UN News Centre - Africa

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations human rights chief today spoke out against the coup d’état in Burkina Faso and called for the immediate release of the country’s transitional leaders.

The United Nations programme that works to combat HIV/AIDS is working with the Government of Kenya in a bid to end the AIDS epidemic in the country by 2030, through the creation of a new data-collecting tool to track progress in current HIV programming.

A “heinous” attack against a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yola, north-eastern Nigeria, where some 32,000 people have found refuge, was strongly condemned today by an independent United Nations human rights expert.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his outrage at reports that President Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso, Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida and several Government ministers have been detained by soldiers from the presidential guard.

A new allegation of sexual exploitation in the Central African Republic (CAR) was received today by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, reportedly committed by one of its civilian staff last Saturday.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending the freedom of the press today denounced the recent killing of a Somali news editor.

Families on the run often surviving brutal attacks in Nigeria are now threatened with the lack of food, water and deadly epidemics in neighbouring Cameroon, where they have sought refuge, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the region said today.

The United Nations envoy for Libya announced on Sunday that consensus has been reached by the parties on the main elements of a political agreement aimed at resolving the ongoing crisis.

The United Nations peacekeeping chief today announced that following reports of alleged sexual exploitation and abuse, seven peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been repatriated, while nine have had their payments suspended.

The United Nations envoy facilitating efforts to restore peace in Libya said today that real progress was being made as the participants wrapped-up the latest round of the political dialogue process, which has been taking place in Geneva.

Wrapping up a four-day mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, called strongly today for creative ways to reignite donor engagement and ensure that one of the world’s most protracted crises does not “fall off the humanitarian radar.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Major General Muhammad Tayyab Azam of Pakistan as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

A lack of funding in Sudan could have serious repercussions on the ground, the World Food Programme (WFP) said today, warning that the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, which serves as a vital aid link in the country, needs nearly $10 million to remain operational.

The human rights situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) is far better than it was at the height of the conflict in late 2013 and early 2014, but is still a cause of anxiety for both the country’s own inhabitants and the United Nations, the world body’s human rights chief said today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today declared Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission after the disease had resurfaced in June, and as the country enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance, the number of cases in the rest of West Africa remained stable at three for the fifth consecutive week.

United Nations staff in the Central African Republic (CAR) learned on 30 August that a girl was allegedly sexually abused around a year ago by a member of the French military force there, known as Sangaris, according to the world body’s human rights chief.

As the International Criminal Court (ICC) trial of Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda opened today, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said that it served as a powerful reminder to military leaders accused of similar acts that justice will ultimately prevail.

Residents at the Kakuma refugee camp in north-western Kenya will soon be able to buy charcoal produced in an environmentally-friendly way by local farmers as part of an innovative new alliance between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and MasterCard to support small farmers and poor families.

The United Nations Security Council today renewed an arms embargo on non-State actors in Liberia for nine months while terminating other sanctions on the country, including a travel ban and asset freeze on those deemed a danger to its stability.

“Tangible” results have been achieved for a political deal in Libya, but concrete solutions to the conflict will only be reached when all parties agree on a final draft, the United Nations envoy facilitating efforts to restore peace in the North African country said today.