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As the first head of a small island developing state to today address the annual General Assembly debate in New York, Gaston Browne called for a democratization of the United Nations to give a greater voice to countries that are marginalized “because we are considered too small to make a difference.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as the top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, it was announced today.

European leaders called at the United Nations today for concerted action to confront the events that have turned 2014 into a terrible year, including Russian ‘aggression’ in Ukraine and the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Less than two years after its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly, the Arms Trade Treaty has now received the 50 ratifications needed to trigger its entry into force, the world body announced today.

Addressing the General Assembly in its second day of debate, the President of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska today warned world leaders against “a new status quo” where instability, poverty, violence and hatred are “fertilizers and catalysts of terrorism.”

The continuing application of capital punishment is a “primitive” practice which has no place in the 21st century, United Nations officials declared today, as they pressed global leaders to set course towards abolishing the death penalty and advancing a more progressive judicial agenda in their respective States.

Warning that humankind faces “unprecedented crises,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today called on the world to become a truly “United Nations” in a multidimensional battle, from combating the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, to fighting Islamist extremism, and enhancing women’s rights globally.

“The world can and must stop Ebola – now,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders gathered at a special meeting held today at the United Nations to speed up the global response to the outbreak that has evolved from a public health crisis into a threat to peace and security.

Warning that Libya is in “deep crisis,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on all parties in the country to peacefully resolve the ongoing conflict, and safeguard the democratic transition under way since 2011.

Cautioning against what he saw as a growing indifference to human suffering, the President of Colombia today offered up to the United Nations General Assembly his country’s long experience grappling with – and eventually finding a way to overcome – armed conflict as a guide to achieving peace and sustainable development t for all.