UN News Centre

Some 20,700 people have been displaced since the operation to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from terrorists started on 17 October, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, estimating that 9,700 of them are children in urgent need of assistance.

Welcoming a six-month unilateral cessation of hostilities by the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi and the Justice and Equality Movement-Gibril, the African Union (AU)-United Nations mission in Darfur today called on Abdul Wahid El Nur, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid to also make a similar declaration.

Meeting in Rome with members of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) highlighted the “universal and inspirational” nature of the 2030 Agenda, adding that it is a tremendous benefit for system-wide coherence and coordination across all UN agencies.

The UN Security Council today extended by just under three weeks the mandate of the United Nations- Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Investigative Mechanism, the body tasked with identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war.

Welcoming the election of Michel Aoun as the new President of Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed hope that all parties in the country will continue to work in a spirit of unity and in the national interest, according to his spokesperson.

Highlighting that the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate despite the efforts of relief actors, the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen called on all parties to recommit themselves to the promises made earlier and to engage fully and constructively with the UN-mediated peace process.

Governments need to adopt new approaches to human trafficking in light of conflict-induced migration increasing around the world and putting many more people at risk of such trafficking, according to an independent United Nations human rights expert.

16 years ago today, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution S/RES/1325 on women, peace and security, which has since come to be famously associated with the number 1325 within the UN system.

With more than half of the global population now living in cities and human settlements, greater attention needs to be placed on the role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion, according to the United Nations on World Cities Day.

The United Nations refugee agency announced today its intention to double funds for cash-based assistance to refugees across the world by 2020 as a way to better assist and protect them

About 300 million children in the world are living in areas with outdoor air so toxic &#8211 six or more times higher than international pollution guidelines &#8211 that it can cause serious health damage, including harming their developing brains, a new United Nations Children&#39s Fund report has revealed.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has said that he is &#8220appalled and shocked&#8221 by the high number of rockets indiscriminately launched by armed opposition groups on civilian suburbs of Syria&#39s western Aleppo in the past 48 hours.

In a telephone conversation with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regretted the country&#39s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court and expressed hope that it would reconsider the decision before the withdrawal takes effect.

Denouncing recent violence and increasing tensions in parts of the Central African Republic (CAR), in particular the town of Bambari, resulting in the deaths of 25 individuals, the United Nations mission in the country has called for an end to the attacks and reprisals as well as appealed for dialogue to resolve the situation.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned in the &#8220strongest terms&#8221 an attack yesterday on the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Syria&#39s capital Damascus as well as the widely reported recent attacks on schools in the country, according to separate statements issued late yesterday.

The General Assembly today elected, by secret ballot, 14 States to serve on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

The Turkish Cypriot leader and the Greek Cypriot leader will head to Switzerland early next month for a meeting that will be opened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and will kick-off an intensive week of negotiations of the Cyprus talks, a senior UN envoy announced today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the Vatican’s joining of the ongoing initiative by former Heads of State and Government to promote dialogue between the Government of Venezuela and the country’s political opposition, under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Tackling human trafficking is not a simple or trivial pursuit, the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said today, urging States to implement all provisions of the so-called ‘Palermo protocol,’ the nearly universal UN treaty that contains a ‘blueprint’ for successfully preventing and supressing the scourge while punishing perpetrators.

Expressing their disappointment that the sick and wounded were not evacuated from Syria’s war-torn eastern Aleppo, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria and his Senior Advisor today vowed to press on with their efforts to extract those with medical emergencies and get assistance to those with desperate needs inside the city.