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The head of the United Nations agency on human settlements today said he hoped thousands of cities around the world will join forces to sign a compact to strengthen cooperation in tackling climate challenges when the UN convenes a summit on the issue four months from now.

Two United Nations agencies today welcomed the first campaign by the African Union to end child marriage, a practice that robs over 17 million girls – 1 in 3 – across the continent of their youth.

The United Nations keeps the peace in some of the world’s most violent places, and increasingly its peacekeepers are from Member States that are first-time contributors to UN peacekeeping operations with military personnel or civilian staff.

The Security Council today extended the United Nations peacekeeping force in Abyei – an area contested by Sudan and South Sudan – as well as the missions assisting Guinea-Bissau and Somalia with their efforts to advance stability, security and development.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned recent attacks in the Central African Republic (CAR) and encouraged the country’s Transitional Authority to do everything within its means to prevent further violence and to hold the perpetrators to account.

Morocco has made great strides towards the better promotion and protection of human rights, United Nations High Commissioner Navi Pillay said at the end of her first official visit to the country, but urged officials to approve pending draft laws and more robustly implement and enforce new legislation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon mourned the death of celebrated African-American poet and author Maya Angelou, saying the United Nations owed her a particular debt of gratitude for the moving poem she wrote for the world body's 50th anniversary.

When the Taliban ruled in Afghanistan, girls were prohibited from attending school – rendering them illiterate. Some books and films have focused on the heroic journeys of young women who were determined to acquire the power of the pen and the word during those years.

From deploying new technologies such as drones and robots to boosting the number of women in its ranks, United Nations peacekeeping is striving to confront new challenges and offer best value for funding as it serves communities around the world.

The Security Council has condemned “in the strongest terms” the recent terrorist attack against the Jewish Museum in Brussels, which resulted in loss of life and injuries and may have had a possible anti-Semitic motivation behind it.