UN News Centre

The refugee crisis in Bangladesh sparked by the mass exodus of people from Myanmar almost a year ago risks creating a “lost generation” of Rohingya children who lack the life skills they will need in future, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

United Nations agencies must join forces at the policy level and refuse interference from tobacco companies in their programmes so the destructive impact of tobacco can be effectively addressed and lives can be saved, the head of the UN tobacco control treaty watchdog (WHO FCTC Secretariat) told UN News on Wednesday.

The 67th United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference kicked off today at UN Headquarters in New York, with speeches affirming the importance of multilateralism, closer partnerships between the UN and civil society, and the role that young people have to play.

Recurring cycles of violence in the Middle East highlight the need for international efforts to prevent hostilities, provide humanitarian aid and support Palestinian reconciliation, the UN’s political chief told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was remembered on Wednesday as the embodiment of the global Organization that works to improve the lives of men and women worldwide.  

Recognizing the impact of terrorism on the lives of ordinary people worldwide is the focus of the first observance of an international day that honours victims and survivors.

The decision to allow scores of people from the Republic of Korea (ROK) to reunite with their relatives north of the border has been welcomed by the UN Secretary-General.

The Republika Srpska National Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina drew concern from the top United Nations expert on the Prevention of Genocide on Thursday, over its decision this week to revoke its endorsement of the 2004 Srebrenica Commission Report acknowledging genocide during the Bosnian war of the 1990s.

Refugees should never be pressured to decide if they should return to their home countries, a senior UN official has said.

The terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Iraq in 2003 that claimed the lives of 22 people should serve as a reminder that the organization’s locally recruited staff often face the greatest dangers in the world’s most hostile places, amid increasing attacks on humanitarians, the head of the United Nations in Geneva said on Thursday.

A group of United Nations rights experts are urging the Japanese government to urgently protect tens of thousands or workers hired to help decontaminate the Fukushima nuclear plant, who are reportedly being exploited and exposed to toxic nuclear radiation.

  A lack of funds means that the new school term for over half a million Palestinian students could be cut short after just one month, says UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refuge

The perpetrators of Wednesday’s “heinous” suicide bombing that killed students at an education centre in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, must be brought to justice, the UN Secretary-General has said.

Recent incidents where high-level politicians have used the word ‘leprosy’ in discriminatory remarks against rivals only contributes to harmful stereotypes surrounding the disease.

The many life-threatening dangers faced by children from Central America who are being deported from the United States of America and Mexico, are highlighted in a new report from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday, which also draws attention to the traumatic consequences of family separation by migration authorities.

The decision by Israel to reopen the only functional commercial crossing point into Gaza which has been closed to most deliveries for weeks, has been welcomed by the United Nations Secretary-General.

After days of intense fighting for the Afghan city of Ghazni, south-west of Kabul, the United Nations Secretary-General and the Head of the UN  mission in the country (UNAMA) have denounced the toll that the almost 20-year conflict has taken on civilians, and called on warring parties to lay down their arms and seek a political solution to the conflict.

With Central African countries beset by ongoing terrorist activity, instability and the effects of climate change, the Security Council has asked the United Nations Secretary-General to review the work of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), and recommend areas for improvement.

After a vote on Friday by the United Nations General Assembly in New York, former two-time President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, hailed a “pioneer” by the UN Secretary-General, has officially been appointed as High Commissioner for Human Rights, effective from 1 September.

The United Nations Secretary-General has commended the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila’s decision on Thursday, not to stand in elections scheduled to take place on 23 December.