The Security Council has decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Office in Liberia for one year, according to an exchange of letters made public today in New York.
A United Nations expert has reiterated his earlier calls for the Government of Iraq to protect the human rights of Iraqi citizens, particularly as relating to religious freedom, forced relocations, the death penalty and the rights of women.
The United Nations top relief official has arrived in Turkmenistan for the first part of his mission to discuss ways to enhance cooperation with three Central Asian countries in delivering humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, a UN spokesman in New York said today.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his top envoy for the Middle East peace process have met with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials in New York and Gaza in an effort to get both sides to stem the violence in the region and return to the negotiating table, a United Nations spokesman said today in New York.
Clashes between the Hizbollah and Israeli troops in the border area separating Lebanon and Israel have drawn an expression of "strong and serious concern" from an envoy of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Members of the Security Council today voiced their concern at recent developments in Guinea-Bissau and called on all Government institutions "to engage in dialogue, to respect the Constitution, and to promote national reconciliation in order to find a way out of the current difficulties."
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, returned to New York today after visiting Washington, D.C., over the weekend for talks with United States government officials.
In what may be the largest one-day exodus since the start of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan, more than 3,500 Afghans entered Pakistan in "chaotic" conditions, the United Nations refugee agency said today.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said today that his agency - UNHCR - is prepared to care for Afghans fleeing their country but will require the cooperation of the region's States to succeed.
A senior official with the United Nations mine clearing programme in Afghanistan today voiced concern that people moving around in the areas that have been heavily bombarded could face additional risk from unexploded ordnance.