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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the news of a ceasefire in Ukraine and called for its full implementation, adding his hope that the cessation of hostilities will further allow the United Nations and partners to deliver critical humanitarian assistance to those affected by fighting.

As the government formation process in Iraq nears the constitutional deadline, the top United Nations envoy to the country today encouraged all political parties to proceed in a spirit of compromise and quickly finalise negotiations.

A group of independent United Nations experts today urged the Government of Bahrain to release prominent human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja, who has been detained since 30 August on charges of assaulting a police officer.

United Nations agencies, together with partners of the Child Online Protection Initiative, today released new guidelines to “provide the most accessible online tools for teens as well as to enable them to seek help and advice when they need it.”

Marking the International Day of Charity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on people everywhere “to act on the charitable impulse that resides in every human being – to start giving and to keep on giving.”

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) began a two-day meeting in Geneva to discuss potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in response to “intense public interest in, and demand for, anything that offers hope of definitive treatment.”

The Special Coordinator for the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) told the Security Council today that 96 percent of Syria’s declared stockpile, including the most dangerous chemicals, had been destroyed and preparation were underway to destroy the remaining 12 production facilities.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the importance of reaching a lasting settlement in Cyprus as the new United Nations envoy on this issue prepares to meet with the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities tomorrow.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has resumed delivering food assistance to an area of Iraq encompassing much of the western part of the country for the first time since May, targeting 76,000 people who are part of a “massive displacement” of families fleeing fighting.

Violence against children is universal – so prevalent and deeply ingrained in societies it is often unseen and accepted as the norm – according to new, unprecedented data presented by the United Nations today.