UN News Centre

Following their recent visit to Haiti, a United Nations advisory group on the island nation called on the international community to work closely with the Government and capitalize on the opportunities that have presented there.

Notwithstanding the challenges faced by countries in Asia and Pacific, the region has witnessed economic and social achievements beyond expectations over the past 70 years, according to the head of the United Nations body assisting with development efforts.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) held a memorial ceremony today in honour of five peacekeepers who lost their lives after their convoy was attacked in the south-eastern part of the country earlier this week.

An Ebola outbreak in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed at least one person, the United Nations World health Organization (WHO) announced earlier today.

Less than four weeks after opening its last camp, the United Nations refugee agency welcomed families fleeing the fighting in western Mosul this week with its twelfth camp set up deal with the ongoing emergency in and around the Iraqi city.

Secretary-General António Guterres today appointed Mark Lowcock, a national of the United Kingdom, as the United Nation’s highest official on humanitarian assistance and aid coordination, the UN Spokesperson’s office announced today.

Expressing deep concern over the protracted political and institutional crisis in Guinea Bissau, the United Nations Security Council has said it is ready to take necessary measures if the situation further deteriorates.

With violence and insecurity continuing to force people to flee Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region and seek refuge in neighbouring Angola, the United Nations refugee agency has called for a suitable place to shelter them as well as additional resources to support those in urgent need.

The latest United Nations report on energy-efficiency technologies shows that low-carbon technologies apparently aid clean air, save water and cut land use, and could reduce 25 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 17 million tonnes of particulates a year.

The United Nations refugee agency has increased its funding appeal by $91 million to meet the humanitarian needs of Somali refugees in the region and the people displaced inside the Horn of Africa country.

The United Nations agricultural agency today unveiled guidelines to help Governments balance the needs of farming and climate change when making decisions, such as whether to refill a dried up lake or focus instead on sustainably using the forest on its shore.

Warning of the disastrous impact of an imminent attack on a western city and port and Yemen, the United Nations migration agency has called on all actors to use dialogue and talks rather than military force, which will put more civilians in danger.

The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of El Salvador to take urgent measures to protect a prominent transgender human rights defender, Karla Avelar, and other activists and individuals working on similar issues.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said today that next week’s UN-facilitated talks in Geneva will benefit from the dynamics of the negotiations which began in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this month, which saw an agreement between Russia, Iran and Turkey on ‘de-escalation zones’ in war-torn Syria.

Following last year’s leak of confidential financial documents from a Panama law firm, a United Nations rights expert yesterday called on the countries’ authorities to continue to impose greater due diligence on financial and banking institutions.

Drawing attention to the harrowing traumas of child victims of sexual violence, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for greater recognition of the fact that it is “not OK” for children to be touched inappropriately as well as for raising awareness among youngsters that under-age sex can lead to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

A lack of trust leads to increased intolerance and xenophobia, the United Nations envoy on international migration told UN Member States told, calling on Governments to review and put in place effective migration policies that reject an “us vs. them” mentality between national and migrants.

Eradicating poverty remains the greatest global challenge, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said today, calling for a collective and comprehensive approach that recognizes the multidimensional nature the issue and its interaction with other aspects.

As a little girl, Sylvia Earle, today perhaps the world’s best known woman marine scientist, literally fell head over heels in love with the ocean.

Welcoming Saturday’s release of 82 of the schoolgirls abducted from the Nigerian town of Chibok by the Boko Haram insurgent group three years ago, the United Nations has called for continued global support for the country’s efforts to release, rehabilitate and reintegrate all Boko Haram victims.