UN News Centre

The United Nations human rights chief today urged all warring parties in Syria to take every feasible measure to spare the civilian population from the effects of the armed conflict, noting that civilians are increasing caught in fighting between the Government forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da&#39esh) terrorist group.

The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General António Guterres today condemned in the strongest terms the killing of at least 28 people in Egypt, with the Council denouncing the attack &#8220heinous&#8221 and &#8220cowardly.&#8221

Citing Iraqi Government figures, the United Nations migration agency today warned that the number of people fleeing West Mosul is soaring &#8211 on 18 May, hitting a peak when some 16,100 transited through the Hamam al-Alil screening site &#8211 the largest official daily movement of people since the October 2016 military offence began.

A senior United Nations official is calling for additional humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic, where nearly the entire population of the city Bria was forcibly displaced last week.

Condemning the surging violence in Tripoli, the top United Nations official in Libya called today for an immediate end to fighting in and around the capital and for rival groups to &#8220put Libyan national interests&#8221 ahead of their own.

Opening a major United Nations conference on risk reduction in Cancun, Mexico, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed cautioned that the world would not reach its development goals without tackling climate change and disaster risk.

Parties to conflict are treating hospitals and clinics as targets, rather than respecting them as sanctuaries, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned today during a Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed violence.

‘Africa Day’ 2017 comes at an important moment in the continent’s endeavours towards peace, inclusive economic growth and sustainable development United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, urging humanity to listen and learn with the people of Africa.

Ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Italy, the United Nations children’s agency has urged the leaders of G7 industrialized countries to adopt its six-point action plan for the protection of refugee and migrant children.

Simplifying the requirements for a business license, offering incentives to tax payers, and tackling official corruption are among the recommendations by the United Nations agricultural organization to cut informal trade among African countries and boost economic prosperity, particularly for women.

Cultural diversity &#8211 the driving force of change and development &#8211 is increasingly under threat, United Nations agencies today said, reaffirming support for the cultural diversity that stems from migration.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply concerned about the military escalation at the Brak al-Shati air base in southern Libya and calls on all parties to exercise restraint and restore calm, the UN chief&#39s spokesman said today.

In the wake of the heavy rains, floods and landslides that hit Peru earlier this year, the United Nations agriculture agency said today that it is working with the Government to assist some 7,000 mostly small-scale farmers to restore their capacity to produce crops and feed their families.

United Nations-facilitated talks to help resolve the Syrian conflict have ended on schedule in Geneva, where UN negotiator Staffan de Mistura said he was satisfied that some progress had been made, and that there had been “less rhetoric” on all sides.

Amid rising violence in Venezuela, the United Nations human rights chief has expressed regret that the Latin American country’s opposition leader was allegedly blocked from leaving the country for New York, where they were planning to meet.

The world took an historic step forward in the fight against mercury poisoning as the European Union and seven of its member States ratified the first new global convention related to the environment and health in close to a decade, according to the United Nations.

Nearly 3,000 migrants were rescued trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the United Nations migration agency, which also reported that more than a dozen rescue operations were under way in the area yesterday.

As war-torn Yemen grapples with heavy rains, a collapsed healthcare system and crippled economy, a resurgent cholera outbreak has spread with “unprecedented” speed and taken medical professionals by surprise, the World Health Organization warned today.

A United Nations cybersecurity expert says that cybercrime is ultimately preventable, and that the internet – even the hidden so-called ‘dark net’ – has very good elements to it.

United Nations agencies are joining forces with governments in Southern Africa in a push to strengthen protections for persons with albinism, who often fall victim to a raft of abuses, including maiming, trafficking and even murder, linked to the belief that their parts have magical powers in witchcraft potions.