UN News Centre

In a year of critical efforts against climate change and growing global security challenges, Viet Nam&#39s strong commitment to sustainable development and international peace have made it a &#8220natural&#8221 partner of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed disappointment at the inability of Member States to reach consensus on a &#8220substantive outcome&#8221 on a non-proliferation treaty key for global nuclear disarmament, according to a United Nations spokesperson.

Concern about the shrinking of the democratic space in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, has stressed the importance of broadening the dialogue that has begun between the Government and the opposition.

Obstetric fistula is a devastating yet completely preventable and, in many cases, treatable injury of childbirth, affecting at least two million women and girls worldwide and leaving them isolated from communities, the United Nations spotlighted ahead of the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.

The United Nations Security Council today adopted a resolution urging stronger cooperation in stemming the “illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse” of small arms and light weapons, underlining the suffering they caused to civilians.

Voicing concern over recent amendments to the Criminal Code in Nauru which &#8220unduly restrict&#8221 freedom of expression, a United Nations expert on the issue today urged the Government to revoke such measures to fulfil its human rights obligations.

More than 200 people stranded off the Myanmar coast were brought to shore today, prompting the United Nations refugee agency to welcome the landing and appeal for the rescue of 3,500 others in distress at sea, saying “the priority is to save lives by getting people safely off these boats as soon as possible.”

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria has said today that consultations on the future of the country continued today, as he shared perspectives with several interested parties, according to a UN spokesperson.

As tens of thousands of people continue to flee fierce fighting in the Ramadi district of Iraq, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing food assistance there, a spokesperson confirmed in Geneva today, as she appealed for $108 million to continue operations in the country until October 2015.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is deeply troubled by Boko Haram’s “continuing indiscriminate and horrific attacks” against the civilian populations of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, according to the United Nations.

As the number of civilian casualties in the Yemen conflict tops 1,000, the United Nations human rights office today urged all parties – coalition forces, the Yemeni armed forces, Houthis and other non-State armed groups – to adhere strictly to their obligations under international law and do all in their power to protect civilians.

A $100 monthly housing stipend per family for Palestine refugees who have fled war-torn Syria for Lebanon will be suspended because of lack of funds, prompting the UN agency assisting those refugees in the Middle East to urgently appeal to donors “to provide the bare minimum assistance” to protect Palestinians from “disastrous” risks such as detention, abuse and deportation.