UN News Centre - Africa

While progress has been made in response to the plague outbreak in Madagascar, and the number of suspected new cases continues to decline, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that sustaining operations through the remainder of the plague season will be critical as there is still a risk of potential further spread of the disease.

In an historic first, starting today all refugees in Ethiopia will be able to register their vital life events, including birth, death, marriage and divorce, directly with national authorities, the United Nations refugee agency announced on Friday.

Addressing lawmakers in the Central African Republic, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday stressed the international community&#39s commitment to helping tackle the myriad challenges plaguing the conflict-torn country, and strongly defended the role of the UN peacekeeping force there.

Although the debate on migration has largely focused on Europe, the global compact being negotiated must be adapted to the realities and peculiarities of each region, including Africa, where more than half of migrants moved to other countries on the continent, a senior United Nations official said Thursday.

On the third day of his visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday called on the international community to support the conflict-ravaged country’s peacebuilding and recovery strategy.

If Africa is to keep pace with an unprecedented demographic transition – African’s under-18 population will reach 750 million by 2030 – scaled-up investment in health, education and women’s protection and empowerment will be needed or the continent will face a ‘bleak’ future, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported Thursday.

Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned today&#39s attack against a logistic convoy of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), which left three Chadian peacekeepers dead and two injured.

On the second day of his visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday called on the international community to show solidarity in helping the crisis-torn country chart a new future while warning against religious divide.

Gladys Ngwepekeum Nkeh is a United Nations police officer (UNPOL) from Cameroon, one of some 12,870 uniformed personnel working with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

Unless progress is accelerated, ending child marriage in West and Central Africa will take more than 100 years, with far-reaching, life-altering consequences for millions of child brides and crippling impact on the region&#39s prosperity, the United Nations children&#39s agency has said.

Some 3.9 million people across several regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been displaced from their homes, and amid growing violence and unrest, the United Nations refugee agency warned on Tuesday that the number could rise even further.

Africa must focus on young people, empower women and girls, and be innovative in leveraging resources and financing for development, Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday as the United Nations kicked off Africa Week.

Voicing concern over restrictions on protests as well as attacks on judiciary and civil society in the run-up to presidential elections in Kenya, a group of United Nations independent human rights experts called on the Government to honour its obligations and protect the rights of Kenyans.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today commended the first responders and residents of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, for mobilizing to aid in what is being called Somalia&#39s worst-ever bomb attack.

The United Nations in Somalia strongly condemned today&#39s blasts in the capital, Mogadishu, which reportedly killed or injured dozens of people.

The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide has strongly condemned provocation of ethnic and religious hatred armed groups and politicians in the Central African Republic and impressed the need for urgent, concerted and coordinated steps to end violence, defuse intercommunity tensions and alleviate the suffering of the civilian population.

United Nations relief agencies have upped their response in western Libya’s Sabratha region following intensification of conflict that has already driven over 15,000 people from their homes.

After a brief mission to Libya, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday said the Government “can and should” lead efforts to urgently address arbitrary detention, torture and other grave violations that must be brought to an end in the crisis-torn North African country.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed Tuesday&#39s peaceful holding of the presidential and House of Representatives elections in Liberia and reiterated the continued support of the UN to the consolidation of peace and democracy in the West African country.

United Nations Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Wednesday that the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reported it had received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor that took place in Bambari by UN peacekeepers.