UN News Centre

As part of the last day of his visit to South Sudan, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with President Salva Kiir, stressing the urgency of forming a Transitional Government, as well as spoke by phone with former Vice-President Riek Machar and visited a protection of civilians site.

In the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston that struck the island nation of Fiji Saturday night, the United Nations Children&#39s Fund (UNICEF) said it is on stand-by to provide emergency supplies and additional personnel to support the Government as it works to determine critical needs.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria has strongly condemned bombings in two Syrian cities earlier today that resulted in more than 100 people killed or injured, including children.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended the peaceful holding of elections in the Central African Republic (CAR) this past Sunday, calling for the timely holding of the second round of legislative elections to complete the political transition process.

Mother languages are essential to providing quality education, which in turn supports the achievement of the new global development agenda, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on the International Day established to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the progress made by the people of the Comoros in preparations for presidential elections and polls for island governors on Sunday.

The United Nations top official today called on Member States to build inclusive societies free of discrimination, in which all people can live with dignity and opportunities to improve their lives, as he observed the World Day of Social Justice.

Addressing billions of illicit financial outflows from Africa is imperative as the continent needs domestic resources for its development, said the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, who chairs a United Nations panel on the issue, urging the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and partner institutions to elaborate relevant action plans.

Following a humanitarian breakthrough in delivering aid to a Syrian town inaccessible for more than 18 months, the United Nations food relief agency is now planning possible air-drops for 200,000 people in the Deir ez-Zor area besieged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL/Da’esh.

With senior United Nations officials warning of escalating inter-communal violence and rampant human rights violations in South Sudan, the Security Council today strongly condemned all attacks and provocations against civilians and the UN by armed actors, and called for calm on all sides.

Following a mission to Afghanistan, the United Nations envoy dealing with children and armed conflict issues, has welcomed the Government's recommitment to fully implementing its plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the national security forces.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today highlighted the publication of a new study that quantifies, for the first time, how much crop yields depend on the work of bees that unknowingly fertilize plants as they move from flower to flower.

The list of health conditions that can be linked to environmental pollution and degradation is long and growing, including skin cancer, lung cancer, asthma, lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, malaria, Ebola and Zika, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

After the identification of four cases of Lassa fever in Benin, the Government, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has immediately launched started a response against the epidemic, the agencies announced today.

Upholding women’s human rights is essential if the response to the Zika health emergency is to be effective, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today, following the advice to women by some governments to delay getting pregnant due to the possible link between the virus and neurological disorders affecting newborns.

Warning that, in the last two weeks, a new escalation of violence has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur, a United Nations human rights expert today called for an immediate end to hostilities that have triggered new protection and humanitarian concerns in the long-restive region of Sudan.

The most senior United Nations officials are urging the world to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) by 2030, calling it a “violent practice” that scars girls for life, endangering their health, depriving them of their rights, and denying them the chance to reach their full potential.

The founder of the WikiLeaks website, which published confidential diplomatic information, has been arbitrarily detained by Sweden and the United Kingdom since his arrest in London in December 2010, as a result of the legal action against him by both Governments, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said today.

Heads of State and Government met in London today at an international conference on Syria, with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon laying out three main objectives: raising $7 billion in immediate humanitarian aid, mustering long-term support, and protecting civilians.

The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) today unveiled a set of six commemorative stamps to promote UN Free & Equal &#8211 a global UN campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality launched and led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).