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The United Nations chief of peacekeeping is heading to post-conflict Côte d'Ivoire for an official visit starting tomorrow, 10 days after UN forces began their deployment in the West African country.

The role of regional organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Pacific Islands Forum in the economic development of the world's small island nations should be enhanced because they understand the situation more than international organizations, a senior United Nations official said today.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said that he will soon name the members of an independent panel to investigate allegations of corruption and fraud within the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme, and pledged that the probe will take the charges “very seriously.”

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and former award-winning international soccer star George Manneh Weah is visiting Sierra Leone to raise the profile of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes among young people in the West African country, as well as among Dutch donors.

The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams wore red ribbons and an HIV-positive person tossed the coin for today's start of the third and final Test match in the current series between the two nations, part of an initiative by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to elevate awareness about the epidemic.

Despite having its movements restricted as a result of the deteriorating security environment in Iraq, the United Nations mission led by Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi continued to consult with a wide range of Iraqi constituencies today, although Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he did not anticipate the return of a large UN team in the "foreseeable future."

About 1,415 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned to their homes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February, bringing the total number of repatriated people to 987,713 since the signing of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreements, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

The United Nations refugee agency is “very concerned” about the recent upsurge of fighting in Iraq, which has resulted in considerable displacement of people fleeing the conflict as well as the suspension of repatriation support.

The head of the United Nations refugee agency has begun a nine-day three-nation tour focusing on the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan as well as their reintegration and their longer-term prospects in the region.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today left open the possibility of delaying the simultaneous referendum on a plan to reunite Cyprus before its entry into the European Union on 1 May, but said the proposal's prospects were "really up to the people."