United Nations

Expressing concern over recent violence, including killings, that targeted social leaders in several conflict-affected areas in Colombia, the United Nations Mission in the country, as well as the UN Country Team, underlined the need to protect civilians and to build communal harmony.

A new piece of Israeli legislation would enable the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land and if passed, would deal yet another severe blow to hopes of lasting peace in the region, according to a United Nations human rights expert.

The extent to which violence is embedded in society means that uprooting it is everyone’s job, senior United Nations official said today, lamenting that violence against women and girls continue to be a low priority on the international development agenda and urging more action – and more funding – to end the pandemic of such violence now, once and for all.

The United Nations warned today that while more people than ever are accessing antiretroviral treatment for HIV, girls aged 15 to 24, transitioning to womanhood, face many HIV-related challenges, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and called for a life-cycle approach to finding solutions for everyone, at all stages of life.

Emphasizing that month after month he returns to the Security Council with new reports of ever-worsening human suffering in Syria, the top United Nations humanitarian official today urged the 15-member body to act now and end the protracted conflict.

As part of a high-level United Nations forum under way in the United Arab Emirates aimed at exploring the role of space in socio-economic and sustainable development, the UN appointment of astronaut Scott Kelly as ‘United Nations Champion for Space.’

Welcoming the holding of elections in Haiti on 20 November, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed that the process “is crucial to ending the current governance vacuum” and urged all the parties involved “to show statesmanship at this critical time for the country.”

With Member States in the United Nations General Assembly attempting to block the creation of the mandate of an Independent Expert to tackle violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a joint committee of UN human rights experts warned that the action can have a very harmful impact on the work of Human Rights Council.

Condemning illegal fishing and labour exploitation in the world’s oceans, the United Nations agriculture and labour agencies, joining forces with the Vatican, underlined today the need for collective, global action to end labour and human rights abuse along the entire fisheries value chain.

Senior United Nations officials have condemned today's attack at a mosque in Kabul that reportedly killed at least 32 civilians and injured more than 50 others, many of them children.

With more than 3,400 people, many of them young men and women, losing their lives on the world&#39s roads every day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims with a strong call to scale up action to prevent these deaths.

In his message on Africa Industrialization Day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on African countries to adopt policies that encourage growth of the private sector and foster entrepreneurship in order to advance economic competitiveness and prosperity in the continent.

Highlighting the plight of millions of children around the world, the head of United Nations Children&#39s Fund (UNICEF) has called on everyone to recommit themselves to protect the rights of every child.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as well as senior humanitarian officials have condemned attacks that have killed and maimed scores of civilians in Syria, including children, and called on all parties to cease such attacks as well as to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to the people in need.

Noting that the electoral process in Somalia is &#8220going much better than many predicted,&#8221 the United Nations envoy in the country underlined the need to ensure that the legitimacy of the process is preserved and called on electoral bodies to investigate any credible reports of violations of rules and regulations.