UN News Centre

Collaborating on the organization of major international conferences is a task well known to the United Nations, whose staff have the responsibility of ensuring that key messages are successfully delivered to not only those on location, but also worldwide.

Ahead of a major United Nations conference on priorities for the world’s least development countries (LDCs), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of members to a governing council that will provide support towards the operationalization of a proposed Technology Bank for those vulnerable nations.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson stressed today the need for Member States to redouble efforts at prevention – whether to combat climate change, build resilience or address potential conflict flashpoints before they reach a tipping point.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report today that attacks on health care in emergency situations disrupt the delivery of essential health services, endanger care providers, deprive people of urgently needed medical attention, and undermine long-term health development goals.

Justice, accountability and the deterrent effects of the law remain “critical components” for achieving lasting peace in Libya, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the United Nations Security Council today, encouraging the country’s Government to give priority to devising effective plans and strategies to address atrocity crimes, and to invest in the relevant national institutions responsible for such work.

The United Nations envoy for Yemen said today that hope is emanating from the ongoing peace talks for the country as the warring parties started discussing details of elements that would be included in a comprehensive agreement.

At the World Health Assembly taking place in Geneva this week, Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to establish a new Health Emergencies Programme that will add operational capabilities for outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies that complement the health agency’s traditional technical and normative roles.

Despite an uncertain global economic landscape, Africa’s prospects are positive, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the continent’s leaders to use recent gains to address rising social and economic inequalities.

Acknowledging the sustained progress made on rebuilding Liberia after the 1999-2003 civil war, the United Nations Security Council today terminated an arms embargo against the country and dissolved the related mechanisms, namely the sanctions Committee and the expert panel.

Two United Nations agencies said today they are supporting the Government of Haiti in a vaccination campaign against cholera that aims to reach 400,000 people in 2016.

The United Nations today launched the #WildforLife campaign against illegal trade in wildlife, warning that such trade is pushing species to the brink of extinction, robbing countries of their natural heritage and profiting international criminal networks.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan has strongly condemned the killing of Veronika Racková, a Slovakian nun and medical doctor who was shot on 15 May in Yei, while on a humanitarian mission, and later succumbed to her wounds.

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has suspended its visit to Ukraine after being denied access to places in several parts of the country where it suspects people are being deprived of their liberty by the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU.

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has welcomed Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court decision to free an award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

At the second United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) taking place in Nairobi this week, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was among a group of agencies launching a new tool and report that recommends ways to protect threatened coral reefs.

Two United Nations agencies have begun providing both seeds and food to nearly 50,000 hungry farming families in some areas of the conflict-torn Central African Republic (CAR) to ensure that they don’t eat seeds meant for planting.

Expressing concern about possible imminent executions in Gaza, the United Nations human rights office today urged the authorities in Gaza to uphold their obligations to respect the rights to life and to a fair trial and not carry out death penalty.

The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Iraq to immediately conduct an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the use of force by security forces against protestors outside the Green Zone in Baghdad this past week.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the holding of municipal elections in Lebanon, which are expected to conclude on 29 May, urging all Lebanese leaders to act responsibly to elect the country’s President, a post vacant for two years, without a further delay, his spokesperson said today in a statement.

The Security Council today stressed the importance of strengthening the existing cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union (AU), a regional organization described by a senior UN official as “the most important peacekeeping partner.”