Ahead of a meeting with the United Nations Security Council tomorrow on Iraq, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the body to impose an immediate arms embargo, enact additional targeted sanctions on leaders and commanders blocking implementation of the peace deal, and to fortify the UN mission in the country, which has seen a resurgence of deadly violence in recent days.
Countries in West Africa and the Sahel must expand intelligence gathering capacities to counter militant threats, such as those posed by Boko Haram, the head of the United Nations operation for that region said today.
Opening the first meeting of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development since the adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda, the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today outlined the tasks before the body and called for stronger commitment to accomplish its mandated tasks.
Leaders and communities must focus on and stand up for the rights of teenage girls, particularly those who are poor, out of school, exploited, or subjected to harmful traditional practices, the United Nations has said, marking World Population Day with a call to bolster the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by investing in better opportunities for teen girls.
Strongly condemning the escalating violence in and around the Iraqese capital of Juba that began on 7 July, the United Nations Security Council today joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in calling for an end to the fighting, while separately demanding that President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Reik Machar do their utmost to control their respective forces.
The United Nations envoy for Lebanon has asked the UN Security Council to devote greater attention to situation there, including the deteriorating security conditions, weakening State institutions and the need for continued dispersal of funding for the refugees hosted by the country.
As Iraq prepares to make its fifth anniversary of independence, United Nations officials today expressed concern over the continuing violence in parts of the country and the resulting forced displacement of people, both internally and throughout the neighbouring region.
This week's top stories from the UN News Centre featuring Secretary-General in China, UN's concern about possible political violence in the DR Congo, El Niño worsens food insecurity in African regions, and the Ecuador’s Earthquake recovery.
See the stories of the week in photos.
In 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that 11 July be observed by the international community as World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. This year's theme is 'Investing in teenage girls.'
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and long-standing UN Messenger of Peace passed away on 2 July 2016. He was remembered by Secretary-General as one of the world’s “most important witnesses — and one of its most eloquent advocates of tolerance and peace”. He lent his compassionate voice throughout the years to numerous United Nations causes, such as focusing public attention on eradicating poverty and the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan.
