UN News Centre

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned the terrorist bombing in Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, calling it a “despicable crime targeting the heart of Istanbul’s tourist district.”

The ongoing deadly violence in Yemen has left nearly 10 million children facing threats of malnutrition and disease, lack of education, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative to the country warned today, calling for unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need and an end to the conflict.

The top United Nations official in Iraq today appealed to all parties in the strife torn-country to avoid being drawn into a vicious cycle or reprisal attacks following the “outrageous” bombing of six mosques in Muqdadiya in Diyala Province.

Presenting the key findings of the latest United Nations survey on international migrant trends, the UN Deputy Secretary-General today stressed that the issue of migration is one of the most challenging and important that the Organization is taking on in the new global landscape.

United Nations human rights experts have called for a comprehensive review of the United Kingdom’s draft Investigatory Powers bill, warning that if adopted in its present form it could threaten the rights to freedoms of expression and association both inside and outside the country.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) expressed concern over continued tension in El Geneina town and around Mouli village, 15 kilometres south of El Geneina, West Darfur, after an armed attack on Mouli village.

The United Nations health agency today announced that the South-East Asia Region has completed five years without any case of wild poliovirus, a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and for which there is still no cure.

Nearly 24 million children living in crisis zones in 22 strife-torn countries are being deprived of a school education, threatening their own future and that of their societies, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported today.

Despite considerable progress in Mali, the United Nations peacekeeping chief today warned that the peace process in the country remains fragile, and stressed the need to urgently defeat political, security and humanitarian challenges.

Welcoming the Security Council&#39s unanimous adoption of a blueprint for peace in Syria, a senior United Nations official has called on all sides to immediately stop using sexual violence as a tactic in the fighting tearing the country apart.

Voicing deep concern at the continuing escalation of violence in Burundi, the United Nations Security Council today called for urgent acceleration of mediation efforts by East African States and urged all Burundian stakeholders to fully cooperate with a proposed African Union (AU) peace-keeping mission.

As United Nations-sponsored consultations on Yemen continued today, the UN envoy facilitating the talks expressed deep concern at numerous reports of violations of the three-day-old ceasefire and urged the parties to respect that agreement and allow access to the country’s most-affected districts.

In its first resolution to focus on the politics of ending Syria’s five-year-long war, the Security Council today gave the United Nations an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides to talks for a political transition, with a timetable for a ceasefire, a new constitution and elections, all under UN auspices.

Worldwide wood production has undergone a revival over the past year as it has seen the greatest leap since the global economic downturn of 2008-2009, according to the latest data released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Gravely concerning at continued reports that human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Hebron, are being subjected to physical attacks and death threats, United Nations independent experts today denounced such harassment as “unacceptable” and called for it to end immediately.

Ninety per cent of voters in the Central African Republic (CAR) are in favour of the new Constitution, according to partial election results, while campaigning is now under way for the presidential elections and the final list of parliamentary candidates has been published, the United Nations mission in the country reported today.

Forced displacement this year is likely exceed all previous records, for the first time topping 60 million, meaning that one out of every 122 persons on Earth has been forced to flee their home, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today joined diplomats from the International Syria Support Group meeting in New York to discuss a solution to the country’s five-year war, and he is expected to brief the Security Council later today on the latest developments.

Concerned over growing polarization of political debate concerning refugees in some countries, the United Nations today released guidance aimed at helping States deal with security concerns while maintaining refugee protection, saying the two were not “mutually exclusive.”

Global candlelight vigils marked the International Day of Migrants today to remember that the more than 5,000 women, men and children who lost their lives in arduous journeys in search of protection and a better life as, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said 2015 will be remembered as a year of human suffering and migrant tragedies.