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The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has said that an experimental Ebola vaccine has been found to be highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea.

Highlighting that the number of casualties in the Mediterranean Sea this year has crossed 5,000 with the latest reports of about 100 people feared to have drowned, the United Nations refugee agency has called on countries to increase pathways for admission of refugees.

A “very large, dangerous, difficult and complex evacuation” entered its final phase today –mainly from eastern Aleppo and from the two villages Foah and Kefraya – a senior United Nations humanitarian envoy announced, adding that it is “now a race against the clock and the winter to provide safety for the desperate people that have been trapped in the besieged city.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s last day in office is 31 December 2016. That day will be the culmination of a decade of service at the helm of the world body, during which his priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. In addition, he has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the Organization itself.

A United Nations human rights expert today called on the Nigerian Government to increase funding for water and sanitation in next year’s budget to address the needs of 21 million residents of Lagos, the country’s largest city, which continues to grow while access to basic services dwindles.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund is set to allocate $3 million on a pilot project that will provide peacebuilding and professional skills to Somali refugees volunteering to return from Kenya to Somalia.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to establish an independent panel to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity in Syria.

Due to a lack of funding, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is running a risk of soon needing to halt its aid to 150,000 people in crisis-torn Central African Republic (CAR) who have been displaced by violence.

Since fighting first erupted in South Sudan three years back, tens of thousands have died, food insecurity and acute malnutrition are at unprecedented levels, and more than three million have been driven from their homes, the United Nations humanitarian arm has reported.

In the past 48 hours, four aid workers and at least seven civilians have been killed and 40 others injured while waiting in line for emergency assistance in Mosul, prompting the United Nations relief wing to denounce the actions in “the strongest terms.”