Latest News

With increased fighting in parts of Myanmar that is preventing access to civilians, the United Nations and humanitarian partners today said they were seriously concerned by the displacement of thousands of people over the past weeks and called for an end to the fighting.

The United Nations and the European Union have forged an agreement today to fund the restoration of cultural heritage in Timbuktu that was destroyed by extremists after fighting broke out in 2012 between Malian Government forces and Tuareg rebels.

As fighting worsens in northern Central African Republic, United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners are working to protect displaced people and children, and to support conflict-hit farmers, it was announced today.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it has started moving more food supplies from Turkey into north-east Syria to assist displaced families, while noting continued challenges with humanitarian access to those in need inside the war-torn nation.

The United Nations human rights office today voiced deep concern about the situation of Meriam Ibrahim, the pregnant Christian Sudanese woman who was sentenced to 100 lashes and to death by a Sudanese court for apostasy and adultery.

A United Nations report released today documents an “alarming” deterioration of the human rights situation in eastern Ukraine, including serious problems emerging in Crimea, citing numerous examples of targeted killings, torture and beatings, abductions, intimidation and some cases of sexual harassment, committed mostly by anti-Government groups.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed his solidarity with the people of Turkey following the coal mine tragedy in Soma, and said he hopes that measures will be taken to prevent such disasters in the future.

A senior United Nations official has highlighted the extreme hardship faced by Palestinian refugees in Syria as a result of the ongoing armed conflict, and stressed the need to improve conditions to enable the delivery of critically-needed humanitarian assistance.

Nearly 15 million people in Yemen – over half the population – are in need of some form of humanitarian aid this year, the top United Nations relief official in the country said today, urging the international community to provide the critical funds necessary for the response.

Drought and ongoing conflict are not only adding pressure to Syria’s already dire food security situation, but also increasing the need for imports and driving up prices, according to the latest outlook issued by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).