dialogue.

The United Nations human rights office said today that the publication by a Ugandan newspaper of the names and photos of people it claims are homosexual violates basic rights to privacy and dignity, and called on media outlets to refrain from actions that fuel hatred and violence.