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As the United Nations and its humanitarian partners ramp up disaster response in the Balkans, where heavy rains have led to massive floods and devastating mudslides, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern for affected populations in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia desperate for fresh water, medicines, and other basic necessities.

Briefing the Security Council today on what he called an “impasse” in talks between Israelis and Palestinians, a top United Nations political official said it was critical to restart negotiations, but just as important for the parties to consider paths to progress, before talks resume.

With Ukrainians preparing to elect a new president on Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he also discussed a long-overdue political solution in Syria and other challenges to international peace and security.

The health department of the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees across the Middle East today reported that more than half of its health centres in Syria are destroyed or non-functional, even as life expectancy is on the rise for Palestinians in the region with a growing ageing population suffering from sedentary lifestyles.

Urging constructive dialogue to end the prolonged political statement in Thailand, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his call on all parties to exercise “utmost restraint” in the wake of the army’s declaration of martial law in the country.

Millions of people suffering under the yoke of modern slavery – more than half are women and girls primarily in commercial sex trade or domestic work – are generating some $150 billion a year in illegal profits for the people who are exploiting them, according to a new report released today by the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO).

International donors today pledged more than $600 million in aid to South Sudan at a conference hosted by Norway and the United Nations aimed at preventing famine and upholding human rights in the world’s newest country which has been ravaged by months of fighting.

The United Nations refugee agency estimated today that 10,000 people, most ethnic Tatars, but also Ukrainians, Russians and mixed families, have fled Crimea and restive eastern Ukraine to other parts of the country, out of fear of insecurity or persecution.

Reaffirming the United Nations unwavering support for girls' education in Nigeria, the Organization's top women's rights official has just wrapped up a “solidarity mission” during which she visited an all-girls college near Abuja similar to the school in the country's restive northeast, where militants kidnapped more than 200 students in mid-April.

Ahead of simultaneous presidential, parliamentary and local government elections in Malawi, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all candidates political parties, and State institutions to ensure that the polls are peaceful and inclusive.