Latest News

World leaders too often choose to violate international law and set aside moral principles, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said today, as he warned against “sinking into a state of paralysis” and called for a deeper form of education that equips people with moral courage to act toward one another with responsibility and care.

Senior United Nations officials today addressed the Commission for Social Development as it marked the 20th anniversary of the Copenhagen Declaration – the outcome of a summit which emphasized, for the first time, the need to put people at the centre of development – with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that the world's current generation is the first able to wipe out extreme poverty and the last that could address the worst impacts of climate change.

Speaking via video message to the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of India, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for countries to take a low-carbon approach to development in the coming years.

Global food prices have continued to plummet, aided by a weak euro and the low cost of crude oil, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today in its monthly Food Price Index.

Countries must come together to “neutralize all negative forces” terrorizing the population in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region urged today following meetings with top Rwandan officials to discuss recent peace and security developments in the region.

Concerned by the ongoing political crisis in Somalia and its negative effect on delivery of progress for the Somali people, the United Nations Security Council today encouraged greater efforts from the country's political leadership – including the President, Prime Minister and Parliament – to work together to quickly establish an inclusive, representative Government.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced grave concern over the continuing hostilities in eastern Ukraine amid an escalating rebel offensive which has locked civilians in a zone of intense fighting.

The United Nations’ top political official said today that Burkina Faso’s transitional institutions must continue to respect the aspirations of the Burkinabe people and ensure full respect for human rights and the physical integrity of all citizens.

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan is sharply reducing food supplies and slowing humanitarian access to people in need, the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) said today, urging warring groups in the country to follow up quickly on the ceasefire deal agreed on Monday.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the death of Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo of Spain, killed last week while deployed at a UN position in Lebanon along the border with Israel on the “Blue Line.”