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A world conference convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has adopted a Declaration highlighting the contribution of free expression to contemporary democracy, sustainable and human rights-centred development and economic growth.

The United Nations independent expert tasked by the Human Rights Council to look into conditions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) today ended his visit to Kenya with a call for a more rigorous and equitable approach to solving the IDP situation in that East African country.

Six months after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, while signs of recovery are starting to emerge, progress remains fragile, the United Nations today said urging continued international support for the 14 million people affected.

While Governments around the world are working hard to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists, a decade after adopting a landmark resolution on the issue, the United Nations Security Council today said that it “remains gravely concerned by the threat of terrorism, and the risk that non-State actors may acquire, develop, traffic in or use nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and their means of delivery.”

Having just met with displaced, war-weary South Sudanese sheltering in United Nations compounds, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged immediate help to end hunger and malnutrition around the world, warning that up to a million people could be at risk of famine in a matter of months.

The top United Nations management official reported today that at the end of 2013, the Organization's financial situation was “generally sound”, but cautioned that the cash flow would get tighter in the final months of 2014, as several major contributors would pay their assessments between October and December.

Waves of South Sudanese women and children are fleeing across the Ethiopian border, with more than 11,000 people crossing in the past 72 hours, the United Nations refugee agency today said confirming that UN agencies and humanitarian partners are rushing food and medical supplies to the site.

In the wake of last week’s massive landslide in north-eastern Afghanistan, a senior United Nations relief official today voiced deep concern about the impact of conflict and natural disasters in the country, and urged the world to step up support to vulnerable communities.

The Government of Eritrea needs to put an immediate end to the widespread practices of arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and persecution, says an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to look into the situation in the country.

Rates of maternal deaths are down, according to United Nations figures released today, but pre-existing medical conditions heighten the risk of death for pregnant women and require continued investment in quality care during pregnancy and childbirth.