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As long as the death penalty exists, there will be a need to advocate against it, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, declared today at the launch of a new United Nations publication aimed at raising awareness on the abolition of capital punishment.

Marking World Post Day, the head of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) said that for postal services to flourish in a globalized and ever-evolving communication landscape, electrical and Internet connectivity is essential, especially in developing countries, where only 32 per cent of the population has access to the Internet.

The international community must “step up” its response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa before it gets much worse, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed today , adding that a range of measures – from extra financing to increased medical assistance – were essential in helping the countries afflicted by the disease.

The United Nations humanitarian wing said today it will need an estimated $35 million in additional funding to continue helping hundreds of thousands of people affected by the ongoing crisis in Libya.

A group of independent United Nations rights experts today urged the Government of Malaysia to withdraw its Sedition Act of 1948 amid allegations that critics of the country’s authorities have faced increasing criminalization and persecution.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today is launching a programme that will assist 90,000 vulnerable households in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon separately announced the appointment of the respective UN Crisis Managers in the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced outrage today at a fatal attack against United Nations peacekeepers in Mali – the second in less than a week – that left one “blue helmet” dead and wounded another, while the UN peacekeeping chief urged Malian parties to make a “credible effort” to reach a peace accord.

While the fragile month-long ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is a welcome step towards ending the conflict, armed groups continue to terrorize the population in areas under their control, pursuing killings, abductions, torture, ill-treatment and other serious abuses, the United Nations Human Rights Office said today as it released its latest report on the situation in the country.

The global economy could be losing as much as $1 trillion annually by the end of the century if countries do not take urgent steps to stop ocean acidification, says a United Nations report launched today in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea (ROK).

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon today urged maximum restraint after two Israeli soldiers were wounded in the Shaba’a area as a result of an improvised explosive device, and Israel retaliated with artillery fire towards the area of Kfar Shouba hills.