UN News Centre - Africa

The United Nations and its partners on Thursday expressed grave concern over armed clashes which have broken out in northern Somalia, urging all parties to immediately halt the violence.

With a new administration in place and plans to hold free and fair general elections later this year, authorities in Zimbabwe are hoping to see greater international investment in their country, according to the top United Nations official there.

A “holistic approach” is needed to the address peace and security challenges in Africa’s vast Sahel region, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council on Wednesday, calling for more investment in better government, social services and youth opportunities.  

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains on an “epidemiological knife-edge” regarding the spread of deadly Ebola disease, despite the quick response by authorities and international partners to the threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) has called on the Algerian Government to stop collectively expelling thousands of migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, saying it violates international human rights law.

Conversations taking place across Libya indicate that citizens are “yearning for a united and sovereign nation,” the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council in New York on Monday.

The Security Council on Tuesday gave its backing to the African Union force in Somalia, AMISOM, extending its deployment until at least the end of July.

The United Nations humanitarian chief urged the international community to step up life-saving humanitarian support to 7.1 million vulnerable Sudanese on Monday, and invest more in the country’s social-economic development.

At least 350,000 children in the Central African Republic (CAR) are out of school and lack access to health and other basic services, including nearly 29,000 who have fled escalating violence this year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned, urging warring parties to stop the fighting. 

Over the years, African governments have led the way in contributing troops and police to United Nations operations to help save lives and keep the peace around the world. Today, one of the continent’s smallest countries is also one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping.

With the largest-ever outbreak of the deadly Lassa fever in Nigeria having been contained, continued vigilance is vital to deal with any flare-ups, the United Nations health agency warned on Friday.

The chances of the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) spreading across borders are low, said the United Nations health agency on Friday, although nine neighbouring countries remain on alert.

400,000 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “are at risk of death” in the Kasais region from food shortages caused by conflict and displacement, according to a senior UN official who has just returned from the area, expressing shock at what he had witnessed.

The overall security situation in Sudan’s Darfur region “remains calm”, despite continuing low-level skirmishes, a top United Nations envoy said on Thursday; updating the Security Council on the UN mission’s work on the ground.

Evolving and increasingly deadly threats, together with deepening humanitarian crises mean that United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world need more support for ‘blue helmets’ on the ground, Force Commanders told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, a Libyan war crimes suspect remains at large and could have committed further murders, the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Trade and employment laws which give women greater access to the economy across East Africa, can pave the way for more inclusive development and prosperity, according to a new report from the United Nations trade body.

The peace process in South Sudan is at a critical juncture while opposing sides allow themselves to get bogged down in arguments over ministerial quotas, the United Nations peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday, as the country prepares for a third round of regionally-backed peace talks.

Two new cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by Government scientists there, prompting the UN health agency to immediately scale up its response.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned an attack this weekend on a village in the Nigerian province of Kaduna and underscored the need to hold the perpetrators to account.