UN News Centre

Amid a worsening crisis and growing number of hungry people in Yemen, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it is scaling-up its operations to get emergency food aid to 2.5 million people by July.

To help mobilize needed resources “in the last mile of the response” against the Ebola outbreak and to start the affected West African countries on the path of early recovery, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced that he will convene an international conference next month.

Marking 65 years since the inception of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called it more than just an agency but a “lifeline,” as he paid tribute to its staff especially those who have lost their lives trying to serve others.

Somalia must put in place a legal framework that guarantees freedom of expression in the country, as well as a moratorium on capital punishment, a United Nations independent expert recommended today, while commending progress accomplished so far.

Child abuse and violence is costing countries in East Asia and the Pacific around $209 billion a year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today in the first costing of child maltreatment in the region, revealing that “inaction about violence results in serious economic costs to countries and communities.”

Heavy fighting in South Sudan’s Unity and Upper Nile states over the last two months has displaced more than 100,000 people and blocked humanitarian aid deliveries for some 650,000 people as aid organizations have been forced to withdraw, a representative for the United Nations refugee agency has confirmed today.

The United Nations refugee agency, which has launched a campaign, #IBelong, to end the suffering of some 10 million stateless people across the world by the year 2024, said today that addressing the plight for 600,000 people at the margins of society in Europe “is doable” in that timeframe.

While some progress has been made since the first study four years ago spotlighting discrimination and violence against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, the overall picture remains one of pervasive, violent abuse, harassment and discrimination affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT/I) persons in all regions, according to a new United Nations report issued today.

The new head of the United Nations relief arm today released a fresh tranche of crisis funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in order to support life-saving relief work for thousands of Burundian refugees dispersed between Rwanda and Tanzania, the Organization has announced.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned the Government of South Sudan's decision to expel his Deputy Special Representative and the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Toby Lanzer.

At least 1,031 Iraqis were killed in May 2015 and another 1,684 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which said the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) were to blame for the growing number of casualties.

Addressing some 4,000 government, worker and employer representatives, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) called for a global debate on the future of work at the 104th International Labour Conference in Geneva today.

On the Day of Vesak, which acknowledges the contribution of Buddhism to the spirituality of humanity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is paying special tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal over a month ago.

The international community must intensify efforts to protect the world’s nuclear facilities from cyberattacks, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog declared today as he opened the Organization’s first-ever conference on the issue at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna.

When young people have decent jobs, political weight, negotiating muscle and real influence in the world, they will create a better future, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he kicked off a Headquarters event on empowering youth through employment.

Serious human rights violations and abuses persist in eastern Ukraine, including shelling, executions, arbitrary and illegal detentions, torture, ill-treatment, human trafficking and the lack of justice and accountability, as well as deprivation of economic and social rights, deeply affecting the 5 million people living in the conflict-affected areas, a new United Nations report said today.

The United Nations health agency is racing critical medical supplies to fourteen of Nepal&#39s most earthquake-affected districts in an effort to restore health services before the onset of monsoon season.

A United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) chartered ship carrying vital food assistance destined for the Yemeni port of Aden was diverted yesterday to the port of Hudaydah following reports of ongoing fighting and security threats.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has strongly condemned the death of at least 70 civilians in Syria&#39s northern Aleppo province by barrel bombs dropped from government helicopters.

The elimination of the world&#39s illicit tobacco trade will not only save millions of lives but also generate billions of dollars in windfall for governments, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced today as it marked the 2015 edition of World No Tobacco Day.