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Marta Santos Pais grew up in a happy home in Portugal. Seeing Roma girls her own age treated as outcasts and hearing stories from her father – a child welfare judge – about countless cases of her peers trapped in poverty and abandoned by their parents, troubled her, kindling a sense of duty to help others less fortunate.

The United Nations refugee agency has warmly welcomed today’s announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the refugees who will compete as a team in the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In his annual report on children and armed conflict covering the year 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his shock at the scale of grave violations against children in countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Children and youth are often the most vulnerable victims of the scourge of radicalization and violence, the President of the United Nations General Assembly emphasized today, urging the international community to advance its own thinking and refine its responses to addressing the challenges of violent extremism.

United Nations Police (UNPOL) has become a central pillar of the Organization’s peace operations and therefore must be “fit for purpose” to meet the security threats in today’s volatile world, senior UN officials told the first-ever gathering of national police leaders today.

The top United Nations relief official said today he remains extremely concerned about the welfare of civilians across Syria, who he said continue to face “horrific deprivation and violence,” particularly those trapped in besieged areas.

Following a two-day visit to Lebanon, singer Ricky Martin, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has called for greater efforts to safeguard the futures of millions of children affected by the Syrian conflict, whose lives have been shaped by displacement, violence and a persistent lack of opportunities.

Ahead of next week’s high-level meeting on ending AIDS by 2030, United Nations independent experts are warning that the epidemic is still being driven by human rights violations, urging all Governments to remove punitive laws, policies and practices.

Terror, violence and the incitement that fuel them, along with the ongoing settlement enterprise and the lack of unity between Gaza and the West Bank are all obstacles that must be overcome on the path towards achieving peace in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed today, calling on the international community to exercise its influence to help reach this goal.

The United Nations refugee agency today warned that tragically people are still fleeing violence in Sudan’s South Kordofan State, most crossing into neighbouring South Sudan, as the conflict marks its fifth year this weekend.